Halt order vs. SM Baguio expansion lifted

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines - The halt order issued against SM Baguio on its expansion plans along Governor Pack Road was lifted after a local court dismissed charges lodged by protesters against the mall giant.

Unperturbed, protesters under the “Project Save 182” vow to go back to the streets while assuring to exhaust all legal means available to foil the expansion project.

Regional Trial Court Judge Antonio Esteves dismissed on Dec. 3 complaints by the Project Save 182 against the Department of Environment and National Resources Secretary Ramon Paje, DENR Cordillera Director Clarence Baguilat and other officials. They were accused of contempt last April after 182 trees were uprooted at the expansion project in spite of the temporary environmental protection order.

Esteves went on leave on Dec. 4 to undergo a heart bypass. He is expected to be back sometime in February.

On the heels of the decision, Project Save 182 Spokesperson Karlo Altamonte said his group would still launch protest actions and rally more people to support the call to save the trees and the city’s environment.  “While we in the Save 182 movement respect the decision handed down by the honorable court, we strongly disagree with the same and vow to exhaust all other legal remedies available to us in our struggle to stand up and speak for the trees on Luneta Hill, which stand defenseless against a corporate entity’s apparent insatiable hunger for more money,” the group’s statement read.

Altamonte said they do not agree that removing 182 pine trees on Luneta Hill will not cause irreversible damage to the city’s environment. He added that the mall’s proposed sky garden will never compensate for the trees that will be removed. He also added that the mall failed to follow necessary procedures in securing their permits.

He said Baguio City is frequented by tourists, both local and international, not because of malls or big buildings but because of the pine trees. He said the city’s foremost attraction are the pine trees and that city officials at present seem to forget that.