So, there'll be a massive tree planting activity along the national highway in Nueva Ecija and elsewhere in Central Luzon this coming August.

Poor seedlings. I bet they'll never grow to their full height.  The electric companies/cooperatives will make sure of that -- unless something is done fast.

Remember the time when Nueva Ecija highways were flanked by trees -- ipil-ipil, acacia, firetree, among others --  thanks to Imelda's tree planting activities?

Many of those trees never survived beyond the Marcos regime.

One major reason: crews from the the power companies regularly went on tree pruning frenzies along highways and streets. What man sweated out to plant in one day and nature nurtured for years got hacked down in a matter of minutes by power company crews. 

Even now, the remaining trees beside highways look like overgrown bonzais, leaning precariously away from power lines and dangerously towards the road with whatever is left of their crowns.

So, before another round of messy, backbreaking tree planting takes place, can DENR and the various power companies/cooperatives resolve once and for all exactly where tree planting ends and where power lines begin along the highways/roads? There's definitely a conflict of interests here that first needs to be worked out.

Otherwise, another massive round of tree decapitations will happen sometime in the future when the seedlings to be planted this August begin to grow into stately trees -- and then cross paths with those power lines.

[August 31, 2006]