A DEATH UNLIKE ANY OTHER

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kampanaryo_spy
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A DEATH UNLIKE ANY OTHER

Unread post by kampanaryo_spy »

Image Image

It’s a death unlike any other. And everybody is still weeping.

Its death warrant: a resolution from the Sangguniang Bayan of Tago.
Its executioner: an exorcist who precedes the kill with an elaborate diwata ritual.
Its crime: causing the concrete road to heave and thus posing a grave threat to motorists.

After a century and a half of being Tago’s sentinel, the creepy acacia tree that stands high and mighty in “Siti” is cut down.

Unceremoniously, we bid adieu to a piece of Tago’s history!

Striking fear in the hearts of Tagon-ons, the acacia inspired stories more twisted than its trunk and limbs: tales of witches lying in wait on a fern perched high on a branch; of kapres leaning on it and smoking their humongous pipes; of sigbins lurking behind its gorged and exposed roots; of coffins circling it on the wings of a thousand fireflies; of white limousines coming out of it in a blinding flash of light; of its hanging vines turning into nooses and preying on humans; and of its roots clasping Yamashita treasures that give off a magnificent hue at the stroke of midnight in the last quarter of the lunar cycle.

But for all these yarns that turned the acacia into a hex---and therefore a danger zone---I only know of a single death: that of the 17-year old Froilan Prado who rammed himself against it in 2006 and whose motorcycle paint stuck to the trunk whose bark had been chipped off from the impact!

“(D)estructive to infra, hazard to traffic and power lines and encroaches on concrete pavement.”

This was the exact text message (and probably the main “WHEREAS” contained in the SB resolution) that Vice Mayor Aloysius R. Espinoza sent me when I asked for the reason behind what seemed to me, and many other Tagon-ons, a heinous act of environmental murder. Now pray tell: what is a 9-meter strip of road compared to a century and a half old tree that has become part of Tago’s geography and its people’s sensibility? Apparently, public officials forgot that roads can be repaired any time by any fool like me, but only God can make a tree.

There lies a misplaced sense of priority somewhere because while the Department of Tourism promotes the identification and preservation of century old trees as a way of forging municipal identity, we cut ours in reckless abandon!

I will never forget my shock and disgust that afternoon when on my way home I saw Darik---the exorcist executioner---standing on the felled acacia tree whose overturned core struck me as the footprint of the kapre that must have fled in fright from his Latin incantation. And when I drove past the chopped trunks and branches some of which Darik smeared with a careless cross in dark and messy ink, the whirring sound of the chainsaw became an elegy. And suddenly it felt like I was at my parents’ funeral where I was weighed down by sorrow that came from the realization that I wouldn’t see them again.

Yes, it’s a death unlike any other. And I am still weeping.

Even. if. only. in. silence.


Image Image
is that a fairy's tear? and is that a portal to a secret passage to the Yamashita treasures?
Image
a kapre's footprint, perhaps?
Last edited by kampanaryo_spy on Thu Feb 15, 2007 8:04 am, edited 3 times in total.
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sapaalaska
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Unread post by sapaalaska »

I'm saddened myself. Amo yaon an ako timailhan kada ko uli na Tago na gayud ako. K-spy timan i an isunod yaon sa plaza na isab.

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Unread post by kampanaryo_spy »

cordaps.

thank you so, so much for posting the pics. ka abtiki. :roll
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Unread post by cordapya »



K-Spy teary eyes sa ako.....Adoy isab agaw, amo sa gayod an una na mo WELCOME kanato kon kita mouli sa Tago. Kamingaw sa isab. Treasure gayod yadto nan Tago - My Lord, forgive them for they don't not know what they are doing. Mas may character pa yadton Acacia Tree kay sa iban na mga tao ngad-on sa Tago...Forgive me. Diligayod ikalipay nan mga tao na makasabot nan ini na panghitabo. ](*,) ](*,) ](*,) Well, what do I expect....
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Unread post by Binignit »

An bay dakan ni iyo Fabian an ato timan-anan kuman.

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Unread post by manday »

ay ay isab kamingaw narra tree is part of the aura of Tago,tranquility and serenity is the ambience of tago-a perfect haven after exhausting office work. Every late afternoon Siti's narra tree welcomes every one especially office workers in Tandag that one is almost home. A landmark that signals every commuters that if we have not yet forwarded our fare to the drive it reminds us to check.Why in heaven sake all of a sudden they cutted the antique tree-it is priceless! We can not buy that kind of shade,the yellow flowers (timaan na an alimango mataba),the breeze it brings, a century landmark, enchanted myth that would bring back childhood memories.But as an old adage says,"Nothing lasts forever" but still I wonder why? because I thought we are now into a program to plant a tree? I think Miss Senator Lauren Legarda has to educate this kind of people-straight from the shoulder coming from me.

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Unread post by manday »

nangasa ila in pila na puede sa yaon lukaton amo sa manila lukaton nila tapos ibalhin sa iban na lugar abo na mga cetinnial tree, bagan kay ya taranta sila. Sa Quezon City yakabasa ako sa newspaper months ago si MMDA Fernando man lukaton nila kon yaka sagabal sa karsada.Ayy ay ako in mingaw gayod kay nan ga upisina pa ako sa Tandag yaon sa dayon musugat sa ako abo kapuyi sa banko na hapit na ako muhigda sa katre kay akasya na ibig sabihin Tago na.

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Unread post by ranz_ikov »

na waray nay lami, dyaw gani inkaabtan ko pa yaon, last ko na kita yaon Jan. 20 2007, waray nay landmark nan tago, imbis amo yaon ato golden gate ilhanan na ad on n kita tago, wara sa nila isipa kdyaw uno n mdayaw n solusyon para dili mkuha yaon, basin an sa plaza kuhaon nsab

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Unread post by *imesh »

kamingaw sab...
pero kon delikado sa motorista, sakto da sab.
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Unread post by Insomada »

Like anyone of you, my first utterance was "kamingaw sab."

I was in great awe…thunderstruck.....fiery, and let out a melancholic gasp when I read K_Spy's poignant news about the death of one of our town's striking attractions - the acacia tree.

To many the tree was a dwelling place of maligno because of its massive trunk, white ladies, engkantos and other "not like ours" organisms. To others it poses hazard to motorists as it situates within everyone's proximity, etc. etc. Regardless, to me the acacia tree is a symbol of Tago's grandeur, strength and hope. Grandeur as undoubtedly it appeals to ones vanity, strength as it has withheld an immeasurable and countless catastrophic tests, and hope as it exhibits strong propensity to continuously bear its splendour in the coming years to come. But now it's gone and gone is the hope that one day the children of our children would still be able to enjoy the magnificence and other attributes that the acacia tree caters to everyone.

My apologies when I say, the effort made by the SB officials to extinguish Tago's piece of geography and history is a crime ---- crime against nature and crime against the townspeople of Tago for not submitting the decision of whether to cut or not to cut the tree to a plebiscite or referendum. Thus, they allowed environmental destruction and destruction of animals' natural habitat.

Today therefore, marks the end of an era as we lost and farewell the gigantic tree that stood tall, vibrant and gallant, whose prime and distinct chore was to welcome everyone as he/she enters our gorgeous town. Farewell acacia tree farewell…..

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Unread post by kampanaryo_spy »

Lest I be misunderstood for dragging the Sangguniang Bayan of Tago into the picture, let me put things in the right perspective. There's a law governing cutting of trees: nobody can fell a tree without securing a permit from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR); no coconut tree shall ever be cut down---even if you own it---without seeking approval from the Philippine Coconut Authority. In the case of Local Government Units cutting trees, they must seek approval from DENR through a Sangguniang Bayan resolution.

The cutting down of the acacia tree in Tago went the legal route alright, but still, majority of Tagon-ons just felt they could have been consulted. After all, it was not a matter of life and death that required swift action.

If we go by the text of Vice Mayor Al, I think the alleged "destruction" on the road wrought by the acacia's roots is a bit overstated; and the danger it posed to motorists, a bit exaggerated. The real danger, if you can call it that, is the possible caving-in from erosion of the road on Iya Dowet's side. This actually was not the acacia's doing, but by the water that collected there during heavy rains. In short, it was a drainage problem which could have been solved by simply putting a culvert and a “shoulder.”

But granting the acacia “encroaches” on the road, why cut it just like that? If we remember, the pavement at the town plaza near the narra tree was far worse than the road where the acacia used to keep vigil, and yet the road was rehabilitated with the narra tree shedding not a single branch.

Then why was the acacia not given the same reverence?

Ahhhh, this is what keeps the tongues wagging!

Because the acacia was felled post-haste, Tagon-ons are thinking that this could be a smoke screen for another round of digging for the fabled Yamashita Treasures. Yes, the very same blather in the early 90s when a Taiwanese firm set up a coco processing plant near the area. Back then Tagon-ons said it was just a front because all the Taiwanese wanted was to dig at night a tunnel all the way to the acacia. And when their search proved futile—or so the talks raged---they put up another building, this time a chopstick factory in Gamut, where another acacia stands. (Yamashita was said to mark with acacia trees his treasures buried all over the country!)

Again, the Taiwanese failed.

But behind this lies another story: Indeed there was a treasure, but it went to a businessman from Tago in a rare stroke of luck. The story went that this businessman was coming home one night from Unidos when he saw a backhoe digging the area near the Gamut bridge. Aware perhaps of the backstory, he stopped to watch. Then from curiosity, he went closer to where the backhoe spat the earth that now had become a mound. Amid the sing-song chatter of the Taiwanese few meters away, his eyes caught a sparkle.

The metal bucket of the backhoe? No! His heart began to race.

Crawling literally under the very noses of the Taiwanese who must have missed what the backhoe had just dug up, the businessman squirreled the Yamashita treasures to Gamut Bridge where he stole a boat and sailed away to Tago.

The two Taiwanese factories in Tago and Gamut have become white elephants that up to this day serve as fodder to the imagination of Tagon-ons.

Now, as to who this businessman is, ask me no question and I’ll tell you no lies. Suffice it to say that he got rich quickly and acquired many vehicles, that if parked, create a “traffic” in Tago.

But that’s not the end of this story.

Remember the prominent Tandag-based contractor who built a few years ago the road on which side the acacia used to stand? Well, he’s said to have literally stumbled upon the Yamashita Treasures when, in the wee hour of the morning, he went to the site to check if his men were really working. As he expected, the payloader’s driver was asleep. And so he drove it himself and that was when he accidentally found the treasures in the same exact way that Berto Morales found his gold in Magroyong!

And now Tagon-ons are again thinking that there must be some treasures left, otherwise why the hasty beheading of the acacia?

Well, to each his own perception. But before our imagination goes wild, let’s not forget that the LGU indeed is embarking on a multi-million road rehabilitation project, not only in the acacia area, but in the entire Poblacion of Tago.
"Most claims of originality are testimony to ignorance and most claims of magic are testimony to hubris." -James March-

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Unread post by manday »

There must be a public consultaion before any drastic move because this is an issue of public domain and nowadays, we are critically preserving centinnial trees. I hope this serves as a lesson to public servants that their line of thinking is not always the authority to be followed, there are certain laws that they must be aware of and the opinions of the public to be considered before the damage is done. I, personally, is an advocate of trees preservation so K_spy's perception to the issue is an enlightenment to the public officials and to the community as a whole.

Public awareness and speaking up for what is right, opinions, and ideas must be encouraged so that we will glide together for the betterment of our community.Right?God Bless!

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Unread post by sigwel »

very well said everyone...need i say more?

oh well, when reality kicks in, if money moves mountain ( may bitaw mangantik sa mga bukid nan una, inday haw hangtud koman), how much more that poor yet precious vintage (kibale baya bentley huh) tree. uno pa gayud an yaon sa Tago na pwede nila pagkakitaan? personally, this saddened scenario, it doesn't surprises me much, knowing most, who adore money like their god, who think of themselves always in a podium, poor people who've been blinded by innocence and ignorance. oops, i did not mention anyone, i hope there'd be no personal offense as i vent my innermost thought. oh well, last but not least, deep within, i really feel bad now that precious acacia is out of sight.

sigwel

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Unread post by cordapya »

sigwel wrote:very well said everyone...need i say more?

oh well, when reality kicks in, if money moves mountain ( may bitaw mangantik sa mga bukid nan una, inday haw hangtud koman), how much more that poor yet precious vintage (kibale baya bentley huh) tree. uno pa gayud an yaon sa Tago na pwede nila pagkakitaan? personally, this saddened scenario, it doesn't surprises me much, knowing most, who adore money like their god, who think of themselves always in a podium, poor people who've been blinded by innocence and ignorance. oops, i did not mention anyone, i hope there'd be no personal offense as i vent my innermost thought. oh well, last but not least, deep within, i really feel bad now that precious acacia is out of sight.

sigwel


Amo balitaw - SIGZ. Dugayi kokay kalimti si Acasia na pagapila sa ako pamomduman. Pero unhon tasa wara na. Utod na si Acasia. Adios dakan....makapungotay gayod.
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Unread post by teaboars »

NANGA PAGAUTOD AN ACACIA???
kadayaw da lugar na yaon galikdok da sa kilid an acacia tree! kun amo lugar yaon an ila rason na pilahon/utdon an acaciakay sagabal sa kilid nan dan dapat naadi da nila yaon pagahimo wana na garu nila paabta kuman na panahon kun sayud sila kun unoy bation o epikto sa mga tagon-on sa ila pagahimo pag-utod sa acacia...kasayang kadayawi da lugar na yaon da galigdok sa kilid an acacia tree na landmark nan tago.....
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