Stop cutting trees!

Around Laguna, Philippines, almost the last frontier of flora and fauna here in the south right after Metro Manila, cutting trees is unabated, in the name of industrialization.

The latest casualty is Sta. Rosa, where a sprawling 1,000-hectare residential enclave dubbed Makati of the South or Eton City, is now under construction.

This high-end subdivision will have a 35-hectare man-made lake for its highlight.

In one of the storms that flooded and ravaged this southern part wayback 2007, some residents from Bucal, Calamba City would be heard cursing a well-known land developer for turning a big portion of the town into a golf course, and for making them swim in the muddy floodwaters. Laguna Lake overflowed and there was just not enough trees nor watershed to protect the city from flooding.

Meanwhile, Mount Makiling spewed stones into nearby residents as if it were an active volcano during the same storm. Quarrying has eroded the mountain, and the ravishing goes unabated so that one can see the clear baldness of a big portion of the mythical mountain from one of its sides.

Right in the heart of Canlubang, inside an old golf course, grows old old trees protecting people from heat and storms. Indeed, this is mother nature's another last frontier.

Laguna is used to be inhabited by hundreds and thousands of species of plants and trees.

When to learn the lesson? Maybe next time that mother nature throws its wrath.