‘Murdering’ 2,000 trees

“Trees are an expression of the divine but a tree is just a tree, nothing more than a bunch of cellulose and chlorophyll. Maybe so.”

-- Barbara Newhall, in a “Huffington Post” blog, April 26, 2017

Read again Fr. Robert Reyes’s May 8 admonition to Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña regarding the removal of some 2,166 trees to make way for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project. It wasn’t a curse on the mayor.

A reminder of mortality, yes: “Do not forget that you will die, if not tomorrow, sooner or later you will die and you will leave the legacy of a mayor who cut down 2,000 trees.”

No wish from Fr. Reyes for the mayor to depart sooner than the date set by the heavens, as his political rivals allegedly burned candles for. No crack about him doing anything on brink of death, like what a fictional priest told a terminally ill business tycoon, “If you die in an elevator, be sure to push the button up.”

Legacy? Perhaps not, unless the cutting down of the trees would bring a great flood that would wipe out the city.

Waiting in after-life

Fr. Reyes instead talked about murdered trees having souls that would wait for him in the after-life. A lot of trees and a lot of souls that would be and, if the priest is right, yapping at Tomas.

But do trees have souls? Maybe not, said a “Huffington Post” blog that trumpets the beauty of trees, which articulates the divine, “but they’re just trees” that vanish into the dirt when they rot.

Soul, from the Latin “anime,” is principle of life, which applies to trees and animals. The Christian belief is that only people have the soul that can be saved. So it’s tough to imagine souls of trees ganging up on Tomas, when they meet, in heaven or elsewhere, and confronting him on their murder back in Cebu City.

No EJK for trees

Instead of frightening the mayor with the prospect of death and calling him to account for any murder, Fr. Reyes may just prod Tomas and other public officials to follow the law on disposal of the trees. There are enough laws that protect the environment by requiring a process before they are removed or cut down. No EJK even for trees.

Trees can be replaced or moved. Already the mayor has announced for the adoption of trees by residents to save them from the serial killings that would precede the BRT project.

If Fr. Reyes shows up at the public hearing tomorrow at the Cebu City Public Library, talking about murder and souls won’t help save those trees.