Breaking Point gave us both expected and unexpected results, but I thought it was still a good show altogether.   You gotta give credit to the audience though, because they were so much a part of the whole happening.

                So, anyway, here we go…

                The First match of the night was for the Unified Tag Team Championships.  We did expect Jericho and Show to win it, didn’t we?  They’re a very good team and they carry the titles with credibility.  So, I think it’s an excellent choice to let them keep it.

                The match was good too.  I liked it better when Jericho and MVP were in the ring instead of the two bigger men.  It was a fairly even matchup from the start though, so I enjoyed it.  There were instances that I thought Henry and MVP were going to win but they didn’t get the count.  Jericho got the pin with Show’s help in the end.

                Makes you wonder though, if they were faced with an equally matched opponents, and they managed to win, who else could face up to them to take the titles?  Frankly, right now, I don’t think anyone could.  I think if they lose, it’s going to be because of their own doing.  There will be some kind of internal problems with the two and that’ll start their undoing.  But it’s still too early to speculate about that, so I’m leaving it at that.

                The next match was Kofi Kingston against The Miz for the United States Championship.

                This wasn’t even booked until the last minute.  I guess it took over the spot for the IC Championship.  Nevertheless, it was a pretty amazing match.  The Miz looked good dominating Kofi for almost the whole match until he got Trouble in Paradise.  I was rooting for Miz to win, but I guess it wasn’t his time yet to hold gold as a singles competitor.

                I hope this isn’t the last time Miz will try to get his hands on the title.  I really like this whole new attitude Miz has, but it’s not really that far from the way he was before the trunks.  He is more aggressive, and that does make a difference and makes him more enjoyable to watch.

                On a lighter note, I didn’t understand what he said in French before the start of the match but that was a nice touch.  Maybe he’s been spending some quality time with Maryse? LOL

               Submissions Count Anywhere Match between DX and Legacy was next.  I was surprised that this got on much earlier than Kane vs Khali or even that little promo with Mr. Pat Patterson and Mr. Ziggles.

                Honestly, I wasn’t expecting Legacy to get away with the win.  I had hope they would, but I didn’t expect it.  I’m very happy they did.  I think it’s a good decision that they split wins with DX now.  I had said it before they need to this to make the feud more substantial.  They can’t have DX win all the time, dominating the boys.

                It was a good match, there were some dead moments but it was exciting over all.  I actually thought HBK was really hurt when he fell over on some of the equipment boxes.  Good thing he wasn’t.  Anyway, Ted and Cody did really good in my opinion.  They had good team work all the time, always had each other’s backs.

                I’m pretty sure this isn’t the end of their matchup.  DX will most likely not just sit down and take the loss so I expect to see more at least until Bragging Rights.

                Next up was Kane vs. Khali in a Singapore Cane Match.  I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t at all excited about this match.  I didn’t think it had much of a build-up.  Some might disagree though, but I don’t know.  It just really didn’t have anything for me.

                The match was like what you would see on Smackdown with those two, except they had multiple Singapore canes around to use legally.   At one point Kane tried to wrap Khali’s arm on the cane, but it really didn’t look much of a hold and didn’t really look like it’ll hurt because the cane was on the natural bend of Khali’s arm (inside the elbow), and Kane wasn’t exactly pulling his arm.

                I liked the choke slam though, and that was probably the only interesting part I saw on the whole match.

                Now, let me just take this space to say something about that little interview with CM Punk.  They did exactly what I had hoped they would not do.  And I think it is so wrong.  They had Punk address Jeff Hardy’s situation, while it is still up for investigation.  I know and understand that they did it to build Punk more as a heel, but how much does he need to capitalize on issues concerning Jeff?

                I don’t blame Punk though, he’s just reading the script.

                The next match was for the ECW Championship, with Christian vs. Regal.  Regal came with his two mammoth sidekicks, but they were immediately banned from ringside by Tiffany’s order.  Christian immediately went for the Killswitch but did get it to go.  I read Regal’s lips and he said, “Do you think I’m stupid?”.  If we could only hear the trash talk I think it would’ve been better.

                They had good exchanges of moves, a few near falls, successful attempts on signature moves.  Christian’s killswitch actually failed three times, but the last one sealed it.

                I’m happy they didn’t let Kozlov and Jackson interfere, it was a pretty solid match with just those two involved.

                Next up was a little segment with the HOFamer Pat Patterson, the first ever Intercontinental Champion.  I think he was going to introduce the present IC Champ John Morrison but before he could say his name, Mr. Ziggles came out.

                They did a promo, which was funny a first, but it became too much for my liking.  I liked when the crowd chanted “Shut the f*** up” though.  That was fun.  Dolph went on with his little speech and then took a cheap shot at Pat.  He was going to step down the ring, but thought twice about it and came back, but JoMo came to the rescue. They had a stare down, and that was it.

                Finally, we get to the two main events.

                First is an “I Quit” Match for the WWE Championship.  I think the result of this match was very much expected.  I expected this to happen since Vince booked it as an “I Quit”match.  Cena is never going to quit.  He can’t and they won’t let him.   I had hoped they were going to take a different road, since I’m sure they’ve heard and read comments that people expect this to happen, and they’d have the two just pass out without having to quit.  They didn’t.

                I thought it would’ve been better because if they made Orton say the words, how is he going to be the arrogant heel he’s portraying himself to be if he said it.  I guess we’ll have to see on Monday night Raw.

                Anyway, I did enjoy the match even though I knew what the outcome would be.  It was indeed very brutal as expected.  The crowd added to the match, I think.  That type of interaction always makes it fun to watch.  I think it’ll be one for the classics.  I just really wished it had a different ending.

                The last match of the night was for the World Heavyweight Championship with CM Punk vs. The Undertaker.  This one ended with controversy.  Somebody made an article about it being Montreal Screwjob part 2, and it certainly look like it is.

                It started out really good and Punk’s hanging it with Taker.  I missed most of what happened though, because I was tweeting.  Bad idea when you’re watching a PPV, I know.  Anyway, when I got back to it, Taker was applying the Hell’s Gate submission hold and Punk tapped.  I thought that was the perfect ending.

I’ve been writing sports and pro-wrestling articles lately and I have this fondness with the word “Legacy” as it relates to a faction lead by my favorite wrestler, Randy Orton.  (Damn, the mere mention of his name makes me sin. LOL)

                Okay, enough about that.  That’s not the ‘legacy’ I want to talk about here right now.  I’m talking about the legacy of two families whose past and destinies seems to be intertwined in the sole purpose of leading the nation to the height of its glory and uphold our freedom.

                These families are the Aquinos and Roxases.  It is amazing that now when our democracy is somewhat assaulted, two leaders from these families rises to the occasion.

                This last couple of week, I was so impressed by the actions of Senator Mar Roxas, that I could not help but shed a tear.   To sacrifice one’s own dream, for the hopes of the many may be a simple enough gesture on the outside.  But one could never fathom how hard it is to do, and yet he did it with a smile, and open heart and an open mind.

                This September 9, 2009, marked another would be highlight in Philippine history.  This marked the day when Benigno Aquino III, the only son of Benigno Aquino Jr. and Corazon Aquino, both beloved political personalities, has taken unto himself the ‘Gordian Task’ of leading the nation –if so blessed. 

He had been reluctant to delve into it—as the private person that he is --perhaps knowing the scrutiny that lies ahead from the eyes of the preying opponents.  But the people put their hopes on him, and he did not disappoint.

It is a difficult task, especially when they are opposing the reigning powers.  But, I have high hopes that if these two men, whose family’s legacy is deeply rooted in their desire to serve the nation and its people, works hand in hand to attain their purpose, there’s nothing that cannot be accomplished and we can say once again how glorious our country is.

I have no doubt their forbearers would be so proud of these two for what they have already done and what they can still do, if we let them.  And I’m sure so will we.

I was watching the news the other night, and I saw a report regarding an elected government official’s SALN, or Statement of Assets and Liabilities Net Worth.

Apparently, they are now going to bar access to this legal public document unless first submitting a letter of request, wherein one has to state his intended purpose for acquiring the document.

But that is not the end of it.  The request apparently has to pass through the office of Merceditas Gutierrez, and she will determine whether the said purpose is truthful.  She also has the power to deny the requestor access to the documents.

This act alone suppresses the right of the public to access information about their elected government officials, therefore suspending the policy of total transparency.  As one is elected or appointed into public office, he automatically gives up his right to privacy.  The public has the right to know everything about these officials that can help them evaluate their performance and especially their trustworthiness to hold their offices.

This new memorandum, I feel, is just another blatant act of ass covering by the government and it’s reeking in fishiness if you ask me. 

Why?  Well, it is highly publicized that Merceditas Gutierrez is a classmate and friend of the first gentleman, and this new ‘memo’ conveniently popped up just days after the media discovered some undeclared properties belonging to his sons, and the multiple ‘foundations’ bearing the name of the president and other family members, which may or may not be illegal –as it is yet to be determined – simply because it gains money from donations.

I’m sure you can read between the lines, because unlike the people in the palace, I know the Filipinos are smart enough to see what exactly is going on.

I should warn you, this is really, really long.  In fact, as I typed “Part I” in the title, I wasn’t even sure how many part this is going to be.

So, anyway…let’s get on with it…

A couple of months ago, I learned about WWE Smackdown coming to Manila.  To be honest, I wasn’t exactly spoiling to buy a ticket as soon as I learned.  At the time, two of my major favorite wrestlers, Triple H and Jeff Hardy were on the show.  But there was an impending draft in the WWE so, even though they were initially in the lineup of superstars who were coming, I decided to wait to decide if I was going to buy a ticket until after the draft.

True enough, the top guy on the show, Triple H was drafted to Raw.  Still, I was having second thoughts.  I mean, Jericho and John Morrison ended up in Smackdown after the draft.  And the top heel mainstay, Edge is also there.  But I guess I needed more pushing.  I got that when I read a recount in a form of an article in a sport website I frequent, written by one of the top writers in the Pro-Wrestling section of the said site.  It was about his “adventure” watching a Smackdown and ECW Live show, which was being taped for TV at the Madison Square Garden.  The writer was so ecstatic about it, that I could not help but feel…well, jealous.  I want to experience that, too.

So, then after a week of contemplating, I decided to buy a ticket.  The only choice left, that I gave myself was whether to buy a ringside ticket or a VIP ticket, which was half the price and five rows behind the closest seat to the ring.  Now, my number one favorite of all the wrestlers today is none other than “The Legend Killer”, “The Viper”, the Third Generation Superstar, Randy Orton.  And, since he’s on Raw, I didn’t see any reason why I would want to buy a ringside ticket and decided to buy a VIP seat ticket instead.

A couple of weeks after I purchased the ticket, I learned that not only was Smackdown coming but, ECW too.  Two shows in one night, baby!  I already felt like it was a steal buy for me.  Little did I know that it was going to be a whole lot more of a steal at the night of the show itself…but let’s not jump too quickly on that part.  There’s still a lot more areas to cover before that.

Then, I started looking for people I can hang around with at the night of the show through the Internet.  I posted an announcement on all four of my most active social networking accounts –Friendster, MySpace, Twitter, and Facebook—asking everyone who’d read to contact me if they were going.  I also posted on JackTV’s forum about it, and true enough, I found one in Mijiata.  There was actually two, but the second one came at a later date, or rather at the exact date of the event itself.

So, then, everything was ironed out.  I got my tickets to a Smackdown and ECW show and I’m in contact with possible company.  I told Mijiata of my plan of making a few signs for my favorite wrestlers, and she told me she was thinking of making one too, a tarpaulin at that.  I was only going to make some out of poster paper since they’re easier to carry and a lot less bulky too.  I decided to make one for her too, so she’ll be able to see me from my seat since we have different seat locations. 

I made signs for Edge, Jeff Hardy, and John Morrison each.  I also made one for Kane and the Hart Dynasty thinking they were coming. Unfortunately, they didn’t.  And I also made one especially for the Smackdown announce team –commentators Jim Ross and Todd Grisham, and the announcer Justin Roberts –which said: “I paid to see J.R., Todd and Justin Roberts.”  Well, of course it’s not entirely true.  I paid to see the wrestlers and the action, but, yeah, I still meant it.  I had to think about what I was going to write on the signs, so that took me two weeks to contemplate and actually make them, so when I was done, that’s when I got really excited.  After all, there was a week left.

But then, something unexpected happened.

Note: Will add picture as soon as possible.

I’ve been wanting to write about this for a while now, i just never found the time.  But now is as good a time as any, so allow me to rant…

I love movies.  I love watching them inside the cinemas just because its a totally different experience watching movies at home on dvd.  Sometimes i like to watch by myself because I want to concentrate on the movie, especially if the movie is something you need to pay attention to and think to understand it.  That’s why i get so pissed off when people makes so much loud noises that distracts me from what i’m watching.

Geez, people, if you can’t understand the film get out of the cinema and stop chatting and making noise.  Don’t stay in there just to pretend you actually get what you are seeing.  See another movie or something!  One which doesn’t make you think.  It would’ve been okay if the movie you’re watching is a comedy film, i would totally understand a loud audience.  But when you’re watching Sci-Fi Thrillers things like that, or just a really serious movie, COME THE F**K ON!!

Another thing I hate, are people who put their feet up at the back of your seat.  And as if that’s not enough, they tap their feet on the back of the seat, thumping at your back.  I so so so hate that!

One time I was watching a movie, this teenaged girl puts her feet up at the back of my seat, and taps her feet on it too.  I gave her a look and she stops…for five minutes and then she does it again!!  My goodness, don’t they teach them good manners and right conduct at school?  Or maybe she’s an out of school youth who didn’t get THAT education…so what about her parents then? 

F**k (pardon me for the expletive), i was so pissed off i couldn’t even concentrate on what i was watching.  I mean, f**K, i gave her a look not once, or twice, or thrice and she kept doing it, as if the smell of her stinking feet wasn’t enough that she had to tap on the back of my chair repeatedly!

Thank God, i had self control, however little it was at the time, otherwise, i would’ve gone Randy Orton on her and gave her an RKO, and use IED as a defense if i get sued. (By the way, i wrote in one of my posts that i hate Orton, i don’t anymore, in fact, i like him a lot now.) Well, that, or thank God, somebody left and i got to transfer to another seat.

Anyway, if I could, i would suggest to all cinema owners to post a sign on their doors telling patrons to please observe good manners and right conduct inside their establishments.  Sure they have the “Please turn off/silence your phone while inside”, but they should have the “Please do not make too much noise, Don’t put your feet up on the back of the seat in front of you, and don’t tap your feet on them either, because that is freaking annoying!” sign too!

About a month ago, I chanced upon this site called Bleacherreport.com and found it really interesting.  There were articles written by fans of the sports, and I found them really good and fun to read.  So I lurked around the site for a week and read as many articles as I could.

Here's the site link if you wanna go take a look  www.bleacherreport.com

Then 3 weeks ago, I finally decided to sign up.  I wrote my very first article for the website entitled "Keeping the Gold Away From Randy Orton." (yeah, i'm all about him..LOL).  And whaddaya know, it got 20+ comments and almost 600 hundred reads.

I then started writing other pieces including stuff about tennis, and boxing.  They weren't so pupular as my first one, but hey, i'm more writing for myself really than for anyone.  I just want to put my thoughts out there, you know.

So, I think I'mma stick around that site a while...I really like it there.

As you may have noticed on previous posts, I'm an Orton fan. And the obvious reason why the title is such is because he won. But there are also other reasons.

I think I probably stopped writing about WWE PPV in this blog sometime in 2008. I've been busy with some other writing in some other places, particularly a novel of some sort. I'm on my second one now, too, but I just had to write something about wrestling again because...well, i'm excited by it. Much of that is because of Orton. He's so friggin good to watch...aside from he's really hot too. Hehe.. Okay on with Backlash...

Something went wrong with my transmission and I couldn’t hear the announce table, intros, ring talk and winner announcements until the 6 Man Tag Match. Anybody got the same problem?

Anyway, let’s go through the matches.

Swagger vs. Christian – Cage wins. I thought it was about time. Although, I’m actually starting to like Swagger ever since he faced off with Cena on draft day. It’s funny they had the same idea to rip the cover off the turnbuckle. Another thing, I thought Christian might interfere in the Edge vs. Cena match, and turn heel. (I would be so happy if he did.) But, I didn’t really think there’s much chance in that.

Jericho vs. Steamboat – Once again the Dragon showed he’s got mad skills. It’s great seeing him in action. I was like in awe when he pulled himself up back in to the ring like how Shawn Michaels does it. How old is he again? Don’t know anyone that old that could do that.

Funny moment though, Jericho pulled him back up by the tights off of the “Walls”, and then he had trouble putting on the figure four. You think he forgot how to do it for a second? I don’t like how he lost though. Tapping out? No, no, no. That’s not right.

Kane vs. Punk – I don’t see any meaning to this aside from Kane taking revenge for losing in the MiTB match at WM. Or maybe there’s still more to come in a storyline between them, maybe for the briefcase or something. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Jeff vs. Matt I Quit Match – although this is exactly what I wanted to happen, Jeff not quitting, it came as a surprise. I mean with all the rumors flying around about him quitting I thought he was going to quit. I’m glad he didn’t.

He always answered with a resounding “No!” or “Forget it!” like he’s never ever gonna leave the WWE, when the ref asks him if he wants to say the magic words. They obviously know each other’s moves very well. I was thinking if Jeff doesn’t quit Matt might quit in frustration. LOL

Then Jeff used the electrical tape and some kind of rope to tie Matt up like a squealing pig. Matt starts apologizing, and even brought up their dead mom. What’s with the ref though? Isn’t the mic supposed to be used when one wants to say “I quit” and not beg for mercy?

Anyway, Jeff still jumped. And all is right again. So what’s with the news of him quitting? Just a decoy to throw us off their real plans?

6 Man Tag: Legacy vs. McMahon Boys and Batista – The Age of Orton finally resumes via a resounding punt to The Game’s head. Didn’t I say this is what should happen somewhere here? I think it was in a comment. It’s great too that it was Randy who got the pin. I didn’t want the other boys to get it for him coz they need to stick together a little bit longer.

Anyway, I have to talk about the bit with Orton airing his thoughts for Batista. Batista got OWNED!! Hell yeah! I’ve always said that this is what they should have had him do in the weeks coming to this PPV. Convince Batista to turn his back on HHH. Didn’t play much a factor in the match tonight, coz Dave didn’t turn.

Although he did sort of cause HHH to lose. Also I think this should end HHH and Orton’s feud for the meantime anyway. I would bet HHH would be sidelined for a while. I think if and when HHH returns after that punt to the head, he should start a feud with Dave, with HHH as the heel. Would be fun I think.

Cena vs. Edge – As expected, by some anyway, including myself, Edge gets the belt. SD has to have one right? But, by golly, that was an awesome match. When Cena FU’d…sorry, I mean, Attitude Adjusted Edge to the crowd I literally got on my feet. I wonder if the people who got hit were actually with the company or just really fans because they looked hurt.

The chase along the corridors was great ending in a bulldog on the equipment boxes. Then Edge DDT’d Cena to the steel stage – that’s wicked. But what’s more wicked was Big Show showing up and throwing Cena to the, what do you call it? Spotlight? Whatever. And it blows up! Cena had some shards of glass sticking on his back and got some cuts as well.

On a side note, I’m glad Punk didn’t cash in. He’d have done it twice on Edge if he did.

All in all it was a great show. I would even argue that it was way better than the 25^th Anniversary of Wrestlemania, save for the Michaels vs. Undertaker match.

Unified Tag Team Lumberjack Match- Really? I mean, really? Make it a darkmatch? Yeah, 'nuff said.

MiTB match was interesting, and yes Kofi was awesome. I 'm just thingking which title is he gonna come after if he won...he's no match for any of the champs right now. I'm not too happy with Punk winning either. Just coz i don't really like him. I don't dislike him, i just don't care about him. He doesn't have it for me. I would rather have Kane win. Anyway, it was good, lots of bone breaking stunts, and there were some where i thought it could've hurt them seriously, or some that made me say "that's gonna leave a mark." it's (3/5) for me

25-Diva Battle Royale - like i said in the other thread, was that really necessary? They didn't even introduce the divas properly. And when some got eliminated, the announcers didn't even say who. And the worst thing was Santino/a winning. I mean, c'mon, there were lots of really talented divas there like Victoria and Beth...and they just made fun of the whole thing by having Santino win? And why didn't Candice join? I like her.
(-2/5) i hated it. And yes, thank god, they didn't put Mae Young in the match.

Handicap Match - I was expecting the result, but not getting wowed by The Dragon. Who would've thought that the backstage guy was the one that's gonna make that worth watching? I enjoyed the part with him, not much the other legends. And Mickey Rourke wasn't bad either. (3.5/5)

Jeff vs. Matt - well...it was extreme, i'll give it that. but, i'm not happy with the result. I thought Jeff would have it, when he jumped on the double decker table...or when he jumped from the ladder (mid-air anyway, right before Matt got out of the way) I wanted Jeff to win, obviously. (4/5)

IC Match - JBL quit. So what? Didn't have a great build-up so i'm not that much interested or invested in anyway in this match. I just thought it was funny coz it was so quick. (2/5)

Taker vs. HBK - frankly i wanted HBK to win, but i can accept Taker winning. It was a great match - actually the best match of this PPV. Every close three counts made me more nervous. It was very exciting and entertaining. The people watching, including yours truly, were making loud noises every turn. (5/5)

WHC - I thought the same thing when his old music played. Too bad for us it didn't happen. i thought i was gonna like Cena again, but he blew it. LOL. Anyway, it was okay. I liked the part where Show and Edge crashed on to the security barrier. And yes, i saw that double "attitude adjustment" (god i hate that name) with Show's hands inside Cena's pants. LOL who would've thought? Big Show is a Big...(uh, can i say that word here? anyway) GAY. Actually I had my eyes closed for the first several minutes so i didn't really see much of this. (3/5)

WWE Championship - I was really dissappointed. I can't even begin to say. It was one sided, and it looked like HHH just handing out punishment. HHH punted, hammerred, punched repeatedly, and pedigreed orton..It's just a show of how dominant HHH. It didn't even come up to what i expected from all the build-up. Although, i gotta say I had a feeling HHH was gonna win the last few days...3 reasons: 1- It was the 25th anniversary,2- it was the last match, they weren't gonna let the fans go home with a heel winning the main event. 3 - The poster of Backlash features Orton so he'll win there instead. LOL . Hmm, i could go on all day about how disappointing this match is, but i would be ranting. So i'll end here. (3/5)

For the whole PPV...the only saving factor was the UT-HBK match, and Steamboats performance. Other than that, it sucked. Also, making the Unified Tag Team match a dark match was not fair. I feel robbed even though i didn't pay a cent. It's like that match Kane won last time for the number one contendership for the ECW title against Chavo.

All in all i'll give this WM 2.5/5  Yeah, ironic...WM25 got 2.5 on my books.

It took me a while, but yes, you read that right.  I don't hate Randy Orton anymore.  In fact, I like him a lot now.  I don't know when I started to like him...probably when he got injured by Triple H (which i like too).  I kinda missed him on the show...So i started to look for him..on the internet i mean.  You know, pictures, infos, and all that stuff...

And then he came back, better (and better looking) than before.  He's still a heel (that's the word for bad guy), but i am just drawn to this sort of new character he's trying to put out.  He doesn't do the arms outstreched standing on the corner buckle anymore, he just give that "yeah I'm great, i don't have to do anything to tell you that coz you know that already.  And yeah, i'm bad ass too!" with his eyes which kind make you wonder what evil thing he has going on in that head of his is.  And he damn well looks hot doing it too!

*sigh* okay, time to be really honest.  I just can't help it.  I'm drawn to this guy.  I suppose I really like the bad guy thing going on...no, check that --the good looking bad guy thing going on.  I mean, he's just hott!  If you've been to my website, i've added him to "My All-time Favorites" list already.

I just can't get over how hot he is right now...wrestling career wise and physically  I mean i don't like tattoos personally...but his new sleeves just rally adds to his sex appeal.  I mean even guys find him sexy...well they didn't use that word.  They said "He's really good looking."  and they talked about his skin tone as miraculous... "bronze" they said and talked about his features and all.  I say it was defo a man-crush they have on him if i ever heard one.  And I can't really blame them...Orton is hot as hell!

But aside from that, i find he's actually a nice guy.  Not goody two shoes kind nice, but he's frank and open and honest and nice and sweet (sometimes).  It is just a persona he puts on on the tv, and he wants you to hate him that's why he acts so mean.

But i got past that, so now i really, really like him.  He's hot.  LOL, how many times have i said that already?  Like i told someone...i just really like his pecs, his abs, his legs, his long lean mascular..............................arms.  Damn.  He's truly beyond good and evil to me.

Last Saturday, August 30, my dad went jogging around the Rizal Park, in Aurora Blvd.  But to get there, he walks all the way from our home.  He always passes by the Manila Cathedral.  But that Saturday he saw that the trees around the church have been cut off.  He thought perhaps the church’s admin has decided to cut the trees off, 27 trees in total.  He thought perhaps that the church has decided on this because the trees have served as some sort of hang-out place for the snatchers, street kids and the like.

But, then that Sunday, he read in the papers the real reason.  He told me about it and made me read the paper.  So, I did, and now, here I am writing this piece.

Apparently the Intramuros Administration is the one who commissioned the cutting of the trees.  According to published reports, the Intramuros Administration wanted to “redevelop” the area.  This sounds like a perfectly good reason, and a perfectly noble thing to do.  The only thing they, along with the contractors, did wrong was to not adhere to the prescribed in the permit issued to them by the DENR.

The DENR gave them a “Tree Cutting and Balling Permit”.  This permit explicitly states that they are prohibited to cut Narra trees, which should be balled, meaning that they should have dug the ground around the tree and lifted the whole tree up including the roots, soil and all, and transfer that to another location inside Intramuros.  There’s also mention of having to issue a notice to the public and to the baranggay council about the tree cutting, and informing the DENR when the cutting would happen so they send experts to assist and provide technical advice on the procedures.

All these conditions were not met.  Aside from cutting the trees only from the trunk, the administration did not issue any notices, nor notified the DENR about the schedule of the cutting.

According to the DENR region director, Corazon Davis, there’s a law, PD 903, which entails penalties and prescribes imprisonment for damaging or cutting of trees, and also added that “appropriate charges will be filed against those who violated the law.”