In the second part of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings (The Two Towers), an Ent (a race of people that resembles trees), spoke thus: “Hoom, hum, I have not troubled about the Great Wars . . . they mostly concern Elves and Men. That is the business of Wizards: Wizards are always troubled about the future. I do not like worrying about the future. I am not altogether on anybody’s side, because nobody is altogether on my side, if you understand me: nobody cares for the woods as I care for them, not even Elves nowadays.”

There’s an ongoing battle between SM Baguio and those who oppose the plan to move pine trees from the site of the proposed mall expansion area. In our informal poll [see Agree to cut/replant Baguio pine trees and other trees for SM Baguio expansion?], 97% said no to the move of SM.

Something struck me while looking at the hillside populated by pine trees, standing at the commissary below The Mansion. The view: a group of trees leaning against the traffic and human intrusion, with a sign on a one-way road that says “No Entry”. Here:

It’s like a war between humans and trees in Middle Earth. The same battle involving pine trees will be waged by other people in the future. It will not end until the pine trees are gone. Or when humans are gone.