Mass Tree Cutting on Quirino Ave: An Act of Ecological Violence
By Bishop Gerardo A. Alminaza, D.D. President, Caritas Philippines
The mass cutting of decades-old trees along Quirino Avenue is an act of ecological violence against the people of Manila, a direct assault on the poor who have been enduring the daily penance of extreme heat, poisoned air, and sudden floods. This act is not simply a technical or bureaucratic detail.
For generations, the trees of Quirino Avenue stood as silent protectors and as the lungs of this community—offering shade to commuters standing under a scorching sun, providing shelter to exhausted workers waiting for a ride home, and giving breathing space to families increasingly choked by concrete and exhaust. Now, these trees are being reduced to bleeding stumps to make way for another expressway under the disguise of “progress,” thereby flattening our urban environment and once again, asking the poor to pay the highest price. Why must “development” always demand the sacrifice of the vulnerable? Why are our cities designed for vehicles and concrete instead of for children, workers, pedestrians, and the elderly?
We refuse to hide this injustice behind bureaucratic language. What is legal on paper is not automatically moral in the eyes of God.
In Laudato Si’, Pope Francis warns against a cruel “throwaway culture” that treats both nature and vulnerable people as expendable collaterals for corporate expansion. This is not stewardship. This is environmental injustice. The climate crisis is a present, urgent and unquestionable reality. In Manila, every mature tree destroyed is a moral failure. It is a wound inflicted on our common home.
As the Church, we stand firmly against every form of development that destroys creation and deepens the suffering of the people. Caritas Philippines will not remain silent while our sanctuary is dismantled piece by piece. We call on our public authorities and contractors to halt this destructive tree-cutting immediately, to review these infrastructure projects through the lens of ecological justice, and to listen consistently to the communities who rely on these trees for survival.
We call on the faithful to stand with us. Demand to keep and defend the remaining green spaces of our cities. Demand accountability from our leaders. Demand a development that gives life, rather than one that leaves us in the shadows of stumps.
