By Pigeon M Lobien
A painting of tall pine trees from a worm’s eye view wowed judges Wednesday afternoon that netted Aliyah Mapa of Dona Aurora High School the top prize in the Watershade of Green exo-art project of the Sin-Agi and Baguio Educators Arts Guild to commemorate the 35th July 16, 1990 earthquake.
Some 47 students from DAHS, the Dona Aurora Elementary School and Dona Nicasia Elementary School planted trees, recited the oath as forest guardian underwent painting lessons and painted to their heart’s delight.
Mapa shyly joined councilor Leandro Yangot, Jr. after her name was called declaring her work as the best in the traditional painting where acrylic paint and canvas were used.
The six trees viewed exactly at the middle from trunk to top where they try to meet the skies and apparently calling for rain captured the fancy of the judges led by Mark Vincent Pasagoy of the Baguio Water District.
It rained right after lunch until the end of award at 3PM like an answered prayer of Mapa’s six trees. Two of her younger fellow artists from the DAES, where she graduated from and learned painting, took second and third places in the day long activity spearheaded by Yangot, who recalled the early years of the award winning Eco-walk when as a barangay chair and president of the Association of Barangay Councils helped the late mediaman Ramon Dacawi.
Lexie Janell Monces and Gwyn Alysa Sutano were adjudged second and third places, respectively. Meanwhile, Leslee Chommawin topped the recycled category.
The event backed by the BWD, the Benguiet Electric Cooperative, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Cordillera and the Baguio City Police Office also celebrated the 50 years of the BWD which has the “daunting task of supplying water to a city built for 30,000 people but now houses nearly 40,000” the Yanot-led Sin-Agi.
Yangot declared that the same event will be staged in the three other watersheds under the stewardship of the BWD namely, Buyog, Camp 8 and Mount Santo Tomas with the nearby schools as participants.
“We will do the same activities at the three other BWD supervised watersheds,” said Yangot, who likewise said that the winning works plus some of the better works to be featured in an exhibit. “We will have those framed and put in an exhibit,” said Yangot. Eco-walk was started right after the 1990 killer earthquake that killed hundreds Baguio residents, cut Baguio from the rest of the country and disrupted lives of locals.
The ABC through the Timpuyog ti Iit, the BWD, which manages the Busol, the Beneco and the DENR became partners that in 1995, it won the Galing Pook award from Malacanang.
The P100,000 prize money was used to put up the shed where lectures on planting trees are now held and later same people take the oat as forest warriors.
Last year, the Baguio Correspondents and Broadcasters Club resumed its role as leader in promoting the eco-walk with the revival of the program. In June 20 last year, the BCBC celebrated its 60th year as a club by hosting the same and pledging to stage it annually.
The BCBC did its own anew last June 21 with the promise to stage same during its anniversary.
