The cry of Minalungao

You cemented my limestone, throw garbage everywhere, and build concrete structure on my facade, you ruined my natural beauty. I am crying for help.

Limestone were cemented. Photo by thelostkids.ph

Few years back, I am a natural beauty. I provide breath taking view of Penaranda River bordered by towering limestone walls on both sides. But what did you do? You cemented my limestone to create stairs going to another part of me. You don’t know how million years before my limestone were formed. You hurt me and left me crying. 

 I am a 2,018-hectare protected landscape located in General Tinio, Nueva Ecija. The local government considers me as one of the few remaining natural environments in Central Luzon. You promise to preserve my natural beauty and to protect me from exploitation on 1967, and then you called me Minalungao National Park. What happen after then? Can’t you see I’m dying?

My visitors throw garbage on me. Swim on my body of water so you can see. Walk on my dead limestone to see that awful garbage everywhere. Come climb on my towering mountain. Can you see what I am saying? In your every step, you see garbage, but you don’t care. And today you are building hotels that further ruined me. My child, I don’t know if I can ever recover soon. I am nearly dead.

Let your drone fly to see my aerial view. Is those “development” added beauty? No my child. I am better without them.

I am begging. Save me. Don’t leave me helplessly. I am better years back. Stop exploiting me. I am Minalungao, I am crying and feeling sorry for myself. 

I wrote this article as a requirement for my Structure of English class. I reported the Basic Structure of the Paragraph and at the end of my report, Dr. Angel Pangilinan of NEUST-Graduate School asked me to write a paragraph about Minalungao. That's why this article is very short as it compose the topic sentence, supporting sentence and the concluding sentence. 

          At first, I think that I have to promote the Minalungao but out of love, I came out with this short paragraph hoping that my "kababayan" in Papaya (Gen.Tinio, Nueva Ecija) realize what we are about to lose. This is not the kind of development that I will be proud of. This place is far better before, I hope our leaders realize that. Let us save Minalungao.