NATURAL environmental enhancement and protection for Bohol people’s welfare went further after provincial Board Members Dionisio Joseph Balite and Dr. Mutya Kismet Tirol proposed for each municipality to establish tree parks, but Tirol preferred to call this as “Wellness Park.”
“Wellness Parks are more than just spaces filled with trees. They are sanctuaries for both body and mind. They are venues for exercise, fresh air, mental respite, and community bonding. In a time when mental health challenges are growing and lifestyle diseases are on the rise, such spaces are not a luxury, they are a necessity,” Tirol said in her privilege speech in session last September 16, 2025.
She described the tree “Parks are preventive medicine. They reduce stress, encourage active lifestyles, and promote social interaction. Studies have consistently shown that access to green and open spaces leads to lower rates of depression, stronger community ties, and healthier citizens.”
What Tirol was talking about as a physician, saying “I know that health cannot be confined to hospitals and clinics. True health thrives in the environments where people live, move, and connect.”
Balite was amenable of a “Wellness Park” as amendment to his earlier proposed legislative measure requesting, if not requiring, municipalities to put up tree park in its territorial jurisdiction.
Buenavista Mayor and former LMP-Bohol president Atty. Dave Duallo said he is in favor of the proposal. But he said that Buenavista has already timberland which they have protected and which they may considered as tree park.
Tirol urged her colleagues to invest, not only infrastructure but also spaces that nurture the human spirit.
“Let us not simply plant trees. Let us plant hope, health, and healing in every municipality of our province,” she said.
Cebu Governor Pamela Baricuatro reportedly signed an executive order for the same purpose after learning that newly-installed Cebu Archbishop Alberto S. Uy has been calling for such tree parks. She signed the executive fiat during the canonical installment of the prelate in Cebu City. (Ric Obedencio)
