Thursday, March 28, 2019
Friday, March 22, 2019
Happy Gagayam festival, Sabangan
Sabangan with
its Gagayam festival coincides with the annual fiesta in honor of the town’s
patron Saint Joseph the Worker. Gagayam as the word connotes refers to a coming
together of friends, of neighbors, of clans, of families, of the members of the
community to enjoy the camaraderie and belonging to each other. So the festival
theme “Sinang -adum ay dinatngan, wanden ta sumyaan” is much emphasized in the
Gagayam festival come March 27-30 this year that the people of Sabangan with neighbors
and friends come together to celebrate the event and a culture that cements
each other for progress, sustainable livelihood and unity.
For one, Sabangan abounds with coffee Arabica and bananas. From its
natural form need processing and packaging when these come in large volumes.
Further technical and capital aid to support peoples’ initiatives and effort is
needed to market quality products. A support that people, community-based
organizations, institutions, and government can collaboratively give.
Sunday, March 17, 2019
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Bauko's Begnas Fest urge more support on agri-industry
The Begnas
Festival of Bauko is celebrated every 2nd week of March.
This year, the Begnas Festival shall be held from March 14-16, 2019 with its theme,”
“Bauko: home of talents and opportunities” participated in by its 22 barangays
and guests.
Bauko
is the vegetable basket of Mountain Province located near the vegetable growing
town of Buguias, Benguet that supplies 70% of veggies in other places of the country
especially the national capital region. Bauko produces carrots, cabbage, sweet
peas and other highland vegetables in big volumes. When the demand is high, vegetable prices drop low leading to the non-compensation of the cost of
production and effort of the farmer. Some farmers would even throw their produce because it would incur more cost in bringing these to market. Agricultural productivity
remains a big challenge with the persistence of organic farming to bring back
the fertility of the soil and investment returns of the farmer.
Processing
equipment is equally much needed. Equipment to make carrots and potatoes into chips
remains a continuing need. Much still remains to be done so as to make more vegetable
chips and other by products of vegetables. Must be that the guest speakers of
the event- the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) regional director Nancy
Bantog and the Department of Agriculture Regional Director Dr Cameron Odsey-
shall give attention to Bauko’s agri-industrial needs.
Begnas
is a community celebration of thanksgiving or community ritual to call for prolific
production of crops, health and longevity.
Congratulations Bauko!
Monday, March 11, 2019
Preventing forest fires through barangay-based systems
Aguid, Sagada |
March is National Fire
Prevention Month. Must be that March is
a time when mountain fires are at their alarming occurrence that its fire
prevention month. March is also now a time when El Nino with its dry spell is
at its most threatening. Water is getting scarcer. And with these twin
disasters going on, prevention is a need.
Weather
is hot and pine needles are crackling much ready to get burned at the slightest
threat of a match stick or a smoking cigarette.
In Mountain
Province, hectares and hectares of mountain sites were already burned in
Sagada, Bauko, Tadian and Bontoc to add to fires in Itogon.
More
than 140,000 hectares of forest in different locations in the Cordillera have
been burned the past three months.
Trees
got burned, Plants scorched. And so with insects and animals not fast enough to
run, they died. Water tubes got burned. Water source is threatened. People died
too as noted in mountain fires at Itogon and Tadian. Houses located in mountainous areas are threatened of getting burned. Biodiversity
is threatened. Mountains look brown, scorched black and dead.
In 2016
only, the Bureau of Fire Protection-Cordillera region recorded 178 forest fire
incidents that damaged some 6,100 hectares of forest reservations. This meant
the destruction of bio diversity and the loss of water. What more in the
present.
Watersheds
cradle the very source of water. Mountains are sources of livelihood, of fuel,
of food. Mountains fan fresh breeze to a community. Mountains make life
bearable.
Mountains
hold water and slowly emit these for drinking water, for domestic water. Mountains
hold the springs, the location of water falls.
Mountains
are sources of livelihood. Mountains are the very site for trekking and tourism.
Forests are sources of rattan and trees for furniture and cottage industries. Mountains
are sourced for timber for fuel for housing and rituals.Coffee trees too are found in mountains.
There
is a need to prevent the occurrence of mountain fires through the establishment
of barangay-based anti-fire brigades.
Barangay-based
systems are necessary with the support of local government and government agencies which have the
resources. Backed with the involvement of people with their individual participation,
sectoral based organizations and the local government in the community it’s
very possible to prevent mountain fires,
Forest fires can be prevented in the making of fire breaks, clearing
of mountains some months before February hits the year. And to include advocacy
through education in formal and informal venues. It is also very necessary that municipalities and barangays most especially have their own ordinances in the prevention of forest fires and the nurture of the mountains.
Involved
people, availability of resources, advocacy, and a system is necessary.
Resources means availability
of digging and cleaning tools to make fire breaks, Bantay Gubat rangers are
employed. Anti-fire gears are available including fire trucks. To include resources in the conduct of advocacy on the protection and nurture of mountains in schools, sectoral organizations, churches, government institutions,barangays with the support of the media.
Where
the cultural practice of people in going out to put out forest fires is not present
anymore due to already complicated reasons, the attitude to nurture mountains
needs to be regained in each and every person in the community.
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