Liporada: Eco-walk advocates vow to protect Busol amid claim controversy

TWO groups of Eco-walk advocates last week vowed to protect the Busol Forest Reservation area declaring they will go back regularly to ensure the seedlings they planted mature for the enjoyment of generations to come.

Bonat de Ibangnen (BDI), an organization of families tracing lineage from the barrio of Bagnen, Bauko, Mt. Province promised to make regular visits to Busol a part of their regular activities.

Post your reaction to the Manila hostage crisis

Despite bad weather, August 28, about 50-Bonat family heads marked their green area by planting 'ipil' and 'calliandra' seedlings.

Bonat president Paul Cambod said, "We are aware the watershed is now subject of so many claims, which controversy is now up for the courts to settle."

He added, "We are here because we believe Busol is not for the few... it is for every citizen and conscious being dependent on it for water; and with whom, the trees depend upon for protection."

"Simply," he said, "Protecting Busol is part of our inter-generational responsibility."

BDI boasts of almost 700-family heads in strength.

The City Legal Office (CLO), September 3, filed motion for reconsideration (MR) hoping to reverse a Court of Appeals (CA) decision upholding the National Commission of Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) power to issue Temporary Restraining Orders (TRO) against the City Government.

The TROs were issued by NCIP against the city preventing implementation of demolition orders against claimants of parcels of land situated at Busol Watershed which is subject of the original City Government petition in the CA.

Not to be outdone meanwhile are the high school kids from Guisad Valley National High School (formerly Pines City National High - Bonifacio Annex).

Teaching staff Dave Fiangan led 20-kids in revisiting their muyong at Busol despite gloomy skies, August 30.

The area adopted by the school was established in 2007.

For his team however, the issue is not with NCIP but a government agency which decided to encroach upon their planting area.

A massive tree planting activity was launched by government agencies recently. Despite claims of success, it has led to feelings of frustration to kids who regularly maintain their planting areas - their 'muyongs'.

Eco-walk is a simple experiential environmental learning process for, by and with children.

Kids are the key players because they are the most vital resource of a community who represent and are its future. They will be affected the most by the environment they will inherit and will have to eventually manage.

The Eco-walk concept borrows from the traditional forest management practices of the indigenous peoples of the Cordillera and other parts of the world.
It was inspired by the "muyong" or "pinugo" forest system of the Ifugaos that sustain year-round irrigation for the world-famous Banaue Rice Terraces, the parallel "tayan", "lakun" and "batangan" systems of Mt. Province and the more comprehensive "lapat" of the Apayao and Itneg tribes of the highlands of Northern Philippines.