The Green Town

Sunday, July 17, 2011

ARCHITECT Edmund Viacrucis (the man who designed Davao People’s Park) originally came from the town. Mount Everest team physician Teofredo Esguerra comes to the place every now and then. Singer Jojo Adlawan (of London's Miss Saigon distinction) honed his singing skills during school programs. Atty. Israelito Torreon remembered well his growing up years in the municipality.

They may have moved in different locations now and have etched a name for themselves in the new places they are living in, but all of them spent their formative years in a small town called Bansalan in the province of Davao del Sur.

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From its humble beginning, the town has been recently classified as a first class municipality by the Department of Finance. This means that its income level exceeds 50 million pesos annually.

"Our hard work has finally paid off,” said Mayor Edwin G. Reyes in an interview. A businessman before he became the town’s head, he has been dreaming of making Bansalan as one of Davao de Sur’s business centers and tourist destinations.

“With the audacity of courage, utmost perseverance and industry, we have carved the way from humble beginning to a progressive town," said Mayor Reyes in his message during the town anniversary last year. "Today, our municipality is facing a brighter horizon."

With fertile clay loam soil, good irrigation systems, and excellent climate condition, Bansalan is basically an agricultural municipality. Due to its organic farming practices, it is dubbed as the province’s green town.

For one, Bansalan is the birthplace of the internationally-famous sustainable farming system called Sloping Agricultural Land Technology (SALT).

Basically, Salt is a method of growing crops (both field and permanent) between contoured rows of nitrogen fixing trees and shrubs (NFTS).

The NFTS are planted densely in double rows to make hedgerows that serve as erosion barriers. When the NFTS are 1.5 to two meters tall, they are cut back to about 40 centimeters and the tops are placed in the 3-5 meter alleys where crops are growing. The leaves of NFTS make very good nitrogen-rich fertilizer and also add organic matter to the soil.

Salt is developed by the Mindanao Baptist Rural Life Center (MBRLC), a non-government organization some 10 kilometers away from the town proper. MBRLC is cited by the Department of Tourism as one of the town’s tourist destinations.

“A Disneyland of agricultural lovers,” “Davao del Sur’s goat center,” and “a haven of farming technologies” – these are just some of the accolades given to the center, which was founded by Harold R. Watson, an American agriculturist who received the much coveted 1995 Ramon Magsaysay Award for peace and international understanding.

Another organic farming enthusiast is Benjamin R. Lao, owner of Lao Integrated Farm. In his farm, you won’t see his farm workers using chemical pesticides. “I had a tragic experience with chemical pesticides when I was still a teenager while cultivating rice in our farm located at the neighboring barangay,” he revealed.

Instead, he recommends using Eman, which stands for “epektibo, mura, at natural” (effective, cheap, and natural). “This is a concoction composed of fresh goats’ manure, kakawate, makabuhay, and hot pepper,” he informed. “These are soaked together for 48 hours and after that the concoction is ready for application.”

Aside from agricultural crops, he raises goats for milk production and utilizes the manure as organic fertilizer. Biogas from his piggery is used to pasteurize and process fresh and chocolate milk, coco sap drink, and coco honey and coco sugar. The latter two products have been approved by the Bureau of Food and Drug for commercial distribution.

During Sundays, the public market of Bansalan is flooded with fresh vegetable crops, most of them grown from Balutakay. A sitio of Managa, it is a conducive place for growing cabbage, carrots, cauliflowers, onions, tomatoes, and sweet peppers.

On the way to Balutakay, you can take a bath at Mainit Hot Spring in sitio Bagong Silang or take a closer look the Angel Falls. Both are not yet fully developed and the local government is thinking of developing them into eco-tourism spots.

Bansalan comes alive during its anniversary commemoration every September 18. People from all walks of life celebrate Bansaulog (from the words “Bansalan” and “saulog,” the Visayan term for celebration). The celebration culminates with a street dancing, which is participated by several schools, both elementary and high school.

There are two more events celebrated by Bansaleños, mostly religious in origin. Every 15th day of January, the municipality observes the Sinulog Sa Bansalan headed by the mayor himself. The town fiesta is celebrated every 8th, in remembrance of the Immaculate Concepcion.