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Monday, April 21, 2003
CPLA tasked to preserve terraces, says GMA
President Arroyo said Saturday members of the Cordillera People's Liberation Army, the armed group of the former rebellion movement in the region that has been integrated into the Armed Forces of the Philippines, will be tasked to preserve and maintain the Banaue Rice Terraces and the way of life there.
The President said many of the CPLA members are Cordillerans "and they know the Rice Terraces technology."
"So, aside from taking care of the peace and order there, they would also be doing the restoration work as part of their military service. We hope that will perpetuate the rice terraces," the President in a press conference at the Mansion Guesthouse.
The President further noted the importance of maintaining the old way of rice planting in the rice terraces, which is still very labor-intensive.
"If we look at the rice terraces only as a rice producing activity, many would move away and move to the lowlands and work in other jobs, that's why we have to encourage the culture, we have to consciously make it as a way of maintaining a cultural heritage," she said.
The President, who visited the terraces anew last Maundy Thursday, noted that she brought along House Speaker Jose de Venecia, Jr. and his wife Gina to appreciate the wonder not just as tourist but as Filipinos who are part of that heritage.
"I didn't just bring them there to the area where everybody takes a photograph. I brought them there for one hour and a half through the rice terraces, driving through it," she said.
The President further noted that the Speaker and his wife remarked that the Rice Terraces was "such an awesome experience (that) it was like going to the Angkor Wat or to Tibet -- seeing your own heritage that way."
"I wish many of the young people would be able to see the Rice Terraces," she added.
The President said she is happy that many young Filipinos and foreigners as well are now appreciating the terraces more and more.
"There were some who just went to have their photographs taken and they were disappointed because the Rice Terraces is not just one terrace. It's 4,000 hectares," she said.
The President said she hopes that with the assignment of the CPLA there, "we have a sure way of preserving that culture and that heritage."
"Aside from, of course, letting our young people always be proud of it, making them maintain it not because it's farming but because it's preserving a culture," she said.
Meanwhile, the President disclosed that she has been chosen by the Department of Tourism to grace the poster promoting the tourist destinations of Baguio City, Benguet and the Cordilleras.
"This is because I'm the No. 1 tourist here," she said.
The President has been making Baguio City a retreat during holidays. She also regularly visits the Banaue Rice Terraces every chance she gets.
During the Holy Week, the President happily noted that Baguio City has been 100 percent fully-booked by local and foreign tourist. Sunnex Luzon
(April 21, 2003 issue)
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