(Last week, a vloggers/ bloggers group from Manila came to Baguio, visited Herald Express Daily Laborer and requested that they stick with Daily Laborer’s daily foraging of events for them to acquire informational events in Cordillera for their blogs, events usually taken for granted and of no interest by beat reporters or broadcasters; but these events, written in style, becomes a public-at-large interest. Daily Laborer granted their request. Below are two issues Daily Laborer covered, which the vloggers learned about.)
LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Balili River painfully cries in silence as it continues the path of death throes.
Fortunately, groups of concerned government and private people are not about to give up and are fighting death’s clutches on the river.
A consortium of government and private-led effort to do the “Lazarus act” on the severely polluted Balili River could place the local struggle against environmental pollution on rivers in the region on the fast track, and hopefully prevent future Cordilleran generations from inheriting a water source with a hopelessly ruined ecology.
Defining the stake involved in the endeavor are regional government officials, local government officials, Philippine National Police (PNP), other regional agencies, LGUs, the academe, students, interested community members and partners in La Trinidad and Baguio’s private sector.
All are helping push the project which aims to bring back to the life the 62.7 kilometers river traversing the city of Baguio, La Trinidad and Sablan, Benguet before going down to La Union.
Like most urban rivers, Balili River had suffered from heavy pollution, act committed by humans, particularly indiscriminate waste disposal. The excessive pollution is blamed mostly on the densely populated city of Baguio.
In the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR-CAR) Pollution Report in 2003, Balili was tagged by savants as “biologically dead” river among the 94 Philippine principal river basins.
Balili River earned the bad moniker “Toilet bowl of Baguio City.” The tagging, unfortunately stuck. But it has also galvanized a concerted effort to strike out the tagging and return Balili River to its pristine past.
If Balili River is brought back to Class A through sustained rehabilitation for revival, it can be utilized for public water supply.
However, as of now, Balili River remains classified by DENR-CAR as Class C, ideal only for agricultural or industrial use. As of now residents living along the banks of Balili River really do not give a damn if the river is polluted more.
These concerned citizens add that success of their endeavor would put in motion similar efforts in behalf of other river systems in the Philippines which are also in a state of deterioration due to severe pollution.
Aside from Balili River, one good example they cited was the Agno River which they say is “in a state of dying.”
While it feeds three dams – San Roque, Ambuklao and Binga dams – toxic pesticides used in agriculture find their way to the river. Fortunately, use of cyanide and mercury in pocket mining which previously were dumped into Agno river was restricted by DENR-CAR, the citizens explained.
International Mother Earth Day is being given recognition every April 22 and also brings to the fore past surveys that the death of Balili River was caused by years of neglect and official indifference to the negative effects of industrialization and urbanization in Baguio and La Trinidad.
“The terrible pollution of Balili River is obvious by its waters’ foul odor and murky color. Biological degeneration has virtually wiped out marine life which in previous years provided riverbank dwellers a source of livelihood,” explained Rowena Lagaza, a resident of La Trinidad who joined the clean-up consortium.
According to the groups involved, less than 100% participation of ordinary citizens in environmental enhancement of Balili River will not allow success in the endeavor, given its present state.
The ideal is for every Baguio and La Trinidad residents (particularly along the river bank) to realize that they must be militant to any threats to their environment whether on land, water or air. For what is at stake is the socio-economic well-being of Baguio and Benguet, not to exclude other areas where Balili Rivers traverses.
Igorots Now Use Cows in Religious Rituals
La Trinidad, Benguet – There are no sacred cows in this province – literally, that is.
In most Benguet’s 13 municipalities, residents now use cows instead of carabaos as sacrificial animals in traditional rituals like tribal weddings and “canaos.”
These are accompanied by pigs as offering in thanksgiving rituals, tribal community celebration and to appease spirits of dead relatives.
Such perceptible shift from carabao to cow as sacrificial animal is partly due to the high cost of the Philippine water buffalo, called “nuang” in the Cordilleran and lowland dialect.
Community leaders who spoke about the matter with Daily Laborer and vloggers who accompanied him were inclined to believe it is the effect of a presidential directive raising the age limit of carabaos allowed to be butchered to seven years or over for male and 11 years or over for the female.
Executive Order No. 626 signed by former Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos states the slaughtering of carabaos under conditions of (1.) “Only carabaos and buffaloes that are seven years old or over. If female, maybe slaughtered upon issuance of the necessary slaughter permit by the authorities concerned.”
(2.) “No slaughter permit shall be issued without a certificate by the Provincial or City Veterinarian concerned, or their authorized representatives, to the effect that the carabao or buffalo to be slaughtered is of the required age and free from any disease.”
Executive Order No. 626 amended Executive Order No. 234 which previously allowed slaughter of carabaos that are three years old or over, explained tribal leaders who talked with Daily Laborer.
Government agriculturists expressed that the order is necessary because of high cost of energy consumption in the countryside that has made carabaos indispensable to small farmers as work animals.
With high cost of fuel, many farmers in the Philippines have to rely on the animals rather than on machines in tilling their lands, the agriculturists explained.
Traditional rites, with the advice of tribal elders in this upland province dictates how many carabaos will be slaughtered in one festivity or occasion.
At present, financially well-off Cordillerans can afford to buy carabaos for occasions. The high cost of a carabao, as well as time and effort needed to secure the necessary permits, has prompted more and more highlanders to use cows for religious and social events.
There are those in the agriculture sector suggesting a way to enable Igorots to continue using carabaos for their rituals — as dictated by tradition.
They propose a carabao breeding program in Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), similar to the cow breeding program being implemented by Department of Agriculture (DA-CAR) at its Baguio Dairy Farm situated in Tuba, Benguet. If implemented, in the long run, it could meet the demands on the use of the carabao, either for tradition, food or producers of milk.
In a similar development, agriculturists from Benguet State University (BSU) are encouraging livestock producers in Benguet to also adopt the so-called “feedlot fattening techniques” in raising either cattle or carabaos, or both.
They explained the technique produce not only high quality animals but also prevent occurrence of forest fires in Benguet’s forests and along the Agno River Basin.
The BSU savants and other residents have blamed cattle raisers or fires which have destroyed Benguet vegetation. They alleged that livestock raisers have often been seen deliberately and indiscriminately setting fires to portions of forests to encourage growth of grasses which the cattle can later feed on.
Livestock raisers in Benguet and in all parts in CAR normally and traditionally allow their animals to roam freely and forage for food.
In the case of feedlot fattening, it requires raisers to keep their animals in an enclosure. Raisers then gather the grasses from the forest for the animals to feed on, aside from giving them high-protein meal supplements. It allows enclosed animals being freed from stress searching for food as they are given their needs.
This scheme further reduces damage to CAR vegetation as cattle and carabao won’t have to constantly move around, in the process trodding on small plants, to find a place for grazing.
Experts said the feedlot fattening technique not only provides farmers with extra income as the tend to both farm and animals but gives them year-round work. It allows the full use of farm by-products.
For example, not all parts of fruits and vegetables are consumed by the buying public. In the case of vegetables, like cabbage, pechay and others farmers have to peel off parts of these, the refuse called locally as “ubbak,” before these are sold at the market These ubbak, left in tons on the fields, can be used for cattle and carabao food. These are cheap abundant farm products for the four-footed animals.
Many Cattle and carabao raisers in provinces like Pangasinan, parts in Ilocos Sur and Norte, Nueva Viscaya and Nueva Ecija, Tarlac and Batangas have transitioned by adopting the technique, the experts noted. They added that feedlot fattening technique results in better quality beef or cara-beef.
