Building the future, one seedling at a time

Locals of Infanta and Real, Quezon count the seedling pouches used by the PLDT and PBSP employee volunteers.

It was in the dawn of November 29, 2004 when flash floods and landslides woke up the sleeping people of Infanta, Quezon and nearby towns, after hours of continuous rains brought by Tropical Cyclone Winnie.

The large volume of water that flowed from Sierra Madre caused the river channels to rise, and softened some parts of the mountain which resulted into a collapse, burying hundreds of people alive.

Rex Gamara, a resident of Infanta, vividly recalled what happened during that fateful day.

“Hindi lang tubig pati putik saka ‘yung mga puno ang bumuhos galing sa bundok,” (Not only water, but the mud and the logs also came rushing down the mountain.),” he said.

Gamara and his family were already standing at the roof of their house but the floodwaters continued to rise to their knees. They thought it was already the end of the world.

“Talagang muntik na kaming mamatay, lahat nawala sa amin,” (We almost died, we lost everything.),” he added.

After a few days, the situation worsened when Typhoon Yoyong, battered the province which triggered another set of flashfloods.

ILLEGAL LOGGING

The trees which could have held the floodwaters were cut down due to the massive logging – the primary source of livelihood at that time. Deforestation and “kaingin system” were prevalent in Infanta and other nearby towns.

According to Gamara, Infanta, Real and General Nakkar had logging concessions in the 1950s and 1960s. When the big companies left, residents still opted to work for small time loggers while others do it for charcoal production.

“Hindi naman kaila na ang area ng Infanta Quezon, ng Real, and even General Nakkar Quezon, itong part ng Sierra Madre, nagkaroon ng mga logging concession. So nung umalis na ‘yung mga malalaking kumpanya, ‘yung mga naiwan dito akala nila okay lang magkahoy at magputol,” (It was common knowledge at that time that some areas of Infanta, Real and even General Nakkar, a part of Sierra Madre, had logging concessions. So when the big companies left, people thought it was okay to cut trees),” he said.

Flashfloods and landslides buried the town in deep mud and killed almost 900 people. In Infanta, the damage to its agriculture was worth Php103.3 million while 4,266 houses were destroyed.

RISING FROM THE MUD

Gamara said they took advantage of every help they can get from the government, NGOs, and private corporations. One of the very first private companies that responded was Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Company. They provided relief operations and medical missions in the affected areas.

PLDT Community Relations Head Evelyn del Rosario couldn’t forget the place when they first arrived after the typhoon. “This place was devastated. This was a ghost town before. We came here during the time when we still smell dead people where bodies are still lying by the sea shore in between logs  ,” she said.

PLDT distributed relief goods, and held activities that helped survivors ease the pain and trauma from the tragic incident that almost took their lives.

“We ate with them, chatted with them. We had a program where they sang and danced,” she said.

But Del Rosario knew that this kind of assistance wouldn’t solve the real problem of the community – how to restore the natural beauty of the town.

THE REHABILITATION PLAN

In 2008, PLDT, in cooperation with the local government of Infanta and Real, Quezon and Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), initiated a rehabilitation plan to bring back the lush greens in the Infanta-Real Watershed Forest Reserve, one of the areas affected by the landslide.

The PLDT TelePuno project is a five-year rehabilitation plan to regenerate the natural biodiversity of Infanta-Real Watershed Forest Reserve. This year, the project reached its culmination with 80,000 seedlings planted in 80 hectares of land of the watershed.

Every year, PLDT employees volunteered to plant a number of seedlings, in a bid to accomplish the total targeted number by this year, the end of its 5th year program.

“In the first three years of the project, we were able to hit our projected number of trees that were planted with the help of the PLDT employee-volunteers,” Del Rosario said.

Every year, PLDT employees volunteered to plant a number of seedlings, in a bid to accomplish the total targeted number by this year, the end of its 5th year program.

“In the first three years of the project, we were able to hit our projected number of trees that were planted with the help of the PLDT employee-volunteers. Notwithstanding the high elevation and the muddy challenging trek, the volunteers managed to climb it. Our volunteers also had a good relationship with the farmers. They’re like a family. The farmers were even sad when we had our last planting but they are really grateful for PLDT’s help and promise to take care of what we planted.” Del Rosario said.

THE CONVERTS

Planting 80,000 seedlings was a daunting task but the more challenging part was how to make it sustainable, especially with the majority of the residents relying on illegal logging as a source of livelihood back then.

Aside from reforestation, PLDT also provided the locals with an alternative source of livelihood.

In 2012, the company initiated the construction of a fish nursery and provided 5,500 catfish and juvenile fish to the Samahan ng Magbubukid at Mangingisda sa Barangay Cawayan (SMMBC) for their Pangasius Production Project. The farmer-organization is composed of 50 members from Barangay Cawayan, Real, Quezon. KILOS, another partner women’s organization with 30 members from Barangay Gumian, Infanta, Quezon, was provided with four high-speed electric sewing machines as a support to their Eco-Bag Project.

KANLUNGAN, an 80-member farmer’s organization from Barangay Magsaysay, received training on vermi-compost production at the PBSP’s Center for Rural Technology and Development (CRTD) with the local government employees assigned at the Municipal Recovery Facility (MRF) of Infanta, Quezon.

The locals, who used to cut trees for a living, are now the vanguards of the environment. PLDT tapped them to produce the seedlings for the whole duration of the rehabilitation plan and were even paid for it. They also served as the guides of the volunteers and caretakers of the seedlings until it had fully grown.

“A percent of the fund coming from the PLDT TelePuno ay sinet-aside sa pagtatanim (of the seedlings) at bibilhin iyon ng PLDT, at iyon ang itatanim sa area, sila din ang maghahanda ng pagtataniman, na sabi nga ay labor staking,” Gamara said.

A NEW FUTURE

Gamara, who is now the Chairman of Multi-Sectoral Watershed Management Council, said that more than the provision of 80,000 seedlings, PLDT planted a new future for the environment and the people of Infanta and its nearby towns.

“’Yung aming watershed napo-protektahan, ‘yung aming tubig kanlungan ay muling yumayabong at muli ay nagkakaroon ng mga bukal. Kami ay taos pusong nagpapasalamat sa PLDT at sa PBSP sapagkat there are so many communities in the Philippines na hindi nagkakaroon ng opportunity na magkaroon ng TelePuno project,” (The watershed is being protected, it is becoming abundant again. We are deeply thankful to PLDT and PBSP because there are so many communities in the Philippines that don’t get the opportunity to have a TelePuno project.),” Gamara said.