Hontiveros to Present Alternative Strategy to Country's Drug Problem

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Akbayan Senator Risa Hontiveros will file on Monday (February 6, 2017), 10:00 am a bill that pushes for a Barangay Health and Rehabilitation Strategy that seeks to replace the suspended Oplan Tokhang in the campaign against illegal drugs. A press briefing will follow at the Sumulong Room, 2/f, Senate of the Philippines.

Together with representatives from the World Health Organization (WHO), health and harm reduction advocates, and barangay leaders, Hontiveros will draw attention to her proposed measure that aims to provide a comprehensive public health approach to the country’s drug policy and establish appropriate barangay-based programs and services for drug-related issues and concerns.

With the suspension of the abusive and corrupt-prone Oplan Tokhang, Hontiveros said that there is a need for a new strategy that is humane, rehabilitative and less susceptible to abuse.

The event will also feature accounts from barangay leaders who will attest to the effectiveness of Hontiveros' alternative strategy, which is currently being implemented with relative success in several barangays all over the country.

Media coverage is requested.

Government's Reaction to Amnesty International Report: Appalling, Unconscionable

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Any Senate or government-led inquiry that will sincerely help the people in their search for the truth and in crafting better policies to safeguard human rights is welcome.

As such, I am dismayed at how the Duterte administration has responded to the Amnesty International's report on extrajudicial killings in the country. From the House Speaker's "it's none of their business" remark to the Justice Secretary's "criminals are not humans" statement, to the President's usual profanity-laced attacks, the government's lack of commitment to address the country's human rights issues is appalling and unconscionable.

After all, what should a government be for, if not to protect the basic rights and liberties of its citizens? It is important to remember that peace and order is worth nothing and will eventually itself be destroyed without human rights, that an improvement in people's lives will only have lasting positive effects if it were founded on human rights for all.

The Amnesty International has a long track record of safeguarding human rights. It will not stake its reputation by issuing baseless reports. Its findings on the country's extrajudicial killings are a very serious matter. It deserves the government and the country's utmost serious attention.

Ipo Watershed Rangers Can Now Patrol Longer with Solar Lamps and Chargers

Wazzup Pilipinas!

They don’t pack high-tech gear nor high-caliber weapons, but the Dumagat rangers of Ipo Watershed patrol Bulacan’s forests like it were their home. Because it is.

Sporting simple tools and gear donated by mountaineers, the rangers work day and night to protect the Sierra Madre mountain range against illegal loggers, slash-and-burn farmers and charcoal collectors. With little gear and basic pay, they’ve had a tough run, but they finally got help.

Last 10 January, the watershed’s rangers received solar lamps and mobile chargers from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Philippines) and AVolution, a digital signage solutions company whose core business is to supply and install LED screens across the Philippines. A total of 52 lamps were made available to the rangers to augment their capacity to patrol at night, while allowing them to charge their mobile phones and other communications gear, increasing the range of foot patrols.

“Our LED There be Light initiative illuminates distant communities and helps locals do their jobs without relying on dangerous, dirty and expensive kerosene or carbide lamps,” explains AVolution's President and General Manager Lani Kimber Campos. AVolution also gave 200 solar lamps to farmers in Brgy. Tiniguiban, Gumaca, Quezon Province last year.

Ipo Watershed, together with the Angat and Umiray watersheds, supply 98% of the water consumed by Metro Manila. Situated northeast of the sprawling Metropolis, it covers 7161 hectares in Norzagaray and San Jose Del Monte in Bulacan, plus Rodriguez in Rizal. 

AVolution representatives Lani Campos (President and General Manager) and Maria Lea Bermudez (VP for Sales and Marketing) join WWF-Philippines representatives Paolo Pagaduan (Project Manager), Dr. Ria Lambino (VP for Sustainable Production) and Joel Palma (CEO). 

Sadly, the watershed’s forests are in full retreat. Though protected by several proclamations including a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title for the Indigenous Dumagat tribes of the watershed, the area is pockmarked by patches of bare soil. From 85%, forest cover plummeted to 40% in recent years. The government and groups like the UP Mountaineers have been helping locals protect the watershed.

WWF and its allies, which include Banco de Oro, Samsung and the Sunlife Foundation, recently joined the fray. “The deployment of solar lamps is just part of a larger initiative to protect the entire watershed,” explains WWF-Philippines Project Manager Paolo Pagaduan, who formerly oversaw a watershed conservation project in Rizal.

“We’re now working to develop a sustainable watershed management plan, form an effective management body for all micro-watersheds, aid groundwater recharge, minimize erosion and siltation, mitigate pollution through waste management, conduct regular monitoring and the evaluation of interventions and replant denuded areas to provide livelihood opportunities and maximize forest recovery. Simply put, we’re going beyond tree-planting,” he explains. 

The burning of trees for charcoal is one of the biggest threats facing Philippine forests today. The ubiqutous blocks of charcoal or uling used to cook your barbeque or inihaw was probably taken from the mountains. 

Ranger Bayani Cruz shows off three Kupang (Parkia timoriana) seedlings at a native plant nursery inside the Ipo Watershed. Bayani is part of a 52-ranger contingent tasked with protecting the forests ringing the watershed.

Ipo’s park rangers are always on the lookout for illegal loggers and charcoal makers. 

But the proof of the pudding is in the eating – and the rangers were visibly excited to try out their new solar lamps and chargers at the turnover ceremonies.

“Sometimes we spend up to three days patrolling these mountains,” gestures veteran ranger Bayani Cruz to the distant mountains east of Ipo Dam, already scarred by kaingin or slash-and burn farmers. “Conditions are rough, especially during the monsoon season, when rivers swell and trails turn to streams – but we always do our duty. We earn only one hundred Pesos per day – but we don’t do this just for money. We are Dumagat. We were born in the forest and we are just protecting our homes.”

Through the efforts of the aptly-named Bayani, plus the rest of the rangers protecting the Ipo Watershed, Metro Manila’s 12 million residents can rest easy, knowing there will always be water to drink.


Cover photo caption: Ipo Watershed, together with the Angat and Umiray watersheds, supply 98% of the water requirements of Metro Manila – a metropolis of 12 million people. It is one of WWF’s project sites in the Philippines.