SINGLE-USE PLASTIC & THE RAINBOW WARRIOR

THE FLAGSHIP OF GREENPEACE – the legendary RAINBOW WARRIOR, docked today, March 13, 2019, at the Cebu International Port, Philippines. It is their first time in Cebu and they would be here until March 17th. The ship is on a global campaign against plastic pollution and they choose the Philippines as their first stop.

SHIP IT BACK!

PLASTIC SHIP TOUR: PHILIPPINES

The presence of the RAINBOW WARRIOR exerts pressure on the source of these fast-moving-consumer-goods which belonged to the big multinationals and Philippine corporations. These are the consumer single-use plastic that you buy everyday and are very cheap like sachets, bottles, straws, styropors, eating utensils, cups, gloves, stirrers and packaging or are part of the goods you buy like transparent plastic. 

Both are the greatest polluters in our oceans but the latter is the most dangerous for it will disintegrate into microscopic fibers after many years and becomes part of the diet of fishes and all other marine creatures. Ultimately, it goes through our system, invading our arteries and veins, the heart and the brain. That is alarming! 

 

It is time for action. The result of the brand audit activity taken from the recent Lahug Creek cleanup in Cebu City have identified the top three multinationals which own most of the FCMG. According to Ms. Beau Baconguis of Break Free from Plastic, Filipinos spend 59 billion pesos on FCMG a year with which volume would cover the whole island of Cebu under 33 millimeters of plastic.

A press conference was held on board the aft deck of the Greenpeace flagship and highlighted by the symbolic signing of the Declaration for a Cebu Free of Single-use Plastic by Greenpeace representatives; the Cebu Provincial Government, thru its offices of Tourism and the Environment and Natural Resources; Break Free from Plastic; 5 Pieces Daily Habits; the media; volunteers; activists; and other stakeholders.

Eventually, I affixed my internet nom de guerre – PinoyApache – on the life-sized document. There is no turning back for me. I am not a dedicated advocate against plastic use even though I am already practicing this personal aversion on plastic since the early ‘90s but I see a ray of hope that this menace called single-use plastic and its FCMG cousins would finally be rid from Cebu’s shores. Let us ship it back to where it belonged!

I consider myself fortunate to have the privilege of visiting on deck the RAINBOW WARRIOR which I have longed for many years. In fact, this is the second Greenpeace ship that I have had the honor of boarding, the first one being the ESPERANZA in September 2006 in the same Port of Cebu. My presence is anchored on the invitation as a blogger, representing Warrior Pilgrimage.

For those who do not know it yet, this is the third version of the RAINBOW WARRIOR. The first one was bombed by French agents in 1985 while docked in New Zealand and was towed to its watery grave to become an artificial reef. The second saw action in 1989 and was decommissioned in 2011. The first ship was mostly used against anti-whaling, anti-seal hunting and anti-nuke campaigns in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

This new ship is actually a yacht. It uses sails most of the time when cruising on the oceans and has electric propulsion powered by both wind and by internal combustion engine which the crew use when there are no breeze to fill the sails and when on docking and undocking maneuvers.

It has a state-of-the-art design pertaining to its masts which are made of aircraft aluminum A-frames. The two crow’s nests travel on vertical rails like an elevator and are powered by electric motors. It recycles and reuse its bilge and sewage through biological treatments and no waste water is dislodged to the sea. Capt. Pete Wilcox, who served both older ships, is the current master.

For the duration of the stay of crew and ship, there will be a SHIP IT BACK Campus Tour on March 14th at the University of San Jose-Recoletos Magallanes Campus in the morning and the University of Cebu Mandaue-Lapulapu Campus in the afternoon. A whole day activity is reserved for an open visit by community partners.

Then on March 15th and 16th, the ship is open for visits and tours. The first day there will be a Green Fair in the morning and a fund-raising mini concert by local artists is slated in the evening. On the second day, a special dinner on board the ship will be hosted by Greenpeace for its supporters and friends.

The fore deck of the ship, near the prow, there is a wooden image of a dolphin. It belonged to the first RAINBOW WARRIOR, the one damaged by state-sponsored terrorism. It reminds the present crew and visitors of the memory of the scuttled ship and its lone casualty, the photographer Fernando Pereira.  

On both portside and stayboardside, there is a colorful painting of a Kwakiutl Native American art, of Pacific Northwest origin, on the superstructure. It symbolizes harmony with nature. Lastly, a Cree prophecy says that “when the world is sick and dying, people will rise up like WARRIORS of the RAINBOW...”

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PINOYAPACHE GOES SCUBASURERO

AS THE WORLD’S POPULATION increased, so is garbage produced by humans. These garbage found its way to the coastlines and in our world’s oceans. It is so sad to note that most of our food comes from the sea where most of these waste end up strangling the marine creatures to death or, worse, are found inside its intestines. It is inedible matter and it is death knocking at you soon.

Coastal cleanup campaigns have been here for many years like the annual SCUBASURERO, which was first adopted here in Cebu thirty-two years ago. It is no different from the previous events and it is still participated in by professional and novice scuba divers, resort workers, celebrities, marine biologists, environmental advocates, civil servants, coast guard and navy frogmen, media, bloggers and, for this year, a couple of bushmen.  

Today, September 16, 2017, I got invited by Project Blue for the SCUBASURERO. This is in observance of the 32nd International Coastal Cleanup Day which would be held on selected foreshore and coastal areas of the country. For this particular activity in Cebu, I will get to witness and participate as a blogger and as participant at the Bluewater Maribago Beach Resort, Barangay Maribago, Lapulapu City.

Also coming with me is one of the founding fathers of the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild – Ernie Salomon. Both Ernie and I are not here on a picnic. We are here to literally wet our pants on an environment that is part of the domain of bushcraft. This time we will not forage food. Instead we will seek out garbage and barely visible items that do not belong to the sea. We will be spending time as volunteers for the coastal cleanup.

Erik Monsanto and Ryan Salutin of Bluewater Maribago Beach Resort welcomed us and invited us to take breakfast at Allegro, the resort’s main dining hall and restaurant offering buffet-style service. Joining us on the table is Balbino “Ka Bino” Guerrero, a noted local tour guide specializing in cultural and historical Cebu. He is wearing his trademarked hat popularized by Dr. Jose Rizal. It is always a wonderful time in Allegro.

 

This is my first time to join a SCUBASURERO and I am prepared for salt-water immersion. Volunteers slowly arrived and boarded a water taxi from the beach to a sandbar that became an island across the lagoon. Overhead, a couple of F-50A/E Eagles whizzed by, currently the pride of the Philippine Air Force. The sandbar is now populated by people with wetsuits and there is someone talking from a megaphone.

We crossed over there and the program is about to commence. Free tanks of oxygene were provided by Bluewater Maribago Beach Resort to support this advocacy and divers were much happy to use it and add the minutes to their dive logs. Tents were also provided as shaded resting areas. Drinking water, meanwhile, are made available free for everyone. It is a very warm day and the coolness of the sea beckoned everyone.

The cleanup commenced after a general briefing by the Lapulapu City DRRMO and the assignment of areas to the volunteers. When I was younger, I yearned to swim underwater like them but opportunity never knocked on me. As I piled up in years, I content myself with skin diving. It is expensive, you know. You do not spend for it one time. You need to visit the reefs and deeper water regularly and you spend more for that.

Facing the Hilutungan Channel is a marine sanctuary. No one had cleaned up this part and I waded underneath the jetty and found unbroken bottles, rusty cans, a piece of plywood and beer cans amidst a forest of sea grass. As I go deeper, I see transparent nylon lines and slowly pull it from underneath the grass. At its end are ingenious contraptions that caught a 6-inch grouper and an elver. 

The underwater traps were left there for a purpose. It is illegal to catch fish with any means from a marine sanctuary. Whoever that person be, he was using his head. I admired the person’s ingenuity and the stealth to achieve that. So bushcraft. But that does not mean I totally agree with him. Let us respect our laws and let us protect marine sanctuaries. These are the breathing places so our stocks of marine resources could recover.  

As I returned with the retrieved garbage and the traps with its catch, Erik hand me a rubber suit large enough to fit me, plus a pair of fins, a mask, a breathing apparatus, a full oxygene tank and an instructor. I was caught off-guard and, then it came to bear on me, that I fancied these things when I was younger. You see, one of the skills that I was very interested of learning in my early years was scuba diving.

I never have that chance, specially now that I do not have the means to engage in it. But, today, I have all the opportunity. Why not? Bring it on. My instructor proceed with his job as he gave me field instructions and safety procedures which would have taken an hour or more to learn in a normal learning environment. After 10 minutes on dry ground, I used the valves to deflate and inflate underwater, navigate in two meters depth and remove water from my face. Standard entry level instructions.

After a half hour of tracking an underwater trail, fighting the current and my buoyancy and re-learning to breathe through my mouth, I felt I have done much for the day. It was a good experience to be swimming underwater with oxygene and I felt a little of motion sickness and a little of nausea. One thing that I missed that would have stabilized my diving were dead weights. Lacking that, I exerted more effort to fight buoyancy and the tide.

My windpipe is burning and dry as I detached the tube from the mask to the breathing apparatus. Slowly, I remove tank and flippers and set my sights to the dispenser, hoping I could squeeze cold water. By now, the volunteers began to gather the garbage on the sand. Someone begins to document the things placed on a weighing scale. A voice from a megaphone elicits a lot of clapping hands, signifying a successful event.  

The tables are now ready for a boodle-fight meal and everybody picked his own place around the tables and proceed with stuffing themselves with the food. I joined the sharks in a feeding frenzy in the middle of the day on the middle of the sandbar. I looked around and I see Ernie. He is wearing the same dry clothes I last saw him. I thought he was also given dive gears. I did not know that Ernie is one of those typical people who are afraid of water. Typical bushman.

We later learned that the garbage retrieved today totalled close to one ton. That is a lot. Where could the garbage came from? A few were dropped accidentally, carelessly and more of that were deliberate. Most of the garbage were brought in by tide and current. We do not know how much volume of plastic garbage passed by the coastlines of Maribago that have escaped our discovery? It could be more. I know it is more.

SCUBASURERO could only do less. It is done just once a year. It is also expensive because organizers and establishments provide pressurized oxygene tanks so garbage could be brought up to dry ground from the shallows and depths by volunteers who are into scuba diving. Nevertheless, because of dedication, some individuals and organizations have not lost faith and continued to pursue this advocacy for 32 years.

These garbage came from people and places far away from here and I know it started from streams and culverts near our homes. It is washed away during heavy downpours and dumped where stream meets channel waters. When will we start disposing our garbage properly? We love to eat food from the sea and do you know how much poison we unintentionally eat every week? Please do not allow plastic and other waste to reach the sea. Help in your own small way.

The 32nd International Coastal Cleanup Day is brought to you by the Ocean Conservancy, the Lapulapu City Government, the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office, and by the greenest resort of Mactan Island – Bluewater Maribago Beach Resort, spearheaded by their own Project Blue.

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BEBUT’S TRAIL XVI: Bushmen Also Love Trees

THE LAST TIME I PLANTED TREES was seven years ago. I planted it along the Babag East Ridge Pass and it involved representatives of local hiker groups. Despite my effort and sacrifice to personally water it every weekend, one by one, the young trees withered and died. I cannot blame the local climate because all were nurtured and grown in a small nursery adjacent to the trail and, therefore, fully acclimatized. Domestic animals and fowls were the main culprit.

The last species to die was a boat-fruited mangrove (Local name: dungon). I lost it in 2015 to goats despite protecting it with bamboo barbs. After that, I did not spearhead a tree-planting activity again if local caretakers do not want it or are not interested to protect it. Local attitudes, mindsets and acceptance play a big part and, if they are not willing to get involved, why should I exert myself to nothing? Besides that, choosing which species to plant also plays a big part for me and that needs more time.

I am very critical about tree-planting activities. I do not take short cuts like most people do like planting mahogany, white leadtree (ipil-ipil), gmelina, Brazilian flame trees and other exotic species. I prefer indigenous species and fruit-bearing trees, even though these, unknown to you, were introduced many years ago by our Spanish and American colonizers. The good thing about these fruit trees are it had adapted well and are “good neighbors” with their native counterparts and now plays a perfect role in our local ecology. 

But today, March 4, 2017, gave me an opportunity to, once again, plant a tree. Jhurds Neo, the head shed of Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild got the green light from Ceno Laborte of Baksan, Sapangdaku, Cebu City to have his land planted with trees. Any kind. The Guild would be dirtying their hands. I suggested that he concentrate on collecting fruit tree seedlings and hardwood species, with a few mahoganies that Ceno could harvest once it matured for construction of a future house.

The tree-planting activity would also be a school project for the students of the University of San Carlos, of which Jhurds is teaching and he involved his CWTS class. From the Guild, came Ernie Salomon, Glenn Pestaño, Ann Jillian Yap, Justin Abella, Jonathaniel Apurado, Nyor Pino, Glyn Formentera, Jenmar de Leon and guest blogger Jean Louise Mainit. Coming with his father, is Jacob Neo. He likes the freedom of the outdoors so he could play “dirt time” with his local friends. From the parking lot of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish, we hired transportations to bring us all to Baksan.

From the road, it would be a twenty-minute walk to the property of Ceno. Each one carried gently a young tree on one of their palms. The species are soursop, guava, acacia, narra, lanzones, rambutan, cacao and mahogany. The hike took almost an hour for the USC students for they were not used to walking on dirt trails. For some, it is their first time. It does not surprise me. These are millennials. They are normally “wired” to the electric socket and the WiFi and are mall creatures.

The idea of walking on soil with abundant forest cover amazes them so much that they forgot Android phones for a while. Some recovered at the shock and paused for self-portraits but finding phone signals wanting they just used its other function of capturing images in still photos and in video. Some, unable to shake off their cosmopolitan nature, donned headphones wired to their phones and sang in sync with the subdued melodies. It was a wonder to watch these kids but Jacob ignored them. Jacob is miles away from them.

We arrive in a place called Sibalas. I have been here many times. This place was “opened” to us after we had successfully conducted outreach programs for the children of Baksan. In fact, the place is referred by one local as “kinapusuran sa Baksan”, which can be translated in English as the center of Baksan. It has a deep well where, not too long ago, was an open spout of water. Its flow never faltered the whole year round, even in the warmest drought season. People, as far as Gethsemane Hills, come here to collect its precious liquid during the worst times.

Watering and nurturing the young trees would not be a problem here. It is shady with breaks in the forest cover allowing adequate sunlight. The mature trees would mother the young trees from direct sunlight while retaining moisture on the ground after a rain. Sibalas has the capacity to retain water and its natural spring is a testament of its healthy underground water dynamics. The residents have valued this spot and they have refrained from rearing hogs along a radius of about 1,000 meters. That is why we chose this place and adopted the community for our outreach.

Jhurds begins to brief the students and assigned them the places to plant. They would also be assigned to plant fruit trees only and grouped into five individuals each, assisted by one adult from Camp Red, for they will be handling edged tools. The rest of the Camp Red people would gather bamboo and fashion these into long stakes to protect the young trees from stray farm animals and for easy recognition. The empty spaces along the path would be designated for fruit trees. The young mahogany would be planted by Camp Red people on a slope while I would plant the narra and acacia species on difficult spots.

Holes were dug four meters from each other and it lined along the trail. More holes were dug on the next layer and then the next. The last layer was reserved for mahogany trees, which holes were placed on sloped areas and would act as debris catchers when it matures. Debris would impede water from running directly to water channels and brooks. The acacia and narra species were placed on areas where it could water itself by its location within a few feet from depressions along water channels.

Every student carried with him or her, a packed meal. When noonbreak came, most of the young trees were planted and everybody paused for lunch. Likewise, with the Camp Red bushmen. Ernie, our camp fixer, was exempt from the tree planting activity. He has at his task of providing delicious nourishment for us. As always, three dishes, plus a dessert of raw cucumber and tomatoes in vinegar. Jacob has his special meal courtesy of Jolibee. There is an unfinished hut that served as our resting place. There is a table and benches on three sides.

This structure is one of two that we are constructing. When finished, it will be used as a recreation area and as an outdoor education center. People will be taught here about bushcraft, wilderness survival, homesteading, campsite management, backcountry ethics and safety, trailcraft, first aid, prepping, land navigation, child woodlore, specialist topics and outdoors leadership. This would be a base camp for trails going into the Buhisan Watershed Area, Mount Bokatol, Tagaytay Ridge, Arcos Ridge and the wilderness of Pagatpat, Buwabog and Cato-ogan.

The rest of the day was reserved for watering the twenty-six mixed-fruit varieties and ten for mahogany and placing the bamboo stakes on each individual plant. But my task was not yet finished. I have to dig holes and plant the last three narra and acacia trees. I have planted five already but mine was the most difficult location and the farthest. The good thing is that you do not have to water for the ground is moist and it is cooler. Just the same, I placed stakes around each for easy identification.

We finished early and Jhurds accompany Jacob and his students to facilitate their quick departure back to Guadalupe. Assisting him were Jonathan, Glyn and Jenmar. Ernie, Nyor and Justin washed the pots near the water source while Glenn and I entertained Ann and Jean at the hut. We boiled water and had coffee to pair with a few pieces of bread. The wash brigade came and joined us. Slowly, they packed their things while waiting for Jhurds and company.

I do not have to pack. I just carried a simple leather frontiersman-style bag that contained a Seseblade Sinalung, a Seseblade Matabia, a Victorinox Ranger SAK, an extra t-shirt and a one-liter juice retort pouch which I repurposed into a collapsible water bottle. The leather bag was a gift from Alan Poole of the UK, the Sinalung and the Matabia are from Dr. Arvin Sese and the SAK from Markus Immer of Switzerland.

We finally left at 15:30, retracing the path we took in the morning. Waiting is a Fuso Elf passenger van that Jhurds have commandeered from his father’s garage. It was roomy at the back. Jacob sat at the front beside his dad. We planted forty-six young trees today and we believed that most of these would survive, except for a few that were handled improperly. That was just the start. We would plant soon another batch of young trees. We would source indigenous ones and more fruit varieties. We would reforest Sibalas and beyond.

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CEBU’S BEST | INFEX & DX CONTEST 2017

I JUST FINISHED THE THRUHIKE and, four days later, on this morning of February 18, 2017, I would be standing on a stage before different troops of the Boy Scout of the Philippines belonging to the University of San Jose-Recoletos. I would be presenting a talk on the topic – A Boy Scout as an Environmental Warrior and, on another one, Survival in the Outdoors. Fortunately for me, both are subject matters closest to my heart.

I am gracing this occasion upon the invitation of the USJ-R Greenbar Council, without them knowing that I once cut my teeth as a Tenderfoot under the aegis of the greatest scoutmaster Cebu had ever produced, the late Sergio P. Damazo Jr. That was in the ‘70s, when I was then an element of Troop 38, in their old campus at Magallanes Street, Cebu City. They have not erred in contacting me.

This is my first time to visit their campus in Basak, some thirty-nine years after my last days with my alma mater. I am excited but I am well prepared even though I was tapped on short notice. I made it to the gate incognito and, upon entering a second building where the real activity is held, I saw the picture of my dearly beloved scoutmaster. The friars had cherished his memory well by devoting a small museum for him. I am touched.

 

After meeting the acting scoutmaster, Romulo Sevilla Jr., his most senior scouts led me to the Audio Visual Room where I am going to give my talk and to meet my audience. This AV Room is much much bigger than the one they have at Magallanes. It is still empty but it soon will be filled by warm bodies. There is a projector and screen on standby and, pretty soon, a laptop will be provided for my Powerpoint presentation.

Then they came in military cadence and order, 250-strong. The newer versions of Cebu’s Best. This is their first day and they were on drill formation earlier. They must be tired and so I gave instruction to the troop commander to make them sit on the concrete floor. My greatest challenge today is how to prolong their short attention spans. These are pampered kids studying in one of the finest Catholic schools of Cebu.

When I studied on my first year at the old campus, back in 1975, I felt that my father had made a mistake of enrolling me in a wrong school. I was a product of a public school system but he was happy I passed the entrance test. He thought I have a good head but he never could imagine I was out of place. My classmates where well off, smart and bigger. Every week was a meat grinder for me and I was a weekly customer of the guidance counselor.

We were taught to be pious. Oh yeah, I did more kneels than any of my classmates. I do not have to go to the altar. The space near the teacher’s table or the principal’s office were the right spots to tame me. I was a wild kid in a well structured environment. Then Mr. Damazo took me into his care and responsibility and I understood why the Josenians wear shorts as against other schools who parade on streets in long pants.

 

One member of the Order of Agustinian Recollect is attending as audience as well as the scoutmasters of the University of Santo Tomas-Recoletos, from Negros Occidental, and the USJ-R Balamban Campus. I think they were there to reign in their boys. But there are girls among them. Yes, I saw many marching with the boys at the quadrangle with the same uniforms as the boys were. And THIS is a Boy Scout event.

After the preliminaries, I deem it proper to give my audience a peep into my past, as a Josenian Boy Scout which jolt them from their stupor, and my present life, which everyone now were all ears of my accomplishments as an outdoorsman, enjoying the life of a wandering bushcraft enthusiast and living the dreams of a Boy Scout of long ago. My Thruhike across Cebu’s 400-kilometer length in 27 days got them thunderstruck and bewitched.

A Boy Scout can never be an environmental warrior if the lessons he learned as a citizen scout are different from what he witnesses in his home, the community and even inside malls. It erodes his youthful enthusiasm. If push comes to shove – like the threat of climate change – then he has to lessen his carbon imprint if he wanted to extend the living years of our only home in this universe.

Climate change and man’s manipulation of the environment to suit his needs caused this environmental degradation we are experiencing right now. It had already been mentioned in the time of Noah, Joseph and Moses of the Old Testament. The impacts now are bigger and everywhere: mountains, river systems, lakes, the ocean, the atmosphere, the arctic regions and even on urban centers. Industrialization, mining, logging, consumerism, you name it, causes degradation and pollution and it has a common denominator – greed.

 

How do we overcome this? Almost impossible but there are organized activities that influence the mindsets of people or compel them to, about the state of our planet. We now have peaceful mass actions, legal actions, even extreme strategies. Greenpeace is on the vanguard of this for so many years. Leave No Trace was introduced in national parks across the globe and are being used incorrectly by activists, forcing people to toe the line. Then we have the grey wolves of this movement – the Sea Shepherds.

As a Boy Scout, the above methods are themselves equally daunting since it exposes them to harm’s way. But there are more peaceful ways that are much better and much more proactive. Planting trees or mangroves may be one of the best but organizers almost always choose the wrong species, mostly exotic, or monopolize one species on a big area. You can plant your own trees without having to join mass tree planting activities.

Join or organize community projects which keep away residents from engaging in destructive methods on the environment. These could be tree planting, coral propagation, beautification projects and alternative livelihoods. Information and education will guide simple folks from ignorance, indifference, superstition and half-truths. Engage in a personal crusade that does not involve people like practicing Reduce Reuse Recycle and LNT.

Can you change the world on your own? Yes you can. There are many advocacy tools. Documentation for a community or school magazine about the environment is a good start. Or you could start a blog. Internationally-acclaimed blogs about environmental awareness started from small ones and there are many free platforms to choose from. Create more awareness on online petition websites like 350.org or transcend borders and government control by posting on social network sites to a much wider audience.

A Boy Scout can indeed be an environmental warrior. I once was that Boy Scout and I am on this personal crusade as an activist for no one, a blogger, a writer and a lecturer for the environment. The methods I used are simple but I am always on the frontlines where man and environment clashed, never a good consequence for the latter. Someone has to fight for the environment – peacefully. A photo with a caption of facts is good enough to catch fire in people’s consciousness across the Internet.

That was a long talk and I may have delivered my message to the majority of my audience or not but, it does not matter, because I am not expected to convert all into environmental warriors. I only need one from the 250 and he or she could already make a big difference.  The next topic – Survival in the Outdoors – would be the most awaited one and everyone begins to reposition themselves after a break of five minutes.    

 

The outdoors, for most, is a beautiful romantic place. Simply because they may have experienced and enjoyed it on the frontcountry. The backcountry is different for only a few people visit it. It is mountainous and navigation is difficult. Then there is the wilderness. All these places found in the outdoors are dangerous. It has an unpredictable weather system and streams go suddenly wild even if the day is warm. It has a mean wildlife population and thick stands of forests that no sunlight could penetrate.

Getting caught in the outdoors in the wrong weather or time causes you stress which tend to force you to make mistakes. Small mistakes can create a big impact on your thinking. When you are lost or helpless, survival mode begins. Your increased awareness is a result of uncontrolled release of adrenaline. Your thoughts are fed by the senses, the nerves and the guts, all agitated, causing you confusion and more mistakes.

Our prolonged survival depends upon our discovery and rescue. If it does not happen, you need to have nutrition. Hydrate as much as possible because a deprived brain cannot function properly. Eat some food. If you do not have enough, look for one. Fruits supply you natural sugar, which is converted by enzymes into adrenaline. Fat is the hardest to find in a jungle environment but, unknown to you, you have layers of fat that your own body would subsist on when food becomes difficult to obtain.

Water is the first thing to find during survival. If you still have strength, you look for a shelter or make one. Food is the next thing to look for. When you have water, shelter and food, you start to go warm. Make yourself more warm by making a fire. If making a fire is impossible, do not expose yourself to the elements. Increase your security by blending in with the environment or standing out. It depends if there is an immediate threat. These are the priorities during a survival situation and could change with water always on top.

When you are outdoors, there is a thing we in the bushcraft community called as “outdoors common sense”. Bushcraft is a hobby and a lifestyle which uses the outdoors as a learning environment for survival. The purpose of this outdoors common sense is to increase our safety and security. We have developed certain protocols that guided our behavior and our presence in the outdoors. This set of protocol includes how we deal with wildlife encounters.

 

You do not learn these things in a classroom. I teach these in a bushcraft camp. Those who learned from me became members of the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild. Instantly the guild logo and my activities appeared on the projector screen. The images swelled their pride, knowing that an alumnus of their school does these things for a living and brought sparkles of interest in adventure in their eyes.

My talk ended at just the right time. I was presented by the USJ-R Greenbar Council with a certificate of appreciation and an invitation for lunch. Outside, the field begins to be filled by the Boy Scout units. Platoon formations are hurriedly organized under the bare sky. The units began counting off the elements in preparation for their own meals. It will be a long day today, to include night activities and campfire rites.

Meanwhile, my day is not yet finished. I have to join and witness the International Friendship Exchange and DX Contest which will be participated in by the Girl Scout of the Philippines unit of USJ-R under the adult supervision of Ham Radio Cebu. It would be held at the Talavera House of Prayer, in nearby Quiot, for the whole afternoon. Ham Radio Cebu is an amateur radio club which I also belonged. INFEX is a worldwide event that uses high frequency radio to contact amateur radio stations on far locations at 7.095 MHz.

Under the guidance of Jet (4F7MHZ) Manuel, Nick (DV7FCC) Manuel, Ariel (DV7FAL) Lim, Wilson (DW7REE) Aliganga and Marvin (DW5CIA/7) Reynes, the USJ-R Girl Scouts were able to contact twenty-three amateur radio stations from all over the Philippines at the end of the day. This is a friendly competition where the winners and their tutors are rewarded points and certificates by the International Amateur Radio Union and their local counterpart, the Philippine Amateur Radio Association. It is an event designed to rekindle the love of amateur radio propagation to the younger generations.

 

It was really a busy day for me. I reconnect with the beloved school of my youth. The only familiar face I met is the framed picture of my dear scoutmaster. I am happy that the Boy Scout spirit of the Josenians lovingly nurtured by Sir Damazo are kept alive and burning, along with their traditions and lore. I have been part of Cebu’s Best during my younger years and I am proud the present descendants behaved like one. I am also elated to know that their Girl Scout counterparts have partnered with Ham Radio Cebu and will earn themselves badges in amateur radio. Adelante!

 

Some photos courtesy of Markus Immer

Document done in LibreOffice 5.2 Writer

VISITING AN OLD FRIEND | OF BOOKS & LIBRARIES

ONCE UPON A TIME IN SOME DARK PLANET of long ago, I was living in a semi-nomadic existence foraging inside garbage cans and the streets for scraps of steel or bronze or copper when I was eleven or twelve. Sometimes I just spirit it away from under the noses of busy machinists and masked welders in their shops. My best friend then was the scrap buyer and it provided me “funds” to buy Coke during recess time in school which was then a luxury. It was wrong but I am not ashamed to tell you about this.

I am the eldest in a brood of four sisters and one brother. We were not rich but we were kind of living a sheltered life. My parents were both cops and both were straight. Everyone could attest to their honesty in their job and they have a name to protect. Discipline in the home was sometimes harsh and, being the eldest, I was given a certain responsibility and the privilege of the cane, painful at first, but you get to like its familiar slap on your behind afterward and you feel better. It adds your resistance to pain which I found useful.

I was the wild kid and I liked the streets better than sitting inside a stuffy classroom. I became street smart and had unknowingly laid the foundations of a future crime boss were it not, on one of my class-cutting excursions together with a classmate, we came to visit a place where there were books everywhere and people were in trance to these. That was in Patria de Cebu, fronting the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, where it housed the temporary home of the Cebu City Library.

Why I was there? It was accidental. Of course, there was a bowling alley and a billiard hall nearby but the usual people I knew were not there so we decided to hang out inside this house of books out of boredom. I checked out some books and I kind of liked a children’s illustrated history book of the United States of America and another illustrated book of classical literature. I really was engrossed in my reading and forgot about everything about the streets when a bell rang.

We followed a queue of people returning the books to a long desk where there was an attendant receiving it. When my turn came, an older woman replaced the attendant and I came face to face – of all people – my own aunt! She was surprised to see me and seemed happy at my sudden interest of books. I was ready to tell a lie if she asked me how I came to be here. She checked at the books I read and gave it back to me and told me to bring it home. It was the start of my long romance with books and it changed my life.

Forty-two years fast forward, I visited the Cebu City Library again at its now-permanent home in a building shared with the Jose Rizal Museum and the Cebu City Historical Affairs Commission along Osmeña Boulevard. I was with my mother and another aunt and it was like seeing an old friend. There are now fewer people than was before. People do not read books nowadays, especially the younger generations. They spend more time in Facebook and the malls. I would not be surprised when books would just be an item in a curio shop.

I love Facebook even though there is no “book” in it. I just supply the book in my profile pictures where I am seen holding a book shielding half of my face, a typical unabashed self-portrait, the most literal expression of Facebook: a Face and a Book. I changed my profile as often as I picked up a book to read. Facebook then becomes my vehicle to spread this advocacy of reading real books, not PDF books! Someday, when all these technology fail, books would be worth more than gold. Shades of Book of Eli, is it not?

Books I read could be spine-tingling novels or a boring scientific research. Reading on paper is so different than reading on a monitor screen. I do not have to explain this in detail but in paper there are no glares. As simple as that. The time-worn pages of a book reflect a character all its own, never mind the DNA of people that stained some pages, but it sure has an aroma all its own, much more so when it just comes off the press.

I have read hundreds of books, sometimes re-reading it more than twice when I liked it very much or there is not much material to read and, each time, I left my mark at anywhere in the last pages: a nickname in long hand, with date and place. I even have my own private library where every book is rubber-stamped under the name of “Warrior Pilgrimage”. I am proud of my book shelf housing a lot of unread and dusty books and novels. I tried to remedy this by reading two books at a time but I am not in a hurry.

As I scanned the books inside the Cebu City Library, I saw a lot of books that grabbed instantly my interest. My aunt is not anymore running the library. She died many years ago. I can not bring some books out like the way I used to do. I guess I have to spend more time in the library, which is good in itself which I will do for as long as the city government will support its operation and existence.

How about you?

When would you rekindle your interest in reading a real book?

When would you visit and support your local library?

Document done in LibreOffice 5.2 Writer

A LONG WEEKEND IN BAKHAWAN

I JUMPED AT THE OPPORTUNITY of an invite by a good friend to plant trees in her just-acquired property located in Bakhawan, Daanbantayan, Cebu on September 9, 10 and 11, 2016. The invitation assures me of staying (and dining) in her modest, home-like and very comfortable resort, Bakhawan Beach Home, at no cost at all to me. Not only that, the privilege extends to a young couple – Bogs and Bingle – whom I tempted to volunteer with me and give back for Mother Earth.

We three arrive at Bakhawan Beach Home in the early evening of the first day where we were immediately assigned a room. I insist to sleep outside on a cushioned divan so both Bingle and Bogs could have a sense of privacy. My friend, Lani Perez arrive an hour later where dinner was instantly served. A strong, but very quick, downpour came in the late hours but it had not ruined my instant bed nor it influenced me to transfer somewhere warm and sheltered.

Lani is an old friend of mine. We knew each other during the days when I was active then with my former outdoors recreation club – the Cebu Mountaineering Society. That was in the early ‘90s and she was then in the process of poking in on my close circle composed of younger but very opinionated members. Work and her passion of excellence took her abroad and I had not heard of her until we messaged each other in Facebook just this year.

Bakhawan Beach Home is the other sum of all her life’s work as an expatriate in different foreign lands. She collects old wooden furniture and tools – in her free time – that were discarded by modernism and she insists to preserve these, even if it costs her, and brought it here. These items became part of the internal and external décor of the two rest houses inside this very private beach resort.

Bakhawan Beach Home is a sponsor of my Cebu Highlands Trail Project which, as of this writing, will be terminating its course soon in November after I will walk the last few kilometers, starting from where it last stopped, at Lake Lanao, Daanbantayan, to the northernmost tip of Cebu – Bulalaqui Point. In fact, it provided billeting for me and my team last August 19 when we passed by here during the Segment VII Exploration Hike which was aborted the day after.

The night is cold but I am warmed by the body cushion, the pillows and the blanket under a deep awning facing the sea. It rained again in early dawn with flashes of lightning. Strong gusts blew and threatened bringing with it spray of salt and water. I refused to be awakened and snuggled closer into the warmed up recesses of my blanket. My mind wandered off into space and senselessness.

Sounds of surf materialize into my consciousness. There is light in the sky and my eyes could not deceive me that it is now early morning and the start of a new day – September 10. The sea is a calm mirror but a slow tide made its presence felt. After a breakfast of freshly-caught fish in soup, a dish of raw fish in vinegar, egg omelet and fruit, I prepare my work clothes and my tools which are just my Victorinox Ranger Swiss knife and my William Rodgers bushcraft knife.

Lani had informed me that the young people I have seen last night had planted seventy young cacao trees yesterday in an open lot. I would plant today green limbs cut from Mexican lilac trees (Local name: kakawate) between each young cacao as what I have suggested. Bogs and Bingle would help me with that. Both brought their tools like trowels, work gloves, a Victorinox Camper Swiss knife and a Tom Brown Tracker imitation.

The purpose of the Mexican lilac tree is to shield the young cacao from direct sunlight with its foliage during the time it starts to bloom. It is a fast growing species which is not obtrusive on its neighboring plants even if it is an introduced one. In fact, it gives off nitrogen and oxygen into the soil system making it fertile. The Mexican lilac is one of those exotic ones that have adapted well in Philippine clime and soil and highly valued by farmers and herders.

Lani showed us first her garden of organically-grown vegetables and herbs. Her Indonesian pepper variety has my attention for the ripe fruits were a gleaming healthy red. Then she has her pride of dragonfruit crawling cacti starting to flower. I have brought her one cutting which came from a wild-growing one that grew in the wilderness of the Doce Cuartos Mountain Range of Tabogon last August which is now showing signs of life.

Laborers were already at the scene and have started fencing off the property from grazing animals. Poles of mahogany wood were transferred from a small truck to the vacant lot. I carried four thin poles on my shoulders and place it down in the collection area. I scan the field of young cocoas. Between it are spaces wide enough to accommodate a bush that will “mother” them. In two bundles are the green limbs of Mexican lilac trees.

First of all, I have to make a digging stick from one of the poles. I chose a thick one and begin sharpening it with the faux Tracker. Then I started to dig hole after hole while Bogs and Bingle fill it up with soil and the upright limb. It rained, removing direct sunlight, cooling us a bit, but after that, it was difficult work. Sticky mud and humidity.

I have counted 35 holes but I still have to dig 25 more until one laborer with a digging iron decides to join me. In a matter of half an hour, the planting of the Mexican lilac limbs were finished. I brought more poles nearer to where the laborers were making the fences. I loved the labor even if it cuts the skins of my palms. I do not mind it. The exercise of my upper body is a good preparation for my Segment VIII in a matter of weeks from now.

When I found I have proved my usefulness, I depart from the scene and cross the road to a wide open space where sea and sand are accessible. No, I do not want to bathe. I just want to cool my body with the breeze as the warmth of humidity is now becoming a nuisance for comfort. After 15 minutes, I walk back alone to the resort and found Bingle and Bogs already there.

The sea is not that high enough to tempt me into it. Nor would the young couple. I decide to take a shower instead to tidy up for lunch would soon be coming. By the time Lani came from the field, it was served in Bakhawan Beach Home style which, to me, is such a splendid thing. All the ingredients came from her garden and from the sea delivered fresh and sparkling like the sea urchins and squids.

The afternoon saw Bingle and Bogs hurrying up to dip in the water and both tried their hand on a paddle board but I while my time instead reading a book. I expect an old friend to arrive soon. He did arrive, early enough to partake of another wonderful meal of spider conch, conetip shells, squids, seaweeds and more of the garden stuff.

Bebut Estillore was the most opinionated among our close circle of that era where we were young once. Despite the onset of years, Bebut is still my “tormentor” but his boast and his grand battle with the bottle is now losing its sheen. I guess, too much of that in the past – without me - have caused him to slow down. He just came from Bohol and was also invited by Lani to plant trees of which he will have his day tomorrow.

For the meantime, we shared a big bottle of the coldest Red Horse available, which were aplenty. Anyway, we had a deal. He would drink one glass only while I finish the rest of the bottle. Sounds fair. I believed there were six big bottles emptied as was the last count before I turned in half-drunk. I transferred to another divan on the second guest house in the wee hours of the night.

September 11 is the special holiday dedicated for the followers of the Islamic faith called Eid’l Adha. We will plant more trees today on the same property. There were poles to transfer from the truck to the ongoing fence work and the young trees in its temporary pots to the places where it will be planted. The rains of yesterday had made the ground wet, soggy on some parts.

Another upper body workout for me. My hands are still sore but I would not dig holes this time. I will just plug the holes with the young trees along with its complementary soil – gently with reverence. I place sweetsop, soursop, avocado and Malabar almond as well as bougainvillea within the fringes of the lot. Bebut crouched while he can and he looks like an old man now with his sombrero and a very unfamiliar slowness which is kind of strange from someone who was so hyperactive before.

We finished the work before noon. Another wonderful meal. After that, I joined the rest frolicking on the sea. Lani paddled the board to the farthest buoy where an empty small fishing boat is anchored. Bebut and I decide to try our skills with a small outriggered canoe and paddled in the direction of Lani, where the water is deep. The fisherman was catching his fishes underwater with a spear.

A squall begins to appear coming from a nearby island and we have to paddle back to shore. The seas became rough while the strong gusts carried us off course. Lani made it safely to shore while the wooden vessel was unwieldy but I steered it to shore safely and dragged it beyond the water line. The squall left as quickly as it had came. I washed myself with fresh water and retreat to the comfort of book and reclining seat.

The day wore out as last days would always do, kind of sad and a longing for the familiar. It had always been like that and today is no exception but the hope of coming back in some future date is something which is always cherished that the departure blues cannot rebuff. I have felt this ambivalence of emotions when I came here last April. I am sure I would be back to Bakhawan Beach Home. It is like another home but spacious and cool where the sky kisses the sea in a scarlet wonder of a setting sun.

Document done in LibreOffice 5.2 Writer