BEBUT’S TRAIL IX: Christmas United Year 4

THIS IS A VERY DIFFERENT morning. I can feel it in my nose. Aha! Yes! It is December 13, 2015 and it is the season of giving. I am the first in the parking lot of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish. Then comes the people who lived from faraway Lapulapu City, one after the other. They never failed to amaze me. Richie Quijano, Nyor Pino and Locel Navarro.

As I sat on the front stairs of an unfinished building, the rest came in trickles. Across me, is another group who are on a mission today to Kahugan. They are kindred spirits. In a half hour we will have ours at Baksan. Fritz Jay Hortelano arrive with a plastic bag full of face towels while Justin Abella and Faith Gomez have two big vacuum-packed plastic filled with stuffed toys.

Aljew Frasco and Bonna Canga parked a maroon Toyota pick-up which will be useful transport soon for the volunteers among us. Jhurds Neo also with a Toyota Fortuner that has wife Zette, son Jacob and niece among the passengers and our guest Derek Manuel with wife and daughter. Also arriving is the Neo family's other transport – a Suzuki Every 660 – to be used for this event called Christmas United, which is in its fourth year.

We have held Christmas United in Kahugan for three straight years until we decide to transfer it to Baksan this year. An incident in July had caused our perennial hosts, the Roble Family, to transfer elsewhere. Their place was perfect for our outreach events like Christmas United and another one called Who Put the “N” in Nature, which we hold every May of each year before the opening of classes.

It is really sad on our part because a lot of children there will be deprived of the gifts we bring this December because of the deeds of one resident named Timoteo “Nonoy” Gabasan. He has been responsible in the attempt on the life of Fele Roble and the burning of their house after that. To show our sympathy to the Roble family, we decide to transfer to Baksan, with a heavy heart, until justice will be served on the suspect.

Already at Baksan as our advance party of yesterday are Mark and Mirasol Lepon, Nelson Orozco, Jonathan Apurado, Fritz Bustamante and Nelson Tan. They have stayed at the Ragasajo Homestead where it may well be being prepared for use today. They have carried the bulk of the gifts and some of the food stuffs which we will prepare for the children and, possibly, for their parents too.

The convoy of three vehicles with all volunteers and items aboard leave Guadalupe at almost nine. We reach the trailhead by the road at 09:10 and, slowly, we grab what we can carry with our hands towards the Ragasajo homestead. It is a short walk of undulating terrain but quite shady. An approaching tropical storm called “Nono” is threatening us with a light shower but we remain optimistic that it does not ruin our day.

I believe the children and their supportive parents are waiting for us now. Some of these children, walked with us, expectant of something on this beautiful morning. Two vats of street ice cream are being transferred from the vehicles to the outreach area as well as some of the gifts and the food ingredients that we will prepare and cook today for the children.

Supporting us and relishing to volunteer their time is Atty. Jose Mari Gochangco and his very modest wife-to-be. The guys from the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild are very honored by the presence the Gochangco couple and the Manuels. We behaved and watched our language and put our best foot forward. All hands took to their assigned tasks to the letter and most put on an extra effort.

Baby Quia, daughter of Aaron and Ann Jillian Binoya, exercised her social skills as well as her hiking legs as she is totally awestruck in this Christmas affair with so many children around her. Not to be outdone, 7-year old Jacob snared a lot of new friends – young and older – and became part of his fledgling pack. The Ragasajo homestead is a beehive of activities which the following montage shows:

When all the gifts are now in every kid’s safe clutch, when every morsel of food is wiped clean from the plates and the place is swept up of clutter and litter, it is time for us to go. A grateful local, Alex, showed and led us to a route down which would exit nearest to Guadalupe. We follow down a creek and walk the boulder-strewn streambed and its creekside trail.

I say this again: that if you show goodwill, routes which lay unknown will be opened up for you. The route is a lonely one since nobody – not even locals – go there anymore. They opt for the easier Baksan Road and hire a motorcycle when they go to the city center or, if they may have to walk, they go by way of Banika. It is really lonely. Something in the air imply that it is a cursed one.

Alex told tales of how this place became a stronghold of armed radicals in the ‘80s and it had been a battleground as well. There used to be a thriving community here but the residents abandoned their homes to seek peaceful and safer places. We passed by a crumbling hulk of concrete of what used to be a house. On its walls were bullet holes.

We found habitated houses but it is used only as resting places by locals who worked on small farmplots. By late afternoons, it is abandoned for their more secure abodes downstream like a woman with her infant who joined us. But what astonishes me is a good-looking couple who made this cursed place their home and they were not even locals.

We reach Guadalupe at 18:00 and proceed to my new water hole that would ensure me endless ice-cold bottles of beer – Cafe Angelica – which is located at the back of KIA Motors in Gorordo Avenue. There, we celebrate our success with the fourth edition of Christmas United. Despite that, I could not erase the faces of children of Kahugan whom I have known so well and who were deprived of another joyful and unforgettable Christmas because of this rogue named Timoteo “Nonoy” Gabasan.

It breaks my heart. Merry Christmas anyway to you all in Kahugan.

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BAYANIHAN IN COMPOSTELA

WHEN WAS THE LAST time I rode a military truck? I had never forgotten the date and that was in 1988. Yeah, that was 27 years ago! That time, I was whisked from Metro Manila to Camp Capinpin in Tanay, Rizal, along with many young men like me who felt it as personal adventure and as employment opportunity to join the enlisted ranks of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Today, July 12, 2015, Lady Reminisce comes knocking in my memory as I sat on the spartan seat of an Army M35 truck. The ribs that support the tarpaulin covering at the back and the wooden seats and backrests are noisy as was the last time I had ridden these. The rattling sounds are very familiar but gone are the fears and anxieties which I have experienced on my last transit with the M35.

The smoke from the overhead muffler found its way at the back and stayed until breeze sweeps it away when the truck moved. I hear coughs from among my co-passengers and sighs of relief when the smoke cleared. When the truck braked for a stop all passengers would squeeze forward and would squeeze backward when brake is released. Good thing we were not standing else we would ape Tarzan.

I am not into personal adventures this time but am a part of an army of volunteers for the Medical Dental Civic Action Program of the 1901st Infantry Ready Reserve Brigade of the Philippine Army's Regional Civil Defense Group and the 5th Technical and Administrative Service Brigade of the AFP Central Command. The Municipality of Compostela would host this activity inside their DM Reynes Sports Center.

CPT JOSE MARI GOCHANGCO JAGS (Res) of the 5TAS BDE personally invited me and the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild to assist his unit for this mission. Camp Red's president, Jhurds Neo, made himself available and, I know, that he will be surrendering precious family time to be on this team. Likewise, father and son, Jonathaniel and Justin Apurado. Christopher Ngosiok take leave from his unit and joined us instead.

On the other hand, Army reservist Locel Navarro is participating in the mission but she is with the 1901IBRR while Rommel Mesias is attached with the contingent from the Ham Radio Cebu of Jet Manuel. Ham Radio Cebu would set up the radio communications network for this activity and, if possible, conduct a short orientation on radio operations.

Meanwhile, Camp Red's presence is anchored on the possibility of conducting survival skills for the masses who would avail of the free medical and other services offered jointly by these two distinguished units – the 5TAS and the 1901IBRR. I have foreseen and evaluated that prepping is more realistic and is in tune with the conditions that have occurred in the localities.

We all meet at 05:00 at the 7RCDG Headquarters in Camp Lapulapu, Cebu City where we were feted to a traditional military breakfast of rice gruel, hard-boiled eggs and roasted corn coffee. I enjoyed it minus the fast counts of one to ten that PNCOs with big sticks usually does to trainees. The trucks are coming and, one by one, volunteers struggle to climb up to the decks where the seats are.

We arrive in Compostela at 06:55 and settled inside the DM Reynes Sports Center. People come in trickles and, by 07:30, a Eucharistic Mass was celebrated by the AFP Central Command's military chaplain. After singing the Philippine National Anthem, an opening address iss given by the Hon. Josephine Abing, representing the mayor of Compostela, Hon. Joel Quiño.

Then the tables get populated by medicines, instruments, tools, papers, pens and people sat behind it while across them are people queuing. Camp Red and Ham Radio Cebu transfer to the stage area and we help each other set up an aerial antenna and a VHF base radio. Communications would be very vital since M35 trucks would be very busy ferrying folks from the hinterlands to the town center and back.

Many volunteers assisted the military reservists and these came from the municipality's own government and their resident doctors, specialists, nurses, pharmacists, health workers, dieticians and other occupations of note. Coming too are medical students from the Cebu Institute of Medicine. The gymnasium is full of people: the young, the sickly, the old and those who serve.

In all, there were 3,207 constituents of Compostela served. Here is the report on the number of people served by each component of the joint Medical Dental Civic Action Program by the 5TAS BDE, RCDG7, the 1901IBRR and a medical team from the Philippine Navy Reserve:

Derma - 66
Dental - 275
Medical - 946
Surgery - 41
Laboratory - 125
Optical - 433
Psychiatric - 17
Haircut - 205
Legal Matters - 21
Marriage Counselling - 35
Confession - 35
Diet Counseling - 101
Massage - 53
Storytelling & Parlor Games - 75
Feeding - 75
Blood Sugar Testing - 725
TOTAL SERVED – 3,207

Both Camp Red and Ham Radio Cebu sees no need to conduct orientations for the served constituents as their health-related issues are more in priority over trivial matters such as what we offer. We at Camp Red observed that we could never fit in activities such as these but we could adapt well and improvise how we would conduct our lectures in the future in a manner much more comfortable to people and to ourselves.

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NAPO TO BABAG TALES LCVII: For the Love of Serving and Giving

I DO NOT KNOW WHAT to feel today, May 24, 2015. Yes, I am tired from yesterday’s activity in Lilo-an, Cebu but I have to be here in Guadalupe, Cebu City. My bones are cranky, my muscles are aching, my eyes are throbbing, my brain is floating but my spirit is on fire. I can feel it swelling and my heart knows it. What am I talking about?

I am talking about the outreach phase of the Who Put the “N” in Nature IV. WPNN4 was a free benefit gig held at the HeadquarterZ Restobar in F. Cabahug Street, Cebu City last May 15, 2015 where spectators, guests and visitors donated cash or notebooks, writing pads, pencils, ballpens and other educational supplies intended for the children of Cebu City's highlands. WPNN4 got more than what it had wanted, thanks to the overwhelming response of fellow outdoorsmen and well-meaning individuals.

I come early and, little by little, volunteers came. There are still many things to carry on to the place where we will do our outreach, even though most of it had been brought there last Sunday (May 17) and by an advance party which set out yesterday afternoon. Although I did not carry a bigger bag just like last week, I carry it almost full with most of my cargo consisting of eighteen juice drink retort pouches and a sprinkling of food ingredients for the feast which we will prepare for the children and ourselves.

The rest are so inspired! Jhurds Neo, the ring leader of this impressive activity and the new president of the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild, is a tough workhorse. He made it sure that not a single item be left behind, starting from the transporting to the preparation and, later, the distribution of our gifts. For the meals – the cooking and the eating.

As promised, specially-made school bags provided by Zue Fashion will be distributed to all the kids today and, I believed, yesterday's advance party led by Jerome Tibon had taken cared of the transporting of this bulk. Basically, most of the things we carry today are the food ingredients and the juice drinks. Carrying it are a bit of a problem, especially the meat, since when it loses its coolness it begins to go stale. We may have to hurry up.

Fortunately, volunteer Ariel Muntuerto volunteered to carry the bulk of the food and the juice inside a big Deuter bag which he carried empty for this purpose. He is a fine example of a guy who is well prepared and knows what to do without being requested to. Off we go to the Roble Homestead, a long line of optimistic romantics who banded together to make this world better by providing the tools of education for the children living on the highlands.

Below are a series of photo collage that describe the outreach program of the Who Put the “N” in Nature IV -

This writer, representing the organizers of the WPNN 4, wishes to give a BIG THANK YOU to our sponsors and supporters, our different groups of volunteers, the HeadquarterZ Restobar and the bands, the Roble Family, the residents of Barangay Sapangdaku, and everyone whom I failed to mention. You know in your heart that you are what I mean. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

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NAPO TO BABAG TALES LCVI: Classified as Urgent

IT IS LOGICAL TO transfer immediately all the school supplies that we have had collected through donations to the Roble homestead for storage today, May 17, 2015. Preparations for the big day next week (May 24) would be simplified and would not need a lot of people to do that task. Once done, the hours of that day would be focused more on the outreach itself. The carrying of the school supplies is, thus, classified as urgent today.

Many came on short notice and we all meet at the parking lot of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish. The bulk comes from the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild, lead by its president, Jhurds Neo. Assisting us is Eli Bryn Tambiga and fellow paramedics from the Philippine National Red Cross. Tagging along is an “all-girls-mountain-cleanup” contingent. Spots of rain clouds paint the sky and there was a brief shower.

The school supplies, consisting mostly of notebooks and writing pads are distributed evenly among the volunteers for carrying and wrapped in plastic to prevent damage by rain or by sweat. Not only that, food ingredients that are to be prepared for the noontime meal are added to their bags. The journey start at 08:30, although a bit late but just enough to assure us that rain will not threaten the activity.

I purposely brought a South Korean military-issue duffel bag again, just like last year, to fill it as many notebooks as possible. I fill it with less – eighty pieces – this time because I already carried six kilos of poultry feeds intended for my six turkey chicks which have just hatched there just this week. I add a kilo of rice and I intend to keep my water bottle empty. I do not want to overstretch myself. I am not young anymore.

I just ate two fig pies as my light breakfast and doused it with one peso worth of cold water bought from a coin-operated automatic water dispenser in Guadalupe. That is just it. No more no less. The sun is now shining at its brightest splendor and I prepared for the worst by drinking another measured amount of water from another water machine in Napo.

My bag is heavy and uncomfortable. The unpadded shoulder straps begins to dig deep on the flesh of the shoulders as I walk farther and farther. I wore an ACU camo hat to prepare for the heat but God has kind eyes for me instead and for the rest, as the clouds returned to cover and diffuse away the sun’s scorching rays. It turned into a very pleasant morning instead, quite breezy. I could feel how everyone felt at this unexpected opportunity.

The trail showed that the soil is parched and in need of a really good shower of a few days. Cebu and the rest of the country is experiencing a mild El Niño and it had not rained seriously for more than two months now. I take it slow. I take my first rest underneath a mango tree. I do not intend to remove my bag while sitting. Putting it back would be difficult and you would have to expend energy placing it back which I am not generous this time.

I plan to fill my bottle once I will reach the Lower Kahugan Spring. I ditch that idea and savor the thought instead of drinking directly from the natural spring water. When I reach it, I also ditch that opportunity of a drink. I would have, if it only been very warm, but it had not. Besides the bag is a bit of a problem. I would have to remove it so I could stoop low to catch water with my hands. So, I just sit and take a breather, enjoying the conversations of those who sought rest there.

I did not stay long and proceed on my own. The trail begins to ascend gently and I switch to another path where it would had been easier in another time. One foot forward over the other brought me to a place where there is a community and I am winded, this time, and I sit and rest without taking the bag away nor do I enjoy the privilege of drinking water. This personal situation today I would consider as part of my preparation for the next segment of the Cebu Highlands Trail Project.

When some of the party arrive at my perch, I stand up and continue the ascent. Walking ahead of me is the 7-year old son of Richie Quijano – Legend, who is also with his wife, Francelyn. The soil is loose and sometimes dusty. The boy run up and down the trail and simply enjoying the freedom of the outdoors. His mother would snap at him for carelessness but it is a child’s world really and I am quite elated that the lad had taken a liking of the mountains.

We overtake a group of hikers resting at a row of mangoes. The boy lead me on until I reach the Roble homestead at 09:45. It is so surprising on my part that my effort had brought me earlier than I thought I would have. In fact, it was just a little more than an hour than I had expected it to be. Fele Roble is splitting a green bamboo pole with a stout stick hammering at his long native blade while wife Tonia is readying a pot with hot water for coffee.

A circumcised Josel is wearing a big t-shirt but still smiling. I gave him the 50-peso worth of sweet bread that I bought in Guadalupe and he disappears into their tiny makeshift hut, the abode that they had been using as a home right after their original house was destroyed by Typhoon Seniang. A new but unfinished house is standing on the former site and promises a new beginning for the Roble family.

Slowly, the rest arrive and occupied the empty benches. The school supplies are all collected and placed in the visitor shed for an inventory later. Meanwhile, I need coffee. I am very thirsty and the only remedy for that is a cup of coffee – and a refill - which I sip one after the other. I part the kilo of rice to Ernie Salomon, our food fixer par excellence.

I give the bags of both starter and booster feeds to Fele. The young turkeys would really need this to keep them healthy in the coming weeks. I am very happy to see the tiny guys peering from the wings of their mother. The six would be divided between me and the Roble family and I believe this venture would improve a little of their economic standing as the children are growing. Manwel is now a young man doing vocational schooling while Juliet is serious with her secondary studies. Little Josel is following in their footsteps.

While the rest are preoccupied of their tasks, I focused mine on making two sets of fireboard and spindle for a bowdrill. I used the folding saw from Victorinox SAK Trailmaster to cut it into manageable pieces and the vintage Sheffield-made knife with deer handle to shape these. When done with that, I proceed to carve a forked piece of wood with the Sheffield knife as the “bearing block”. I would need these things for the Philippine Independence Bushcraft Camp in June.

After the notebooks and writing pads had been sorted and tallied, we proceed with the most important activity of the day – eating. Ernie, time and time again, had concocted another wonderful meal fit for kings. Pork chop estofado, grilled pork and a foraged banana heart (Local name: puso) that was cooked with oyster sauce is laid on the table for the hungry volunteers. Added to that is his signature raw cucumbers and tomatoes in vinegar.

Siesta is allotted instead to the discussion of the next tasks for next week (May 24) which would be the day when the gifts will be distributed which Jhurds is now facilitating. When that was finished, Mayo Leo Carillo proceed to finish another Penobscot bow made of three layers of bamboo. This is much better than the two-layered one which he made last time. I tried the pull of the limbs and I believe it is between 20 to 35 pounds.

On the side, Legend and Josel, together with Jerome Roble, bonded each other by plinking empty cans with slingshots. Later on, the guys dragged two boards and place it side-by-side on the ground and another glorious round of blade porn ensues. To make this quick and over with, everybody grabbed their blades from its hidden pockets inside the bag and pierce it on the two boards.

We leave at 16:20 back to Napo after securing the notebooks in a waterproofed location and saying goodbye again to the Roble family. They assured us that they will prepare the place for the big day next week and we promised them something in return. It was a very good day and my duffel bag is blissfully light even with a stash of sweet potatoes inside.

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NAPO TO BABAG TALES LCI: Bayanihan and Bushcraft

FOR MANY WEEKS NOW, the Roble family had been living on a small shelter which they call home. Their original house had been brutalized by Typhoon Yolanda and Typhoon Ruby in the past but Typhoon Seniang had given it a death kneel. I have learned of that when I visited them in early January and began informing others of the state of their house.

So far, a fund drive was started separately by Boy Toledo of the Redtrekkers and Jhurds Neo of the Camp Red Bushcraft and Survival Guild while other hikers donated directly to the family on their way to Mount Babag. Although giving directly is showing compassion and empathy, it could not provide what is best for the affected family. A tangible benefit could only be achieved if a community of individuals would link together for a common good.

Because there is a collective effort, on the part of Camp Red, there is bound to be a positive result. The Roble homestead is Camp Red’s favorite place to spend their day, call it their dirt time. It is not their turf nor they claim it is as their exclusive own. It is just that they preferred to stay at the shaded bamboo benches and enjoy the company of the Roble family.

Because of the Roble’s kindness and their willingness to share their frontyard to this noisy breed of outdoorsmen, the family had endeared so well to the members. While many choose to pass the place on their way to the higher places, Camp Red choose to stay. It is like a second home to them. In fact, they choose this place for outreach events. They do it twice a year here. One before the opening of classes and another one during December.

For today, Jhurds had produced some housing materials, either through donations and by direct procurement, and brought it to the parking area of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish today, February 15, 2015. I arrive at 06:30 and Jhurds was already there together with couple Mark and Mirasol Lepon, Nelson Tan, Richie Quijano and Ernie Salomon. Behind me comes Jonathan Apurado, JB Albano, Dominic Sepe and Rommel Mesias.

Inside a Suzuki Mini Van are pieces of coconut lumber, sheets of thatched bamboo strips, some light GI beams and small pre-owned boards. The small boards can still be used as cabinets or as window shutters while the GI beams can be used to support the roof. The coconut lumber can be used for the house frames and the thatched bamboo as temporary walls. The plan is to carry all these items to the Roble homestead.

Jhurds drove the Suzuki to Napo while we ride on motorcycles going there. We start our loaded journey at 08:15 as Jhurds ask leave for a family activity. The items are heavy and cumbersome to carry but nobody complained. Laughing as we set off, we rest frequently to preserve energy which we will need most during the ascent. We reach a mango tree and we assess ourselves if we can pursue our objectives. It is an opportunity also to exchange cargoes.

The pre-owned boards are heavy and difficult to carry since these are tied as a set of three boards each and the best way to carry it is either by propping it on one shoulder or over the head but the added weight of your arms above your collar bones make it more heavy to carry. The GI beams are heavy but it is easy to handle and carry. Same with the coconut lumber although you have to watch out for those sharp grits but we provide ourselves cotton gloves. The thatched bamboo sheets are rolled and bulky but it is the lightest.

We reach Lower Kahugan Spring and take another rest. It would be difficult after here since the route would be ascending. Grudgingly, we take that challenge. The cool shades of trees helped us greatly a few feet by a few feet until we are just a couple of a hundred meters to our objective. We frequently change cargoes as we stop so others could enjoy a breather on their weary arms.

Finally, we all arrive at close to 11:00 and pile the items neatly on the side and proceed to our next tasks. Gleefully given the chance to unleash their blades, these hardy bushmen prowled the vegetation to forage firewood and start the business of chopping it into manageable pieces for the fireplace. The first order of things is to enjoy coffee. An empty pot appears and water is hastily boiled in it. Coffee tastes heavenly when outdoors, be it rainy or warm.

Ernie takes care of the preparation of the food helped by Mirasol and Rommel. The fire roared to life and the pots are readied over it. Boy T arrive by himself and produce a bottle of Tanduay Light Smooth Aged Rum which gives fuel to conversations as we get on with our tasks. We at Camp Red prepare and cook our meals exquisitely as if we are in a king’s banquet. Give that to Ernie. He does magic with his ladle.

Salmon belly are cooked in a spicy concoction producing a native fare called “linarang”. Likewise pork is cooked in a tamarind-enhanced soup resulting to another indigenous food called as “sinigang”. Then we have grilled pork, rice and an appetizer of raw cucumbers dipped in sweetened and spiced vinegar. Three fireplaces were set up to hasten the cooking and we are able to eat lunch a few minutes past noon.

I resign to my corner after the meal and retrieve three kilos of fowl feed for my pair of turkeys. I am quite satisfied at the difference of the health and the growth of the turkeys compared to the first time I introduced them here, especially the male, last January 3. They are now very agile and could leap to a horizontal wood beam seven feet above the ground. Fele and Tonya are just as happy.

I transfer to the company of Boy T. The bottle contents are now at the halfway point and I squeeze in the middle of the circle that Boy T had ably steered. The benches are full and so are the boisterous laughs from every jokes and comments. The conversations seesawed from the serious to the hilarious and all are brimming with pride that they had contributed to something good and worthwhile today. The glass never failed on its orbit.

The new house of the Roble family would stand, we assured that to Fele and Tonya and their children. The family hired a chainsaw and we provided an advanced payment amounting to 30 percent of the contract price of P5,000 to the owner. In a short while, Fele and the chainsaw operator proceed to the business of locating a mature China berry tree (Local name: bagalnga) which they found from a far distance if you judge the sound of the buzzing chainsaw.

The bottle of Tanduay gets decimated and a bottle of Emperador Light Brandy replaces it. The same crowd but different stories. Ultimately, everybody including Boy T gets tired of the fiery liquid and turn to their knives for another showcase of blades. The naturally-shaped wooden bench looked like a porcupine as blades stood on its back. I even add my custom-handled claw hammer to the pageantry as an “odd man out”.

Everybody knows that the blade porn is the activity that ends all activities and when one blade gets pulled from its niche, everybody followed suit. We leave the Roble homestead at 16:00 for Napo, for sooner we would be at Guadalupe again. In the back of our minds, we know that cold bottles of beer are now waiting at The Bikeyard. It had and we keep it pouring till midnight.

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NAPO TO BABAG TALES LXXXVIII: Why Not Turkeys?

THE ROBLE FAMILY OWNS some goats with kids; cocks and hens with their chicks.  These creatures are ubiquitous when you visit their place.  Some of the goats belong to my friends and I had been invited to buy a goat or goats from them and leave it be so it would multiply.  Wow, I would like that very much.  It ensures me a supply of goat meat or an income.  Wouldn’t you?

But I have other things in mind.  I prefer other animals.  A cow is out of the question.  Too expensive.  How about pigs?  No way!  It is not environmentally-sound to raise it on a mountain.  If there is a legal trading of wildlife, I would have considered raising deer.  Or a crocodile.  Why not?  If it improves the economic standing of the Roble family as well as ensuring the survivability of these animals, why not at all?

Well, I have no choice but look around for something different.  How about turkeys?  Yes, turkeys.  I had not seen one in my visits to Napo and Kahugan.  I believe a turkey would survive and multiply in the environment within and around the Roble homestead.  The feathered creatures could have all the green things as fodder and that is a cheap option which would approximate those of raising a goat.  

Turkey meat is much saucier than chicken and command a higher price in the market.  It increases when demand for it are high during the holiday season, a thanksgiving day, a special occasion or even a fiesta celebration.  It would very much augment the income of the Roble family, ensures me meat if I need it or I could convert it to cash.  Why not turkeys?  Yeah, why not?

Good for me, I was able to source a young pair in early December near my workplace in Mandaue City and instantly paid for it.  I keep it in the care of the former owner for a few weeks and keep it fed by supplying it with poultry feeds.  I could have transferred it to the mountains immediately but my schedule was off.  In time, I got a down time on January 3, 2015.  I took a half day and spirit it away to my destination.

For this occasion, I used the motorcycle issued to me to transport the turkeys from office to home to the trailhead of Napo but run it with gas paid by me.  The juvenile turkeys were a male and a female and I place them inside a cardboard box with small holes all around.  I pass by a feed store and buy five kilos of poultry pellets which I stuff inside my Lifeguard USA rucksack.  When I reach Napo, I leave the motorcycle locked on the community center and start my hike at 13:30.

It is a very warm early afternoon but I am pressed to deliver the quarry to that house on the hill.  I am sure it would bring forth smiles from the Roble children - Manwel, Juliet and Josel.  It is also a chance to test further my newly-acquired 5.11 Tactical Series Shoes on this trail which I had trodden for so many times.  The box, at first, was light, but, after a half hour of walking, it is now heavy.  I changed hands but it only brought brief respite.

I rest underneath a mango tree – a landmark and a rest stop of my earlier visits here until I slowly increased stamina – and wondered why I gasped for air?  Another half hour and I would arrive at Lower Kahugan Spring.  I did, but I begin to suspect my stamina.  Am I overexerting myself?  Why did I not arrange Manwel or his father, Fele, earlier to meet me on this day?  The answer to that is not in my disposition at that time.  Well, I am fond of braggadocio, so eat that.

I stared at the ascending Kahugan Trail, so bright in the early afternoon sun.  Could I make it to the top of the hill?  I hope I could.  I have done that with much harder loads before and, besides, I am not racing with a raincloud.  The sky seemed to have cooperated.  Rain would have soaked me and would disintegrate the cardboard box.  The breach would give space for my turkeys to flee.  Thank God it is warm!

Slowly and steadily, I stalk the higher elevations, tottering on some moments, but, my 5.11 shoes held still.  I did not experience a “one-step-forward-two-steps-backward-slide” syndrome that you would get on slippery ground with a heavy load.  Hehehe...I had chosen well.  These tactical shoes turned the tables over those awfully-expensive leisure shoes.  What a big difference!  

I reach a lone tamarind tree and I am already used up.  It is still a long uphill battle.  My arms are weary holding the box.  I need to summon my reserves.  I bend forward and close my eyes.  I inhaled deep through the nose and expelled my breathe through the mouth.  I repeat this many times.  It is easier to breathe that way since your upper body do not stiffen as you would when standing erect.  The needed oxygen for the body are abundant and it freshens me.

I made good progress when I was jolted by the presence of dark clouds.  A few raindrops fell.  Now I got stressed a bit but, after evaluating the place where I am, in a few minutes I would be at my destination.  Putting one foot forward over the other mechanically had brought me, at last, to the Roble homestead.  I approach the nearest bench and place all my cargoes down.  Sitting had never been better.

Looking up, I see Tonia counting her papaya fruits laid on a table.  Manwel and Juliet are helping their mother.  Fele and Josel are nowhere.  Nevertheless, I have live turkeys for them.  I explained to Manwel and Tonia how to care for the turkeys.  I removed the turkey pair from the box and give their long-sought freedom.  Freedom of the hills, I mean.  Instantly the creatures pecked and picked happily on moss, grass and anything living-green.

After I had surrendered to them my 5-kilo poultry pellets, I gave the 50-peso worth of bread to the children.  I examine their house and I see roofs missing.  The house is tilting towards the hillside and would have tumbled down where it not for the ropes that was tied to the Java plum tree (Local name: duhat, lomboy).  Typhoon Seniang did not spare their house this time.  It had already been battered by Typhoon Yolanda and Typhoon Ruby.

I am saddened at the state of the house and saw their half-wet things partly covered by tarpaulin.  They were sleeping the whole time on a small makeshift shelter close to the ground – all five of them.  They were already deprived of electricity long ago that had given them joy and now a home.  Some people would have to know of their state of living and I took pictures of their house.  I will help mobilize people to a donation drive or anything that may improve their living condition.

It was good timing that I came today.  The turkeys I brought would help them out when it starts to hatch and multiply but that would be at a far future.  For the meantime, I leave a sum of money to help them out for a while until the cavalry will start to arrive.  I have crossed seas to deliver relief but I had overlooked my backyard.  Shame on me.  I promised Fele and Tonia that I will do something.

Since it is already 16:00 and the rain is almost here, I leave for the lowlands.  I pass by a lone hiker and he will be shocked at the sight of the Roble home, that is, if he has a heart.  I have no more load and I travel fast.  After crossing the creek, I test the new pair of shoes by running on trails.  I run on short bursts uphill and long winding treads downhill.  My abdomen begins to feel funny as the looseness of flesh and fat begins to get stretched.

I ran and walked until I arrive in Napo.  I cranked the motorcycle on and proceed to Guadalupe.  At the Bikeyard Cafe, I rehydrated myself with two small bottles of San Miguel Pale Pilsen.  The turkeys will be taken cared of and the Roble family will get their house back soon!  God bless them!

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POST-TYPHOON RUBY ISLAND MISSION

I GOT TAPPED AGAIN to assist and be involved in yet another humanitarian mission to Guintarcan Island, off the coast of Northern Cebu.  I had been there seven times; four as a local tourist and three more as a relief worker.  So, this would be my eighth trip there.  The Children of the Coast Foundation, for the second time, make use of my familiarity and knowledge of the island today, December 13, 2014.  Aside that, I will do the documentation.

CCF is engaged in philanthropy works that focuses in the betterment of marginalized children, those of which are considered vulnerable.  CCF is working with Wine to Water, a US-based charity organization that specializes in providing potable water to the poorest communities of the world by any means using technology.  The recipient of this mission is the post-Typhoon Ruby (Hagupit) community of Langub.

Supervising this activity is Wine to Water’s international project coordinator, Mr. Brad Ponack, who came here all the way from Cambodia.  Joining us is CCF’s executive director, Ms. Jonnette Alquizola.  A coaster van and a double-cab pickup are loaded from CCF’s depot at Mandaue City and left for Daanbantayan at 05:45.  By 09:30, me and my three crews begin transferring the items from wharf to a small outriggered boat.

The items were 50 pieces Sawyer Bio Bucket Filter, 40 pieces 20-liter water container, 40 pieces 20-liter bucket, 40 kilos rice, 80 sets basic health and hygiene kit and 80 pieces towel.  Mr. Ponack came along for a ride together with two of the crews while Ms. Alquizola opt to stay behind and utilize the remaining crew to help her distribute the other items not loaded into the boat to a community in San Remigio.  

Typhoon Ruby did not intensify into a super typhoon as was forecast but it stayed for four days in the Visayas region bringing rain and storm surges of 3 to 5 meters high which threaten shoreline communities and small islands.  As we cross the Bantayan Channel, swells of up to one meter threaten our small boat brought on by another weather disturbance approaching the islands.  We reach the village of Langub at 10:40 and, immediately, we transfer the items straight into the home of the village chairman, Mr. Rolando Villacarlos.

Mr. Villacarlos welcomed us and showed us his rain-impounding system installed on his house after Mr. Ponack inquired of how they source fresh-water.  This system is common in most households but is not altogether reliable owing to the need of frequent rainfalls as a source of drinking water to support a family the whole year round.  Then you have hygiene issues.  Impounded rain would have to be boiled or filtered for it to be potable.  Boiling needs heat which a private power plant supplies electricity for just a few hours only which is costly.

After Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), several relief agencies and non-government organizations donated different water filter systems to improve the living conditions of Guintarcan residents.  Mr. Villacarlos showed one such type, which is a Korean-made ceramic-type filter.  It is well-maintained but the lack of replacements for the filter elements have hounded the other households to condemn it and utilize it for other uses instead.  

We had observed that relief agencies/NGOs had not bothered about the filters that they had donated and left it to the fate of the locals or that it had not been their priority.  Actually, the supply of filters are available in the big cities like Cebu and Manila and it is just that the residents are not knowledgeable of its availability or that the filter replacements are expensive.  But the big obstacle is maintenance.  The residents just lacked the know-how in the care of their filters.

We learned also that a private enterprise located on the island are supplying households of drinkable water.  The water is sourced from a deep well in the middle of the island and pumped to the surface and converted from brackish to fresh water by reverse osmosis.  A 5-liter container costs 35 pesos but not everyone have cash to buy one bottle to last for a week.  So we looked instead to some residents who really are vulnerable for which Mr. Villacarlos is now tasking himself to produce with a list.

Meanwhile, we decide to check on the lone public school of Langub.  We talked to one teacher and we were informed that there are a total of 344 students in seven different grade levels.  The school has two modern rain-impounding systems which were built and donated by Mercy Corps and each classroom is equipped with a Sawyer filter system each given by the All-terrain Medical Relief Organization.  Almost all filters are working but a few had worked below its expectation.  This is caused by lack of knowledge.

Mr. Ponack fixed one existing filter system and added another better system for the Grade 4 Classroom.  For good measure, Wine to Water donated a total of seven Sawyer Bio Bucket Filters to the Langub Elementary School to bring to a total of 14 filter systems or two filters each per classroom.  The present system is an improvement of the existing which only utilized a plastic jerry.  This time, Mr. Ponack ensures the students have a stock of enough water by attaching the filter to a bucket with a lid and its flow of clean water going into a jerry.

Before leaving the school, we gave the Grade 4 teacher 56 sets of hygiene and health kits for her 56 students.  When we got back to Mr. Villacarlos’ residence, we were feted to a lunch of freshly-caught fish, grilled on charcoal, to add to our packed meals of fried chicken, spring rolls and rice.  It is 13:10 but Mr. Ponack have a lot of work to do.  He has to attach the rest of the Sawyer filters plastic jerries and buckets and he has two of the crews to help him as I will do a little exploring.

I found four rowhouses of 10 units each which gave shelter to the households that was displaced by Typhoon Yolanda.  The vegetation had recovered well and youths are playing basketball on a concrete court.  I walk past houses whose concrete floors are half-covered with white sand.  I understand a strong storm surge had caused sand erosion from the seabed into the shoreline and into the main road of this side of Guintarcan.  Langub had bore the brunt of Typhoon Ruby on the island.

I visit Judith Illustrisimo, who had hosted me during my first relief mission here last year together with the crews of the Death Valley Expeditionary Corps, a US-based humanitarian aid group composed of private security and military contractors.  She is selling fresh fish for me – cheap – and I ordered two kilos, for which she gave me more than that for 200 pesos.  I gave thanks and said goodbye and went back to where I came from, passing by the road.

On the way, I saw a white steel box.  I came nearer and I discovered a small solar-powered desalination plant.  This was donated by the Italian contingent of Oxfam just this year.  It gets its water from a very deep hole in the ground, pumped to the surface by clean renewable energy supplied by photovoltaic panels and by wind vanes.  Ultraviolet tubes cleans the water of impurities and bacteria before it pours out of the taps.  Ingenious.

By now, people are beginning to converge at the house of the village head.  Mr. Ponack and the crew are almost finished with the assembly of the water-filter systems.  Joseph Rojo, one of the crew, begins to explain to the residents in plain Cebuano dialect, how and when to clean the filters.  Then we delegate the distribution of all the relief items to Mr. Villacarlos.  

It had started to rain when we left the island at 15:00 and boarded the small boat back to the mainland.  We encountered slightly rough seas in the middle of the Bantayan Channel but I am undaunted.  The boat touched base at 16:00 and, immediately, we left the wharf for Mandaue City. 

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NAPO TO BABAG TALES LXXVIII: For the Benefit of the Children of the Highlands

      “Whoever welcomes a child such as this in my name, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not me but the One who sent me.”

                                               Mark 9:37, Catholic Pastoral Edition

      “The one who is found to be the least among you all, is the one who is the greatest.”

                                               Luke 9:48, Catholic Pastoral Edition

PICTURES TELL STORIES. This is all about The Outreach phase of the Who Put the “N” in Nature III, held at the Babag Mountain Range, Cebu City on May 25, 2014. It is a very warm sunny day, made humid by an early morning rain. Volunteers take the loads of school supplies and food and juice cups into their sturdy shoulders to bring smiles to the children of Kahugan, Kamiliano and Napo, who all were already expecting us at the Roble homestead. The number of recipients are a lot more compared to last year but the team worked hard to achieve the goal of feeding the children and their parents and evenly distributing the school supplies.

This is our story:

The following are cited for their collective effort, support, sacrifice and cooperation to make the Who Put the “N” in Nature III, a very successful endeavour:

ENTHUSIASTS OF CEBU OUTDOORS

SIGMA ALPHA EPSILON

USC-COED-SESO

RECON 7-MACE

PASTOR DANIEL WONG

ATTY. JOSE GOCHANGCO

ROBLE FAMILY

SITIO KAHUGAN COMMUNITY

SITIO KAMILIANO COMMUNITY

SITIO NAPO COMMUNITY

TITAY’S ROSQUILLOS & NATIVE DELICACIES

SILANGAN OUTDOOR EQUIPMENT

RAK APPARELS

ZUE FASHION

DONEO HOST MAKING

DEATH VALLEY MAGAZINE

WARRIOR PILGRIMAGE

HANDURAW EVENTS CAFE

THE OUTPOST RESTOBAR

DEANERY

HAPPY DAYS

SUNDAY SUNDAY

TIGER PUSSY

THE SPIRALS

MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS ALLIANCE OF THE PHILIPPINES

CAMP RED BUSHCRAFT & SURVIVAL GUILD

TRANS MONTIS MOUNTAINEERS

SUGBO OUTDOOR CLUB

EWITERS

TADLAS

ORCS

TRIBU WAFU WAFA

TRIBU BATIG NAWNG

KUYAMAW

SOUTHSIDE PROJECT ADVENTURE

REDTREKKERS

...and to those not mentioned, God knows the good things you did in secret. Smile.

TO GOD BE THE GLORY!

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