To die a natural death due to unnatural causes. (Cover Story: Cordillera Greens).

My childhood memories are full of life at Ambuklao.

It was in this peaceful community where I had first witnessed the injustices destruction wrought on the people and their environment by development. I remember seeing the pain and the helplessness clearly imprinted on the faces of natives while they watch the construction of the Ambuklao dam.

The people would recall how their rice paddies which were meant to feed them and their descendants, were destroyed by the dam construction.

After generations of living in the same place, they are suddenly landless and homeless, and the only choices were to either leave or die. The people recalled the empty promises by the corporation constructing the dam to give just compensation for their lands and their properties--promises which, 50 years later, remain unfulfilled.

While we swam in the river and climbed the mountains, people tell of a time when the river was cleaner and the mountains were bursting with life. And of a time when there were no flashfloods.

That was 23 years ago.

Last year, we went back to Ambuclao. Eager to swim and frolic in the water, we find out that the river was no longer safe, either for drinking or swimming.

Elswhere in the Cordilleras, many communities are slowly being displaced by similar large scale projects and economic activities: power generation, mining, logging and kaingin.

The beauty of the Cordilleras has become both a blessing and a curse.

THE RICHNESS OF THE PHILIPPINES

The Philippines boasts of enormous biological and genetic resources. Our country is a home to some 500 kinds of birds and 167 mammals. The country is also rich in marine life-housing at least 2,000 fish species and 488 coral species. The Philippines is also home to some 12,000 plant species.

Our richness in terms of natural resources translates into 22 principal species of beach vegetation, 61 national parks, 2 marine parks and 8 game refugees and bird sanctuaries and 10 wilderness areas covering an area of 1.4 million hectares or 4% of the total land area of the Philippines.

THE RICHNESS OF THE CORDILLERA 

The Cordillera region, in turn is one of the richest regions in the country when it comes to biodiversity, forest and mineral resources. It is a region rich in habitats, wild life and mineral resources. The Cordilleras boast of dipterocarp, pine and mossy forests. Dipterocarp forest can be found round the foothill margins of the Cagayan valley. Pine forests, on the other hand, can be found mainly in the Southern and Southwestern mountains of the Cordillera. Mossy forests are located mostly above the pine belt and it caps the water system of Northern Luzon.

EXPLOITING ITS RICHNESS

All these have made the Cordillera Region a critical source not only of water, but also of mineral and forest and vegetable products.

With its known temperate and cold climate, the region is the primary producer of vegetables such as cabbage, potatoes, carrots, Baguio beans, and peas and fruits like oranges, pears, pineapples and bananas. Cordillera is also famous for it's strawberry farms, cut flower industry and soft broom products. The Cordilleras supply neighboring regions and the larger market with these fruits, vegetables and other products.

Its richness in resources has also made it a popular tourist destination in the country. Such tourist spots as the Banaue Rice Terraces, the Sagada Caves, the Kabayan Mummies and Mt. Pulag and the Hot Springs located in Tuba, Bontoc and Central Buguias has made a tourist boom in the region. However, it has also opened these areas to desecration and deterioration.

The Cordillera region is also rich in mineral resources such as gold, copper and silver, which is why large-scale and small-scale mining is the primary industry in the region. And because of the presence of several bodies of water in the region, it has becoming a target for multi-purpose dam constructions (the Ambuklao, Binga and San Roque Multi-Purpose Dams) which supply electricity to Northern Luzon.

REAPING WHAT WE HAVE SOWED

Changes in our resource management systems and the introduction of development paradigms which disregard the preservation and conservation of natural resources, have threatened the survival of our environment.

Because of what we had done to Mother Earth, we now face manifold crises--climate, water supply, biodiversity, economy, etc.

For example, Baguio's climate is increasingly becoming warmer,

Unabated logging activities (legal and illegal) have drastically reduced our water supply. In Sablan, people are beginning to fight over water. Everybody wants plenty of water but there is not enough for everyone.

The same logging activities are blamed for the flash floods and landslides during the rainy season.

CONCLUSION

Today, we face an ecological crisis that is threatening our ecological home. We can no longer avoid to ignore this ecological crisis as we are slowly feeling its effect not only in the environment, but also within ourselves. Thus, we need to begin studying and confronting these issues, taking responsibility for our actions, and move towards creating an ecological home that is sustainable, safe and spiritual. Change must happen now. It must begin within ourselves.

Reference: IPAS Final Report, DENR