Thursday, February 1, 2018

Iglesia Ni Cristo Tree Planting Is A Total Failure

Six months ago I published an article about Iglesia Ni Cristo engaging in a tree planting activity in the area.
https://philippinefails.blogspot.com/2017/08/iglesia-ni-cristo-plants-trees-and.html
They bussed in a few hundred people some from at least two hours away telling by the destinations written on the jeepneys in which they arrived. All morning they busily planted little saplings. 


This is the field in which they planted their grove. It's hard to tell but in the background are many, many more bamboo sticks protecting tiny saplings. They must have planted at least a hundred saplings in this field. By noon they were gone and apparently they never came back to tend to the trees because today, 31 January, 2018, this is what the field of trees looks like:


Where is the mini-forest? Where are the hundreds of saplings they planted?  Here is a close up.


These trees look like overgrown underbrush. Many of them are even choked and tangled by weeds. In fact all the trees are practically indistinguishable from weeds!


One or two of them look fairly robust and like they might make it but that is purely a chance occurrence and not because anyone has been tending to them.  


What a complete waste of time it was to bus out hundreds of people to plant trees when no one even bothered to follow up on them. There is an INC congregation in the squatters village where they planted these trees so there is no excuse that someone was not assigned to tend to these saplings. A few bamboo sticks were lying about broken but no sign of the saplings they were protecting.




What was the point of this activity? All around the world the INC goes out and plants trees. What for? Do they think they are noble environmental champions? How is bussing in people from two hours away to plant trees no one will care for a good thing for the environment? Bussing them in means more pollution in the air and more energy wasted. The saplings the INC killed through neglect could have flourished in someone else's hands and field. And let's not forget about the litter they left behind which was not an environmentally friendly thing to have done. There were more people than trees planted which means bussing in hundreds was completely unnecessary and only done for the photo-op. If the INC cares about the environment why not just have the local congregation plant and care for the saplings? Because pictures and video of hundreds of people congregating for a tree planting activity is good PR.

This neglected field of weedy trees is very much reflective of the soul of the Iglesia Ni Cristo which is a spiritually bankrupt organisation feeding its members only lies and heresies.

I cannot speak for their efforts elsewhere but this tree planting activity is a total failure. 

3 comments:

  1. As a former farmer in the Philippines, planting not just cash crops of Carabao Mangoes, but Mahogany hardwoods by the thousands, the problems with planting anything in the Philippines, is one, it will seldom last because Filipinos have no patience to wait years for it to grow. If it does grow, then Filipinos somehow think that it is community property, even if it is on YOUR land. Filipinos will damage any trees just to get at fruit, disregarding the health of the tree.

    As far as reforestation of the Philippines, it is one big joke, as these NGOs or church groups are just in it for either the publicity or usually, the $$$...planting a few trees, then throwing the rest of the seedlings down ravines or in caves.

    Like anything in the Philippines, it is ALL Ningas Cogon, no follow through, & more often than not, just waiting for foreigners to come in & do it for them, then claim credit for it & steal the fruits of someone else's labor...

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  2. This is just like every thing else in the Philippines. All show and no go.

    What a pathetic waste of effort.

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  3. Anon,
    Agreed. As said before I'm beginning to think Filipinos hate anything that is alive and green. Don't know how many times I watched them "clean" their yards. All they do is pull up grass and other greenery and leave the broken glass, bottle caps and other trash laying around.

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