Old Man in Leyte Outperforms Government By Planting 10,000 Trees

One old man in Leyte is doing more for typhoon disaster prevention and environmental protection than the inutile Philippine government.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1121468

For eight years now, a 65-year-old man in Matalom, Leyte has planted about 10,000 mangroves along a coastal area at the back of his house.

Gary Dabasol, jobless, has been planting mangroves in Punong village because he was worried of the danger of big waves especially during typhoons.

In doing so, he just gathered mangrove seedlings along the coastline in their village. Among the mangrove species that he planted include miyapi, pagatpat, and bakawan.

“I'm glad that I was able to inspire people, I hope that they will also follow what I am doing. I also want to contribute to higher marine production by cultivating a spooning area for fish, crabs, and shrimps and other species," Dabasol said in an interview on Wednesday.

The story of Dabasol was shared by netizen Dan Niez from Hilongos town, who visited the coastal area of Matalom last week to unwind.

Niez said the last time he went to the area several years ago, the place was just an open space along the shoreline.

He was surprised that during his visit last week, there are full-grown mangroves planted along the coastline.

“When I posted it, many people reacted especially millennials and praised Tatay Gary for what he did. I think they were inspired, and I hope they are inspired because planting 10,000 mangroves is not that easy,” Niez said.

“I hope that the government will also help him because what he did is extraordinary. It is not usual for one person to have this kind of initiative," Niez added.

Right now there has been typhoon after typhoon hitting the Philippines and the Senate and everyone else are wondering what can be done? This man is showing what can and should be done to prevent flooding during a typhoon. Doing a Google search for "philippines deforestation floods" and thousands of results show up. Here is one from 2005:

https://www.philstar.com/nation/2005/11/10/306119/deforestation-one-major-causes-rp-floods

"If FAO/CIFOR concluded that in those countries deforestation is not a cause of flooding, such findings do not hold true in the Philippines where forest degradation has gone from mild to severe, from 70 percent forest cover in 1900 to barely 18 percent in 1998," said Anabelle Plantilla, executive director of Haribon Foundation (www.haribon.org.ph), the country’s foremost environmental non-government organization in the forefront of issues for more than three decades. 

According to Norman Myers, author of the Primary Source, Tropical Forests and Our Future (1992), "the forests exert a sponge effect, soaking up moisture before releasing it at regular rates… The multi-storied structure of the forest, together with its vast amount of foliage, helps break the impact of a tropical downpour." 

He added that "the region where deforestation is most advanced is Southern-Southeast Asia, and it suffers (from) floods that increase in rage and intensity year by year." 

It seems as if nothing has been done as 15 years later conservation groups are calling for the same thing: reforestation.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1361520/group-says-protection-of-forests-must-be-core-of-disaster-response

Restoration and conservation of the Philippines’ existing forests, from rainforests to mangrove forests, should be at the core of the country’s disaster risk reduction plans, according to the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB).

Noting that deforestation caused massive flooding in Cagayan Valley due to Ulysses, Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade on Sunday said planting trees would soon be mandatory for public transport cooperatives and individuals seeking franchises or licenses.

In a meeting with President Duterte and other Cabinet officials, Tugade said a regional director of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) had suggested that members of cooperatives must plant 500 trees before being granted a franchise.

He said the Department of Transportation (DOTr) was closely coordinating with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and local government units in identifying areas for reforestation.

Transportation Secretary Tugade says it will be mediator for public transport cooperatives and individuals seeking franchisee to plant 500 trees before they are granted a franchise. Where will these trees come form? The Department of Agriculture? The DOA donated 1,500 trees for the local INC to plant back in 2017 and those trees are all dead now because nobody maintained them. Who will maintain the trees these franchise seekers plant? 

Even if these groups plant 500 trees each it will likely all go to waste somehow. Maybe the Philippines needs less government programs and more men like Gary Dabasol. Look at what he did all by himself.

https://www.facebook.com/nowinleyte/posts/225676302223133

All it takes to succeed it initiative and determination. The government could do these kinds of things too but they don't. That is a result of more red tape and corruption.