Seedling nursery expansion built from DENR-ARMM’s budget savings

By Ferdinandh Cabrera

December 8, 2014

Sec. Kahal Kedtag during his almost fare speech with DENR-Employees during the turn over of his brainchild nursery.

Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao--- Built inside a the watershed area  beside the pumping station of Cotabato Water district, an expanded seedling nursery for greening program of DENR-ARMM was officially handed today at the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO-ARMM).

DENR-ARMM Secretary Kahal Kedtag who is due to relinquish his post as cabinet official if the Bangsamoro Basic Law starts its scheduled ratification next year has handed the management of the nursery to PENRO office, accepted by his subordinate environmentalist Doming Dagadas.

The nursery was Kedtag’s brainchild project together with UN- World Food Program, has convinced local inhabitants of the watershed area who were once involve in Kaingin logging system and carabao logging (small scale traditional logging) usually in making wood charcoals for living.

Seeing the disadvantage in the destruction of the forest surrounding the Dimapatoy watershed, they transformed the wrong practice of charcoal making to work on nursery in propagating forest trees from food- for-work scheme by UN- World Food.

“We are glad we had made to convince the locals here to shift from charcoal making from cutting trees to now seedling propagators and our counterpart in reforestation”, Kedtag said.

Ribbon cutting in front of the nursery site as gesture of the turn over

“This makes us proud that savings of DENR has made the realization of this nursery which is really needed by the region in climate change mitigation especially from time to time we are visited by natural calamities”, Lawyer Rasul Mitmog said from ARMM’s executive secretary office who was the guest of honor in the program.

Without sufficient funding acquired from the national budget, the savings of DENR-ARMM worth 820 thousand this year has made the realization of putting a bigger central nursery, which, would be planters could get free from Sitio Lomboy Nursery.

The nursery from few hectares of public land is producing endemic species aimed to mitigate flooding and landslides especially now the forest covers are badly denuded.

Among the seeds developed are Antipolo, Narra, Mahogany and bamboo’s.

At least 2,300 hectares from the watershed area is the target to be planted coming from this site which a community of six villages organized as cooperative named Lupa Sinaka is DENR’s partner in seedling propagation and planting.

END.

Tree planting set on the day of Ruby’s landfall

September 5, 2014

Ferdinandh Cabrera

Cotabato City--- At the day typhoon Ruby is expected its landfall in the country,

hundred of mostly student and army personnel of Balik Kalikasan Advocacy Group (BKAG) from Cotabato City and Maguindanao areas will troop to Barangay Pigcalagan in Sultan Kudarat town for another round of tree planting.

This time to replace the number of seedlings that did not survived during last May’s Mindanao wide  “Treevolution Campaign” which BKAG took a big part in organising and mobilising participants in a succesfull world breaking  on most planted and participated tree planting in an hour campaign by Mindanao Development Authority and DENR.

Balik-Kalikasan Advocacy Group focal person Captain Gregorio Jose said, a 30 percent mortality of seedlings were monitored from the  500 planted Antipolo and Lanipao seedlings in 5 hectare area reforestation area is scheduled to be replaced.

“ This was our commitment together with my Brigade commander Col. Arnel Dela Vega before to the regional governor Mujiv Hataman that we will ensure the trees we planted are not only for show up or compliance but to sincerely implement reforestation to mitigate climate change”, Captain Jose said.

Hataman led the treevolution in this site where he dreams to visit in future days, to check how the trees he planted had grown up.

Hataman said, the place is suitable for reforestation as the town is suffering from freequent devastating floods that affects thousand of people and heavy traffic congestions when water overflows in the highways.

With this the STI college, an academe part of the BKAG, pledged to adopt more communities for reforestation and one of those is in the area of Pigcalagan which the BKAG planted during Treevolution.

BKAG is a decade long environmental advocacy group from the 6^th Division, DENR, academe, civil society groups, Minirco Lumber Inc, and Cotabato media that aims to protect environment and climate change mitigation.

END.

APAT SUGATAN SA ENGKWENTRO NG BIFF AT MGA SUNDALO SA SHARIFF SAYDONA MAGUINDANAO

Ni Ferdinandh Cabrera

December 1, 2014

Reinforcement ng Army troops sa highway ng Brgy. Nabundas

Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Maguindanao--- Dalawang sundalo at dalawang miembro ng rebeldeng Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters ang sugatan matapos magkasalubong ang kanilang mga pwersa sa kaninang umaga.

Nangyari ang insidente alos otso ng umaga sa Brgy. Nabundas, Shariff Saydona Mustapha, Maguindanao habang nagsasagawa ng ng security patrol ang mga sundalo ng 45^th Infantry Battalion sa nasabing lugar at nakasalubong ang pwersa ng BIFF.

Agad nagpaulan ng malalakas na RPG ang mga BIFF na sinuklian naman ng volume fire ng mga sundalo.

Nang humupa ang bakbakan at nakalayo ang BIFF ay agad naglunsad ng clearing operation ang mga sundalo kung saan isang hinihinalang IED ang kanilang diniffuse.

Ang mga residente naman agad nagsilikas.

Kwento pa ni Aling Limbo Ado, akma sana siyang maghahatid sa eskwela sa kanyang mga apo nang sumigaw ang mga sundalo na dumapa.

“ Napaihi ako sa takot, at nagsidapaan na lang, di na tuloy nakapasok ang mga bata sa eskwela kasi pati doon marami na ding mga sundalong nakaposisyon”, aniya.

Sa report ni 6^th ID information officer, Captain Jo-ann Petinglay, agad nagpadala ng reinforcement ang tropa ng mga sundalo matapos mamataan na dumami ang reinforcement ng BIFF.

Bagamat malapit sa area ng mga MILF, hindi naman daw nakialam ang mga ito bagkus ang mga sibilyan umano ang nagtuturo sa lokasyon ng mga BIFF na pumasok sa kanilang lugar.

Umaapela ang militar sa MILF at MNLF na tumulong sa magbigay ng karampatang impormasyon sa mga grupong ayaw sa kapayapaan at patuloy na naghahasik ng mga kaguluhan sa ibat ibang kumunidad.

Nilinaw naman ng BIFF sa pamamagitan ng kanilang tagapagsalita Abu Misry Mama na walang nasawi sa kanilang mga tropa kundi mga sugatan lang.

END