Gary Pekas
By Estanislao C. Albano, Jr.
Nambukayan, one of the barangays in the hilly area southwest of the Tabuk Valley, used to be richly endowed by nature. Most of the area was covered with thick virgin forest where hard wood species were in abundance. The forest fairly burst with wildlife – deer, wild pigs, monkeys, wild cats, wild chicken and all sorts of birds. The streams all of which flowed all year round teemed with different species of fish and other aquatic resources.
Just to picture how it was way back then, former barangay captain Abelardo Magadang, 74, relates that in the place called Kapanikian, the bats were such a multitude that the branches of trees they alighted on would break. He adds that back in his youth, when he went fishing in the Mananig River with his tabukol – a net fishing gear –, he could fill a standard kerosene can in an hour. In contrast, if he goes fishing now, he would be lucky if he lands 10 fish in a day.
Along with the aquatic life in the Mananig River, the wildlife in the forest of Nambukayan are just a memory in the minds of residents who were already old enough to remember in the 70s. So are the tall trees in the forest. In fact, according to Eusebio Lunang, 68, a resident of sitio Pao, nobody in the barangay could build a house made of hard wood now because the only trees that remain in the land are the soft ones. He related that when they built the house of his firstborn in 2001, they have to go buy and saw a tree growing in the lot of a resident of an adjoining barangay.
Lunang blames the disappearance of the quality wood in the barangay to the advent of the chainsaw in the 70s and likewise the kaingin (slash and burn farming) practice of residents. With the chainsaw facilitating the cutting and sawing of trees which, with the old tools used to be very laborious, some residents felled trees not only to construct their houses but for commercial purposes. This accelerated the decimation of the useful trees in the barangay.
Speaking of how the kaingin system destroys trees and prevents forests from growing, as the barangay captain way back in the mid-90s, Artemio Gunaban, 62, tried to reverse the trend through the passage of an ordinance mandating residents to plant their kaingins with fruit trees. According to him, this was in compliance with the government mandate to preserve ecology. The trouble was only a few complied because most of the people were thinking that a land planted to fruit trees could no longer be made into a kaingin in the future. Gunaban says: “Because of the advocacy of the DENR, the people know of the ill effects of cutting down trees but there is nothing they could do and we could do because most of them depend on their kaingins for their livelihood.”
The residents of sitio Nansibakan where Gunaban resides already know from experience the adverse result of cutting trees down. For decades now, the springs in the village which used to provide their domestic water needs all year round now dry up during summer. That’s when the whole village of 30 households depend on the water system sourced from a spring three kilometers away. The water is not enough to go around so some households go down to sitio Tagul-an which is three kilometers away to fetch their water. At least one family is known to haul water from Bulanao which is 10 kilometers away.
Magadang, Lunang and Gunaban all agree that the natural resources of the barangay would not have disappeared as quickly as it did if not for the fast growing population. Gunaban: “Back in those days, there were a few people to hunt wild game. The hunters then used to choose the big ones unlike now when they shoot even the young ones.” Magadang: “If the population did not multiply, we would still have fish in the river and deer in the forest. Now, even the wild chicken have became very scarce because of too many people are trapping them. We just eat vegetables now or buy meat from the market.” Lunang: “With more people hunting and more people eating, what do you expect?”
Magadang reveals that many people in the barangay have realized the disadvantages of having too many children. Magadang says that in sitio Pao where families used to have at least five children, young couples now have an average of three to four children..
Marieta, wife of Lunang, informs that in Nansibakan, there are many acceptors of family planning some of whom had themselves ligated. She adds though that there are still some in the barangay who still adhere to the old belief that even when one is poor if he has many children, he is rich. I found that out myself during my visit to the adjoining village when a woman who lives in a small house on stilts, in answer to my question, bared she has 10 children.
I am certain that if just like Magadang, Gunaban and Eusebio, all the child-bearing residents of Nambukayan make the connection between the lack of building materials, the altered climate, the near fishless bodies of water, the streams and springs which dry up during dry spells and the near zero wildlife in the forest on one hand and the population on the other, the small family would become the trend in the barangay. If they do not and they continue propagating without thought of how this impacts on the environment, then the ecological degradation of the barangay would continue until such time that human life in the place becomes extremely difficult or even impossible.
