By Celeste Anna R. Formoso
FRIENDS ARE FRIENDS: Former president Erap Estrada gets help from Hagedorn in planting his tree during the Pista Y Ang Cagueban at sitio Impapay, barangay Irawan on June 28. Hagedorn says Erap is welcome to Puerto Princesa anytime he likes. The former president replied by saying he likes to build a house and retire in the city. (Photo by Jojo Remo/City Writers’ Pool and Events Management Division)
THOUSANDS OF Puerto Princesa residents trooped again to sitio Impapay, barangay Irawan on Saturday, June 28, to celebrate this year’s Pista Y Ang Cagueban (Feast of the Forest) to continue the habit of planting trees and love for Mother Nature with Mayor Edward S. Hagedorn and his special guest, former Philippine president Erap Estrada.
Troops upon troops of students, government employees, civic organization representatives, military personnel, and tourists were conveyed to Irawan before sunrise by garbage and military trucks to begin the mass planting of over 50,000 saplings of mahogany, acacia mangium and other indigenous tree species.
Enduring wet dirt and sharply sloping strides along the sides of the Irawan mountain, the 16th celebration of the Pista was again celebrated successfully, according to Mayor Edward S. Hagedorn, whose administration took over its implementation in 1992 from the Palawan Integrated Area Development Project (PIADP).
“There has been a dramatic change in our efforts to regain the denuded areas of Irawan since we started strongly campaigning for this. Many of the trees the residents of Puerto Princesa have planted here 16 years ago have now become fully-grown trees that help protect our watershed from soil erosion,” Hagedorn said, adding the survival rate has remained high at more than 80%.
Estrada, in his speech, praised residents of Puerto Princesa, the city government and Hagedorn for a forest tradition that has endured time and has helped a lot in protecting, preserving and conserving the environment.
The former president said forests are important as they release vapor which in turn produces clouds, release oxygen, holds topsoil in place to prevent erosion, provides home for flora and fauna and other living things and releases nitrogen back into the soil from naturally dying trees.
He told Pista revelers that they are lucky to be living in a place where Mother Nature and the people live in accord and perfect harmony.
Estrada also found time to discuss a bill his son, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, is determined to pass in the Senate, which is to make illegal logging a heinous crime. He explained that if trees are cut, nothing will stop flash floods from killing people.
Meanwhile, according to the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO), more than 1.5 million trees have been planted in Puerto Princesa in the past years to cover mountain areas that were once denuded by rampant logging and illegal logging operations.
Areas that volunteers can no longer climb are still planted through aerial seeding with the help of the 570th Composite Tactical Wings (CTW). Last Saturday, eight sacks of seeds wrapped in newspaper squares were dropped in the surrounding areas by two Huey helicopters led by Capt. Arvin A. Zara of the Philippine Air Force (PAF).
City ENRO Roger Daquer said the tree planting program has a component that ensures the tree seedlings are taken cared of as they grow.
After planting trees, the volunteers are treated with fun and games and entertainment provided by Manila artists who were invited by the city government join. This year, Billy Joe Crawford, a new talent of ABS-CBN led them in entertaining the crowd.
