By Danilo P. Padua, PhD
Ten days ago, I was travelling to Bontoc, Mtn Province for a seminar. The seminar was on citrus production and strawberry cultivation which was organized by the Agricultural Training Institute. l was a resource person for strawberry production.
Lest anyone will raise eyebrows as to why the seminar for strawberry was being held in Bontoc, let me say here immediately that the said seminar was actually held in Sagada where the climate is almost similar to that of La Trinidad, Benguet.
The trip to Bontoc was ominous. We started from La Trinidad under a dark, overcast sky. It was already like that for almost two weeks already. And the weather forecast for the Cordillera, especially the Benguet-Mtn Province area that time was 100% occurrence of heavy rains. There was a question of whether I will go or not because of that, knowing that the roads to be traversed are prone to landslides.
Being a good soldier, I went ahead anyway for three reasons: 1. I will be meeting farmers or prospective farmers. I would not like to miss the chance to impart some knowledge to them that I had accumulated through decades of learning, researching and actual practice. I thought that if I had helped strawberry farmers in other parts of the Philippines like Davao and Ormoc city, why should I shirk from the opportunity to continue dispensing the same to my own backyard? Thus, when the training coordinator, Dr. Christine Esnara of ATI, asked me to be the resource speaker, I only consulted my schedule of activities. Learning that I am free at the time for the seminar, I readily consented even if the invitation was merely about two weeks before the event. But of course I have had several chances already to impart that knowledge among farmers, technicians, professionals, and other stakeholders from Benguet and Ifugao; 2. ATI had arranged for this for quite sometime. It may be difficult to reschedule it for a suitable time near the original schedule. Besides, ATI personnel and other resource persons have already gone ahead to Bontoc without untoward incident; 3. I know my God (not the God of Pres. Duterte?) will protect us all the while.
And so I went, not even entertaining any thought of our trip being hounded by landslides even if our trip was a rainy one, at times hard, from the start up to the end. All along the way, it was foggy up to Sabangan town. When we reached Bontoc, we were met by a news that right there in that town, a couple of hours before we actually arrived, there was an unfortunate death to a housewife when the van being driven by her husband was rolled over by falling rocks. Fortunately, if you may call that as it is, the husband did not incur any serious injury.
The following morning, we motored up to Sagada, only about 20 km or so away from Bontoc. There was no rain, not even a drizzle. More than two hours into the seminar on strawberry, the group of about 30 participants and the organizers suggested that we go first for the techno demo part. On we went down to the demo site, about half a kilometer from the lecture area only to be gleefully met by dancing raindrops and playfully throwing water so we could get wet. On our path, the soil became so muddy and slippery that our shoes and pants dramatically became brown all over. We considered that though as part of the fun.
The owner of the techno demo area, Mr. Albert Langbayan, was just happy to host us despite the pouring rain. He is a progressive farmer who had proved that a relatively small area of 8,000 square meters could become very productive. In that small area, he planted citrus which is his main crop, together with strawberry, banana, dragon fruit, grapes and others. His farm income does not come only from the fruits of his plants but also from the sale of planting materials of citrus and strawberry that he himself produce. This is the reason why ATI had chosen him as farmer partner.
After the conclusion of the training-seminar in the afternoon, we decided to return to La Trinidad as the weather might become worse. While still in Alab barangay, Bontoc, we stopped about 20 meters from where stones were rolling down. The only vehicle ahead of us ran like hell when the stones were cascading down. We saw its rear jumping like an agitated horse as its rear wheels hit some of the smaller stones. Sensing that stones have stopped falling, we also ran like a surprised deer but were aghast when we saw big stones rolling down right at the spot where we were passing through. We got by unscathed. Yeah, God was with us.
Before reaching Saddle in Atok at around 9pm, another cause of concern stared at us. There before our wide eyes was freshly-eroded mountainside with all its muds and stones. We stopped. There was again one vehicle before us, a delivery van. We thought we might stay there for the night. We didn’t know what happened but only after 20 minutes or so later, a space good enough for the van to pass through was cleared. The van drove through like a scared rabbit. We followed, aping what the van did. After that, it was “smooth” sailing up to La Trinidad. Definitely, somebody up there was guiding us.
Few days later, I answered a call for a meeting with Atty R.D. Dilangalen, Usec. For Special Concens of the Dept. of Agriculture when bad weather somehow decided to change its mood into a more agreeable one. The meeting was centered on how food production, specifically rice production, could be tremendously increased. But maybe more of this in future articles. After the meeting in the morning we immediately motored up to Baguio. The weather may be considered as “fair” that time. No rain. Along the way, from Bulacan to parts of Pangasinan, the effect of weather tantrums was very evident. Flood water everywhere.
At first thought, you would cry with the farmers and non-farmers alike for the losses they incurred. While we have some budget for the occurrence of such calamity, it does not cover enough of the losses. Fact is, it does not even address losses like what you have inside the houses. They are almost total losses. What people have labored for years went down the drain as if they had not even existed. Maybe a good insurance system, apart from the usual, should be in place for occurrences of such events.
A consolation is that, the widespread flooding happened at a time when rice plants are still very young or farms are still about to be planted. Losses therefore were not that high. But losses are losses, and they are not good specially for farmers who are just barely keeping their heads above the water.
We commiserate with those affected by the harsh weather conditions. As this piece is being written, it is raining again with wild abandon. They say, when it rains, it pours. This is literally true for the last three weeks. We just keep on preparing the best we can. **
