Wednesday, December 30, 2009

An Evening Guest - A Giant House Spider!

  An Evening Guest - A Giant House Spider! 

Dr Abe V Rotor 

In my room one peaceful evening came a spider.
Welcome, gladly I said, as it paused for a moment
on drawings on the wall my grand children made,
its legs tapping a message for whatever it meant.

Ah, you are an artist too, I guessed, as it moved 
along and across swiftly I thought it would fall,
Instead it embraced a make-believe companion;
I looked into this creature a mirror on the wall.


Giant house spider (Aratigena africa) is also known as Wolsey spider (Tegenaria parietina), sometimes referred to as Cardinal spider, named after Cardinal Wolsey during the time of  Henry VIII of England. Giant house spiders have been recently  classified under genus Aratigena. 

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Ecology Prayer

                     Ecology Prayer

                                   Dr Abe V Rotor

 

 Sunset of Life in acrylic by A V Rotor

When my days are over,
Let me lie down to sleep
on sweet breeze and earth,
in the shade of trees
I planted in my youth;
since I had not done enough,
make, make my kind live
to carry on the torch,
while my dusts fall
to where new life begins –
even only an atom I shall be,
let me be with you,
dear Mother Earth.

As I Remember Mr. Roberto E. Fronda: "The Man at the Helm of Masagana-99"*

As I Remember Mr.  Roberto E.  Fronda

 “The effective executive is one who has sense enough to pick good men to do the job and self-restraint to keep from meddling while they do it.”- Catoy Fronda

Masagana 99 was an agricultural program of then Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos to increase rice production among Filipino farmers. The program, launched in 1973 at a time the country was experiencing a rice supply shortage, led the Philippines to attain self-sufficiency in 1975–1976, and export rice to its neighboring Asian countries in 1977–1978.

By Dr Abe V Rotor

To write about the life of a fallen great man when he dies is like painting a huge wall, not knowing where to start and combine colors.  Knowing Roberto “Catoy” Fronda the man and working with him in public office in a span of five years was more than a decade experience and a lasting memory. 

Today as I go over his pictures I am pretty sure everyone who knew him can tell what he was truly like, whether he was at work or at leisure. There is always that aura of serenity and gentleness in him. In meetings and discussions he had that characteristic of being relaxed. He could as almost instantly make people laugh as stimulate them into brain storming.

So sorely missed are his wits or his manner of “puffing problems out” with a style pipe – even his unique way of carrying conversations that may last for hours with always something new to learn.  Someone related familiar Fronda stories.  Another imitated his sideburn and moustache and sparse beard, and almost sounded like him.  Friends quipped, “That’s Catoy.”   But he was original and it will take a long search to find one like him again.

What made him an effective executive?  And relevant to the conditions on the countryside?  And loved by all – mayors, teachers, farmers, businessmen and members of the cultural minority, not to mention government officials who held him in high esteem?

For one thing, he inspired devotion in people near and around him.  He had tireless energy and total dedication to his task. He had a keen, analytical mind and could immediately separate the grains from the chaff, so to speak.  He had the knack of putting people at ease even in tense moments and inspired them to open up and give their views and opinions.  Coupled with this was his patience in listening.  He had a terrific sense of humor and often used this to show that an opinion or suggestion was not on target.  He was as frank as he was honest.

The late Deputy was a scholar in his own right.

Fronda finished agricultural engineering at the UP at Los Baños where he was born and brought up with three sisters and a brother.  His father, the dean of poultry industry in the Philippines today is formerly an animal science professor at Los Baños.  Catoy’s love for agriculture and nature is traceable to his childhood environment. 

He spent many years as teacher – first s instructor in an agricultural school, then with the Irrigation Unit extension program as field engineer, and finally, as action man of the Rice and Corn Production Coordinating Council (RCPCC), precursor of NFAC.  To the end of his life he was still teaching, and his classroom was as big as the countryside.  His subjects: food and agriculture.  His students: Technicians and farmers.  Later in the last two years, he joined the First Lady’s Project Compassion to work out on an integrated approach to rural development, combining four major subjects: green revolution, nutrition, family planning and environmental sanitation, into a practical curriculum.  Indeed, he was a great teacher.

At NFAC he held responsible positions such as COPE for Agriculture, a Malacañang designation as coordinating officer for program execution in agricultural development alongside with the concept of PROD and MOVER programs of the president.  At the same time he was chairman of the executive management board of the committee on National Irrigation Integration (CNI), and also the chairman of the executive council of the National Minorities Assistance Council (NAMAC).  Shortly after his death a posthumous award was conferred on him by PANAMIN for “outstanding achievement in the development of cultural minorities.”

 He held an enduring love for the minorities that he could be found in settlement areas as often as in pilot farms where the package of technology with the discovery of miracle varieties were tried in full scale.

 At other times he would be found sitting down with the steering committee on food production.  He was member in the UN Development Program or the ASEAN permanent committee on food production.  He was member in no less than a dozen local and foreign organizations involved in food production.

 He travelled extensively and most of his trips abroad were made in the last five years of his life, making him one of the most traveled government executives at one time.  For three occasions he visited Taiwan on the latter’s invitation, toured the whole Southeast Asia, and crossed the breadth of the whole American continent, reaching as far as Mexico and Columbia.  There he studied agricultural programs and represented the Philippines in conferences.  The single most important occasion he attended was the symposium on agricultural institutions for integrated rural development in Rome under FAO in 1971.  For him he considered that such integration taken in began to be realized when Seoul adopted a seed dispersal program patterned after his concept.  For this he received a distinction award from the South Korean government.

 Shortly after the proclamation of 1081 he was called upon to help organize the new cereal agency, the NGA.  It was a recognition of his being one of the most knowledgeable officials on agriculture, particularly on grains production.  Among his records, he spearheaded the rehabilitation program in the great Central Luzon flood in 1972, brining back the productivity of the area through an unprecedented crash program of agricultural rehabilitation.  The concept of inter-agency cooperation in the NFAC was carried on under his directorship at NFAC during the dark years immediately following the new social order, a job which needed much courage and endurance.  Earlier he was one of the architects of introducing technology into the farm with the discovery of miracle varieties, this to become the founding principle of Masagana 99.  But his greatest achievement was his influence on public service discipline and dedication among government works in the field.

 For three years as deputy administrator of NGA he provided much of the technical aspects of administration, and, like in NFAC, his expertise was highly recognized.  In 1975 he joined the First Lady’s Project Compassion while holding on to his position with NGA, two key position he hung on until the day he died.  

 He posses a remarkable persuasive power during tight situations.  In Isabela for example, millers were reluctant to enter into the quedan. He related a story about two shipwreck survivors who wanted to “eat each other.”  It was like switching on light that the millers roared into laugher and later pledged to participate in the quedan program.

“With the personality of this man,” a miller commented, his humor and wit, expert knowledge, patience and persistence, there hardly are problems in agriculture he cannot thresh out or lead to a solution.”

 “He did more thinking than the rest of us,” recalls a bureau director who worked with him for years,” and he was full of jokes and laughter.”

 I discovered a souvenir album of selected phases which he must have treasured in the course of his government career.  Among these are philosophies of life reflective of his own.  Here are some examples:

 “Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.”  “If you begin with certainties, we shall end in doubts; but if we begin with doubts, and are patient in them, we shall end in certainties.”

 On decision making, he had these to say. ”He who is a good judge of men corrects what he hears by what he sees; he who is not a good judge of men corrects what he sees by what he hears.”

 “The effective executive is one who has sense enough to pick good men to do the job and self-restraint to keep from meddling while they do it.”

 “Never make a decision in anger or out of anger.”

 In the last pages of the album, like the last years of his life, his thoughts turned to spiritual retreat.

 “Man is a gregarious animal and much more in his mind than in his body.  He may like to go alone for a walk, but he hates to stand alone in his opinions.”

 “The crumbling of one’s on little world is no reason to let life pass you by.  One doesn’t recover from hurt by building a wall around oneself.”

 And on the inside back page of the album was his favorite photograph wearing a warm smile and a good stride with this line written:  Forgiveness doe not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.”

 Whether these phrases were his own composition or selected from his reading, makes little difference for the man whose life style and thinking were influenced by these philosophies.

 To the last minute of his life his mind was alert and strong as ever, his zeal for work undiminished.  He still talked of rice and project compassion in between pits of pain.  And while resigned to his fate, he never resigned from his task.

 The last time I visited him was on his last birth.  He was already abed and in pain.  I learned that he had received the last sacrament and that he had outlived his condition for nearly three months.  He was in usual good mood and wits, and we talked casually.  Physically he had significantly declined.  But there was a glow in his face that showed a spirit strong as steel and a determination to live.  I remember him that the resources of the spirit are like savings: they must be accumulated before they are needed.  He had a vast accumulation of such resources.

 As I bid goodbye, he said:

 “I’m glad you came.  Please tell our people that I love them all.”  He smiled and our hands clasped for the last time.  Three days later, he died.

 His last trip through the modern metropolis to his resting place at Loyola in Marikina was as brief as his service to his fellowmen was long.

 The grass was green and sparkling after an early afternoon shower.  The sun was bright on our faces as we laid him to eternal rest.  Grief was on every face but heads were held high like t he spirit of the man.  Beyond lay the paddies where golden panicles bowed in plenty and respect. ~ 

**Published in the GRAINS Magazine of the National Food Authority, then National Grains Authority, in 1978 

Monday, December 28, 2009

Papyrus, First Paper

Papyrus (Cyperus papyrus) at the Sunken Garden, UP Diliman, QC

Papyrus grows extensively along the Nile River, its stems are made into paper by the Egyptians.
The ancient art of making papyrus paper is a tourist attraction in Egpyt. Historical events and art recorded on papyrus survive to this day. These were made during the time of the Pharoahs as far as three thousand years ago.

The plant is a wetland sedge (hydrophyte), and it resembles grass. Actually it is Cyperus (Family Cyperaceae), relative of the persistent weed, Cyperus rotundus, and cattail (Typha) which is woven into mats, carpets and decors. Ancient Egypt used this plant for boats, mattresses, mats, rope, sandals, and baskets.

Living with Nature 3, AVR

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Children' Art: Of Kites and Sailboats

Children' Art: Of Kites and Sailboats

Selected Works in a Children's Summer Art Workshop
 
Kites
Kites whatever shape and make, 
fly high for the young one's sake
to dream in becoming great.    


Sailboats 
Rhyme and rhythm, 
music I hear,
waves and sky,
 serene and clear. ~

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Part 2 - Antibiotics from Green Tree Ant (Oecephalla smaragdina) - A Research Proposal

Green Tree Ants' nest partly opened showing papery casing.

Oecephalla smaragdina closeup


Dr Abe V Rotor

The aim of this study is to determine the scientific basis on the claim that the secretion of green tree ant is effective in relieving inflammation and preventing infection of wounds caused by microorganisms. Such remedy is practiced in rural communities in some tropical countries which cover the Itnegs at the lower Cordillera region.

In spite of the advances in medicine and development of modern drugs, the importance of alternative and complementary medicine has not diminished in many areas, mainly for the reason that it is cheaper and therefore, affordable to the masses. Not all folk remedies have the impression of quackery laced with superstition. There must be some scientific basis in many cases. But this remains in the realm of doubt unless proven scientifically.

Validation in the laboratory and through actual cases is therefore, necessary. One such practice that needs to be proved is the use of the secretion and body fluids of certain insects known to have curative power. Ants and bees as one group are renowned for healing wounds, rheumatism, arthritis, microbial infection, and inflammation that accompany such ailments.

Theoretical Framework of the Study

Input

Body fluid and secretion of Green Tree Ant as antibiotic and anti-inflammatory remedy.

Thruput
Characterization of the secretion’s chemical composition and determination of effective dosages using bacterial test organisms and test animal.

Output
Validation of remedy using GTA secretion, and establishment of its scientific basis.

Statement of the Problem: The investigation of the green tree ant (O. smaragdina), which has been reported to be effective in treating wounds and inflammation using its secretion and body fluid, is the object of this study. It aims to validate such local practice while expanding the knowledge about this topic.

General Hypothesis: The secretions of the Green Tree Ant larva (O. smaragdina), and the adult body extract have antibiotic and anti-inflammatory properties.

Specific Hypotheses:There is a difference in the effectiveness of the larval secretion and adult body extract as antibiotic and anti-inflammatory material.
  • There is a difference in the effectiveness between the fresh and dried larval secretion.
  • The preparation from the GTA secretion is not affected by temperature, storage and sunlight exposure.
Scope and Limitation of the Study: The research focuses on the antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activity of the crude extract and secretion of the green tree ant of the local species O. smargadina inhabiting local plant hosts. Test microorganisms are E. coli and S. aureus, two most common infectious bacteria to man. As previously determined by the researcher, both crude extract and secretion of green tree ants showed negative reaction against Saccharomyces and Candida, thus the study shall be limited only to antibacterial test. On the other hand, albino rats will be used to test the anti-inflammatory property of the insect.

Description of the Green Tree Ant: It is famed as a weaver ant, not on account of its architecture that consists merely of a pile of leaves pulled together, but because of their methods of working. When fastening two somewhat separated leaves together, these ants line up on the edge of one of them, holding onto it with the legs stretched full length behind them, and working together, pull up the other leaf with their mandibles. Meanwhile other ants, with the spinning larvae in their mouths, weave the leaves together. If the distance between leaves is too great for an ant to bridge the gap, the ants form ladders; these not only make possible to pull the leaves closer together, but also serve as a bridge for the weavers. The larval secretion may be extended inward to strengthen earlier ties and provide lining to the brood. It is this secretion that is reported effective as remedy against wound infection, and in relieving inflammation.

The substance also serves a pheromone, a chemical signal for communication between and among the members of the colony. There are also over 30 different substances found in the insect, including hexanol, 1-hexanol, 3-undecanone and 2-butyl-2-octenol. When these four substances were individually tested for their effects on the behavior of the ants, its was shown that hexanol triggered an undirected alarm reaction in the ants, while 1-hexanol on the other hand led the alerted ants in the direction of the source of the scent, and 3-underconone and 2-butyl-2-octenal triggered a biting reaction. What really are the chemical compounds in the insect that possess antibiotic properties. What medicinal properties has the insect's pheromone? ~

References: Useful and Destructive Insects, Metcalf and Flint; The Social Biology of Ants, by Dumpert; Insect World, by Linsenmaier.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Children's Art Workshop

Dawn of Art in Children 
- An Awakening

"Coming of age to see the world beyond childhood,
bright as the sun, azure as the sky.
Hills to mountains grow, adventure awaits, behold!
birds in spring to somewhere fly. "

                            Selected works of pre-school and primary school pupils 
in a summer art workshop. 

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Weaning 
Coming of age to see the world beyond childhood, 
bright as the sun, azure as the sky; 
Hills to mountains grow, adventure awaits, behold!
birds in spring to somewhere fly. 

 
Kites
Kites whatever shape and make, 
fly high for the young one's sake
to dream in becoming great.    


Sailboats 
Rhyme and rhythm, 
music I hear,
waves and sky,
 serene and clear.


Freedom
Jump for joy at the setting sun,
into darkness away from man.


Emergence   
Shy and meek 
coy to speak;
hide and creep
or back to sleep.


Summertime 
Meadow in summer,
to autumn bound;
life in its fullest
for Nature's crown.

Where are the Children?
Wonder where the children are
at this time of the year?
playing on the hills, under the trees, 
Look! a flock of birds in the air
moving out of the chill.


Fruits
Half ripe, half done in the setting sun,
hurry up the colors before they're gone. ~

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Living with Nature First Anniversary - Thank You! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Today is the first anniversary of our blog. There are 877 posts to date, covering a wide range of topics that revolves on the central theme of living with nature, peripheral topics notwithstanding.

I wish to thank you for your support, and hope you can share the knowledge you got with your family and friends, in the school and workplace. But I would appreciate knowing from you your reactions and suggestions.

I thank in particular our 193 followers, those who communicated with me in letters and through e-mail [avrotor@gmail.com], those who commented on the items directly in the blog.

I also thank the listeners to Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (School-on-Air) DZRB 738 KHz AM Band 8 to 9 o'clock p.m., Monday to Friday [www.pbs.gov.ph]. Many of the lessons can be found in the blog.

Lastly, I would like to apologize to those I may have failed to recognize or acknowledge. And to our Blog organizers and sponsors, the Internet, and all those who have made this first anniversary possible - my sincerest gratitude.

On behalf of my family I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Abe V Rotor and Family.

Children and Nature - An Omnipotent Treaty

Children and Nature - An Omnipotent Treaty 

Wall Mural by Dr Abe V Rotor (7ft x 90ft)


"A thing of beauty is a boy forever." AVR wall mural at author's residence, 
Barangay Greater Lagro, QC

Three young musketeers are set to conquer the world
away from the mall, home and school;
If Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn were real and alive today,
we wouldn't know who's genius, who's fool.

Who is the primitive, who is the civilized, oh brother!
when we prefer the city over the quaint village,
car for walking distance, processed over fresh food,
philosophy over instinctive knowledge.

Everything defined in rich vocabulary, but a rose is a rose
and nothing else, energy to matter and back,
universal cycles no genius will ever truly understand,
Homo sapiens! it is humility we lack.

Innocence in children, we make up for the falsehood
of the world of grownups and sages;
Einstein and Darwin never knew the whys of the world,
children have been asking for ages.

If genius is reborn in the innocence of children,
then knowledge into wisdom distilled,
compensated in old age for the young ones' sake:
'tis the fate of humanity in Nature sealed. ~

“When we are children we seldom think of the future. This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can. The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.” ― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind





“I do not miss childhood, but I miss the way I took pleasure in small things, even as greater things crumbled. I could not control the world I was in, could not walk away from things or people or moments that hurt, but I took joy in the things that made me happy.” ― Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane


“and when all the wars are over, a butterfly will still be beautiful.”
― Ruskin Bond, Scenes from a Writer's Life



Children and Nature “Because children grow up, we think a child's purpose is to grow up. But a child's purpose is to be a child. Nature doesn't disdain what lives only for a day. It pours the whole of itself into the each moment. We don't value the lily less for not being made of flint and built to last. Life's bounty is in its flow, later is too late. Where is the song when it's been sung? The dance when it's been danced?

It's only we humans who want to own the future, too. We persuade ourselves that the universe is modestly employed in unfolding our destination. We note the haphazard chaos of history by the day, by the hour, but there is something wrong with the picture. Where is the unity, the meaning, of nature's highest creation? Surely those millions of little streams of accident and willfulness have their correction in the vast underground river which, without a doubt, is carrying us to the place where we're expected! But there is no such place, that's why it's called utopia.

The death of a child has no more meaning than the death of armies, of nations. Was the child happy while he lived? That is a proper question, the only question. If we can't arrange our own happiness, it's a conceit beyond vulgarity to arrange the happiness of those who come after us.”
― Tom Stoppard, The Coast of Utopia

“Anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days.”
 
― Flannery O'Connor, Mystery and Manners: Occasional Prose

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Summertime but where are the children?

Summertime but where are the children?

Dr Abe V Rotor


Summertime

Meadow in summer,
to autumn bound;
life in its fullest
for Nature's crown.


Where are the Children?

Wonder where the children are
at this time of the year?
playing on the hills, under the trees,
Look! a flock of birds in the air
moving out of the chill.

Selected drawings in a summer art workshop for children. ~ 

Friday, December 18, 2009

Religious Vendors of Manaoag

Abe V Rotor

Name the holy objects - from rosaries to statuettes,
holy water to ointments - and the vendors have it.
Vending is more than livelihood, it is art - craftsmanship
and the art of selling itself. Persistence and persuasion,
variety and strategy, make vending a serious business
yet it is a hobby and past time, a kind of sport to many.
Above all, vendors bridge the gap of trade and commerce,
linking different walks of life and the grassroots. Here
they are part of the faithful's devotion to the Lady of
Manaoag.


Religious Vendors of Manaoag

Tell me how many candles you have burnt for the Virgin;
Rounds of rosaries, Stations of the Cross, and psalms?
How many times have you walked to the altar on your knees,
And stigmata bleeding your side, feet and palms?

You have done these a thousand times through the faithful
Queuing to touch the miraculous icon, touching her robe;
You have done these with the light and incense of offering,
In whispers of atonement of faults in quiet throb.

You have done these a thousand times through your art
That leads the faithful to know where good and evil part. ~

Photos taken during a family pilgrimage to Our Lady of Manaoag
shrine in Manaoag, Pangasinan, Holy Week 2009.


Light from the Old Arch
2, AVR

"Marriage is the only war where one sleeps with the enemy." And other jokes about marriage.

The Lighter Side of Human Nature
Marriage is the only war where one sleeps
with the enemy.
(According to Great and Popular Leaders)
                        Researched and Complied by Dr Abe V Rotor

1. “Keep your eyes wide open before marriage, half shut afterwards.”—Benjamin Franklin

2. "After marriage, husband and wife become two sides of a coin; they just can't face each other, but still they stay together." - Al Gore

3. “Marriage is an alliance entered into by a man who can’t sleep with the window shut, and a woman who can’t sleep with the window open.”—George Bernard Shaw

4. "My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met." - Alec Baldwin

5. "A good wife always forgives her husband when she's wrong."
- Barack Obama

6. “Always get married in the morning. That way if it doesn’t work out, you haven’t wasted the whole day.”—Mickey Rooney

7. "By all means marry. If you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher." - Socrates

8. "I had some words with my wife, and she had some paragraphs with me." - Bill Clinton

9. "Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music and dancing. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays." - George W. Bush

10. "I don't worry about terrorism. I was married for two years." - Rudy Giuliani

11. "There's a way of transferring funds that is even faster than electronic banking. It's called marriage." - Michael Jordan

12. “Marriage is the bond between a person who never remembers anniversaries and another who never forgets them.”—Ogden Nash

13. "I've had bad luck with all my wives. The first one left me and the second one didn’t.” The third gave me more children!" - Donald Trump

14. Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they should just live next door and visit now and then.”—Katherine Hepburn

15. 
“Some mornings I wake up grouchy. Other mornings I just let him sleep.”—Unknown.  Marriage humor of great men and women.
-----------
“The most important four words for a successful marriage: ‘I’ll do the dishes.’”—Anonymous

“I now pronounce you man and wife. You may now change your Facebook status.”—Anonymous ~



Part 3 - Mass Species Extinction through Deforestation

Part 3 - Mass Species Extinction through Deforestation
Tamaraw (Anoa mindorensis) skeleton,
Museum of Natural History, UPLB Laguna

Orangutan in captivity, Avilon Zoo, Rizal
Wild Pigeon (bato bato), Tikob Lake, Quezon

Parakeet, Parks and Wildlife Nature Center, QC

Philippine Hawk, Parks and Wildlife Nature Center, QC

Abe V Rotor

Ecological genocide. There is possibly no other term that can appropriately picture the magnitude of destruction by deforestation. The cutting down a whole forest evidently eliminates all inhabitants. While a number of them could escape and find shelter somewhere, most of the residents being habitat-specific, cannot survive without or outside their original abode or beyond the boundaries of their niches.

This is understandable. As an ecosystem, the forest is a product of evolution. Organisms evolve with their natural habitat, acquiring traits in the process. Nature is patient so to speak, to give chance for organisms to acquire the Darwinian fitness, otherwise they will perish. Many have gained dominance in terms of number. Others simply are persistent like the dragonfly that is older than the dinosaur and has remained a popular forest resident. Acquisition of protective or aggressive mimicry is a product of long years of evolution that shows that it is effective adaptation. A classical example is the relationship of fig trees with wasps that pollinate their flowers. Not even water or wind or man can effectively do it. More specific than this is the fact that each kind of fig has a particular wasp pollinator that carries out the job. And each kind of fig has a specific fruiting season, providing continuous supply of food to many animals, such as monkeys and ground fowls.

Premised by this knowledge, we now begin to realize that reforestation is not and will never be able to replace the original forest. Reforestation efforts are merely providing a temporary vegetative cover that cannot be compared with the structure of the original forest, much less to compare it with the latter’s productive efficiency and biodiversity. Here are other premises to support this contention.

1. Nature, and not man, determines the species composition and combination in a forest. We may be referring to a woodland - not a forest - when we see Gmelina, Ipil-ipil and Teak plantations. These are intended to produce commercial wood or pulpwood for paper.

2. The landscape and the forest developed together - geographically, geologically, and biologically. Streams and springs are full because trees store rainwater in the ground; the roots and natural vegetative cover check erosion and siltation. Thus the death of a forest means also the death of streams, drying of river, silting of lakes and ponds into swamp, meandering of rivers, etching of gullies on hills and mountainsides, to mention but a few consequences.

3. Abandoned deforested areas continue to lose not only soil fertility; they lose the entire soil structure, beginning with the most fertile topsoil to the clay foundation next to bedrock. In short, through erosion the foothold built for thousands of years could be lost permanently. We can only surmise what kinds of plant grow in such situation. It is not surprising to see wasteland of talahib and cogon grass on former forestlands.

4. The forest creates a mini-climate. Forest attracts clouds. Transpiration enhances precipitation so that rain occurs anytime of the day, hence the name rainforest. All this can be permanently lost with the destruction of the forest. This explains why desertification (formation of desert) starts at deforested areas. Southern Cebu, in spite of its proximity to sea, is a typical example where one can observe the pathetic gnawing process. This can be observed also on the Sierra Madre starting in Bulacan, and on extensive areas along the narrow strip of the Ilocos region.

(Continued)