Amantaw Greening: The launching

To come home to Sibale after two straight years of forced absence is eternal bliss.

No kidding. I think my life would be short if I don’t set foot—return to—once in a while on the soil of my forebears; where I was born, and where I hope to turn back into soil when the Maker calls me in. A Sibale trip recharges my emotional, mental and physical batteries, drained by running in the rat race of city life.

And so on March 1, fellow officials of the Sibale Academy Alumni Association (SAAA)—Tess Felisilda, VP for Alumni Affairs; Olga Fornal, Treasurer; Annie Lambio, AVP for Ways and Means; Chito Fabellon, Information Officer for Ways and Means and President of Kusog Sibalenhon; and myself—happily cast aside every concern and worry, tugged at our backpacks; and went home to Sibale.

The whirlwind trip—I keep telling Tess it was so because we left on the day after we arrived—was a rich harvest of accomplishment and rich experiences. Did you notice the breast-beating? Only an Asi can do that.

For, indeed, we went home to Sibale on a dual mission: to synchronize the plans and programs of the SAAA for the April 11-14 general alumni homecoming and to launch a project that you readers have already been reading about in the past three installments of this column—the program called Amantaw Greening, a joint reforestation initiative of the Municipality of Concepcion, SAAA, and Kusog Sibalenhon.

From a distance, in the mouth of Sibale Bay, Amantaw looms like a lady in green. Actually, my description of the watershed that centuries ago fed the bay by its sparkling mountain waters is it is a shy maiden, with its back, another watershed called Binaroto, turned from the poblado, the town center of the island. Amantaw faces the northwest, Binaroto, the southeast.

On the Saturday afternoon we arrived, Amantaw was still verdant. The searing hot summer sun has not ravaged it yet. But don’t let this fool you. It still needs trees. Plenty of those living things that Joyce Kilmer talked about in her poem entitled, well, “Trees”.

The launching of Amantaw Greening was on the Sunday following our arrival, but on Saturday night, the municipal town hall buzzed with a long meeting—our first mission—with the Sibale officers of the SAAA.

The meeting was productive. Both sides presented their versions of the preparations for the homecoming and at the end, at about 9:30 P.M. (the activity started at 6:00P.M.), we agreed to a final plan, vowed to strengthen our coordination, and pledged to meet again, what else? All this to ensure the success of the April event. We adjourned for dinner. It’s hard to remain sober in Sibale when you are a returnee. Mike and Cecille Faderogao, gracious host as they are and always will be, served the freshest meat and fish. I chose the beer and later retired in cousin Bob’s abode with gin and some Asi songs. What a night!

I don’t know what Tess and Olga did, but I am sure they immensely enjoyed the trip as I did, save for a minor disappointment. We failed in our earlier plan to walk the town during the night under the moonless sky. Tired.

The following day, Mayor Boyet Cipriano, Vice Mayor Pepe Ferriol, SB Members Rey Feudo, Diosing Atillano, Luz Fabunan, and Jazz Familaran, together with other municipal officials trooped to the municipal hall grounds for the Amantaw Greening launching.

In his message, Vice Mayor Pepe Ferriol warned about climate change. Berjoe Ferrera, the PTCA prexy of the Sibale Academy and Isagani Abainza, the municipal revenue officer, talked about cooperation and voluntary work. I, myself, spoke a bit about Amantaw and Sibale history and the long-term impact of the reforestation project.

On his part, Mayor Boyet spoke about his vision of a water-abundant Sibale and the need to set aside political differences to achieve the Sibalenhon dream. He encouraged us, his audience, to help in making Sibale a progressive community.

Listening to the mayor, I cannot help but wonder where the other members of the Sangguniang Bayan were on that day. They don’t know about Amantaw Greening? They were invited, but CHOSE not to come on account of their differences with the local chief executive.

Come on, guys, be politically mature and civil. The reforestation is not about election. It’s about our children’s future.

Then came the ceremony. Tess, Olga, Chito, Bob Fanoga, a cousin and the town’s municipal budget officer, Isagani Abainza, Berjoe, Ningning Fallarme, the principal of the Concepcion Central Elementary School, and myself, turned over to the municipal officials some 340 narra, mahogany, Palawan cherry, nym, and acacia seedlings for the project.

The seedlings themselves form part of an exciting story. They were donated by an alumnus, Yolly Fronda of Class 1973, and her Pangasinense husband, Crispin. They brought the seedlings all the way from Pasi, Naujan, Oriental Mindoro.

Yolly is Annie Lambio’s sister. She and her husband are environmentalists, working at the Naujan Lake National Park, a 22,000-hectare forest, mangrove, wildlife and water reservation in Oriental Mindoro.

Yolly and Annie did not go with us to Sibale because of a prior engagement. But when the sisters turned over to us the seedlings for Amantaw in Pinalamayan, Yolly whispered to me about the need to minimize plastic garbage in Sibale’s shores. She had noticed, that, too, as I did. Mayor Boyet, take note.

There are friends and relatives I need to mention during our one-day trip because they form the core adherents of the environment project.

Ching Fradejas, mom of my classmate Olive, who now lives in the US, surprised me with her presence and therefore, deserves a special mention.

From memory, I remember Benjie Ferrolino , Cecille Invento, Mimi Ferriol, Hesther Fanoga, Mary Grace Fabella, Luciano Fallarme, Rufo Famarin, my pare, Mike Faderogao, Nick Famarin, Julius Fabreag, another pare, Nerio Faderogao, also a classmate, and her wife, Percy; Mariquit Ferrancullo, Dr. Esting Fornal, Nel Yap, Vicente Fadri, Ric Ferranco, Millet Faigmani, Gaudencio Fadera, Grace Magbatas, Gladys Ferrera, Joseph Ferranco, and many more familiar faces whose names have been temporarily blurred by years of absence. All, if not most, are Sibale Academy alumni. Sambangkat nak salamat sa inro pagdangat.

To reforest a bald—well, not exactly—forest is a sacred cause and so, Amantaw Greening is as serious an effort as that of a “magyuyokyok’s” in trying to catch a fish or two under the noonday sun. The difference is that in Amantaw Greening, we’d like to catch and preserve water and air instead of fish, although the ecological equation tells us that if we fell a tree, a fish will die. That’s how close the inter-relationship is.

The project has taken off. In April, we will plant trees in Amantaw as part of our homecoming program. Then we will plant more trees in the succeeding months. Then plant some more. And more. Until Amantaw is restored to its former beauty.

So if you want to be a part of Sibale’s green revolution, reserve your trees now. As in, ngasingey dodong.