Is Philippine biodiversity wasted on Filipinos?



To the scores of bird lovers around the world, the reports must have made Filipinos appear like savages. That's why I'm a tad ambivalent about the international notoriety of my documentary team's accidental discovery of a bird species that some ornithologists had suspected might be extinct, and had never been documented in the wild. The next day this precious specimen was bought and cooked for someone's ailing mother in law.

Typical was this headline on the National Geographic web site: Rare Worcester's Buttonquail Bird Photographed, Then Eaten!

You could almost hear the what-the-f--k! reactions in countries where a discovery like this would lead to calls for a bird sanctuary around the spot where the bird was trapped.

I have also been taken to task by some blog readers for allowing it happen. To be fair though, not being a bird expert, I had no idea at the time of what was just caught by native bird trappers in the Caraballo Mountains in Nueva Vizcaya. It was so rare that even the professional bird guide accompanying us was not able to identify it, although he had a hunch about the species which he immediately dismissed, thinking that was too remote a possibility and speculating it was a more common bird. (By the way, the report by the Agence France Presse that circulated around the world was wrong: we did not find it in some poultry market, but in a trapper's net soon after it was captured). It took another bird expert in Manila to confirm that it was indeed the long-lost species.

The announcement of the discovery was then made, along with the bird's shameful fate. Just as Oscar Wilde once said that youth was wasted on the young, the more prejudiced could be thinking, Philippine biodiversity is wasted on Filipinos!

Fortunately, that's not the whole picture. First, there's a growing cadre of hard-core Filipino bird lovers who are fast turning on the rest of the population to the idea that wild birds are there for watching and not killing. My documentary's first part is actually about them.



Secondly, Philippine news about other wild creatures reflect a more evolved attitude. Take for example the recent strandings of hundreds of melon-headed whales in Bataan and Romblon, which also made CNN and other international news outlets. In another time, the close proximity of helpless animals could have led to mass slaughter. But this time, nearby fisherfolk were among those who led the marine mammals to deeper, safer waters.


For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

The rescue and release of sea turtles are now so common they rarely make the news.

This creeping culture of caring for the wild has been a long time coming. WWF vice chair Lory Tan credits media for it, which is partly right. But just as much credit must go to the advocates like himself who were already championing the protection of the wild when this cause was considered quaint and marginal by the local media. Now there's an entire show about it, Born to be Wild.


For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

Boulder Boys
Howie Severino’s I-Witness Documentary
February 23, 2009 on GMA-7, delayed a day or two on PinoyTv overseas



A tale of heart-breaking friendship amidst hard labor

In the desert-like landscape left by lahar from Mount Pinatubo, young teenage boys dig out big rocks and carry them to common piles for sale to greedy traders. This livelihood they call "boulders" is back-breaking work under a scorching sun. But it is just one element that knits together this close group of friends, each of whom has a heart-breaking tale.

John Paul, the mature and stoic leader named after a pope, just dropped out of school to work full time to help his large family. His father is a drunk, his older brother a special child. Ariel is the lone Ayta, who has found a barkada that accepts him and will defend him from other teens who look down on natives. Alvin was victimized by polio and can barely lift any rocks, but he weaves his bike daily among the speeding quarrying trucks to collect food from their families and deliver the group's lunch. Raymart is the fighter, made sullen by his father's recent abandonment. They call themselves 3 Stars, after the three barangays from which they hail.



I-Witness shadows this motley crew in the barren river valley nicknamed Pasig where they spend speechless hours straining their young bodies for a pittance. But the cameras are present as well when they shed their grimness and jump happily into a local watering hole, gel their hair and attend a Valentine's Day dance, and exhibit their love for basketball.

In the end it's still the rocks that bind them. The camera trails them back to the valley where they wait patiently for the tardy truck that will haul away the weighty fruits of their labor. When the truck finally comes, they engage in yet another common, back-breaking ritual -- loading. This is when John Paul notices something amiss, a dreadful realization after all their hard work. Like nearly everything in their hard-luck lives, they face this misfortune with an admirable acceptance.

Directed by Jazel Kristin Villamarin
Executive Producer: Nowell Cuanang
Researcher: Cris Sto. Domingo
Camera: Jayson Dimbla
Narrated and written by Howie Severino

Photos by Jazel

Hunghong sa Yuta ("Earth's Whisper") is an indie film not afraid to wear the nation's bleeding heart on its colorfully embroidered sleeve. Set against southern Mindanao's endless war, the story is a tragedy that doesn't flinch at the betrayals, hatreds, and bloodshed that have long been associated with that part of the country.

Yet it is also relentlessly hopeful, imbued with the faith that a single individual can make an impact with his example of idealism, sacrifice, and ultimately, martyrdom. We find echoes of Rizal, Ninoy, even Christ in the figure of a city-bred wanderer volunteering to teach in an illiterate, war-torn Muslim and lumad community that includes family members of MILF guerrillas and a posse of deaf and eager children.



The children are being raised to take up arms, but the teacher introduces them to an alternative universe of timeless humanities: the beauty of language, theater, music, and education.

The teacher's efforts become the stuff of intrigue as a malevolent soldier-spy who has penetrated the community creates rumors that swirl through the neighborhood. The film poignantly captures the miracle of literacy as even elders are ushered by this modern-day saint into the world of letters. But that triumph, as with many good things in Mindanao, becomes short-lived in war.

The film is the first cinematic collaboration of the Davao theatrical duo of director Arnel Mardoquio and musician Popong Landero, who convincingly plays the villain in this film. But in its blocking, choreography, expressive language, and sudden bursts of song, this is almost pure theater projected on to the big screen. By creating the challenge of teaching deaf children, screenwriter Mardoquio heightens the theatricality with the teacher's need to communicate through facial expression, and sign and body language.

I was first impressed by the talents, versatility, and lofty intentions of the Mardoquio-Landero team when my documentary team recorded their traveling outdoor production of Antigong Agong, an original musical that starred youths from the embattled island of Jolo. Along with their Davao cohorts, the duo takes both physical and artistic risks by bringing theater to far-flung communities, driven by a faith that art can bridge communities and heal a troubled land.

And so it is with this film, recently featured in the Cinema Rehiyon festival at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Hunghong sa Yuta features both trained theater actors and local amateurs that the artists train as a form of community development. Transplanted from their natural stage habitat, Mardoquio, Landero, and friends benefit from the poetic eye of cinematographer Egay Navarro, who is the very embodiment of indie, working mostly with a single Panasonic P2 camera and using home-made dollies and portajibs. (Egay also happens to be my cameraman on my I-Witness documentaries).

The tender and robust melodies that Landero composed for this film evoke both the troubled land that he obviously loves, and the heartfelt emotions found in any film that rings true.

The superb quality of this production by first-time filmmakers far from Manila reflects what the New York Times recently called an indie-film Renaissance in Philippine cinema, fueled in part by affordable digital technology, giving local story tellers a new power to share remote experiences with a shrinking world.

For those who missed it, below is the three-part youtube version of Bye-Bye Birdie, my recent documentary about bird-trapping that features rare recorded sightings of the endemic Worcester's Buttonquail and the migratory Oriental Bush Warbler. Part one:



Part two:



Part three:



These were painstakingly recorded from TV sans commercials and uploaded to youtube by an anonymous viewer who goes by the screen name akoangnakakita. He performs a service for the I-Witness fans who can't stay up late, but I wish he wouldn't stamp his kwaderno ng tagaulat branding so near the center of the frame. Why not near the bottom instead, dude?

Introducing the Worcester's Buttonquail...(found only in the Philippines)



...the first known photograph anywhere of this rare endemic, shot by Arnel Telesforo during our shoot for the documentary, Bye-Bye Birdie. (We also have video of it.)

The British birder, and our frequent house guest, Desmond Allen was watching a DVD of our recent documentary, Bye-Bye Birdie, when he saw a still image of a rare bird in the credits that lasted less than a second. He went back and did a screen shot, as an intense gaze creased his face. "I'm shocked," he said without removing his eyes from the bird, shot by one of our birder-companions, Arnel Telesforo. "I don't know of any other photos of this. No bird watchers have ever given convincing reports that they have seen it at all... This is an exciting discovery."

Another bird expert in the Philippines, Arne Jensen, confirmed that it was a Worcester's Buttonquail. The bird is listed on the IUCN Red list (1996) as "Data Deficient."

A member of the Wild Bird Club of the Philippines, Telesforo had shot the bird (only with his camera of course) moments after it was trapped in Dalton Pass, a cold and wind-swept bird passageway in Nueva Vizcaya in northern Luzon, where the Cordillera range meets the Sierra Madre mountains. We were there to document the traditional practice of akik, catching wild birds with nets by first attracting them with bright lights on moonless nights.

The only previous way we knew it existed was through an illustration in A Guide to the Birds of the Philippines by Robert Kennedy, et al, the Philippine birder's bible. That drawing was based on the skins of specimens brought back dead from the wild more than a century ago. The authoritative image bank of the Oriental Bird Club does not contain a single image of the Worcester's Buttonquail, the only buttonquail species in the data base not to have a photograph. That gap should soon be filled.

In the glare of a flashlight, we had misidentified this endemic bird as the less rare Small Buttonquail, before it was placed by its captors in a sack along with several of the common Blue-breasted Quail, aka pugo.

With the photograph and the promise of more sightings in the wild, "we can see the living bill, the eye color, the feathers, rather than just the mushed-up museum skin," says Allen, who has been birdwatching for fifty years, fifteen in the Philippines, and has an extensive collection of bird calls on his ipod in addition to his beloved salsa music.

In the video, he also spotted the Oriental (or Manchurian) Bush Warbler, another rare bird which Desmond has not seen in the Philippines. We had also misidentified it in our documentary as a Clamorous Reed Warbler.

The Oriental Bush Warbler was released, saved by its unappealing taste.

Alas, the Worcester's Buttonquail is considered tasty in those parts. After its first recorded sighting in the wild, it was sold the next day, along with its sackmates, for ten pesos each, bought by a man for an ailing elderly relative who requested a meal of wild bird meat to make her stronger.

The sightings of these rare birds in Dalton Pass may draw new attention to this region from hard-core birders from around the world. That may bring new pressure on authorities to enforce environmental laws that have long made the trapping and trading of wild life such as these birds illegal. When we interviewed the DENR provincial officer for Nueva Vizcaya, Bobby Apigo, he told us that the practice of akik had been stopped by his men. But we witnessed trappers, some in their young teens, walking with their lanterns and nets right past the DENR and agriculture checkpoints.

In just a few hours over two days, we saw two "star birds," an indication Desmond says of what more could be out there in a part of Luzon that has been heavily logged. Even in tiny patches of grass and forest, Philippine biodiversity is alive and flying.

A growing cadre of bird watchers -- aka birders -- are now among the most publicized Filipinos challenging the world view that the wild is there for the killing.


The flock of birds around these fishpond workers is proof that, at least in Balanga, Bataan, some people have learned not to kill them.

In the Filipino DNA rages the primeval human urge to kill whatever is wild -- whether it's a forest or a baboy damo, a giant clam or a whale shark. Or any wild bird within slingshot or gunshot range.

The Philippines has among the highest degrees of bird diversity on the planet, yet many species avoid people like the plague because we like to kill them. My friend, the bird watching guide extraordinaire Nicky Icarangal, says hard-core bird watchers from around the world come to the Philippines for the challenge -- unlike in bird-friendlier countries like Malaysia or Thailand, birders in the Philippines must work hard to catch a glimpse of feathered creatures that are afriad of becoming dinner, despite wild life laws that prohibit the killing and capture of wild birds. Since the advent of the global threat of bird flu, that prohibition has become a public health imperative, especially in the case of migratory birds.

A growing cadre of bird watchers -- who like to be called birders -- are challenging the world view that the wild is there for the killing. In the course of making a documentary about a native bird-hunting tradition in the mountains of Nueva Vizcaya, I also became more acquainted with birding and bird lovers, as a way of understanding the gamut of how Filipinos relate to birds: from wild-bird hunting to wild-bird loving.



I accompanied a group of birders in Balanga, Bataan recently as they participated in the annual waterbirds census. They counted over 15,000 birds, a record so far for the Philippines, although birders have not been counting birds in this country for very long.

Balanga is known to be a stopover for migratory birds travelling from colder climes that feed on the area's fish pond detritus. But their large numbers also mean that local people have learned to live with them in a grudging harmony, since fishpond workers regard the regal egrets and frisky terns as pests. But the city government has spoken -- thou shalt not harm the birds, because they are now the centerpiece for promoting the city as a birding destination.

So that place and the birders who counted the birds there appear in my documentary as the antithesis of the traditional practice of akik: capturing birds by attracting them with bright light on moonless nights and then eating them. (Here's an excellent piece by Dani Molintas on the bird hunters of Sagada, the most famous place for the practice)

Birders usually watch birds from a distance. But we invited a couple of birders along, artist Arnel Telesforo and the bird guide Nicky Icarangal, so they could witness akik up close and personal. In the end, they couldn't help but intervene, as well as the documentarist who invited them. But I don't want to give away the rest of the ending... (in other words, stay up late on Monday night and watch the docu).

Most of the bird catchers (aka mag-aakik) are poor and have few options for livelihood or protein. But they are also driven by the primal urge to kill wild things. Birders are offering the possibility of leaving portions of nature alone to be admired, and to remind us that people too are creatures of this world, capable of many things but unable to do what the raptor we saw in Balanga did -- glide through the air above all of us unaided by anything more than its God-given anatomy.

More about our documentary, Bye-Bye Birdie, below:

My seaman correspondent Ben reports a quieter return journey through the Gulf of Aden. May all seamen sail trouble-free through troubled waters.

dito na kami sa red sea going to suez canal. we passed through gulf of aden without any incident. napakatahimik na po ang lugar na yun nang dumaan kami at kapansin-pansin na po ang mga coalition forces -- nakakalat na po sila at masasabi ko pong bumalik na sa dating katahimikan ang lugar na yun... thanks.

Filipino politicians who want to be like Barack but allow the church to dictate their policy positions should reflect on Obama's bold recognition that non-believers too have a seat at the table.

As a speech, Obama's inaugural address did not soar into the pantheon of great oratory. Obama himself has been capable of much better. His speech on race in Philadelphia during the campaign was one of the finest I've ever read (I didn't actually hear it), and might have saved his candidacy after his spiritual adviser's racial outbursts became viral. But yesterday's speech will be remembered simply because of the historic occasion. I am glad I stayed up and watched it live.

Nestled between the applause lines and billboard statements were several intriguing items. One was a reference to "non-believers", aka atheists. As in: “We know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers.” (bold mine)

In a society where religion still plays such a large role, it's interesting that Obama - himself a Christian - inserted that word (my atheist friend Benj called it a "shout-out"), perhaps to stress that America during his time will be truly inclusive. It may also signal that on religious matters he intends to be the polar opposite of Bush, whose base in the evangelical right had a disproportionate influence on public policy. It's unthinkable that Bush would have ever mentioned atheists in that way.

Filipino politicians who want to be like Barack but allow the church to dictate their policy positions should reflect on that bold recognition that non-believers too have a seat at the table. And it may be an act of disrespect for our leaders to keep inserting Christian prayer in what should be secular settings. Not to mention citing church doctrine as a basis for supporting or rejecting proposed legislation.

Another surprising insertion was Khe Sanh in the context of America's ancestral warriors, as in: “For us, they fought and died in places like Concord and Gettysburg, Normandy and Khe Sanh.”

Khe Sanh in Vietnam, unlike those other battlegrounds, was a bloody military blunder in 1968 on the road to America's only defeat in war (so far). Why would Obama choose to recall defeat at the moment of his own triumph? Perhaps he will reveal the reason in future interviews.

But it may be another calculated move to sober up the American people about war, and prepare them for a possible inconclusive withdrawal from Iraq, while honoring American sacrifice in both victory and defeat.

"To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history."

- from Barack Obama's inaugural address

Somewhere along the Pasig River, one could hear, Ouch.

My seaman correspondent is headed back to the pirates' den:

we just finished our refueling here in fujairah and we are in a hurry to catch up with the convoy of warships in the gulf of aden. sad to say that we are going back to the mediterranean. our ship's charterer instructed us to proceed there.( Swerte talaga kami huhuhu)

will give you an update once we pass gulf of aden, thanks.

ben

Mas mabuti pa ang madisgrasya kami dito sa barko

My seaman correspondent Ben and the ship where he is working have safely arrived in Saudi Arabia after a harrowing journey through the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden. He reveals that one of his mates on board was hoping that they would be kidnapped, so he could use the bonus from the ship company to pay off the debt from reconstructing his house which was destroyed during a flood last year:

al jubail, kingdom of saudi arabia

did you know na may kasama akong pilipino na crew dito sa barko na dumating sa punto na gusto daw pala nya ma-capture kami ng mga pirata sa somalia para makakuha ng double pay incentives and other bonuses. pero nung time na inaatake kami ng pirata double na ang takot nya! alam mo ba kaya nya ginusto yun eh baon pala sya sa utang kasi pinagawa nya ang bahay nya. nasira kasi ang bahay nya ng baha sa ilo-ilo. nakakalungkot kasi kami nagdadasal na walang mangyari samin pero may isa pala kaming kasama na nananalangin ng ganun.

pero lamang pa rin ang dasal ng marami. meron namang nag email na kamag-anak ng isa kong kasama -- mas mabuti pa daw ang madisgrasya kami dito na nasa barko kesa naman dyan pa kami madisgrasya sa bakasyon (masaksak ng adik, maholdap, makursunadahan ng pulis at iba pang krimen satin). at least dito daw may insurance at kung anu-ano pang benifits. sa bagay minsan pag dyan ako sa bakasyon satin ganun na rin dinadasal ko (sana kung mamatay ako sa barko na lang) para naman kung maiiwanan ko ang pamilya ko may maiiwan pa ako sa kanila ng pera. sa isang opisyal kasi na katulad ko umaabot na ng usd900k (wag lang maloloko ng shipping company dyan sa pinas) death insurance plus other benefits. owwa 50k peso huhuhu can release maybe in a year plus sakit ng ulo... pero bayani daw sabi ng gobyerno.

This Saturday: January 10, 2009
I-Witness 11:30 pm on GMA7, a day or two delayed on Pinoy TV overseas

In a search for the original Darna movie, Howie Severino and his team end up in Thailand ... and find an intriguing connection between the Filipina superheroine and Buddhist monks.

Relive their journey of discovery on "Pantasya ng Bayan", when it airs this Saturday night on Sine Totoo.

Darna, Encantadia, Mulawin... some of the first fantasy series on TV that captivated the Philippines. But where did our fascination with fantasy begin? Howie Severino and his team seek the answer in the country's lost cinema. Learning that most early Filipino movies are missing, the I-Witness team embarks on an investigation that eventually takes them to Bangkok and then further north in Thailand.

There they find a vintage film with a familiar character with snakes sprouting from her head. But is this film really the original Darna? And if so, how did it end up in this corner of our Buddhist neighbor?

Before this feature airs, Howie Severino, also Sine Totoo host, explains how his team rode on the popularity of Darna to discuss the deeper issue of lost Filipino films.

Aided by movie historian and acclaimed documentarist Nick Deocampo, Howie's team solves a quirky showbiz mystery and brings home a completely unexpected bonus.

From Ben the seaman:

Safe na po kami sa mga pirata sa gulf of aden.

Less than 3 days na lang po ang byahe namin sa al jubail na kami. masasabi ko pong napakapalad namin dahil walang nangyaring masama samin... thanks.

This email just in from Ben the Pinoy seaman crossing the Gulf of Aden, swarming with both pirates and war ships:

almost 2 days na kami nagko-cross dito sa gulf of aden. 3 hrs na lang lampas na kami pero delikado pa rin. nagkaron kagabi, 630pm ship's time, ng biglaaang tipon ng mga crew dahil may tatlong mabibilis na mga bangka ang humabol at nagtangka na umakyat samin, their speed 23 knots. so napilitang humingi ng saklolo ang kapitan namin sa malapit na warship and they sent a helicopter. the attackers aborted their mission and then coalition forces guided us to a convoy of 12 ships, with a speed of 10 knots. we have an escort of 1 warship from germany until we pass the danger zone.

medyo nakakahinga na kami ng maluwag pero may mga kaba pa rin ang mga crew kasi may mga balita na nasa labas ng guarded zone ang mga pirata. we're almost approaching oman territorial waters.

(Note: Ben has 24-hour wifi on board his ship, so he can email updates during his breaks. His ship is delivering cargo to Saudi Arabia.)