BONGAO, Tawi-Tawi (MindaNews / 8 February)—For the month of January, raindrops in the village of Lumbus in Barangay Mandulan in this town have been scarce and the wells have started to dry up.
A boy in Barangay Mandulan in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi waits for the deep well to accumulate enough water in this time of drought. MindaNews photo by FERDINANDH B. CABRERA
Young boys usually fetching water had to sit on their empty containers, joining the queue to wait for an ample amount of water to accumulate in the deep well. The well could supply only a small volume of water from its limited source.
“It’s a lot of time waiting. This really happens when no rains are coming,” teenager resident Adzramin Sadid said when MindaNews visited the community well on Feb. 1.
“We have to walk far to get drinking water in the next forested area,” according to a lady resident who introduced herself as Indah.
The head of the Municipal Disaster and Risk Reduction Office in Bongao, Al-Gibran Amilasan, told MindaNews that their office is now closely monitoring possible drought impact as forecast by the PAGASA weather bureau.
“We have started to conduct risks assessment and find more water sources just in case the drought worsens,” Amilasan said.
Just as Bongao is anticipating the drought, Vice President Sara Duterte’s team in the Bangsamoro region has chosen the village of Lumbus for the massive tree planting activity as part of her office’s priority program, the “PagbaBAGo: A Million Learners and Trees” campaign aimed at environmental protection and sustainability.
The empty deep well. MindaNews photo by FERDINANDH CABRERA
“All of us here are reminded of our connection to Mother Nature. Apart from the essence of these trees in our health and well-being, our effort in tree planting is part of our Dunya and Akhira.
It’s a continuing charity, which means even if we are gone, the next generations will benefit from this,” according to Zuhairah “Pong” Abas, head of the Office of the Vice President-BARMM.
PagbaBAGo combines two elements essential for a sustainable and prosperous future: education and environmental stewardship believing in the power of knowledge and the importance of preserving natural resources for economic growth and development.
“This tree-planting activity is a big help for our environment amid challenges of climate change. We were hit lately by strong waves that damaged some households. We are thankful to the leadership of OVP and the many souls who joined to protect our environment,” seconded Amilasan.
Luckily, it rained on February 2 when various sectors planted 3,000 mangrove propagules here. It was a coordinated effort that included the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources and Energy, provincial government of Tawi-Tawi, municipal government of Bongao, local police, Philippine Coast Guard, the Navy and the Marines, including the Mindanao State University, local folks and their children.
In connection to the mission, the OVP also distributed bags with school supplies and conducted medical mission together with volunteer doctors of Tawi-Tawi. (Ferdinandh B. Cabrera / MindaNews)
