In my stint as a communications consultant for a bilateral environment project between the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) back in the late 1990s, I met Manong Fred, an interesting fellow who was a forestry consultant for the project. This is his story.
Manong Fred, 63 years old, was quiet and simple. He rarely joined in the animated talks of the team of consultants with various specializations in finance, infrastructure, the environment, etc. A silent observer, he occasionally laughed at the jokes but never told one. In drinking sessions, Manong Fred would silently down 10 bottles of beer in one hour, poker-faced but listening intently to the animated conversations. The team members ignored him.
He dressed simply — in jeans and slippers or sneakers — while the rest of us wore polo barongs and long-sleeve shirts as we, as a team, dialogued with mayors, governors, and DENR officials.
At one meeting, we were seated around a long conference table and snacks were being served.
GOVERNOR: We got a problem, guys. PICOP, the government-owned paper milling company, recently reported a serious infestation of tree borers. What is this borer anyway?
MANONG FRED: It’s a kind of deadly worm that eats the soft bark of the gmelina tree and inhibits its growth. In a full-blown infestation, growth can be stunted as much as 30 to 50 percent.
JOSEPHINE: (the governor’s forestry specialist) The gmelina timber is processed into paper in the PICOP paper mills. This means 30 to 50 percent less paper output.
MANONG FRED: More than that. In time, the borer can destroy, within six to nine months, the entire gmelina forest planted by PICOP. So, zero output.
GOVERNOR: We need to eradicate this borer. Any suggestions.
JOSEPHINE: We tried pesticides.
MANONG FRED: It won’t work. You can’t kill a million borers in a 5,000-hectare gmelina forest just like that.
JOSEPHINE: That’s why we need your help, Manong Fred.
GOVERNOR: So, what is your recommendation, Manong Fred.
MANONG FRED: There is no choice but to burn the entire 5,000-hectare forest.
There was absolute silence. Everyone was stunned.
PETER: (the American project team leader of the consulting firm, trying to save the day) But Fred, we can’t burn millions of pesos worth of gmelina just like that.
MANONG FRED: No choice, boss.
GOVERNOR: Then we start from scratch replanting gmelina?
MANONG FRED: Mono-cropping is dangerous. It invites such deadly infestations. In Brazil, a coffee plantation was infested by a virus, which triggered a worldwide pestilence and a global coffee crisis. The Philippine coffee industry in Lipa was not affected. The price of Philippine barako coffee soared 50-fold. The Batangas elite with their Lipa plantations had huge windfalls.
GOVERNOR: Are you trying to say that we should abandon our paper industry?
MANONG FRED: I am afraid so, Governor.
PETER: Wait, wait. Governor, we will do more research and study the matter well, and get back to you. Fred, you better know what you’re saying.
GOVERNOR: That’s fine, Peter. I like that. Fred, I like you. You’re honest and brave and will not yield your ground even if everything around collapses. You’re not scared of me or of your boss, Peter. Thank you for that.
MANONG FRED: Sir, I will be more scared if I recommend the wrong thing. You will lynch me eventually.
GOVERNOR: Fred, would you like to work for me? (Laughter). Joke. I will not pirate you from Peter. USAID will kill me.
Manong Fred succeeded in halting the paper industry in the name of the environment. There were still many other mono-crops like hemp and banana, but their industries succeeded in using deadly pesticides. Manong Fred lost many battles. In gmelina, he won only because pesticides didn’t work.
Manong Fred refused a lucrative salary offered by governors and a dozen agribusiness multinationals.
He wanted a quiet simple life which corporate power could not touch. He was an environmentalist to the bone. Eventually, he went back to his hometown in Ilocos Sur and lived a happy life as a rice and vegetable farmer on 10 hectares he leased from a friend.