Albay’s rise from the ashes

It is pretty marvelous how the wrath of nature can affect so many people’s lives and totally obliterate a town’s livelihood. A catastrophe of tremendous sorts can bring about so much damage that it might become hard to pick up the pieces and start over.

Super typhoon Reming caused such a major devastation to the province of Albay. Major coconut areas here especially in Ligao, Guinobatan, and Camalig, were heavily affected. The coconut trees were blown-down, heavily or moderately damaged, crownless, their fronds heavily shaken and cracked, with broken bunches, and twisted fronds.

Many of Albay’s residents lost their homes and properties. Most camped out on resettlement sites with the hope that they may be able to get their lives back. The typhoon also gave a huge blow to the province’s economic stability. With abaca plantations destroyed, the constant source of income of the Albayanos is jeopardized.

With these concerns in mind, a team comprising of Dr. Filiberto A. Pollisco, Jr., Dr. Juanito T. Batalon, and For. Marcelino U. Siladan from PCARRD and Dr. Eduardo P. Paningbatan from the University of the Philippines Los Baños visited Legaspi City and nearby vicinities last 14-16 March 2007. The group met with several people to appraise the current situation in Albay.

Among the authorities met by the team were from the Department of Agriculture (DA) 5, the local government of Albay, Bicol University, the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) 5, Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA)’s Regional Field Unit 5, Taysan Resettlement, and the PCA – Albay Regional Center.

Part of the team’s immediate intervention plan is Dr. Paningbatan’s Enriched Potting Preparation (EPP) technology, which was presented before Governor Fernando Gonzales. EPP is said to be very appropriate for growing vegetables like horseradish, pepper, okra, eggplant, tomato, pechay, or vine vegetables such as patola and upo which are good sources of nutrition for disaster affected families in resettlement areas. The governor plans to adopt the technology.