Charcoal production to provide green livelihood for Dabawenyos

Among the two urgent things that require man’s attention today is the economy and the environment and councilor Rachel Zozobrado said there is a way to find a common ground between the two through charcoal production using forest wastes.

“Charcoal briquettes production is not only a timely and practical community livelihood project for Dabawenyos but it is also a push for the environment,” Zozobrado said while explaining the reason why she passed a resolution urging the Department of Environment and Natural Resources as well as the City Environment Office to adopt the community-based project.

DENR’s Ecosystems Research and development Bureau developed the technology of making charcoal briquettes using leaves, twigs, stems and other forest waste materials. The method is also not too complicated considering that it only requires that the forest wastes are carbonized, fed into a grinding machine, mixed with binders like gelatinized starch then compacted in a molder to produce uniform-sized charcoal briquettes.

Once the community is properly trained about the process of producing charcoal briquettes using forest waste, she said, there will be more livelihood alternatives for them which will also ease the pressure off our forests and the environment. Upland farmers traditionally cut down trees to produce charcoal but this project will reduce the practice of cutting trees in the natural forests, she added.

“The charcoal briquettes are an environment-friendly fuel alternative which can be used by households and even business now that the price of liquefied petroleum gas has once again gone up,” Zozobrado said. She said that when tested, the briquettes are easy to ignite and emit a steady heat with low clean flame.

Instead of discouraging upland farmers from cutting trees without giving them an alternative, she said, why not train them in the process of making charcoal briquettes using forest waste? This way, Zozobrado said, they will still retain their livelihood while keeping the environment safe.

The DENR can conduct the training in coordination with the barangays to provide possible livelihood for the community, she said.

Toril, Marilog urged to spearhead chevon industry

Toril and Marilog Districts in Davao City can become big economically by taking advantage of their locations and concentrate on viable business ventures such as the chevon industry.

“Demand for chevon or goat meat is so high worldwide especially in the United States that there is a lot of possibilities in terms of export,” Councilor Rachel Zozobrado said. She said this was already confirmed by the Department of Trade and Industry as it urged Southern Mindanao to take advantage of the growing demand for chevon worldwide.

Reports show that up to 1.5 million pounds of goat meat is imported by the US from New Zealand and Australia every week. Goat meat is one of the leading red meat products and accounts for 63% of the red meat being consumed worldwide.

Zozobrado said the local government is at a dilemma about what to do with the unemployed including those who have just graduated and can’t find jobs as well as Overseas Filipino Workers who have been laid off from their jobs. This can be a good business venture considering that the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration is providing initial capitalization for OFWs who will be sent home, she said.

The chevon industry is not only a backyard industry that can provide livelihood to the barangays but it has the potential of providing employment to a lot of people including farm hands who will raise the goat, slaughterhouse staff and those in charge of marketing.

“Of all the areas in the city it is the third district which has a great potential for the chevon industry given its overall landscape,” she said. Goat meat, she said, is preferred not only for ethnic reasons but also because chevon digest more easily, is low fat and is a good alternative to fish or chicken,

DTI has already included the chevon industry under its Comprehensive Livelihood Emergency Employment Program or CLEEP which is the government’s poverty alleviation program formed to address the economic crisis.

Zozobrado said most of the barangays in the third district have been identified as poor barangays and this is their chance to rise from poverty. She said they residents can take advantage of the support being offered by the Department of Agriculture in terms of goat raising training and the DTI in marketing and business planning.

Zozobrado appeals to colleagues: make laws work

Councilor Rachel Zozobrado appealed to fellow members of the 15th City Council to try to make the laws they have approved work before attempting to amend or change it to suit certain needs.

“This representation humbly appeals dear Colleagues that we make the enactments and ordinances that we have made work, just a little bit more,” Zozobrado said. If we must amend, she said, let us amend when the cobwebs of doubt have been totally cleared from our minds and our hearts.

Zozobrado’s appeal came as a result of an issue that has divided the city council into choosing between water or power. The issue stems from the hydropower plant being proposed by Hedcor in the Tamugan River which has been identified by the Watershed Code as a conservation area.

Hedcor and the Davao City Water District are fighting for the right to use the Tamugan-Panigan River. There is not question that both DCWD and Hedcor’s goals and efforts are laudable and will inure to the benefit of Dabawenyos.

However, Zozobrado said, the Tamugan-Panigan River has been identified under the Watershed Code as an environmentally-critical area where development or commercial activity of any sort is prohibited to ensure the sustainability of the city’s water supply.

“The Watershed Code’s goal is to shield the ecosystem and the communities benefiting from the watershed area from the dangers of commercial activity,” she said. Of course, she added, the city council can amend the Code but maybe that will defeat the purpose of enacting the Code in the first place.

Zozobrado said Dabawenyos are confronted with the stark reality that “when push comes to shove, we have to choose only one—water or power?” The fact however is that while the earth’s surface is 70% water, only a small part of the earth’s fresh water is actually potable or safe for human use.

“The importance of preserving watersheds, aquifer and other water resource for the primary purpose of sourcing potable water supply for the city could not be overemphasized,” she said. It is thus clear, she added, that the purpose of the authors of the Watershed Code in expressly prohibiting commercial activities in the watershed areas is to ensure the sustainability of the city’s water supply.

PRIVILEGE SPEECH
Rachel P. Zozobrado
January 27, 2009
Regular Session

Madam President,
Esteemed Colleagues in the 15th City Council,
SP staff and employees,
Friends from the media,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good morning.

I rise on a personal and collective privilege, to talk about that matter which is very dear to all of us.

That which is the source of life, the very same thing which, perhaps due to its perceived abundance, we sometimes take for granted…..

WATER.

Many may look at the geography of our City and see the Davao Gulf, the vast numbers of rivers and streams, and be lulled by a false security the presence of all these bodies of water may give us.

Sharo makabsan ta og tubig, di lagi na muhubas, not a few of us might say with confidence.

But, although we are blessed with plenty, our fresh water is not an unlimited resource. We should do everything we can to sustain and protect it.

In the face of a great many pressures on our water — from population growth, climate change, pollution and invasive species — we know we have to continue to take strong action to preserve and protect what is so essential to our quality of life.

Along with this is the protection of our aquifer and watersheds.

Our watersheds are significant water reservoirs for the 1.5 million, or so, residents of Davao City. Its forest houses indigenous species of plants, trees, and animals -- such is a wonder and a rarity within the boundaries of a thriving metropolitan. Thriving in the midst of an urban environment, it is inevitable that this sanctuary is vulnerable to encroachment and changing of land use to give way to the demands of urbanization. Clearly, protection of such a vital asset is needed to be in place.

Thus, in 2007, after years of reviews and study, the Watershed Protection, Conservation and Management Ordinance of the City, or Davao City’s Watershed Code, was enacted. And last year, the Implementing Rules and Regulations, were finally put in place. Many have lauded this landmark legislation which sought, among others, the protection of the aquifers and water resource areas from prohibited activities and for the protection against all forms of pollution or ecological imbalance.

The Code identified watersheds, especially those within the conservation area, as environmentally critical areas, where development or commercial activity of any sort is prohibited to ensure the sustainability of the city’s water supply. This would most definitely serve as a shield against the dangers posed on the ecosystem and the communities benefiting from the watershed area.

And now, even in its infancy, the provisions of our city’s Watershed Code are put to test.

For now, we are confronted, among others, with the controversial tussle between the Davao City Water District and Hedcor for the use of the Tamugan-Panigan River. An area identified in our Watershed Code as a conservation area.

There is no question that the goals and efforts of both DCWD and Hedcor are laudable and will inure to the benefit of the Davaoeños.

For who can question the importance of both water and power in our lives?

Who is not tempted by the declaration of the DCWD that several barangays, especially those of the second and third district which have been deprived for so long, will finally have continued access to potable water?


And who can resist the economic benefits, the potential sources of income, the long awaited infrastructure projects promised by Hedcor?

In a utopian world, or perhaps a less profit-oriented world, we would have had a happy compromise and enjoy the benefits of both.

But, perhaps, that is not to be.

And when we are confronted with stark reality, when push comes to shove, when we are faced with the task of choosing only one, for this particular area…. Water or power… the fact remains that:

While the Earth’s surface is composed of 70% water, almost all of this water, 97.2 %, to be exact, is in the ocean. Of the remaining 2.8%, 2.1 % is found in the polar icecaps and glaciers. Only 0.6% of the water on earth is fresh water found in lakes, rivers, and ground water. The remaining 0.1% is brackish water such as that found in the Great Salt Lake or the Dead Sea. Only a small part of the Earth’s Fresh water, therefore, is actually potable or safe for human use.

The importance of preserving watersheds, aquifer, and such other water resource for the primary purpose of sourcing potable water supply for Davao City, could not, therefore, be over emphasized.

And this, madam president, I believe, was what the authors and movers of the Watershed Code had in mind. This was the very reason for the identification and declaration of Tamugan as among the conservation areas of our City. It is undeniable that the rationale behind the express prohibition against the conduct of development and commercial activities in these identified environmentally critical areas is to ensure the SUSTAINABILITY OF THE CITY’S WATER SUPPLY.

The Code could not be clearer than that.

It is toward this end, madam president, that this humble representation respectfully seek the help of her esteemed colleagues in this body. This representation humbly appeal, Madam President, dear Colleagues, that we make the enactments and ordinances that we have made, WORK … just a little bit more.


For if we have to amend, if we must amend, let us amend when the cobwebs of doubt have been totally cleared from our minds and our hearts.

A wise man used to say: “Only after the last tree has been felled, the last river poisoned, the last fish caught, will man know that he cannot eat nor drink money.”

Let it be said, madam president, that during our watch, while gifted with intelligence and insight, with privilege and position, with the wealth of wisdom, and with the freedom and power of the human will.

Let it be said that in our time, and during our watch, we did our share. Let it be that in the hour of reckoning, when we look back, we look back not with regret but with gratification. And maybe, just maybe, we will make a little difference.

Thank you and once again, good morning.