The Online Magazine for Sustainable Seas
July, 2000 Vol.3 No. 7
he islands of Masbate lie exactly
in the center of the Philippine archipelago. Relative to mainland Bicol,
the province faces the southwestern coasts of Camarines Sur, Albay and
The province of Masbate is composed of 21 municipalities; it has 39 islands
and islets. The total land area covers roughly 23% of the Bicol Region,
and over 1% of the national land area. It consists of three major islands:
Burias Island, with 2 municipalities; Ticao has 4 municipalities; and
Masbate Island, with 15 municipalities.
Population in 1995 was 653,641, or a growth rate of 1.77% over the 1990 figures. The municipality of Masbate registered the highest urban population at 32,532; Aroroy accounted for the greatest number of rural settlers at 52,133.
Some environmental issues
Masbate has serious agrarian problems and has the lowest private ownership of agricultural land in the Bicol Region. Insurgency is also active in the hinterlands. Farmers moved to the coasts and shifted to fishing as a last recourse.
Thus, rural population increases in 1995 were most accelerated in the
coastal barangays. Mangrove areas are under heavy population pressure.
Some areas have been reduced into dumpsites, many have been converted
into fishponds and settlement sites.
We've also seen the degradation of our forest resources. Human intrusion into Protection Lands has adverse environmental impacts
A pot of gold - and pollution threats
The province of Masbate is considered one of the richest in mineral resources
in the country. Copper, silver, gold, lead, iron, manganese and chromite
deposits abound in most parts of the province. Also in abundance are guano
and rock phosphate.
Extraction and exploitation at levels significant enough to affect the environment are so far confined only in Aroroy. From the concentration processes, tremendous amounts of tailings are produced. Mine wastes and tailings present the greatest pollution threats from the mining industry. Natural calamities such as typhoons and earthquakes cause impounded materials to be washed out or carried to bodies of water.
Cattle production is a traditional source of livelihood, and Masbate
has sustained a substantial inventory of cattle through the years. In
1998, commercial, semi-commercial and backyard operations registered a
total number of 76,030 cattle head. Among the provinces of Bicol, only
Masbate showed an increasing cattle production by an average of 3,790
head per year.
The cattle industry also gave birth to the most popular annual tourism
event in the province: the Rodeo Filipino.
The cattle industry shows a lot of promise, but it also accounts for
over 50% of forest denudation in the province. From 828 square kilometers,
forest cover was reduced to 608 square kilometers a few decades ago and
is now down to zero.
About 5% of forestry plantations and production forests were cleared in favor of coconut plantations. In 1992, the province had more than 16 million coconut trees.
The province is rich in fishery resources, thanks to the marine fishery
areas surrounding its three major islands. These include Masbate Pass,
Asid Gulf, Samar Sea, Sibuyan Sea, Ticao Pass, Burias Pass, and the Visayan
There is one existing fish sanctuary in the municipality of Palanas.
Masbate's coastal resources are varied and diverse, providing food and
employment for over 2/3 of the population. However, pollution and overexploitation,
population pressure, sedimentation, and destructive fishing techniques
threaten this valuable source of living.
For the period 1990-1995, toxic red tides were recorded in the waters of Masbate. Paralytic shellfish poisoning cases were reported in the years 1991 and 1995.
A plan for a sustainable future
The province of Masbate does not have an environmental plan. But environmental
considerations have been incorporated into the Provincial Master Plan
and the Physical Framework Plan. Since its approval in June last year,
the government has been vigorously implementing the provisions of the
PPFP. What we lack in expertise, we make for in enthusiasm. We realize
that we have a lot of work to do, and the time to begin is now.
Imagine an economically stable province playing a major role as a component
of the newly industrialized Filipino nation where people enjoy a better
quality of life in a peaceful and ecologically balanced environment.
For the province, the preferred development strategy is Ports and Agricultural
Development Restructuring. Cataingan will be developed as the Integrated
Area Development (IAD) center for the Third District; San Jacinto will
serve as the IAD center for Ticao Island; and San Pascual will be the
IAD center for Burias Island.
This strategy has the following components:
This island life
So deliberate, so unhurried, so inexorable are the ways of nature that
the stocking of an island may require thousands or millions of years.
Perhaps not many of us appreciate the fact that, isolated from the great masss on the continents, with no opportunity for crossbreeding that tends to preserve the average and to eliminate the new and unusual, island life has developed in a remarkable manner.
On these remote bits of earth, nature has excelled in the creation of
strange and wonderful forms. As though to prove her incredible versatility,
almost every island has developed species that are endemic - that is,
they are peculiar to it alone and are duplicated nowhere else on earth.
You may have noticed a picture of a bird in the departure area of Masbate airport. It reads:
We tried to get a picture of Penelopides panini ticaensis, to
no avail. We were informed that 3 German researchers tried to look for
this bird three or four years ago in Kumawit. They failed. We are
still hopeful, though, because some people claim to have seen this bird.
It is most probably a variation of the species. So, if any of you has
seen a tariktik (hornbill) recently, please tell us. If they're
gone, they're gone forever. Isn't it dreadful to think that we are accountable
to all of creation for their extermination?
Sonneratia ovata or kalong-kalong, a kind of mangrove, has so
far been sighted only in three or four provinces, including Masbate.
The tragedy of our islands lies in the uniqueness, the irreplaceability
of the species they have developed by the slow processes of the ages.
In a reasonable world, we would have treated these islands as precious
possessions, as natural museums filled with a beautiful and curious works
of creation, valuable beyond price because nowhere in the world are they
The provincial government has on-going negotiations with an NGO to assess our resources. We have opted for participatory resource assessment; communities within the vicinity of the area will be included in the research process to ensure that they will appreciate and value the resources in their area.
Putting our hearts where home is
We cannot overemphasize the pivotal role of local communities to realize
Who will care for these remote bits of earth but us? Home, they say,
is where the heart us. Is Masbate home to us? Hardly, if we consider our
rates of environmental degradation and outmigration. For so long, we have
been unmoved by the reckless exploitation of our resources. We have become
over-confident in our belonging; we wear Masbate like a second skin. We
claim it as our right, our inheritance, forgetting that it is a gift entrusted
to our stewardship.
We ravage our resources and escape the wreckage. We dream of lands flowing of with milk and honey across the seas, beyond our horizons, so we can knock on the doors of other people's homes. But if it were known how we left our homes in ruins, who would open their doors to us?
This conference would have accomplished much even if it only inspires
us to put our hearts where home is.
It's up to us. This is our call. The buck stops here.
There is no time but now
In fact, the Penelopides panini ticaensis, a kind of hornbill found only on the island of Ticao, may soon become extinct. If this happens, it will be the first time that a hornbill will become extinct anywhere in the world. It will be a tragedy, an embarrassment and a blemish to our reputation and honor as a people.