Never too old to be Banahaw caretakers

Alan Conopio did not know that his brief visit to his hometown—Liliw, Laguna—in 2009 to attend a high school reunion would be memorable and life-altering.

Conopio, 57, who has been based in Memphis, Tennessee, since 1980, remembered that year when Typhoon “Santi” battered Laguna and most parts of Luzon. “Livestock, crops, properties [were damaged. There were] even fatalities. I was stunned,” he wrote in his e-mail to the Inquirer last month.

Community partnership

He vividly remembered the devastating flash floods, the thick mud that covered houses, the powerful winds pounding for hours, and the heavy rains—a disaster he never experienced before in the highland town of Liliw.

Every day that week before the typhoon struck, Conopio had been strolling with his school mates at the former Lilio Academy around Liliw as a morning exercise before sharing a light breakfast. After Santi, they would take instead a “survey walk” to assess the damage.

Although power supply was cut, the batch reunion pushed through that night with candles burning. And unlike previous events, catching up with old buddies became discussions on “why this is happening now when it was not decades ago?”

“The answer is obvious: Deforestation. And likewise is the solution: Reforestation,” Conopio said.

Santi’s harrowing effects drove him to return the next year and lead a tree planting activity at the foot of the sprawling Mount Banahaw in Laguna as a project of his batch. The undertaking grew into a community-wide advocacy as they embarked on a movement to save Banahaw in 2011.

In June 2010, Conopio and his school pals, planted 350 tree seedlings. They realized, however, that their campaign would be more effective if the community joined them.

Besides, they needed young blood to carry on their advocacy since most of them were already nearing retirement age, a batch mate Librada Gloria, 57, who stays in Liliw, said.

They formed the Movement to Save Mt. Banahaw on Jan. 8, 2011. Nine other civic groups, including the Liliw Mountaineering Group, Samahang Magsasaka, Guardians Brotherhood-Liliw chapter, the Kabayan-KaLiliw (KBKL) and about a hundred residents joined.

The movement has since conducted tree planting activities at least once a year. It also tapped experts to give training on organic farming and alternative livelihood, and partnered with the Banahaw Emergency Response Team to teach disaster preparedness to the community.

Support came from different parts of the world. Conopio’s batch mates are now based in the Middle East, United Kingdom, Canada and United States.

Awareness

In the Philippines, the movement sold DVDs with old pictures of Liliw as souvenir items.

Conopio holds a “blue-collar” job in the Federal Express and from time to time takes on a second job to support his advocacy back home. His wife is a hospital staff member in Memphis.

Since 1999, he has been organizing medical missions to Laguna and twice to Negros Occidental, inviting Filipino-American doctors to participate. These have also become part of the Save-Banahaw movement’s activities.

“You don’t need to be wealthy to help others. Just your sincerity and determination [are enough],” Canopio wrote in his e-mail.

“This is not just about [planting] trees alone,” he said. “It is more about [building] awareness [and the] hope that good leaders for our community will emerge from the movement.”