For Thieza, choosing the road less traveled as a woman had never been easy. She was pressured with expectations to work in a corporate setting, but life soon unfolded before her eyes and chose to dedicate a career around the mountain ranges of Bukidnon. Now serving as the Deputy Director of the Xavier Science Foundation, find out how Thieza works to protect and conserve forests around the Kalatungan range with the Nagkahiusang Manobong Manununod sa Yutang Kabilin (NAMAMAYUK) tribal association in Pangantucan, Bukidnon. - This is part of the 7-Episode Kwentong Kalikasan Documentary Series which aims to highlight the heroes and the champions behind forest conservation in Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental. This is a joint project between AYEJ and Forest Foundation Philippines. For any type of feedback or request, please send us an email at info@ayej.org. #LetsGrowTogether #LetTheEarthBeHeard -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe to Knowledge Cha

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Ako si Theaza Verdijo at ito ang aking kwentong kalikasan.

My name is Theaza Clarito Verdijo.

I'm currently the Deputy Director of Xavier Science Foundation, Inc.

I'm here to tell you about my story,

to share with you the kind of work that I do in the foundation

and what motivates me to do the job that I do

and love it as much as I can.

For me, actually, siguro since I was a kid,

I'm always curious.

Parang I want to explore kasi I love science.

That's why I wanted to become a doctor.

Parang I get fascinated with little things.

What inspired me to do that was because I was exposed to seeing things,

you know, community work.

I was invited and that's also where it started.

I was still a student in Devcom, actually graduating.

Of course, I've seen sa mga school activities like doing immersions.

That was part of it, you know.

But for me, not seeing it as a career, gyud.

I love it. I love doing things.

Pero of course, there's that parang plans of the family

for you to be, you know, in a corporate world and stuff like that.

And since I love volunteering work, sige uban ko.

So daghan niya, actually.

So we went there as a class and then we went to this community

and we met up with the Koreans.

There were about 20 or so Korean students

and they were there to do some community work.

And the fact that I am a Filipino

and Koreans are coming to the Philippines to help.

It's a slap on my face.

Why are you not helping your fellow Filipinos?

So that, actually, I wrote about it.

That was really an awakening for me.

Kaya tungod lagi, naaday ko dapat buhaton.

And that started it all.

That passion of doing this kind of work now.

So continuing it.

So regardless of how difficult the trail would be.

I walked to Mount Kitanglan.

At that time, nag-volunteer ko.

And then I was called.

Kaya nag-submit naman ko ang application.

Gitawagan ko sa foundation.

Nga, ma'am, interview hon ka na kay schedule.

But then, of course, opportunity came.

So I have a lot of roles, actually, in the foundation.

So I handle projects.

I also am the administrative officer.

And now, with that parang responsibility

of being a deputy director,

encompasses everything in the organization.

I see this kind of work as not really work.

But really,

kung saan ba tawag?

It's part of my life.

It's life, actually.

So, that's why hindi siya difficult sa ako

ang buhaton niya, regardless of

asa lagi kang ibutang, layo ka ayo,

halos di nakamukaon,

halos magutman ka sa dalan,

ma-stranded ka sa dalan.

When I was exposed to this kind of work,

community work,

parang I felt sad

that there's this community paliay.

All the more nga meron

naka-exposed ko sa yunan ng klaseng

community, yunan ng klaseng work,

yunan ng road trip.

Na-realize na ko nga,

there's really that need pala di ay.

You wake up very early in the morning,

travel for so long,

and then coming to the community,

talking to them,

and sharing to them

unsa man ang inyong projects,

unsa man ang inyong mga activities.

And thereafter,

they absorb it bitaw na

maski wala na ka,

ilahang buhaton,

kabalok ka,

na sinsero sila sa imuhang ginabuhat.

These are our communities.

They are the BYKs.

Currently, we are now in

Sitio San Ginto.

This is at the foothills

of Mount Kalatungan Range.

Xavier Science Foundation,

that's the foundation

that I'm working in now,

it's a 53-year-old foundation,

and it has been founded

by Father William Masterson.

Xavier Science Foundation

is a foundation that works

to support development programs

and projects.

It acts as a conduit of funds.

It's an initiator

of innovative programs,

and then it's also a forum

for dialogue.

So, that is our mission.

And we really work to support,

or we envision,

that Mindanao to be hunger-free

and competitive.

The foundation initiated

or worked in an initiative

called the Payment

for Ecosystem Services

back in, I think, 2014.

That's also the time

where I started in the foundation.

And the Payment

for Ecosystem Services

is a mechanism,

a financial mechanism,

that supports IP communities

to be able to plant trees

and at the same time

gain incentives

from the work that they do,

from planting trees.

The very reason

it was initiated,

it's also for the fact that

many of our forests

are now denuded,

or at the time,

the country is faced

with a lot of logging,

a lot of deforestation.

And we experienced that

in Cagayan de Oro

in 2011

with the Sendong

flash floods.

And that really destroyed

many of our communities

in the downstream communities,

especially major cities

like Cagayan de Oro,

Iligan City,

and neighboring municipalities.

And that was a big awakening

also for our part

as city dwellers

because we really did not expect

to happen, you know.

And through the many studies

conducted thereafter,

it was found out that

most of the floodwaters

came from the sub-watershed

found within the Calatungan Range.

And the very reason why

there was flooding

is because the watersheds

are denuded.

There are no more trees

that hold on to the water.

And that's caused flash flooding.

So from then on,

it was even more strengthened,

the fact that

because of deforestation,

there are no more floodwaters

that can be found

in our communities.

We are grateful

for our indigenous peoples' communities

residing within the Calatungan Range

because as part of their culture,

they really support

or they continue to do that

reforestation

at their own accord.

No one is telling them,

but it's really part of their culture, no?

Mansion!

There!

Yes, Dato Minyo.

He's the tribal advisor of Namamayo.

And Ate Angelina Ginto,

the wife of Dato Minyo.

Also a woman leader here in Namamayo.

They are the ones who are in charge

of the waterways.

Arun, our Calatungan

is our protection.

It's not that

because our Calatungan

is our market

because it's where we get our products.

Our Calatungan

is where we think

and get our goods

because it's our heritage.

It's where we protect

our belongings.

It's not that,

it's part of our culture.

Even these people,

the children, we protect

because they are the ones who buy

our goods.

It's not that we are protecting

the Calatungan

but we are protecting

our customary

tradition.

It was only then realized

by many of us

that they can't

do it alone.

So they work

for the Calatungan,

they protect it

but you,

the citizens,

you are the ones who can do it.

That's where the PES

mechanism was initiated

in a sense that

we support

through payment

of the resources that we get

from nature, from the environment

by planting

trees

and that is being paid to the communities

who plants them.

So that's a part of the incentive that they would get.

The very reason

that you partner

with the IP communities is because

they are the ones who added this. It's their land.

It's part of their

culture.

What we can only do is to incentivize

what is being already

in practice

by the community.

Now, we are going to

help

the community nursery

by adding here

some seedlings,

some endemic trees.

It's not easy

but

we can do it.

We can do it.

It's

in the nursery

that we can help

with the project

of MINMAF.

K1

K1? What is K1?

That's what

we call it.

That's what you call it?

The foundation finds it

relevant for us

to

promote and advocate payment for ecosystem

services. It's not just

again planting trees.

Everyone can probably plant a tree

but the idea of planting

a tree or

making sure

that it grows, making sure

that it will really

be there for

the longest time, it will outlive

us probably.

I am Dato Ibay

and I am a planter.

The most important thing

in the nursery is

to plant

the trees that

surround

the nursery

so that

we can think of our

future.

So the two

reasons is because

it's a community, right?

I think this is one key factor

why there is a need

to support the indigenous people's

communities is because they have the knowledge

and the skills and even

the old practices, cultural practices

that they have been doing

even the time

when we were around.

So

in terms of protection and

protecting the environment.

So who are the

better people to do this

kind of stuff?

Given that we are

working in a

kalatungan landscape

in Bukidnon and

it's a protected area.

And so here,

Forest Foundation

came about in 2014-2015

we started off

a project with them.

We call it Echo Seed

Project. So it's really

an enhancement of community capacity

for sustainable ecological

development and economic

development. So we

support the communities. At first,

our pilot for two years

only two communities.

Both are in

Kalatungan area. And then

thereafter, we also saw

that there are

other potential partner

communities. And so

on the second phase, we

entered again an agreement with

Forest Foundation Philippines

to have a project with them

Echo Seed Phase 2 for

five years. And this comprises

six IPOs

here within Mt. Kalatungan range.

Forest Foundation

is again very

much focused on

forest conservation. That's one of their mandates

to support communities, to support

programs and projects that advocates

forest conservation

management.

The past five years that we have

worked with the communities, the IP

communities,

I think the one visible

impact that we have

done in the program or in the project

is the

construction or the

establishment of the

Turugan.

It's the tribal hall, if we

call it that. This is a place

where they really revert

to us a sacred place

in a sense that this is part

of their culture. This is where they make

their decisions, this is where they conduct

their meetings.

We are now at the

Sitio San Ginto. This is the Turugan

or the tribal hall of

the Namamayok, the Indigenous Peoples

Organization.

This was established with

support from Savior Science Foundation

and Forest Foundation Philippines.

This was one of the

major output

of the project

Echo Seed 2.

It's like a place for

sleeping.

More than just a quarter

for sleeping,

it's also a venue for the

IP community to meet.

This is where the meetings are held.

Any special

occasion should revolve around

the Turugan.

Various rituals are also

being done here.

Since we are partners with the

community, so every time

we come here and we have

2-3 days of activities,

series of activities, then we

get to stay here.

So, this is

the quarter.

Hi!

The youth,

when they grow up,

they will camp here.

These are tents that are provided

in the project.

For us, in the project at that time,

we will just construct a building.

Something like that.

But,

later on, we realized that this is

really more than just a building.

So, I think if you ask

them, that's the

most answers that

we get from the community

in terms of the impact.

One of the

things that we talked about

was

the importance of

letting

the youth

join the

Indigenous Peoples' Governance.

Now,

we are eager to show

our youth

that we have a village

or we have a venue

where we can gather

and talk to the people there.

There, the tribe

will answer the problems

related to the

conflict.

Here, the youth

will be able to help

so that we can teach them

about the justice system

in Lumad.

That's the venue where they can observe.

So, PES

Pangantukan Activity,

again, this is a pilot

or a phase two of the

PES initiative

by XSF

here in Kalatungan.

Aside from just, again,

planting, there has to be

you have to take care of

the entire program.

So, there has to be some meetings,

there has to be planting,

area monitoring, and other activities.

So, the role of the core team

is essential in terms of

facilitating all these activities.

So, that's where the

capacity building also comes in.

We have to train them on

financial management. We have to train them on

project management. We have to

train them on forest

conservation.

Landscape governance.

So, those things, so that

they can widen their

experience.

Even knowledge and the skills are being enhanced.

When the time comes

for the XSF

to arrive,

we have to find out what

we can teach them.

Because right now,

the evidence

that we have

is the

genealogy

for our ancestral domain

as required by the National Commission

of Indigenous Peoples in our application

for the Certificate of

Ancestral Domain Title.

Instead of just the genealogy,

they are the venue.

The young people

in the hamlets

or the sites where they are

growing, they have to follow

and trace up

the genealogy of their ancestral domain

to their ancestors.

True to its name,

mamayok is

nagkahiusang, manobong,

manununod sa yutang kabilin.

So, they are united,

one manobo, united

for that common goal of protecting

the ancestral domain

and for the

generations to come. So, it's really not

for them, the current leaders,

but it's really for their

for the next generation.

The communities

are there already

in the area.

Even before we have all these

mechanisms in place.

And as

indigenous peoples, it's again,

as I've said, it's part of their culture.

So, no one is telling them

what to do. It's not

us telling them. However,

I believe protecting the environment

or conserving the environment

is a shared responsibility.

It's not just for the IPs alone,

it's not just for the community

downstreams alone, but it's

a co-existence of

us as human beings

with nature

or with the environment.

If we see ourselves as human

beings, then it is our

responsibility to take care

of the environment.

And probably, no one will have

to tell you,

but it should be felt

deep down inside.

While others would have some

turning point

na kay giignan ko

or kay nakita na ko or kay na-experience

na ko, but more importantly

I think, it's how you feel.

And I know for a fact

that I cannot do it alone,

and there should have to be people

working

together on this endeavor.

The very reason why I'm still

here again is because

there's still a need for me to be here.

Ang gigat siya dahan lang na

ko kang mamting, and

hindi lang ako but the whole community

ang ihang ka down to earth

as a person. Kabalo siya

makiduyog kung dapat asa siya

madu, dapat unsaan

pag respito ang isip ko sa kamalang

lumad. Kung positivo ang

ito ang ginahisgutan, dakot kayo

siyag impact para sa ako as a rekey.

Isa siya sa nag-umulsa ko as a person.

People

around me telling me that

you are a lady, you are not supposed to be doing

this kind of work because

you should

be in a corporate or sitting in a

I don't know, in an office room

air-conditioned.

But why you chose

going to the mountains?

Well, it's fresher here.

It has a nice view

and all of that, and it lets

you connect to that inner self.

So people may not understand it

or may not have realized it

but maybe in time

they will, and hopefully that would

also be a choice

that young people would make in the

future.

Well, I'm not for certain

the kind of legacy that

I will leave

for once

I depart this world.

But I just

hope

whatever

step I

took

on this path

on this journey of my

development work, even my

experiences and my exposure

someone would

also step on it.

Protecting nature is

or protecting the environment

is protecting the people.

It's not, again

separate.

Always for us

for humanity

to consider nature

as our

abode, as our home

and we have to take care of it.

Nature will again continue

doing its own thing

but for humanity

who has that capacity to

think, who has that capacity to

do things

it's us who should take

responsibility and we should

take care of the environment

not the other way around.

Thank you for watching!