BIG PH BICOL
GIANT BAMBOO FOR HUMANITY
"The goal is not to live forever, but to create something that will.
One year ago, BIG PH planted the first batch of propagules by the banks of the Pagsanjan River during the term of District 3820 Governor Gina Sy, who received more than 32,000 bamboo propagules for the provinces in her area from PDG Edna Sutter of District 3830.
PDG Edna continues to serve as TRF Major Gift Initiative Adviser (MGIA), this time for Environment Protection from July 2023 to June 2026 as appointed by incoming TRF Trustee Chair Barry Rassin. She was TRF MGIA for Basic Education and Literacy prior to this appointment.
In its first year, MGIA Edna's drive to mitigate the effects of climate change and provide livelihood through giant bamboo farming went through a change in its name, from Bamboo for Environment and Livelihood to BIG PH, the acronym for Bamboo Initiative for Growth Philippines. It is one of the CSR projects of DDC Land, Inc., a real estate development company owned by Martin and MGIA Edna Sutter, with the Rotary Club (RC) of Fort Bonifacio Global City as its overseeing partner. Through BIG PH, the Sutter couple intends to invest in hundreds of thousands of bamboo propagules for the ten Philippine Rotary districts.
Partnering with GIBO
BIG PH in Bicol is the result of a partnership between DDC Land, Inc., RC Fort Bonifacio Global City, and GIBO.
GIBO means “work” in the Bicolano dialect. GIBO also happens to be the acronym for Group Initiatives for Better Opportunities, Inc., the NGO arm of the Marhay Na GIBO (MNG) Community. Marhay Na GIBO means “good work” or “good deeds”. Side by side with this NGO is the Marhay Na GIBO Consumers Cooperative (MNGCC), which is owned and run jointly by the members of the Marhay community.
GIBO was founded by Atty. Dante Adan and Ronald “Bong” Rodriguez, past president of RC Parañaque Metro South.
Adan was a professor at Ateneo de Naga in the early nineties, where PP Bong was a student. Though at different periods, both held the position of president of the Ateneo de Naga Supreme Student Government. PP Bong recalls that they had frequent discussions on the plight of the Filipino masses.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, PP Bong received an agitated call from Adan summoning him to Camarines Sur “because there is so much work to be done here.” PP Bong quickly responded. In Naga City, Adan enthusiastically laid out his plan to organize GIBO, through which both of them would help the communities in need.
They pulled in Father Augusto “Don” Federico, Jr., parish priest of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Parish, who was assigned the role of president of GIBO. Sabas “Abang” Mabulo was assigned as Chairman of the MNGCC.
A "Hallucination"
While in Naga City, PP Bong was infected with COVID-19. Because his condition deteriorated quickly, he was urgently confined. Gasping for breath, PP Bong told Adan that he "might not make it," as both of his lungs had developed pneumonia. He was transferred to the ICU.
PP Bong woke up drenched in sweat. Miraculously, he felt much better. He thought of Adan, whose test results revealed that he, too, was infected with COVID-19. Sensing that Adan would need an ICU bed, which was scarce at the time, PP Bong negotiated to be transferred to a private room. With hesitance, his doctors allowed him. On the day he was transferred out of the ICU, PP Bong saw a co-patient being transferred to a body bag. She was a nurse who was admitted on the same day as he.
Adan took over PP Bong’s ICU bed. PP Bong promised Adan, “When this is over, we will serve God and Ina (Mother) more.” Two days later, Adan was intubated. On the evening of the same day, Adan passed away.
(Note: Atty. Dante P. Adan, a CPA-lawyer, was the former Chief of Staff of Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno.)
Tribal Women on the Philanthropists' Banquet Stage
On February 18, 2023, PP Bong was among those who were invited to attend the 2023 Impact Philanthropists Manila hosted by MGIA Edna Sutter and spouse Martin, held at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
Onstage, he saw Dumagat women in their tribal outfits, who are beneficiaries of the bamboo greening project in Rizal, a project of DDC Land, Inc. and RC Fort Bonifacio Global City with the Rublou Group of Companies, PDG Louie Timan, RC Suburban East Rizal, and the Kaksoan Ne Dumaguet de Antipolo, Inc., an organization composed of eight Dumagat tribes.
Seeing the tribal women onstage involved in bamboo greening, PP Bong realized that this was what his "hallucination" meant.
Passion and Commitment in BIG PH Bicol
There are three BIG PH nurseries in Bicol so far:
San Francisco, Ocampo, Camarines Sur
Pasto de Irola Farm, Ocampo, Camarines Sur
Harris Farm, Calabanga, Camarines Sur
Key members of GIBO underwent training to understand the requirements of bamboo farming on their own initiative and established partnerships with the DOST, UP Los Baños, and the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau (ERDB) of the DENR.
A total of 2,000 hectares has been pledged to the project by GIBO, consisting of:
✔ Privately owned land
✔ Ancestral domains of IPs
✔ Land owned by a consortium of other NGOs
The Viber chat of the BIG PH Bicol group, which includes MGIA Edna, reveals the passion and dedication of the project protagonists. The lively exchanges cover topics such as frequency of watering, covering the unbagged propagules with moist rice stalk, bagging, and weeding.
Father Don is the organizer of volunteers from the GIBO community, mobilizing up to 78 people in a day. Chairman Abang is setting up a motorized watering system for the nursery. The military, the PNP, and students have volunteered to help pot the propagules.
As MGIA Edna says with affection:
"These propagules are like newborn babies that need milk every now and then until they can be transplanted to the field."
For PP Bong, BIG PH reminds him of GIBO Founder Adan, who told him that "bamboo would do wonders for Bicolanos one day." It also brings to fruition what Adan said, that:
"The goal is not to live forever, but to create something that will."
