Thursday, October 16, 2003

Sagada implements zero waste management to save river

Source: INQ7 here
Sagada implements zero waste management to save river
June 30, 2003
By Desiree Caluza

SAGADA, Mt. Province -- There is hope that the water of the polluted Chico River will become clear again as the town government is now strictly implementing zero waste management.

Dr. Penelope Domogo, assistant provincial health officer, said the pollution in the Chico River was caused by indiscriminate dumping of garbage.

Last month, residents of Kalinga province filed a complaint against the Mountain Province government because the latter's garbage was polluting the river.

The 80-km long Chico River, which traverses through the highlands of Mountain Province and Kalinga to the Cagayan River, is one of major sources of water of the two provinces.

"But we are glad that Sagada is leading the zero waste management to save the river," Domogo said in a recent provincial peace and order council meeting here.

The Kalinga government has been promoting Chico River for its whitewater kayaking adventure trips. The river connects to 10 more tributaries around the lush mountains of Kalinga.

Chico River, one of the major rivers in Mountain Province, became a symbol of unity among the tribes in the Cordillera Autonomous Region after Kalinga chieftain Macliing Dulag led his people and the Kankanaeys in opposing the construction of the Chico Dam during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos.

Dulag's opposition led to his death on April 24, 1980 in Bugnay Village in Kalinga.

Monday, October 13, 2003

Sagada Gothic

Donni
And if the death was particularly disturbing, small-town graveyards are also where those secrets are buried.

In Sagada’s hilltop cemetery, Donni “Cadiog” Cadiogan’s grave marker did not look like any of the others. His grave was fresh, not more than a few months old. The border between the turned soil and the rest had yet to be overgrown, so a long, rectangular border could still be seen glinting through the grassy loam. And there were a couple of things that seemed off about his simple wooden cross painted with a gay blue sky and flowers. The first was the cryptic, bitter epitaph painted on the back:

“It gives you real respect for the truth when you have to clean up lives that have been based on a lie. Think about it. Donni”

The second was the span between the dates on the front: June 26, 1980 — September 3, 2002. He had died at 22, an age so young his life was barely lived.

To die at that age is to die tragically.