It was a happy day, a happy week. It was mango harvest week in the Aeta indigenous community in Zambales, the Philippines, and Juan Garcia, a tribal leader, and members of his village were leading us to their mango trees in the mountain area.
They were harvesting fair trade, organically-certified mangoes that would be processed in a factory into mango puree, packed into sealed bags and steel drums, and shipped to Germany to be used in organic foods. It had been three years since the organic, naturally-flowering mango had been harvested.
Climate change brought rains at the wrong time and washed away the flowers. Then, insects came and laid their eggs in the flowers so they died. The heat came and enlarged the fruit on the trees and they split. This year, the trees adapted and there was a small harvest.
The three years had been hard for the Aeta mango farmers, going without a harvest of pico and carabao varieties of mango. They are from the Aeta community that live in the mountain areas of Zambales and where Preda Fair Trade has an association with them. They are the original inhabitants of the Philippines going back some 30,000 years. They came from Borneo and crossed to the islands via land bridges that are now long submerged.
They survived and thrived as hunter-gatherers in the rain forests that covered the Philippine archipelago for thousands of years. They have a wide knowledge of herbal plants to cure illness and were deadly using the bow and arrow for hunting. When settlers from Asia came, they did not resist the incursions. Being peaceful by nature they remained in the forests. They speak their own language, Zambal, and Filipino also.
Just three per cent of the Philippines has primeval rainforests. The remainder, found in the ancestral lands of indigenous people, is under threat despite laws protecting it. Mining corporations get special exceptions from their friends in the government regulatory agencies and are grabbing the ancestral lands of the indigenous people, cutting down the forests to get the minerals below the forest floor.
The Spanish colonial period, and then American occupation, saw the continual destruction of the rainforests. After World War II and independence was granted, some privileged families became very rich, forming dynasties and gained political power. The logging of the rainforests grew on a massive scale much is now all gone; many trees and are plants extinct.
Just three per cent of the Philippines has primeval rainforests. The remainder, found in the ancestral lands of indigenous people, is under threat despite laws protecting it. Mining corporations get special exceptions from their friends in the government regulatory agencies and are grabbing the ancestral lands of the indigenous people, cutting down the forests to get the minerals below the forest floor.
The indigenous communities are resisting and many of their advocates and eco-defenders have been killed. In the past 10 years, more than 1,700 have been murdered throughout the world while defending their lands and forests against illegal loggers and miners, according to a report by Global Witness. In 2021, four activists were killed every week.
The Aeta people did not resist the destruction of their rainforest. They became survival farmers on their denuded ancestral mountain lands growing cassava, sweet potatoes, bananas, vegetables and fruits like mango, avocado and jackfruit.
As we celebrate the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. The Chaplaincy to Filipino Migrants organises an on-line talk every Tuesday at 9.00pm. You can join us at:
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Reforestation is now a priority, Jun told us. “You see here the grafted mango trees we planted some years ago. They will soon bear fruit,” he said, proudly pointing to the trees.
The indigenous communities are resisting and many of their advocates and eco-defenders have been killed. In the past 10 years, more than 1,700 have been murdered throughout the world while defending their lands and forests against illegal loggers and miners, according to a report by Global Witness. In 2021, four activists were killed every week
He referred to the distribution of four-foot tall, grafted mango saplings donated by Preda Fair Trade every year to the 360 farmers in the Aeta farmers association for the past 15 years or so. This is very important to establish stronger claims to ancestral lands and to combat climate change as trees absorb CO2, the greenhouse gas, which in the excess quantities produced through the burning of fossil fuels, contributes global warming.
Then we arrived at a big, mature mango tree and Juan pointed to the fruits hanging there. “Look, the excessive heat has expanded the seed inside the mango fruit and split the fruit,” he said in Tagalog. Global warming is damaging the livelihood of millions of poor subsistence farmers like him around the world.
Thousands losing their livelihood because of the non-stop burning of fossil fuel, coal and oil and gas in massive quantities in the industrialised world. The Philippines also relies mostly on coal-burning power plants for electrical generation. The country has strong, constant wind, sun, hydro and geothermal resources that can replace the coal-fired plants. However, the powerful family dynasties that control the government and run the coal plants are resisting any change. Yet, change has to come to save the Philippines and the mango fruits and other crops.
Then Juan showed us another variety of mango tree. “This is the most resilient mango variety of all,” Juan told us. “These mangoes are small but resilient and resistant to the heat but they are not tasty and sweet. They are called “Indian.” No one buys them in the market and we did not harvest them until Preda Fair Trade and Welt Partner in Germany ordered puree to be made from them. We are very happy now we have many Indian mango fruits.” Indian mango is made into aromatic vinegar by Vom Fass in Germany.
The country has strong, constant wind, sun, hydro and geothermal resources that can replace the coal-fired plants. However, the powerful family dynasties that control the government and run the coal plants are resisting any change. Yet, change has to come to save the Philippines and the mango fruits and other crops
Juan and the Aeta farmers were delighted to have a buyer for a fruit that has no commercial value in the Philippines. However, the volume that Vom Fass can buy is limited. Hopefully, another customer can be found to help the livelihood of the Aeta farmers.
Then, Juan brought us to a banana grove where huge banana stalks soared to the sky and a huge bunch of green bananas hung downward, ready to collapse it seemed. These are the bananas that Preda Fair Trade would buy from the Aeta farmers and process into banana chips. These chips will be sold to Welt Partner in Germany for distribution to the World Shops known in German as Welt Laden. This will be an additional benefit to the Aeta farmers and their families.
Female graduates of the Preda healing and recovering therapeutic home for trafficked and abused children who are now 18 years old, will be trained and employed in the organic banana chip-making. They will work and earn part-time and continue their studies in high school and college. They, too, are on the road to a happier life.
Father Shay Cullen
www.preda.org
