TUNGA, Leyte- A bee farm in this town is fast becoming a sought after place for people who wanted to be relax, away from the bustle and noise of city life.
Beengo Farm, a 400-square-meter bee farm located in Barangay San Vicente, this town, started as a hobby for its owner-manager, Gary Ayuste, who worked overseas before he got interested in farming, and eventually, in beekeeping through his aunt.
The name of his farm was a combination of bee and mango where the bees could pollinate and get their nectar.
The bee sanctuary, which started its operation three years ago and is located beside Tunga River, the town’s major tributary, has been providing livelihood to housewives living near the farm as well as a venue for environmental conservation.
Ayuste said that it was not a walk in the park when he started the bee farm because of people’s negative notion on bees.
To solve this problem, he educated the residents living near the farm of the importance of bees to the environment and to our eco-system and encouraged them to keep bees not only for honey, but for pollination of plants.
“Bees are very good in fighting global warming because 80 percent of the trees and plants because of bees. Our tree planting activities are nothing without bees that our pollinators,” Ayuste said.
The farm is using stingless bees that are endemic to the region like the ‘Kiwot’ and Ligwan.’

Stingless bees are about the size of an ant yet have all the features of honeybees except that they do not have a sting.
Typically, these stingless bees make their colonies in old bamboos and are frequently found around bamboos or wooden structures.
“Because of their size, they are very small. They can go to any part of the flower to get nectar unlike the regular honeybees that are big,” Ayuste said.
Ayuste added that as part of his advocacy is to improve the living condition of his neighbors, reason why at least 22 housewives are provided with livelihood by the bee farm.
The farm gets the supply of native chickens and vegetables while others are employed in the farm.
Ayuste said that since they open in October 2017, aside from local and foreign tourists that flock to the farm to relax, eat and learn about beekeeping, some are also visiting them to use the farm as venue for review like those who are taking board exams.
The calmness and serenity of the farm is a perfect place for students who don’t want to be bothered by loud noises while studying before taking exams, according to Ayuste.
Ayuste added that aside from serving local foods to tourists, they also encourage them to talk with each other while they are inside the farm and even only during their stay, forget to use gadgets like cellular phones.
Beengo Farm has been tapped by the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) in Eastern Visayas as a learning site which provides trainings on basic beekeeping.
They also adopted schools, wherein they donate colonies for beekeeping to educate the students.
Ayuste shared that Beengo Farm is currently developing a nature-themed library for the farmers’ children to have access to quality books which mostly are donated by his friends.
He added that to ensure the sustainability of income of the family working in the farm and other residents in the community, they are doing a tree-planting program wherein fruit bearing trees are planted along the road leading to the community.
For those who wanted to visit Beengo Farm and be served with local foods, Ayuste said that visitors should make a prior reservation for them to have enough time to prepare their foods.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

In Ormoc City

ORMOC CITY-The government here is serious in clearing its roads from obstructions to make traveling safe and efficient.
Thus said Mayor Richard Gomez who said that roads within Ormoc, especially the national highways, should not be used as parking areas.
“We have to clear the national highways from illegal park vehicles. The roads were widen not to become parking spaces but for the use of traveling vehicles,” the city mayor said.
Establishment owners like those who will be constructing their structures must see to it that they will have parking spaces for their vehicles and their clients to ensure that they will not obstruct the road and cause traffic.
“This needs political will. We need to show them that we are enforcing the law for them to know that it is illegal to park along the national highway,” Gomez said.
Gomez added that aside from prohibiting vehicle owners to use road as parking areas, the city government will also relocate vulcanizing shops that are operating along national roads.
This is part of the implementation of the city land use and zoning ordinance.
“We will be relocating them to areas where they can have a parking area,” Gomez said.
“We don’t want to see them working along the sidewalks because sidewalks are created for pedestrian use,” he added.
Gomez said that he hopes that villages located along the national highway will cooperate with them.
He added that houses located along the national highways should have about 5-meters setback from the drainage to protect their property and their children from untoward incidents.
Along with the clearing of road from traffic obstruction, Mayor Gomez said that for the next three years of his term, more road networks will be opened in the city considering that it is a fast growing urban area.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)

Natural barrier against storm surge

TACLOBAN CITY – A team of Japanese and Filipino scientists are conducting their study on the characteristics of mangroves that survived the devastation of super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ when the region was hit on November 8, 2013.
The activity is part of an ongoing Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) -assisted project called Comprehensive Assessment and Conservation of Blue Carbon Ecosystems and their Services in the Coral Triangle, also known as BlueCARES.
BlueCARES is meant to identify the dynamics of the blue carbon or carbon dioxide stored in marine ecosystems in the coral triangle.
Coral triangle is the global center of marine diversity composed of the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste, and Solomon Islands.
When the blue carbon system is damaged, an enormous amount of carbon is released to the atmosphere, adversely contributing to climate change.
Balangkayan and Hernani, both in Eastern Samar, are the project sites of the study as well as Aklan and Palawan provinces where mangroves along the coasts are surveyed and mapped using drones.
Studies show that the Philippines has about 50% of the total mangrove species in the world. Mangroves are also among the carbon-rich forests providing protection against strong waves and storm surges.
Studying the mangroves that survived Yolanda is crucial in the study of blue carbon system conservation.
“Results of the survey in Eastern Samar will contribute in producing maps of mangroves in the Philippines, and studying their dynamics in the context of disaster management. The surveys are also important in formulating a blue carbon strategy in the country,” said Dr. Kazuo Nadaoka, BlueCARES chief technical advisor.
Mangroves are also among the carbon-rich forests providing protection against strong waves and storm surges. Studying the mangroves that survived Yolanda is therefore crucial in the study of blue carbon system conservation.
“The project takes a long-range vision of hopefully contributing to a framework on blue carbon ecosystem conservation that is based on scientific evidence, and also identify conservation strategies at the local level,” JICA Philippines Senior Representative Yo Ebisawa.
“The results of the survey will help the team prepare recommendations on disaster management in coastal communities,” he added.
JICA has been working with academic institutions to come up with research to address global issues in the environment, disaster management, and health among others under its Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development or SATREPS.
The project is the first tripartite cooperation among Tokyo Institute of Technology, University of the Philippines Diliman, and Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fishery in Indonesia.
The study team aims to help guide decisions of nations with rich biodiversity when it comes to battling against climate change.
BlueCARES study began in 2017 and will end in 2022.
Already, the project team completed initial surveys in Busuanga and in Panay Island, and mapping of mangroves and seagrasses in Eastern Samar.
(ROEL T. AMAZONA)