Weaving hope, growing futures

Empowering the Higaonon tribe through sustainable livelihoods

- MAT RICHTER

A quiet day in Bukidnon in 2021 turned chaotic when a rumbling noise from a landslide ravaged the homes of a tribe in Brgy. Santiago, Manolo Fortich.

Aboitiz Renewables Inc. (Aboitiz Renewables), the renewable energy arm of Aboitiz Power Corporation, immediately took action to help those affected by the disaster, putting them back on their feet and making their community spirit strong.

Aboitiz Renewables and the Higaonon worked together to find ways to help shield the community against future landslides. The solution? Planting bamboo in strategic areas to prevent soil erosion. With its strong and extensive root system, bamboo helps stabilize soil, especially on slopes. It can also restore degraded land.

Since it is also fast to grow and cultivate, the locals were quick and ingenious enough to realize the potential of bamboo, turning it into a new source of livelihood for the Higaonon tribe.

Noemi Buclasan, 37, had relied on farming until the disaster tore through the barangay, burying their source of income and hope. Now, with bamboo, their community is earning more than they once did, while also contributing to an environmentally sustainable cause.

The initiative was formalized when Aboitiz Renewables, through its hydropower arm Hedcor Group, collaborated with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) to train the members of the Higaonon tribe in bamboo propagation, processing, and treatment to craft products to sell.

"Kung walang training at partnership sa Hedcor, hindi namin malalaman ano [ang] importance ng bamboo. Sa amin kasi, ang bamboo ginagawang bahay at fences," Buclasan said. (Without the training and partnership with Hedcor, we wouldn't know the importance of bamboo. To us before, it's only used for building houses and fences).

Building sustainability with bambo0