CAUGHT IN THE FOREST FIRE

John Iremil Teodoro

RIZAL, Palawan – While walking along a forest trail sometime in March, we heard what seemed
like a staccato of gunfire from a nearby mountain. We thought there was a gun battle, an unusual
occurrence in this usually peaceful province, but the tribal leader who served as our guide told us the
sound came from burning bamboo stands. The forest was on fire, and we were right in the middle of the
blaze.
My companion and I were trekking towards sitio Imbo in barangay Canipaan, homeland of may
Pala’wan indigenous people. It takes an hour’s walk from the barangay proper to reach the village. We
were there to interview the local community for a brochure on land tenure options that we were
commissioned to write.
Edong Tuwahan, our guide, is a panglima or tribal leader of the village. Two days earlier, his
hose was among the dwellings burned to the ground. The forest fire had been going on for days, but he
did not seem very worried about it. He has this it’s-one-of-those-things attitude, like this was something
that happened every so often and they had learned to live with it.
While we were going up, we passed forested areas where both sides of the trail had been razed
to the ground. Thick piles of ash lay on what was once the forest floor, along with tree branches that
were black with soot. We wondered what happened to the wildlife in these forests – the monitor lizards,
monkeys, cockatoos, peacock pheasants, mynah and others.
When we reached the village, Tuwahan pointed out his burned hut. Only a few blackened posts
remained, and his family was staying with this two married children whose houses were spared because
they had removed the roofs of their houses, since these are the first to catch fire.
The villagers told us that the sitio is named after a river, which has dried up due to the long dry
season. We passed by that river on our way to their village and only leaves could be seen on the
riverbed these days.
When we ask them what started the fire, they said a Cebuano migrant engaged in slash-and-
burn farming caused the forest fire. This Cebuano bought that parcel of land from their fellow Pala’wan
for only one carabao and one plow a hectare.
They said it will be a very big help to them if the municipal government of Rizal could help
survey their land. It appears that the inaccuracy of the boundaries of their properties caused tension
among members of the tribe.
On our way down, we were gripped with fear when we saw flames eating up the trees beside
the trail. The forest fire was spreading fast, considering that we stayed at the panglima’s house for only
an hour. My companion and I started to run when we felt the heat on our arms and inhaled smoke.
When we looked back however, we saw the tribal leader and his children walking slowly, totally
unperturbed by the forest fire. Instead of getting panicked, we decided to take pictures instead and walk
at a normal pace.
That night, the fire is what was once a lush forest kept coming back to my mind as I lay in bed.
More than anything else, I couldn’t stop thinking about what the tribal leader said: the forest fire would
bring hunger to my tribe again.
(This essay was published in Bandillo ng Palawan Magazine, March 1998 issue)