Pista Y Ang Kagueban

         The Pista y Ang kagueban is celebrated annually on the third week of June at the onset of the rainy season.  It is a festive reforestation activity where citizens and the populace not only of Puerto Princesa City but of the whole Palawan normally flock to celebrate the “Feast of the Forest”, by planting thousands of different tree species in the city’s denuded and protective forest areas. 

         We always used to welcome the event with much enthusiasm because it made us proud as Palaweños to let the world know of our humble beginnings to help conserve and protect the environment WE ALL LIVE IN.

           Let me share with you my nephew’s own encounter with Mother Nature together with his colleagues in this year’s Pista Y Ang Kagueban.

             Here it goes in my nephew’s own lingo:

“We, as humans, have the obligation to preserve our home, the Earth, together with its resources that we use for everyday living, and in Puerto Princesa City, we have our own way of helping Mother Earth renew and continue to enrich herself. In the rainy weeks of June, we celebrate the Feast of the Forest or in Cuyuno Language, Pista y ang Kagueban. In this event we defend the majestic beauty and the richness of its natural resources in the forests from destructive forces, Natural or Man-made. It usually starts at 4:00am and ends before high noon, usually with a concert not far from the actual planting site. This celebration in the forests makes us adore the exquisiteness of our natural woodlands. We also make new friends along the way whilst working hand in hand in planting trees for the preservation of the forest covers.

This year’s Pista is very special in my 4 years of joining this advocacy, apart from being usually late by an hour or two due to faulty transportation, I was with my very best friends and together we are one team of people who wants to help our mother nature. I always have this kind of love for the outdoors and adventure, but that doesn’t make me go beyond ‘extreme’. I came very early to the assembly area, which was approximately before 4:00am, and much to my dismay, my friends are still in their homes preparing. I was lucky there are already some groups there, so I was not so alone, but I’m feeling kind of out-of-place since they were not so close to me. My lifesaver was my mp3 player, which kept me occupied for the next couple of minutes. Then one by one they came, and it was already 6:30! And I’m in need of some food! Nevertheless, we need to go at the immediate time that the last one we are waiting comes. She came at about 6:35, and at a flash of the camera we were already hitting the road to Bgy. Irawan, the venue for the 21st Pista y ang Kagueban. On the road we were like little kids playing kiddy games, and that gave me enough good vibes to continue with our journey.

 

          And we arrive to the first stop to our quest to the planting site. We have to go down our truck just to reach the site, because of the slippery mud. It was raining very hard that morning, but that didn’t hinder us from continuing. We had thought that the planting site was not very far from where the cab was parked , but as we bumped into people already coming back from planting, they said it is still some 2-3 kilometer away from where we are, we’re all like “Are you all effin’ kidding us?!”. We have already walked a half mile at that time, so there is no coming back for us. We still continued, already soaked in the rain, but still eager to reach the planting site. We were happy to see much of the forest cover on that part still untouched or ‘virgin’ in layman’s terms. Halfway through the trek, we were astonished, as we will have to cross a river, make that RIVERS, to reach the site, and I am in sneakers! Talk about wrinkly and smelling feet. Having no other way to get across, I was left choosing to cross the very muddy-colored river/s. and some more slipping and mishaps later, finally we came to the Planting Site! Finally! We really felt the excitement of winning a very physical challenge being able to withstand a lot of mishaps along the trek. And we were just as happy to plant trees, yes, not just one tree but a handful of them! We were like apprentices to a gardening school with what we are doing; luckily there are some people who offered to teach us how to properly plant the trees. There are some tourist photographers and some other local photographers who took some pictures as we planted our share of trees for the preservation of that area in the forests of Bgy. Irawan. It was an eye-opener for me, being struck by some challenges along the way. We had made friends along the way as we get back in the city. People we encountered in the truck when we rode to the highway, they were so friendly, I can now assure that there are still a lot of people here in our city who are worthy of respect and trust. I’ve earned a lot from this trip and I will take it forever in my heart and mind."

"Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books."