DENR-V News Release

DENR-EMB and EDC-BacMan launch

2011 “Pataramisan sagkud Padarakulaan”

Legazpi City—The DENR-Environmental Management Bureau (EMB) and the Energy Development Corporation (EDC)-Bacon-Manito (BacMan) Geothermal Power Plant Project open the first “Pataramisan sagkud Padarakulaan”, a competition for the sweetest and largest gumihan and baligang fruits in Bicol.

The contest proper will be held on June 1, 2011 at the Pacific Mall Atrium here and is open to government and private agencies as well as plantation and nursery owners of the said trees within the Bicol.

Interested individuals and groups may submit their fruit entries with the Entry Form to the contest secretariat on the day of the contest proper, from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.  Half-ripe and fully ripe gumihan fruit entries will be accepted, on the other hand, baligang entries must be fully ripened. The fruit entries will be selected based on factors such as smell, color, size of seeds with pulp, taste (sweetness), and physical condition. Each fruit entry will be purchased by the contest committee at P50.00 per piece for gumihan and P300 for 5 kilos of baligang.

Winners will receive cash prizes as follows: first prize, P15,000, second prize, P10,000, third prize, P5,000. Ten consolation prizes will also be given at P1,000 each.

The seeds of the fruits consumed on the contest proper will be turned over to EDC-BacMan to have the seedlings propagated at the watershed of BacMan Geothermal Power Plant Complex. This is to ensure the reproduction of the said fruits and sustain the food chain of fruit bats and other faunas in the area.

With gumihan and baligang enlisted as endangered fruit trees, “Pataramisan sagkud Padarakulaan” aims to call for the preservation of the said trees. Moreover, the contest purports to address environmental and health issues such as deforestation, climate change and malnutrition, to name a few.

Gumihan and baligang are endemic fruit-bearing trees in the region. These trees bear fruit annually and ripen during May and June. Gumihan is similar to marang, a relative fruit found in Mindanao. Likewise, baligang is similar to its relative fruit duhat; however, the two vary in taste as baligang is sour and sweet while duhat tastes bitter.

Several Bicolanos know and have tasted the baligang fruit but most are still unfamiliar with gumihan. In Visayas, Mindanao and even in the northernmost part of Luzon, the fruits are seldom found and are not known to be edible.

EMB Bicol Regional Director and Chairman of the BacMan Geothermal Multi-Partite Monitoring Team Fernando Quililan hopes that the contest will generate interest among Bicolanos in the preservation, protection and propagation of the fruits.

“With their extensive presence in our region, we can adopt gumihan and baligang as our [regional] landmark fruits,” Director Quililan said. “We can even rival the Durian and Lanzones Festivals of Davao and Camiguin provinces with our very own Gumihan and Baligang Festival.”

                 

DENR, EMB and EDC-BacMan collaborated with the Provincial Governments of Albay and Sorsogon as well as with Albay Centre for Initiatives and Research on Climate Adaptation (CIRCA) to implement said contest. (DENRV/PIA)