Retired soldiers
get a lift out of Apo

APO ISLAND -- Like many of his male neighbors in this 74-hectare island off the coast of Dauin in Negros Oriental, Jimmy Tabanera leaves home every morning to fish. While Apo island is surrounded by fish, there are several places which fishers frequent because it guarantees them a good catch. One such point is what they call Cogon Point in the northern part of the island.

Jimmy caught only two jacks last Monday but he was ready to call it a day; the jacks weighed 9.9 kilos and 12 kilos. The smaller one immediately sold for P1,300 to local tourists. It wasn't always this good. The islanders still remember the time the fishermen of Apo had to paddle far from shore just to find food for their families. "We had our share of illegal fishers--from muro ami to dynamite fishing to cyanide poisoning," recounted Jimmy's younger brother Julito, 42.

Julito was a young man barely out of his teens in 1984 when he saw the pioneering attempts of Dr. Angel Alcala of Silliman University to convince the people of Apo island to establish a marine sanctuary to allow the fish to breed and grow big enough before they are be caught. These efforts initially met a lot of resistance, not so much from the operators of the illegal fishing trade, but from the islanders themselves. It required a lot of social preparation and community organization. The conservation efforts received a big boost when then Lt. Col. Cesar Garcia, Jr., who was the provincial commander of the Philippine Constabulary in Negros Oriental, established a police detachment in the island to enforce the laws against illegal fishing.

Garcia, whose tour of duty ended in 1986, was replaced by then Lt. Col. Tiburcio Fusilero, who continued the environmental program of his predecessor. And so with other officers who followed, like then Lt. Col. Ricardo de Leon. Aside from their concern for the environment, another thing they had in common was their love for scuba diving.

A policeman who was sent to be a member of the Apo island detachment later married a lady from the island, giving the island its first full-time policeman. The island was later declared a protected area under the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) law and is currently being managed by a Protected Area Management Board (PAMB). The PAMB meets regularly to formulate policies governing the development of the island, as well as seeing to it that all activities done here are environmentally sound and that the fishing grounds would be preserved.

Environmental education was also integrated into the elementary school curriculum, where the children are taught the importance of corals, mangroves and the role of the ecosystem.

Apo island has since attracted thousands of tourists and scientists who never cease to admire the relatively unspoiled reef and diverse marine life at the island's marine sanctuary, the first successful example of a community-managed coral reef.

The island's marine sanctuary was recently replicated and made as a permanent exhibit at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, where visitors are not only given a view of the view of the island and the reef but they are welcomed "to the Philippines". Garcia joined the Army when the Constabulary was dissolved in 1992, retiring as a Brigadier General. But after retirement, he was appointed Director General of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, a post he holds to this day; De Leon went up the heirarcy and retired as Deputy Director of the PNP and was named President of the Mindanao State University, while Fusilero capped his colorful stint as a police officer by retiring with the rank of Chief Superintendent. He now manages a watershed reforestation project in the mountains of Cebu. Long after their stint as Provincial Commander of Negros Oriental had ended, Garcia, de Leon and Fusilero, would occasionally take time out from their assignments to make sentimental visits to this island here, where they were always welcomed like long-lost sons.

Holy week was one such occasion for Garcia, who came with his family and friends, and Fusilero. "Much has happened since we were here three years ago," Fusilero said, noting the lush mangrove forest near the marine reserve. The trees planted in the hills almost 20 years ago were also getting bigger and were very visible from the shore. "Looking at all these brings back happy memories," Garcia said as he fixed a longing look at the greenery that lay before him. Fusilero was also wearing a big smile, saying, "it gives us a deep sense of pride to come here and see the gains the people of Apo island have made. Other places are now copying the Apo example."

But perhaps, the sentiments of the islanders were conveyed by Julito, when he told his visitors, "We remember you guys because you helped our island a lot. I'm thankful that everyone cooperated to make our dream come true."*

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