A Journey Back to Our Womb: Celebrating the Sierra Madre

Just a few hours east of Manila, the Regina RICA is a pilgrimage site nestled in one of the most
biodiverse areas in the country, the Sierra Madre Mountain Range. On October 1, green advocates
trooped to Regina RICA to celebrate the culmination of the Season of Creation.

It was a day of tribute and recognition to the benefits of the Sierra Madre to the communities
surrounding it, from Cagayan Valley in the north down to Quezon Province in the south. This
recognition has come belatedly the presidential proclamation that encouraged the celebration of
the Sierra Madre Day was signed only years after the deadly floods caused by Typhoon Ondoy in
2009.

During the multi-sectoral gathering, Sis. Elizabeth Carranza, a fierce Sierra Madre advocate,
highlighted the fact that everyone has a role to play in protecting the mountain range that gives
Filipinos water, food, and protection from the typhoons that regularly batter the Philippines. The
diverse crowdreligious, lay, IPs and the unat, young and old were also treated to games and
other fun activities about the environment and native trees of the country. In fact, the Bingo Tree
Walk, a game similar to bingo but the cards are inscribed not with numbers but with the names of
native trees, proved popular among participants.

The celebration culminated with a tree planting ceremony presided by Bricks Sintaon who
performed a symbolic ritual rooted in the Talaandig culture. The Talaandig are an indigenous people
of Bukidnon province.

The Green Convergence-led event is, in a way, a journey to our spiritual womb, the Virgin Mary who
is the patroness of Regina RICA. It is also a pilgrimage to our ecological womb, Inang Kabundukan or
Sierra Madre, which have nurtured Filipinos for millennia. Dario Aumentado, an Agta participant
from Gen. Nakar, Quezon, could not agree more. Agtas have a symbiotic relationship with the
environment and it has provided us with life. It is just right that we do the same for Mother Nature.

The Season of Creation is only one among the many initiatives of the Green Convergence for Safe
Food, Healthy Environment and Sustainable Economy. Visit our Facebook page and learn more how
you can do your part in saving Sierra Madre.

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