The vast forestland of Ilocos Norte, covering an area of about 8,000 hectares, remains lush and productive, thanks to some 200 village rangers keeping watch over them.

For eight years now, 71-year-old Emilio Rabago, tribal chieftain of Barangay Saguigui in Pagudpud, would cross rivers and mountains to patrol and maintain a 200-hectare forestland now planted with coffee and coconut trees.

He does this for 10 days every month, along with fellow Barangay Ranger Officers (BROs) who are scattered across the province’s thick and lush forest cover.

In return, they receive a monthly compensation of PHP4,000 each from the provincial government as part of the National Greening Program.

More than the monetary reward, Rabago said he is grateful for the continuity of the program as it has nurtured the environment and their families as well.

“This is a laudable program of the government. With the support of various government agencies such as the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture, Department of Trade and Industry, and Department of Science and Technology, among others, we continue to learn how to boost our livelihood and protect the environment,” he said in a media interview on Monday.

Part of their job contract is to report illegal loggers and establish fire lines to prevent large-scale forest fires in their area.

Rabago is among the 232 BROs who received PHP8,000 each on Monday for their salaries for May and June. Close to PHP1.9 million were distributed representing two months of compensation.

Aside from receiving cash aid, the BROs are also allowed to plant immediate cash crops such as vegetables and fruit trees in the forestland they are assigned to.

The BROs began serving in 2011 and have been helpful in preventing forest fires, thus saving Ilocos Norte from environment degradation. (PNA)