Barangay rangers at frontlines of protecting Ilocos Norte’s forests

ILOCOS NORTE, Philippines — Every month, for 10 days, 68-year-old farmer Jaime Quilling hikes for three hours up a nearby mountain in Barangay San Francisco in Dingras town. With him are 35 fellow barangay ranger officers (BROs), who patrol and maintain 100 hectares of forest land.

“Our trees in the mountains are thick and have grown in numbers since then as we don’t want people to cut them down [illegally],” Quilling said. He attributed this to the work they do as BROs, which their barangay formed in 2015. 

Quilling is among the 209 active BROs deployed in eight municipalities and cities across Ilocos Norte. Established in 2011, the BROs’ primary duty is to safeguard the province’s 8,000-hectare Green Wall reforestation project, in support of the National Greening Program (NGP). Barangay San Francisco started their BRO program in 2015.  

Due to the limited water irrigation in their area, farmers in their sitio (zone) of San Roque can only plant and harvest rice once a year. Thus, Quilling and other BROs view their work as BROs as a more stable source of income. Each BRO receives a monthly compensation of P4,000. 

Given these conditions and their proximity to the mountains, all BROs from their barangay come from Sitio San Roque.  

Rooted in their own communities, BROs are a crucial part of the Green Wall reforestation program. But are these efforts enough to arrest deforestation and combat climate change in the country?

Joey Ferrer, president of the BROs in Barangay San Francisco, said that he and his team are constantly on alert for any signs of a forest fire. Upon seeing smoke or any signs of fire in their area, the BROs immediately respond even at night.

Ferrer, 39, believes that the fires are not accidental. He attributes them to the kaingin or slash-and-burn farming, which had burned some areas of their mountains.

In their neighboring town Solsona, a forest fire due to human activities hit at least 45 hectares of forest land in various villages last March.

According to Philippine Science Letters, deforestation and kaingin are said to be integral components of the process of forest destruction, which could pave the way for the “local extinction” of many