PEACE-MAKER By FORMER SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE JOSE DE VENECIA , JR. Jose C. De Venecia Jr. We are already at 83 and we our lady, former Congresswoman Gina, are still pushing our billion trees program for the Philippines which we launched when we were speaker of the House in 1992 and in the five times we had the good fortune by God’s grace to be elected speaker. Actually, our dream at the time was for a worldwide launch of a trillion trees to green the countries and the communities of the world, provide timber, housing, and fruits for all peoples, and save our planet Earth and the environment at the same time. At the World Summit organized by the New York- and Seoul-based Universal Peace Federation (UPF) in Seoul on February, 2017; at the African Summit in Dakar, Senegal, on January, 2018; and at the 10^th General Assembly of our International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) in Moscow on October, 2018, we proposed the launching of a trillion trees program as a jobs-creating economic activity and to help fight climate change and environmental degradation. We told delegates then that we believe reforestation and tree farming—on the scale and intensity the planet needs—can and must become a significant jobs-creating economic stimulus for developing countries—if not all countries—that the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the China-led AIIB, the regional banks, parliaments, political parties, and civil society should champion. “Massive tree planting can become a virtuous circle—of planting, cultivating, harvesting, processing timber, and replanting, a forever cycle that can generate tens of millions of jobs worldwide for poor young men and young women in the emerging countries, apart from addressing food shortage and expanding upland agriculture, and especially, perhaps more importantly, contributing in a most significant and in a most major way in the battle against climate change and environmental degradation. “For just as valuable, these new forests control mountain erosion, prevent the silting of streams and rivers, save human life from destructive floods that overflow the rivers, destroying crops, fish farms, livestock, cities, townships, villages, and hard-won economic gains. “I propose these programs can be organized through what we may call ‘Billions of Trees Foundations’ managed by civil-society groupings, and strongly supported by governments, parliaments, and the political parties, or perhaps, even better, undertaken by governments themselves, and actively supported even managed by the private sector.” Last week, we were very much elated to hear that the World Economic Forum is programming an initiative to “grow, restore, and conserve one trillion trees around the world and in a bid to restore biodiversity and help fight climate change.” The Philippines’, with God’s benediction, should support and be among those in the forefront of this global effort, and already US President Donald Trump, before a “skeptic on climate change” is now active in promoting  the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with Klaus Schwab, founder of the World Economic Forum, whom we had the privilege to meet  a few years back. Every family, every Filipino, should line up behind the world’s planting of trees to save our present and future generation and insure the longevity of our planet Earth.

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A few days ago, we met with our friend retired bemedalled police general and former three-term congressman Leopoldo Bataoil, who is now mayor of Lingayen town, the capital of our home province of Pangasinan. The competent, popular, and hardworking soldier mayor discussed his program to achieve sustainable growth and development for his townunder the vision “Arangkada, Lingayen!” or move-fast Lingayen. Pol, as he is popularly called, is also proud of his town’s and province’s unique delicacy, the Lingayen lechon (roast pig) bagoong, which he said was launched only a few months ago and which demand and popularity have been continuously increasing, indeed worthy of emulation by the other provinces. The Lingayen lechon, sprinkled with Pangasinan’s unique delicacy product, bagoong (fermented baby fish), is actually a brainchild of Mayor Bataoil. It is promoted as well by the province’s commercial center, Dagupan City, and by other towns and gaining ground nationally. According to Pol, the idea of lechon bagoong came up during his dialogue with Lingayen’s market vendors, following the directive of President Duterte to clear the nation’s sidewalks of ambulant vendors and illegal structures. Mayor Bataoil suggested then to a local lechon vendor named Emil to use the Lingayen bagoong sauce, brushed on the lechon, which the vendor heeded, and the rest, according to Bataoil, is history. Pol is also proud of his town’s other delicacy, the longganisa bagoong, sparingly sprinkled on the country’s favorite pork sausage and which has also gained favor among Pangasinan and Ilocano loyalists, rich, middle class and the rural folks, and also gaining ground among the Tagalogs and should also extend to the Visayans and tourists. We wish to point out that our great former President Fidel V. Ramos, West Pointer and hero of the EDSA People Power Revolution, was born in Lingayen and also relished the Pangasinan bagoong with wife Ming Ramos, and his parents, the late Foreign Minister Narciso Ramos and his Ilocana wife Angela Valdez, a renowned schoolteacher. Pangasinan’s other late great national leaders Speaker Eugenio Perez, Last Speaker of the Commonwealth and first speaker of the Republic, and his lady, social worker and a renowned national leader herself, Consuelo Salazar Perez, Senators Teofilo Sison, Cipriano Primicias and Geronima Pecson, Justice Secretary Jose Bengzon, Governors Aguedo Agbayani and Amado Espino, Rep. Amadeo Perez, Dagupan Mayors Liberato Reyna, Felipe Cuison, Cipriano Manaois, Al Fernandez. And so are today’s Belen Fernandez and Brian Lim, dedicated bagoong (fermented baby fish) and Agamang (fermented tiny shrimps) enthusiasts. The Pangasinan bagoong and agamang are now world-renowned among Filipinos in the US, Europe, and Asia and some Europeans are already sprinkling the saucewith Western vinegar on green leafy salads.