The book, Mother Eagle: Emelina Gagalac Regis, is about Bikol’s foremost environmentalist, as practitioner, researcher, teacher, and cultural worker. It is a testimonial about Emelina or “Lina “and published in her honor by Sumaro sa Salog (SULOG), Inc. for the Irukan Center for Sustainable Environmental Governance, 2020.
In academic circles, this form of writing is called a Festschrift (plural, Festschriften), a German word that refers to a volume of writings by different authors presented as a tribute or memorial, especially to a notable scholar. The erstwhile biographical book about Lina, put together by fellow faculty Dr. Paz Verdades (Doods) Santos with the assistance of Judge Elsa Mampo, contains contributions and narratives from the honoree’s colleagues, former students, peers, and friends, as well as excerpts from her own literary works and scientific research.
The American sociologist Irving Louis Horowitz, who helped to popularize “Third World” as a term for the poorer nations and proposed a quantitative index for measuring a country’s quality of life, says of the popularity of this literary form, “Festschriften persist and multiply. Why? Because they are not just retrospective, but prospective. That is to say, (it is) a call to further work, effort, and energy, a call to the improvement of learning, of a discipline, a science, an artistic vision, or an intellectual position.”
Lina made a significant mark with her involvement in research and action on forest protection, biodiversity conservation, and marine ecology. The narratives and accounts expressed as tributes to her collectively call for the continuation of her advocacy and initiatives and the perpetuation of her legacy.
Born to Igmidio Gagalac of Calabanga and Milagros Guadalupe of Capalonga, Lina went to elementary and high school at the Colegio de Sta. Isabel in Naga City. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in botany from the University of the Philippines, an MS in biology, and a PhD in environmental science from the same university. She completed a certificate course in Resource and Environmental Management from the Australian National University in Canberra.
After a semester in Bicol Colleges in Daraga, she moved to the Ateneo de Naga University to teach biology and science during the tenure of Fr. Bob Hogan, SJ in 1968. Her professorial and administrative career at ADNU would span more than four decades, serving as Dean of the Mathematics and Sciences Department, Dean of the College, and member of the Board of Trustees. She was the Director of INECAR (Institute of Environmental Conservation and Research) and adviser of student organizations, the EAGLEs (Enthusiastic Ateneans for Group Learning and Explorations) for Environment and Ateneo de Naga Biology Majors (ANBIOM) and Ateneo de Naga Nature Crusaders.
Outside the campus, Lina was a board member of environmental groups, the Bicol National Park Foundation, Haribon Bicol, Green Forum, and the Mt. Isarog Consortium. She was active in NGO’s, the DENR, the LGU and the Catholic Church. She received accolades for her service to the community and her accomplishments: the Naga City Mayoral Award in 1992, Outstanding Bikolana for the Philippine Association of University Women in 1993, Gawad Bayan sa Kalikasan for her work at INECAR, Bulawan na Bikolnon from Ateneo de Naga University in 2017, and the Taboan National Writers award in CBSUA.
The REGIS (Regional Environmental Geographic Information Systems) Hub at INECAR was purposely named after her and so was the Emelina Regis Sanctuary of Native Trees established by SULOG as part of the Irukan Center for Sustainable Environmental Governance.
We attempt to summarize Lina’s many accomplishments based on retrospective excerpts from the book and her research reports.
DOING SCIENCE
Lina was married to fellow educator and former ADNU Dean of College Dr. Melanio “Mel” Regis. He describes her teaching style as learning by observing and doing, “Lina was inspired to do science rather than simply teach from books.”
Jennifer Suzara-Cheng, former student, now a biology professor in Los Angeles, California, and US National Outstanding Green-ovation Teacher, recalls, “She was so innovative and resourceful in providing academic and hands-on experiences to the students. She always said that the world was our classroom.”
Dr. Melanie Cabague, former student, now a government physician, remembers, “She taught us by doing. We went on field trips to the Bicol National Park to study deforestation, to waterways and the seaside for the effects of siltation and pollution. We did not learn our lessons from books. She inculcated a love for and the desire to protect the environment in all of us her students.”
Other former students look back on their field trip experiences with Lina: overnight camping in Pasacao Beach to detect plankton bioluminescence along the shallow waters; drawing samples from the lake waters of Buhi, Baao and Bato, to observe zooplankton and phytoplankton; and hiking in lowland forests to study photosynthesis and learn about ecosystems, including the effects of fallen leaves on flood-prone grounds during heavy rainfall. “We were not limited to textbooks; she exposed us to topics of real life,” says Joanaviva Plopenio, OIC Director, INECAR.
MOTHER EAGLE
Students would have Lina as their teacher in science and biology. To them, she was Ma’am Lina, the consummate teacher. Outside her classroom duties, she recruited members to the EAGLEs for Environment, INECAR’s student outreach. As its moderator, she became known as the Mother Eagle. Dr. Noel Volante, ADNU faculty and Director of the Center for Culture and the Arts, recalls how Lina and her husband Mel Regis, then the sole Dean of College, were much admired as a teacher-couple, known for their kindness and being considerate. He was Sir Mel, and she was Ma’am Lina. In 1988 the EAGLEs staged environmentally themed cultural plays. As both were outspoken advocates of environmental awareness during these events, Mel and Lina were soon popularly called Sir Mel and Mother Eagle.
BICOL NATIONAL PARK
In 1990, then Dean of College Mel Regis and Biology faculty Lina Regis were assigned by Fr. Raul Bonoan, SJ, Ateneo de Naga President, to represent him in the Bicol National Park Foundation. With the help of student volunteers and members of the US Peace Corps who were foresters, meetings were held with government and military officials to plan steps to save the forest that straddles the provinces of Camarines Norte and Sur. The foundation was able to facilitate the physical relocation of small loggers found operating illegally in the reservation and to re-educate them to be guards and stewards of the forest instead of engaging in slash-and-burn farming (kaingin) and illegal logging.
Unfortunately, donor funding for forest preservation was exhausted and not replenished. As a consequence, illegal logging resumed and part of the park under the Camarines Sur jurisdiction somehow vanished due to irregularities. On the other hand, the Camarines Norte province continued to protect the park from illegal logging and destruction. Tree seedlings were planted, and forest guards were tasked to nurture their survival. Small-scale handicraft enterprises were set up for the residents as livelihood. Lina’s experience in the Bicol National Park inspired her to write the play “Dalawang Mukha ng Kagubatan” in the 1990s to educate the youth and communities that live near the forests.
MINING ON RAPU-RAPU ISLAND
As early as 2001, Lina declared opposition to mining on Rapu-Rapu island, located 55 km off the coast of Albay province. She asserted that industrial activity would not be compatible with the fragile island ecosystems and that pollution would be detrimental to agriculture, coastal ecology, and aquamarine life, and thus, threaten the livelihood of the island residents.
True enough, in October 2005, barely four months after the start of operations on Rapu-Rapu by Lafayette Philippines, Inc., a subsidiary of Lafayette Mining Ltd. of Australia, accidental cyanide spills occurred and discharged lethal levels of pollutants in the island waters and soils. The resulting fish kills devastated the fishing and tourism livelihoods of the predominantly poor local communities in Rapu-Rapu and Prieto Diaz, Sorsogon. Being the nearest municipality to the island, the latter shared in the common fishing waters of Albay Gulf. The northeast monsoon (amihan) winds prevailing at the time pushed the surface waves laden with toxic chemicals from Rapu-Rapu to Prieto Diaz.
The calls to action came from the Prieto Diaz community, led by the parish priest, parish council and local government officials through Bishop Arturo Bastes. Upon his recommendation, a fact-finding commission was approved by President Gloria Macapagal, and Bishop Bastes was tasked to head the commission and given only three months to fast track the necessary research and investigation. Lina Regis’ name soon came up during the search for possible expertise in the matter. Bishop Bastes, who knew Dr. Mel Regis, his former classmate in the SVD seminary, asked Lina to head the task force.
Toxic tailings of cyanide, a chemical used in ore processing, were detected in the waters of creeks and siltation ponds, causing deaths to marine life. The collection of data was not an easy task. Lina and her INECAR field investigators were met with harassment by the mining company security forces. With her supervision, the commission was able to submit its findings and recommendations in a timely manner. Dr. Maria Aurora Azurin-Conde, Ateneo science faculty, researcher, and writer for the INECAR team, described her experience working with Lina, “We gave service to others through our lectures and workshops with the natives of Rapu-Rapu, to explain what would happen to their island ecosystem. Our research task was not just academic; it was our mission to save our environment.”
Unfortunately, the commission results were met with denials of culpability by Lafayette and DENR officials. Mining operations continued unabated. Years after the toxic spills, millions of pesos spent on the island rehabilitation amounted to naught – Rapu-Rapu has become a wasteland. The planted trees and even cogon grass could not survive in the acidic soils. The island air reeks of the smell of sulphur. There are no fish in the municipality waters.
Read more: http://www.minesandcommunities.org/article.php?a=2309
LIBMANAN-CABUSAO DAM PROJECT
Then President Gloria Macapagal wanted the dam built to keep her son Dato as the lower house representative of the first district in Camarines Sur. The budget for the populist project would have been a staggering P1.9 billion of taxpayers’ money. When Victor Dennis T. Nierva, SULOG fellow and Creative Coconut Ph co-founder, heard the dam would be located between his hometown of Lupi and the downstream town of Sipocot, he and fellow Lupinians knew they had to seek the assistance of Lina Regis at INECAR. She agreed to help without hesitation and quickly assembled an expeditionary tour of the Pulantuna River to take a first-hand look at the proposed dam site.
Lina wrote in her report introduction, “What is disturbing about this dam is that it is not being constructed in Libmanan and Cabusao which are lowland areas and have ample supply of water within their jurisdictions. Rather, it is being constructed upstream in the Sipocot River with backwater intended to inundate the town proper of Lupi and some agricultural areas along the Lupi and Sipocot Rivers. It was also difficult to understand that while Sipocot River is connected downstream to Libmanan and Cabusao and this segment is known as Libmanan River which is already being used for irrigation purposes, the proponent opted to create a dam where its reservoir will convey water through a canal that will still connect to a pumping station downstream.”
In her report conclusions, she asserted that the dam should not be constructed not only because it is not needed, but also because of the danger it will bring to Lupi, Sipocot, and Libmanan. The geological condition of sediments and rocks, the presence of many inlets in the three rivers in question, and the high rainfall patterns most times of the year point to an inevitable disaster. She added that there was no justification to permanently inundate the human habitations, their livelihood in agriculture and fishery, at the historical settlement of barangay San Pedro, Lupi founded in 1726, to provide irrigation water for another group of people who have the same source of water anyway at their doorsteps.
CULTURAL WORK
To colleague Doods M. Santos, Ateneo faculty and SULOG member, Lina Regis was not only a scientist, but a cultural worker and dramatist. With no formal training in literature, she won the Palanca first prize award for her one-act play “Dalawang Mukha ng Kagubatan.” She brought her plays with science-based messages and poetic expressions to people in far-flung forests and coastal villages. She wrote books with environmental education in mind, such as, “Dalawang Dula ni Clarissa sa Ekologiya” and “Mga Dula, Awitin at Tula sa Ekologiya at Kapiligiran.”
Lina began writing plays about ecology as moderator of the Ateneo EAGLEs student organization to promote environmental awareness. In her plays, her message was communicated in a teacherly manner to educate her audience about the environment. She wrote “Karagatan,” a zarzuela adaptation, about the intrusion of big trawlers that use dynamite and muro-ami to literally rake fish from San Miguel Bay, leading local fisherfolk to revolt to stave off hunger. Similarly themed except in the forest setting is the play “Dalawang Mukha ng Kagubatan.” She also wrote a play about urban pollution called “Tao, Tao, Saan Patungo ang Basura Mo?”, a grim tragicomedy with a fly that raps and garbage that lectures. Focused on marine ecology issues “Daluyong at Dalampasigan” follow the tone of “Karagatan” and “Dalawang Mukha ng Kagubatan.” Her plays were real theater, staged in many locales in Bicol, Palawan and Manila most at risk by the environmental challenges. Thus, their greatest appeal was to the real people she directly served and whose communities and livelihoods she was trying to protect.
References:
- Mother Eagle: Emelina Gagalac Regis, published by Sumaro sa Salog (SULOG), Inc. for the Irukan Center for Sustainable Environmental Governance, 2020
- The Tragedy of Mining in Rapu-Rapu Island Ecosystem, Albay; by Emelina G Regis, Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Monitor , Vol. 11 N°.15rT
- Institute for Environmental Conservation and Research (INECAR), Ateneo de Naga University – Report: Possible Impacts of Libmanan-Cabusao Dam Project to the Local Communities and Environment of Lupi and Sipocot, Camarines Sur, by Dr. Emelina G. Regis, September 2010.