Joey Albert revives kundiman music with new song 'Kundimang Kupas'

By Ricky L. Calderon, Manila Times

There are love songs and there are true love songs – faithful to the purpose of expressing honest, undying love. Such were our homegrown Kundimans, defined as Filipino traditional serenades.

New genres of Filipino love songs have evolved through the years, but one could say that the heart of the Filipino music is still rooted in the Kundiman and we will always come back to it. It is never lost.

After 40 years of a stellar career, OPM icon Joey Albert presents "Kundimang Kupas," another heartwarming love song by Robert More, the Filipino songwriter that wrote "A Million Miles Away," one of the most popular and beloved Joey Albert hits.

"When I first heard Kundimang Kupas, honestly I was moved to tears. I had not heard words spoken as such, nor felt honesty in a song as I did, in a very long time. I thought what of the new generations of Filipino singers might be missing, not having heard songs like this. So I asked the composer if I could record it," she said.

With passion and purpose, Joey carefully studied the song to make it as worthy of the composer as she could – keeping in mind the story of song.

'Unchecked exploitation of nature threatens billions'

SOUNDING THE ALARM This Sept. 14, 2020 file photo shows the United Nations headquarters in New York City. XINHUA PHOTO

By Agence France-Presse

PARIS: Rampant exploitation of nature is a threat to the well-being of billions of people across the world who rely on wild species for food, energy and income, biodiversity experts from the United Nations said on Friday.

From fishing and logging to the use of wild plants in medicines and perfumes, societies across the planet use species that have not been tamed or cultivated, with annual global legal and illegal trade in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

But as humans drive alarming biodiversity loss — and climate change threatens to accelerate the destruction — the UN's Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (Ipbes), called for "transformative changes" in our relationship with wild species.

Ipbes, which has warned that a million species are at risk of extinction, said halting overexploitation was "critical to reverse the global trend in biodiversity decline" and hailed the crucial role of indigenous communities in protecting nature.

Its report, written by dozens of experts and indigenous advisers and approved by 139 member states, comes as the UN steers an international process to protect nature from human destruction in the coming decades.

"The use of wild species is absolutely crucial for humanity and nature," the Ipbes report co-chairman, Jean-Marc Fromentin, told Agence France-Presse (AFP), adding it was a "key issue for food security."

UN experts estimate "about 40 percent of humanity" relies in some way on wild species, he said, adding: "It's much bigger than you think."

Overall, 50,000 species are used for food, energy, medicine, material and other purposes around the world, the report said, with more than 10,000 different types harvested for human consumption.

Wild plants, algae and fungi provide food and income for one in five people globally, while some 2.4 billion people rely on wood for cooking.

Ipbes estimated that 70 percent of the world's poor depend directly on wild species and businesses linked to them.

But they are not the only ones.

"City dwellers in rich countries might not notice it, but wild plants are used in medicines or cosmetics. You eat wild fish and there is a good chance that your furniture comes from wild trees," Fromentin said.

Even foraging remains an important activity for people in North America and Europe, with notably high rates in Eastern Europe, according to the report, which said there was a "growing demand for wild foods" for high-end restaurants.

Wild trees account for two-thirds of global industrial roundwood, while trade in wild plants, algae and fungi is a billion-dollar industry.

But global trade can become disconnected from sustainable supply, with surging demand risking species and ecosystems, and the report said there was an "urgent" need for effective policies that adapt to local needs.

One major issue is the illicit trade in wild species, estimated to be worth between $69 billion and $199 billion a year, which Ipbes said was the third-largest illegal market after human trafficking and drugs.

While this largely targets trees and fish, the report said even smaller-scale trade in rare animals and plants, like orchids, can have devastating effects.

This trade "robs countries, indigenous people and local communities of access to their own resources and safe livelihoods," said Inger Andersen, head of the UN Environment Program.

Letting the natural world thrive is better business.

Tourism based on observing wild species was a key reason that protected areas globally received eight billion visitors and generated $600 billion every year before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Meanwhile, fisheries that are well-managed often have an increasing abundance of fish.

Atlantic bluefin tuna, for example, was fished to the brink by an explosion of demand for the sashimi market in the 1980s.

Initially, "scientific advice carried little weight against fisheries lobbies and national interests," Ipbes said, but a new strategy launched in 2007 has managed to rebuild the population.

In general, overexploitation is the main threat to wild marine species, it said, as well as a key threat to land and freshwater ecosystems.

Davao eyes higher rice and corn yields

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

By Ruth Palo, Manila Times

Davao rice farmers show their harvest in this file photo taken in Magsaysay, Davao del Sur from the Department of Agriculture Region 11 office. 

THE Davao City Agriculturist's Office (Cagro) is gearing up its plans and programs to increase the production of crops such as rice and corn to deliver the promise of food security to the people of the city.

Cagro Head Edgardo Haspe said that the programs and projects of his office are geared toward food production and are currently given a boost because of a looming food deficit.

"The national government is anticipating a deficit in the food supply in the next two quarters. So there will be a shortage. The challenge for us since we are in charge of the crops so this is really a challenge for how to increase the production of rice and corn," he said.

He also said that their budget allocation for food production programs will also be increased to improve the city's food sufficiency and help residents brace for the looming food crisis and reduce the city's dependency on food imports.

"Because here in Davao City, we need 10,000 bags of rice to feed the entire population. And our buffer for the whole year, based on current production from less than 1,000 rice areas in the city, is only 14 days. So, the rest of that we outsource from other provinces and, at the same time, on imported rice," Haspe added.

Cagro is planning to expand the city's rice areas in the highlands to boost rice production.

The production of corn is also promising because of the significant number of farmers who shifted to corn farming as the price of the product increased.

Aside from increasing staple food production, the Cagro has accelerated other ongoing agriculture programs geared toward food security.

These include the quarterly distribution of fish fingerlings to fish farmers in the highlands and the distribution of seeds and seedlings.

FAO asked to keep food markets open

He said the city is now regularly producing seedlings to be distributed to Dabawenyo farmers. Over 1,000 sacks of fertilizer assistance had also been distributed to vegetable farmers since April this year.

Fertilizers and seeds have more than tripled in market prices since January, in conjunction with the rising fuel prices.

"Most of our programs provide support for our farmers most especially on fertilizers and seeds, plus or seedlings; we improved these programs for this year. We are producing seedlings and procuring seeds. At the same time, we are also producing fingerlings for our fish farmers," the official said.

Davao City Mayor Sebastian Duterte earlier vowed to ensure food security in the city amid an impending global food crisis.