CONSERVATIONISTS and indigenous peoples’ community in Barangay Guilang-Guilang, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon, pushed for conservation work through eco-tourism to protect and preserve the critically endangered Philippine Eagle.
Kilag-odan Apo Datu Nanikunan Tribal Association Incorporated (KADNTAI) community in Barangay Guilang-Guilang, along with the local government, FDC Utilities Inc., and the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF), inaugurated a view deck and bunkhouse marker in Kapulinagan, Guilang-Guilang, to officially kick off the community-based tourism program for the Bukidnon community.
Jayson Ibañez, PEF director for operations, said in his message that the community-based tourism program is the local government of Manolo Fortich’s counterpart to the support provided by FDC UI.
In March 2019, Manolo Fortich held its first Banog Banog Aerial, Arts, Music & Food Festival, which celebrates the nesting of the Philippine eagle pair in the municipality.
Funds raised from the festival support conservation work of the community, such as the establishment of the community-based tourism project, including the newly inaugurated viewing deck.
Datu Honorio Sumohoy, Guilang-Guilang indigenous people’s mandatory representative, and the council of elders led the launch with a sacred ritual to sanctify the event.
Kalabugao’s story of survival and resilience
In 2008, the PEF team rescued the barely a year-old, sickly, and malnourished Kalabugao that was trapped by a local farmer.
The foundation took care of Kalabugao in the center in Davao City, and a year later, in October 2009, after the eagle’s rehabilitation, it was released in Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park.
The PEF team monitored and recorded Kalabugao’s six-year journey from Mt. Kitanglad and up to her newfound territory in Mt. Tago in Manolo Fortich town in 2010.
Kalabugao was caught again by a farmer in 2016 and briefly rehabilitated at the Philippine Eagle Center, and released back to the forests of Manolo Fortich.
Later, she paired with a male eagle which was named “Guilang-Guilang” by the tribe, as it was discovered within the mountains of Guilang-Guilang.
Ibañez recalled that their first nesting attempt failed and the egg did not hatch.
But in 2017, in their second attempt, Kalabugao’s second egg successfully hatched, which was then named “Maluko,” named after the old name of Manolo.
Ibañez said Kalabugao is the world’s first case of a rescued, rehabilitated, and released juvenile Philippine Eagle that survived to sexual maturity and breeding in the wild.
In 2023, the PEF team and Bantay Kalasan spotted the pair’s second eaglet, still dependent on Kalabugao and Guilang-guilang.
The new eagle, according to Ibañez, could be from Kalabugao’s fourth nesting and second successful hatch. He estimated that the eaglet hatched in January 2023.
Sumohoy said the tribe named the eagle “Kapulinagan,” after a sacred mountain where the Bantay Kalasan found the eaglet.
The tribe leader estimated there is a new eaglet this year, still on the same mountain but yet to be documented.
The tribe’s ancestral domain encompasses Mt. Kilag-udan; Mt. Kapulinagan; Mt. Tago; and Mt. Ton-ogan.
Ibañez estimated that the pair breeds once every two years; however, there is no known specific area of their nesting site, but based on the breeding pattern, “if they are not threatened, they will always lay an egg.”
The PEF did not trap and capture the eaglet and its parents to attach a GPS tracker since it can be costly, and there are low human threats in the area due to the strengthened conservation work of the tribe.
Ibañez said conservation work should be provided with enough support from various stakeholders.
Socioeconomic enterprise-based culture conservation
For the tribe, conservation of the forest also preserves the community’s rich cultural heritage and provides livelihood to people, while protecting the exceptional biodiversity, including the critically endangered Philippine Eagle within their ancestral domain.
The tribe “Bukidnon” has an ancestral domain in Manolo Fortich that covers 16,800 hectares.
“Nakita namo ang kinaiyahan nga dakog tabang sa among community. Kung wala ang mga kahoy wala sad among tubig, wala sad mga langgam, ug wala ang kahoy,” Sumohoy said.
“Seryoso mi mag-atiman sa among lasang kay ang Philippine Eagle wala sad sya nagpuyo diri og ang among kalasangan na-opaw na, posible naa siya nagpuyo kay kompleto pa ang mga kahoy,” Sumohoy added.
At present, KADNTAI also has 20 Bantay Kalasan (forest guards) provided with incentives to monitor their ancestral domain.
Sumohoy said conserving the forest also protects the wildlife and the very culture their tribe continuously preserves.
“Ang tanang lasangnon nga kinabuhi amo nang giprotektahan aron among ulahing henerasyon makakita pa sila, kay mao na among gipangandoy,” he said.
The tribe believes that the spirits of their ancestors live in the animals and trees in the area that continue to guide them in their everyday lives and provide for their needs.
Ibañez said the launching also celebrates the completion of the first phase of a major forest restoration project in Guilang- Guilang through FDC UI.
The reforestation project has replanted about 8,000 seedlings since it started in 2023, adding to the natural habitat of the Philippine Eagle.
“The forest restoration project benefits the Philippine eagle kasi with an additional seven hectares of potential habitat tayo for Philippine eagles,” he said.
He added that the foundation extensively engaged the community and provided remuneration to the forest guards and covered their patrols, as a “supplemental income.”
Apart from ecological benefits, he said, there are also economic benefits to the IPs.
“Here comes this community-based tourism na hopefully magdala din ng additional income sa community through paid eco-cultural tourism opportunities,” he said.
The second phase of the project is the reforestation of another seven hectares and full-blast implementation of the community-based tourism eyed in 2027.
Declaration of a 21,000-hectare protected area underway
Edgar Gayona, Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) Manolo Fortich ecosystem management specialist, said the agency is pushing for the institutionalization of a 21,000-hectare protected area spanning seven barangays across the municipalities of Manolo Fortich and Impasug-ong.
Pending the declaration, the proposed conservation zone, which serves as a key habitat for the Philippine Eagle and a designated Key Biodiversity Area (KBA), is currently undergoing localized protection efforts and quarterly monitoring programs.
While the initiative has received strong community backing as it serves both ecological preservation and local livelihoods, the formal legislative process has faced hurdles.
“The proposal previously reached the National NIPAS (National Integrated Protected Areas System) Committee and was presented in Congress, but was temporarily remanded due to ongoing discussions and community clearances concerning Indigenous Peoples’ (IP) rights,” Gayona said.
CENRO noted that the formal proclamation requires voluntary resolutions and rights surrender frameworks from local tribal sectors, alongside alignment with the National Greening Program.
Despite these legislative bottlenecks and recent budget cuts affecting national allocations, local conservation efforts remain active.
This includes strict enforcement of local and barangay ordinances, quarterly eagle monitoring, and immediate action against tree-cutting and kaingin.
The Bantay Kalasan and other patrollers stay for a day to conduct information drives and law enforcement.
With the launch of the community-based tourism, the agency ensures the proposed policy will include ecotourism capacity limits capped at roughly 15 visitors per day to avoid overcrowding.
CENRO continues stakeholder consultations and documentation to clear the remaining IP-related issues to prepare for future congressional action.
