Chevron Philippines Inc. sows Good Roots for Life

MarkC. Quebral

BAGUIO CITY, July 6, 2007 – Chevron Philippines Inc in partnership with the Green Earth Legacy Foundation through the Good Roots team provide a paradigm shift in corporate social responsibility, with a program that is forward looking, and sustinainable.

While communities have gotten used to companies developing livelihood programs that address immediate economic needs through technology transfer, soft loans, contract growing or dole outs, the Caltex Good Roots program deepening is simple and does not promise any immediate income. Despite such framework, against today’s economic concerns for the less privileged, the Caltex Good Roots program has been able to get the participation of communities.

Recently, beneficiaries of the program coming from various Good Roots sites like Pugo, La Union and Tuba, Kapangan and Atok gathered together to celebrate the 15th anniversary of Good Roots. The celebration also marked the launching of the program at Happy Hallow, Baguio City .

Barangay Happy Hallow is an ancestral village of Ibaloi families. According to its Barangay Captain, Joseph Sacley, the Caltex Good Roots program provides a match with the people’s culture as farmers. “While we have reclaimed our land through a certificate a ancestral domain, the Good Roots program was introduced at a time that we are trying to reclaim our environment and strengthen the watershed capabilities of our land. Living off the land and giving back we take from the earth is important to us.”

In 1991, the Caltex Good Roots program was implemented in Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. Success of the program is seen in the way 473 households in 4 communities have taken the role of caring more than 70,000 seedlings of various tree species, at a survival rate of 70%. Given the positive response in Ilocos Norte, Chevron took the program to Lobo, Batangas, where it was well received by 308 households, each one committed to the planting of 200,000 mahogany, eucalyptus, gemelina and narra. The Caltex Good Roots program moved north again, this time in Pugo, La Union, with 179 families in 4 barangays taking on the challenge of restroring their environment by planting 120,000 seedlings including satellite sites.

The Caltex Good Roots program is a flagship of Chevron Philippines Inc aimed at environment regeneration and livelihood for farming communities in the country. Engaging the expertise of Dr Ben Wallace, an anthropologist, known internationally for his work on rural and environment development, Chevron developed a 5-year program to address the urgency of restoring watersheds and making people aware of their vital role in such task, while appreciating how healthy environment impacts on the lives of the people.

“Through this program, there is a genuine relationship between the people and the environment. This makes a string foundation to sustain the Good Roots program. What we have really done is to create meaning or deepen the value of reforestation, of caring for the environment. This is what with the community. This is what will keep the program alive even when our Good Roots team moves on to another site.” said Mark Quebral, manager of Policy, Governemtn and Public of Chevron Philippines .

The program is founded on an extensive social, economic and environment research and consultation with all stakeholders in each area, to identify realistic goals for livelihood and environmental development. After 5 years, the community would have been able to sustain nurseries of tree species that can supplement incomes, thanks to the Good Root technology transfer assistance.

According to Dr Ben Wallace, the community in Pagudpod where the project was first launched has been harvesting calamansi as a good source of vitamin C and additional income as the harvest is also sold in the markets. For barangay Happy Hallow, identified for propogation are coffee, lychees, longan, and other fruit bearing species compatible with Baguio soil.

The forest cover of Baguio , is fast giving way to development needs of a growing city. What was once a hill station during the 1990s, crafted by Daniel Burnham to serve as a respite for weary soldiers, Baguio ’s threshold for 25,000 people is now home to about 300,000 people. Various sectors in Baguio have made urgent the task of regreening the city.

The Caltex Good Roots program proves itself relevant as it comes in with the goal to benefit barangay Happy Hallow, and to participate in the urgent task of restoring the environment of Baguio .

Through the Caltex Good Roots program, satellite nurseries have been established along the Atok Trail, Kapangan and other areas. The idea is to be able to enhance the forest cover of BLIST ( Baguio , La Trinidad, Itogon, Sablan and Tuba). With the trees planted, watershed cover is improved including air quality against erosion.

Beneficiaries of the Caltex Good Roots program are driven by the understanding that they are stewards of the land. Such understanding drives them to take ownership of the program even if it does not bring them immediately benefits or additional income to plant and take care of the nurseries. They know that one day, what they have shown shall prove a wise investment for generations.

Chevron is one of the world’s leading companies. It has approximately 56,000 employees, and our subsidiaries conduct business in more than 180 countries. It operates across the entire energy spectrum – producing and transporting crude oil and natural gas; refining; marketing and distributing fuels and other energy products and services; manufacturing and selling petrochemical products; generating power; and developing and commercializing the energy resources of the future, including biofuels and other renewables. Chevron is based in San Ramon , Calif. More information on Chevron is available at www.chevron.com.

Caltex is Chevron’s marketing brand in Asia Pacific and parts of the Middle East and Africa . Caltex products and associated brands are sold in approximately 60 countries across these regions. More information on Caltex is available at www.caltex.com.