Cordillera NGOs mourn Co, salute him as ‘scientist of the people’

BAGUIO CITY — Non-government organizations (NGOs) in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) mourned the death of Filipino botanist Leonard Co, saying that this was both the nation’s loss and humanity’s loss as well. The Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA) and the Tongtongan Ti Umili (Voice of the People) said in a statement on Nov. 20 that Co was a “great scientist who devoted his life to practicing science and health for the people." Both groups noted that Co spent the 1980s working as a staff member of the Community Health Education, Services and Training in the Cordillera Region (CHESTCORE), a community health group that worked in rural villages across the six provinces of (CAR). While he was more known for documenting the region’s medicinal plants and indigenous knowledge in his 1989 book “Common Medicinal Plants in the Cordillera Region: A Trainor’s Manual for Community-Based Health Programs," Co did more than that, the groups said. The botanist helped establish community-based health programs for indigenous villages in Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Kalinga, the Mountain Province and Ifugao — provinces that have long suffered government neglect and have historically counted among the country’s poorest. “He endured difficult travel along rocky mountain roads, even trekking up many steep trails on foot to reach communities where government health and social services did not reach," Tongtongan said. “He trained local health workers on the use of medicinal plants and the practice of acupuncture, so that they could attend to their community’s health needs," the CPA said. The groups also said that when he was alive, “Leonard was a living example of the practice of ‘science and health for the people’ (who) refused to be confined to the university or the laboratory." “He patiently interviewed elders and traditional healers, learning local culture and traditions. Drawing on his knowledge and skills, he recorded and systematized the people’s indigenous knowledge and practice on medicinal plants," CPA said. “Co did not use this body of work for his own personal career or economic advancement, but instead offered it back for the benefit and use of the communities," Tongtongan said. “In fact, his contribution benefits not only the Cordilleran communities but enriches the body of science and health knowledge we can all draw upon," the groups added. Indigenous knowledge Environmental groups, indigenous people’s rights advocates and even many programs under the United Nations are working to save what they call “indigenous knowledge (IK) — or the collective knowledge of indigenous groups throughout the world. They are doing this because they believe that globalization and acculturation may cause this knowledge to be lost forever — even when such knowledge contributes significantly to humanity’s welfare. IK encompasses the knowledge that local indigenous communities accumulate over generations of living in a particular environment. It also comprises the technologies, know-how, practices and beliefs that enable the community to achieve stable livelihoods in their environment. Unique to every culture and society, IK is embedded in community practices, institutions, relationships and rituals, as well as local experience and historic reality. Not an isolated case In a separate statement, CHESTCORE warned that “what happened to Leonard is not an isolated case, and many health professionals working in far-flung communities have been accused of aiding, or of being members of, the New People’s Army or the Communist Party of the Philippines. “Instead of being lauded as heroes for choosing to devote their lives to community service and for opting to give up opportunities for career advancement abroad or in private practice, many of them have been harassed, arrested on false (charges) and even killed," CHESTCORE said. The group cited as examples “barrio doctors" Dr. Bobby de la Paz who was kidnapped and killed in Samar during the Martial Law years, Dr. Johnny Escandor who worked in Bicol as a “doctor to the barrio," and the ‘Morong 43, or the 43 health workers arrested in February this year on illegal possession of firearms charges and detained until today. Co was killed in a reported crossfire between government troops and the New People's Army in Leyte on Nov. 15 as he was searching for tree species suitable for a forest restoration project. Co, president of the Philippine Native Plants Conservation Society, died in Upper Mahiao, Barangay Lim-ao, Kananga town in Leyte province while doing research work for the Energy Development Corporation. - DM/KBK, GMANews.TV