Somewhere in the Bicol region, the forest reverberates with the chatter of Bats. Clutching heavy camera tripods, filmmaker Rhiyad Maturan and I follow Forester and watershed management officer Neil Miras, plus community partner Olive Cayme from the Energy Development Corporation (EDC). As the sounds reach a crescendo, the terrain changes from a closed forest to a wispy grove of Agoho, scrubby pine-like trees that grow thick in these hills. Very Jurassic Park. We finally breach walls of green and reach the edge of a ravine. Across us, about 50 meters away, are hundreds of Golden-Crowned Flying Foxes (Acerodon jubatus), the largest Bats of all.
“You’re very lucky because here in Bacman, our Bat colony is relatively near a main road,” explained Neil right before we left. We’ve been invited by EDC to see some of the flagship species inside Bacman or the Bacon-Manito Geothermal Project, a 25,000-hectare geothermal reservation nestled between the provinces of Albay and Sorsogon. Today’s quarry is a Bat so large that it possibly spurred the creation of the manananggal, aswang, and tiktik myths (or are they real after all?).
LORD OF THE WINGS
The Philippines has 79 recorded Bat species, half of which are endemic or found nowhere else on Earth. North America, with a land area that’s 66 times larger, has but 45.
“We have an incredible diversity of Bats since each of our 7,100 islands is geographically unique,” explains Dr. Mariano Roy Duya of the University of the Philippines Institute of Biology. “And of course, we are home to the largest Bat of all, the Kabog or Golden-Crowned Flying Fox.”
Found only in the Philippines, the Kabog weighs over a kilo and boasts of a wingspan longer than most people are tall. An elongated snout, optimized for feeding on fruits, makes them look curiously foxlike. Their distinctive golden head exquisitely contrasts with their chocolate-brown body. Large and fierce-looking, they’re almost completely harmless to people, some of whom still hunt them.
Two largest Bat species in one tree. Golden-Crowned Flying Foxes occasionally form mixed roosts with Large Flying Foxes (Pteropus vampyrus), who are darker and slightly smaller. Pine- like Agoho (Casuarina spp.) trees are among the preferred roosts within EDC’s Bacon-Manito Geothermal Project. (Gregg Yan)
HUNTER NO MORE
“I learned to shoot Kabog with an airgun when I was still a kid,” recalls Joseph “Doy” Gabion, a former Bat hunter. “Bats are easy to hunt by day because they hang upside down from their roosts. But when these roosts were eventually protected by EDC and its conservation partners, we hunters had to wait until the Bats flew out to their feeding grounds. Back in the 1990s, my uncle and I would wait for them to pass to be able to catch two or three Bats a night. Kabog meat has a slightly woody taste.”
Doy showed me how to hunt Bats with a battered airgun. Still, it can fire a 4mm lead pellet at well over a thousand feet per second – enough to bring down even the world’s biggest Bat.
Doy has long since stopped hunting. Currently a volunteer of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ CAFGU Active Auxiliary Unit II, he now helps protect the very animals he once hunted.
THREATENED BY HUNTING AND KAINGIN
Due to centuries of hunting and deforestation, Golden-crowned Flying Foxes are classified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as endangered. “Bats are protected by R.A. 9147 or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act, which also protects the habitats they live in,” notes Forester Marlon Francia, the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officer of Sorsogon.
The leading killer of Bats is actually unchecked forest loss – particularly from destructive upland clearing practices like kaingin. “Kaingin is used to open up an area for agricultural purposes, usually by burning down trees. This threatens not just Bats, but all animals which lose their habitats or their main sources of food,” adds Forester Keith Dimaranan of the Department of the Environment and Natural Resources Region V.
Kaingin. The major killer of Bats is deforestation, particularly in the form of upland clearing practices like kaingin, wherein trees are cut down and burned to make way for agriculture. (Gregg Yan)
LIFE BEGETS LIFE
Though the giant Bats are hunted throughout the Philippines, they still have some safe havens.
“Believe it or not, this entire mountain range was once logged-over,” said Ed Jimenez, corporate relations head for EDC’s Bacon- Manito Geothermal Project, before we left. “The only trees left were the ones loggers ignored. To bring the mountain back to life, we worked with the local communities to help reforest this area while providing them with an alternative source of income.
Decades later, the organizations we helped form, like the Alliance of Bacman Farmer’s Association Inc. Agriculture Cooperative (formerly ALBAFAI) and the Bacman Host Community Multi-purpose Cooperative (BMPC), have become some of our most passionate champions. Even the grandchildren of the original members are helping us plant trees, promote community-based conservation and protect these forests.”
“Though millions of trees have been planted under the BINHI Program, we should still recognize the importance and effectiveness of natural seed dispersion – either by the wind, water, or by local wildlife,” explains Forester Abegail Gatdula, Project Manager of EDC’s Flagship Species Initiative (FSI). “Flying animals like Birds and Bats eat the fruits of various forest trees and disperse them far and wide within life-giving guano bombs, giving the seeds a vital headstart.”
A crown of gold. The Golden-Crowned Flying Fox is the largest of the world’s 1,400 known Bat species. Strikingly- patterned with a golden cap, reddish fur, and chocolate-brown wings, it is considered endangered and legally- protected under Republic Act 9147 or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act. Killing one is punishable with a fine ranging from Php 20 thousand to Php 1 million and/or one to 12 years of jail time. (Gregg Yan)
Meet Kali the plushie. EDC Bacman corporate relations head Ed Jimenez proudly unveils Kali, a Golden-Crowned Flying Fox plushie made by local community partners. “We capacitate and assist in providing additional economic opportunities for the local communities while raising the awareness of the public on biodiversity conservation. Our local community partners like the Alliance of Bacman Farmer’s Association Inc. Agriculture Cooperative (formerly ALBAFAI), the Bacman Host Community Multi-purpose Cooperative (BMPC), and the Seeds of Hope, have become some of our most passionate champions in protecting our forests.” (Gregg Yan)
SAVING FLORA AND FAUNA
Representing iconic wildlife found in its geothermal, solar, and wind sites, EDC’s FSI aims to popularize some of the nation’s lesser- known forest denizens. “Our flagship fauna species in Bacman is the Golden-Crowned Flying Fox, with over 700 individuals recorded. For flora, it’s the Mapilig (Xanthostemon bracteatus), which has one of the hardest types of wood of any tree in the country,” shares Neil.
The seven other flagship species include the Philippine Warty Pig (Sus philippensis), Visayan Hornbill (Penelopides panini), Apo Myna (Goodfellowia miranda), plus native trees like Katmon Bayani (Dillenia megalantha), Red Lauan (Shorea negrosensis), Almaciga (Agathis philippinensis) and Igem-dagat (Podocarpus costalis).
EDC has been reforesting the Philippines since the early 1980s, since geothermal plants require healthy forests for optimal power generation. All along, Golden-Crowned Flying Foxes, Birds, and other Bat species have been quietly doing their part to make the Philippines greener. “Think of them as the ‘silent seed planters’ of nature. We never pay them but they keep working for our world,” adds Jean Dayap, Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Officer of Manito in Albay.
UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL
“Look, that Bat has a tiny pup hanging from it!” whispers Olive, glassing a distant Agoho tree with a pair of Bushnell binoculars. Sure enough, there’s an adorable baby Bat attached to a mom, languidly flapping her leathery wings to stave off the midday heat.
Rhiyad and I take video segments in silence, grateful to have been given a chance to see these silent seed planters up close – and thankful still to know that a new generation of giant Bats will continue working the night shift to restore the forests of the Bicol Region.
Watch our Golden-Crowned Flying Fox documentary on Tiger Yan’s YouTube channel.
Searching for Bats. Almost pitch-dark in the forest, but our team is still all-smiles. Meet EDC’s Neil Miras, former Bat hunter Joseph “Doy” Gabion, EDC’s Olive Cayme, yours truly, and filmmaker Rhiyad Maturan. (Rhiyad Maturan)
