Laoag City, Aug. 4 -- The vast forestland of Ilocos Norte, covering an area of about 8,000 hectares, remains lush and productive, thanks to some 200 village rangers keeping watch over them.

For eight years now, 71-year-old Emilio Rabago, tribal chieftain of Barangay Saguigui in Pagudpud, would cross rivers and mountains to patrol and maintain a 200-hectare forestland now planted with coffee and coconut trees.

He does this for 10 days every month, along with fellow Barangay Ranger Officers (BROs) who are scattered across the province's thick and lush forest cover.

In return, they receive a monthly compensation of PHP4,000 each from the provincial government as part of the National Greening Program.

More than the monetary reward, Rabago...