Environmentalist Pastor Delbert Rice passes away

American missionary Reverend Delbert Arthur Rice, champion of the indigenous Ikalahan tribe in the mountainous north, died in Brgy. Imugan, Sta. Fe, Nueva Vizcaya on Thursday, May 8.

Pastor Delbert Rice, as he was popularly known among his colleagues in the field of Upland Development, was surrounded by friends and family when he passed away.

An anthropologist and electrical engineer, Rice was a well-known educator and environmentalist.

He once spoke out about the introduction of mining in Palawan, disagreeing with both NGOs who were totally against mining, as well as business groups and the Chamber of Mines that used religion to justify their mining activities.

According to AgroForestryWorld.org, “He was a very active partner in the Rewarding Upland Poor for Environmental Services (RUPES) project that started in Asia a decade ago and helped shape the learning of many of the scientists and other people who were involved in the project and, consequentially, the many millions of future generations who will be reaping its rewards.”

Rice helped establish the Kalahan Educational Foundation (KEF), which has "successfully negotiated for the recognition of [the Ikalahan's] traditional resource management rights over their communal forests," according to the website of the Philippine Association for Intercultural Development (PAFID), for whom he was Board Treasurer.

He wrote three books: “Basic Upland Ecology,” “Life in the Forest: Ikalahan Folk Stories,” and “Ecology: Ti Urnos Ti Lubong.” The last two detail the traditional knowledge of the Ikalahan on ecology.

According to the friends of Pastor Rice, he will be buried in Imugan on Wednesday, May 14. — Vida Cruz/BM/YA, GMA News