The 'Born' Biographies: Fr. Neri Satur and Leonard Co

BORN Biographies: Fr. Neri Satur and Leonard Co

Special series begins Wednesday, April 24

In the forests of Guinoyoran, Bukidnon the sound of gunfire pierces the wilderness.  Fr. Neri Satur, a 29-year old forest ranger assigned to guard the area for transport of illegal logs, falls from his motorcycle and onto the ground.  The assassins, making sure that the environmental worker is dead, hack him with a rifle. 21 years after his death in 1991, Fr. Neri Satur’s murder still reminds us of the bloody realities faced by environmental workers.  Fr. Neri is only one of at least 37 environmentalists recorded killed between 2001 to 2011.

*** 

Leonard Co was a Filipino botanist responsible for the discovery and naming of several new plant species in the Philippines.  His work on Philippine flora is unparalleled. He devoted most of his life in the forests of Palanan, Isabela which he described as “the most beautiful place on earth.”  But in November of 2010, his life was cut short when he and two other companions were killed by gunfire in Leyte province.

***

In BORN Biographies, Dr. Nielsen Donato and Dr. Ferdinand Recio shed light on the political and social aspects of environmental protection, as they retrace the two environmentalists’ work in Bukidnon and Isabela. While plants, trees and wildlife are sights to behold for nature-lovers, the truth is, many also cash in illegally on these resources. And in a country recognized as a megabiodiversity hotspot, there is always a need for more Filipinos who will explore, discover and protect the environment, and for leaders who will uphold its conservation.

Actor Ping Medina plays Fr. Neri Satur and Jacob Raterta plays the young Leonard Co in dramatizations that depict the life and death of these two environmental figures.

BORN Biographies premieres Wednesday, April 24, on GMA.