I usually start my day at 6:00 AM. I savor my  breakfast and take short breathing exercises to  gather my senses for the day’s work ahead. As a  Site Forester, reporting to duty usually starts at 7:30  AM, considering the 40-minute travel from my home  to the site. I dress up with my usual field shirts and  shoes for a comfortable and long walk around the  nursery and the entire site.  

 

At 8:00 AM, I usually enjoy a quick Kumustahan  conversation with the Nursery Coordinators and  Workers to jump-start the day. The Kumustahan  allows us to set the priorities for the day while  building camaraderie with our colleagues as part  of our Corporate Relations Department (CRD)  Kapamilya. After Kumustahan, I work around the  Site B Nursery to inspect the area and check our  seedlings and mother trees in the hedge garden.  This activity also serves as my daily exercise.  

 

After my short groundwork, I check my calendar to  see if I have meetings. If none, I do administrative  activities and answer emails. Whenever I have field  work, I check for the list of equipment needed and  talk to our Forest Aide for the instructions. I wear  the usual long sleeve jacket (since Mt Apo has a  natural fully centralized aircon 24/7), field shoes,  and hard hats. In between working hours (10:00  AM) the field team takes a short 15-minute break  with bread, pandesal usually, to energize us on the  field work. At lunch, we have our binalot (packed  lunch) and eat at the field when needed. Sadly,  sharing of food is now prohibited due to COVID-19.  At 3:00 PM, we call off our field work and have  a short debriefing at Site B. At 4:00 PM, the team  returns to their respective homes while I will check  for emails and join other activities such as Check-In  Meetings and EDC engagement meetings, such as  Tea Time. At 5:00 PM, I return to Kidapawan to call  it a day, and talk to my loved ones (virtually) since I  am far from them.  

 

Rich Paul Cosio is a Forester and Watershed  Management Officer at EDC-Mt. Apo Geothermal  Project (MAGP)