San Carlos City, Negros Occidental

The denudation of the natural forest in Negros Island has reached an alarming level below five percent area coverage. To retain the huge amounts of rainfall in a tropical country, a forest cover of 40 percent is needed. Whereas one time reforestation is not enough, a permanent forest management has to be installed to ensure the sustainable maintenance and use of the reforested areas as well as to prevent flooding, landslide, and shortages of potable water. It was by this premise that the Baticulan Watershed Management Project had been conceptualized. The main purpose is to reforest an area of 2,500 hectares in the watersheds of San Carlos City and to implement a permanent forest management to guarantee the sustainability of the project and to generate income for the people living in the respective areas.

One of the major milestones of SCDBI regarding the agricultural development of the City was the establishment of a San Carlos Mango Development Program. The San Carlos City Mango Development Plan is a product of the coordinated efforts between SCDBI & Philippine Agriculture & Resources Research Foundation, Inc. (PARRFI).

It was created pursuant to Executive Order No. 85 Series of 2003, issued by the office of the City Mayor, creating a special committee to facilitate the creation of a comprehensive plan for the mango development of the city.

The Native Tree Species Conservation and Propagation Project (NTSCPP) started out as a proposal to the City Government of San Carlos, Negros Occidental in 2003. The project calls for the use of endemic species rather than exotic trees, which is the general current reforestation practice.

The project involves four major phases:

1. Locating and Monitoring Potential Mother Trees
2. Establishment of a Commercial Tree Nursery for Native Species
3. Building Up a Seed Plantation
4. Installing a Multi-purpose

One of the tools used in the implementation of the NTSCPP was the use of the Geographic Information System (GIS). It can store and manage information, which could be used extensively by decision makers.

Given the potential of GIS, it was envisioned to expand the database information beyond the Native Tree Project. Thus the Information Management Project (IMP) was conceptualized. An Information Management Officer was trained for the project and was funded by the EFK Program through DED (German Development Service). The IMP creates a mechanism wherein existing relevant information of the City are gathered and made available for decision-making purposes as well as planning.

SCDBI was tasked to conduct a study on the operations of the City Waterworks Department (CWD) as well as an assessment on water resource and water rates. The study was called “San Carlos City Water Situation – An Executive Study.” It examines the water demand of San Carlos City and its supply mechanisms to provide quality service to consumers.

Based on the thorough analysis of SCDBI, the following were the recommended solutions to improve water services and alleviate the financial performance of the CWD with special consideration to environment and watershed protection of the City:

On April 22, 2007, Nicholaus Stumpf of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Inc. came to SCDBI to introduce the concept of Quality Management (QM) using the ISO Quality Management Standard. The International Standardization Organization (ISO) was founded on 1947. ISO is well-known for technical product standards containing technical specifications and precise criteria used consistently as rules, guidelines, or definitions of characteristics to ensure that products fit for their purpose.

ISO practices generic management system standard wherein there is only one standard for any kind of organization.

Dr. Belum VS Reddy, of the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), and Heraldo L. Layaoen, of the Mariano Marcos State University (MSSU), came to San Carlos City to talk about the uses and benefits of sweet sorghum in the Philippines. Since San Carlos City will be home for the first ethanol plant in the Philippines, they found it appropriate to conduct the talk since sweet sorghum could be an alternative for sugarcane in the production of bio-ethanol.

San Carlos City is a potential destination for businesses and industries due to its ample resources, especially in agriculture, accompanied by its continued development in infrastructure. Hence, San Carlos City had been chosen by the four groups of students, coming from USC-Cebu, as the subject of their feasibility studies.

One group focused on higher education that concentrates on the provision of a technical school in San Carlos City. The technical school would prepare the required manpower for the industries to be located in the San Carlos Economic Zone as mentioned in the City’s Master Development Plan (MDP).