“I used to help cut and transport logs illegally,” revealed Epifanio Obidos, a boat guide. “For generations, we used traditional torpedo shaped canoes called balugo to transport timber. We would get orders to cut down hardwood trees like banuyo, narra or kamagong. One balugo can transport over 100 board feet of wood.” Samar is among the poorest provinces in the country. In 2015, the Philippine Statistics Authority disclosed that 45 percent of all families in Samar lived below the poverty line. “The hardest part was that even when we’d risk run-ins with the law by transporting illegally-cut timber, we’d still have barely enough cash to survive.

Loggers become river tour guides in Samar. (2022, July 31). Business Mirror, p. A7.