Frank's home used to be surrounded by rice fields and many types of plants such as banana trees and coconut trees. Also, there used to be many wild animals in the area including chickens and geese.
Following a nearby volcanic eruption in 1992 and subsequent saltwater flooding, the ecosystem near Frank's home change drastically. Because rice was no longer able to prosper in the field, the land previously used for rice patties was adapted for fish farming. Also, because of the high salinity of the soil, plants no longer surround Frank's home.
Frank used to care for plants and animals in the affected area. Now, because plants can no longer grow efficiently, the presence of animals has also decreased.
Frank's family still lives in this location. Because plants can no longer prosper due to the salinity of the soil, land use changed to fish farming.
Interviewer: Hello. So I’m here with my uncle, Frank.
Frank: Hi.
Interviewer: We’re getting near… We’re gonna talk about where he grew up real quick. And you grow up in the Philippines, right?
Frank: The Philippines, yes.
Interviewer: Where exactly?
Frank: Masantol, Santa Lucia, Pampanga, Philippines. It’s my province.
Interviewer: Can you tell me a little bit about… You grew up in my grandma’s house, your mom’s house, right?
Frank: Grandma’s house, yeah.
Interviewer: And you guys have a pretty sizable front yard, side yard…
Frank: Exactly, yeah.
Interviewer: …and backyard. What all was around the house?
Frank: So around the house is, like, green grass, a lot of banana trees, coconut trees, and fruits, like guava, like santol, like avocado, and a lot of trees and, even tamarind trees.
Interviewer: I forgot about that.
Frank: Yeah. You go there, huh? And mango trees too.
Interviewer: So you did… You have a lot of things there. There’s also, what? Rice paddies?
Frank: Oh, in the rice fields, we were surrounded by the rice field. And when I was young, it was always green, and about three months gonna turn to gold, the rice when it’s ripe. And they start to harvest the rice during the summertime.
Interviewer: I remember this. What kind of animals you had there?
Frank: Oh, animals. We had native animals. Like, we should… Before, we have the big bulls.
Interviewer: Carabao?
Frank: Carabao. They are the native bulls, but they don’t… We don’t have those anymore since everything was changes from the, like, the atmosphere and everything. Like, we have native chickens, ducks, used to be when this…on this farm, I mean, in this field, rice field. And we had the geese also. Yep. And we had, of course, askal dogs. We have the pigs, somewhere over there in my backyards, in our backyards, and a lot of animals live there, in our place before.
Interviewer: So I grew up in the same place, same house. Yeah. And I remember…
Frank: Yeah, and you see those. Yeah.
Interviewer: I remember seeing these when I was younger too, the rice fields, the banana trees in the front yard, all the different sorts of dragonflies that grow up there. But when I went back in 2013…
Frank: Tiger flies, yeah. They still have them.
Interviewer: Yeah. When I went back in 2013, things looked a lot different.
Frank: Oh, yeah, a lot of difference.
Interviewer: So what changed from when you were growing up, when it was green to now?
Frank: Oh, well, it was changes since the Pinatubo eruption.
Interviewer: So it’s new.
Frank: The volcano eruption.
Interviewer: Yeah. What year was that?
Frank: It was, like… If I’m not mistaken, ’92.
Interviewer: ’92. I remember that. I was young.
Frank: Yeah. It was devastated, all the area over there.especially, the town of Pampanga. And since that volcano erupted, everything was changes. The soil was changes. The healthy soil turned to the sand from the volcano. And rice field was like poisoned and they cannot… The farmers, they cannot plant rice anymore. Instead, they turn the rice field to fish farms. That’s why. So all of the area over there used to be rice fields, and now, they turn to fish farms.
Interviewer: Okay. So what used to be rice fields is now…
Frank: Used to be rice fields, yeah.
Interviewer: …fish farms? And there’s fishing there.
Frank: That’s true.
Interviewer: Now, you were telling me something about the land and the saltwater getting in?
Frank: Oh, yeah, the salty water. That’s why the trees, the rice field was dying because of the water came to our land is now salted. It’s like salt, real salt. And only the fish and the other species survive on the salty water. That’s why they turn the rice field into the fish farm. Yes.
Interviewer: Right. Now, with growing all these different plants back then, now that you can’t really grow too much. What happens with, like, the front yard?
Frank: Oh, the front yard…
Interviewer: I see… You have pictures. We’ll share with them later. But it’s pretty empty now because the land didn’t…
Frank: It used to be a lot of trees, as I said before, the first, in your introduction. We have a lot of trees over there in the front yard. We have banana trees. We have [inaudible 00:06:34] or mangoes, guavas, avocados, and everything especially, coconut trees. And we have a lot. We’re surrounded. Now, since I show you the picture, all the trees, most of them, 90% of them are dying. And we plant… Recently, we plant some banana trees on the other side. They survive because we put extra soil, which is healthy soil. It’s not sand. Which is the other side was still water and but healthy soil. So we plant these trees and we take care of these trees, the banana trees, and they grew up, and they make fruits really, really healthy. And we really enjoy those banana trees over there, for now. I don’t know how they’ll…when they’re gonna last because, you know, when the rainy days, rainy season coming, I don’t know what, you know, what gonna happen with those banana trees.
Interviewer: Okay. Now, how many years did you spend in that house?
Frank: I spend like half of my life, I guess. So I came to America when I was 29-year-old. And I was 29-year-old, so I spent 29-year-old there. Now, I’m 54. I don’t know.
Interviewer: Since then, it’s about 30 years almost, then going back and forth too.
Frank: Yeah, something like that. Yeah.
Interviewer: So it’s really changed a lot, huh?
Frank: Changes a lot every year. Every year because when it’s rainy days, rainy season, the rain and the floods stay there in our place. And it’s still there for, like, 20, I mean, for the whole year, the water’s still there as you see in the picture. The water stay there. Yep.
Interviewer: Thank you very much.
Frank: You’re welcome. Yes.
Interviewer: And where is this at again, in the Philippines?
Frank: Santa Lucia, Masantol, Pampanga, Philippines.
Interviewer: Thank you.
Frank: You’re welcome.