Environment mentor to youths
Even as Casiano Catapang will soon join the ranks of senior citizens, he shows no sign of slowing down as an environmental advocate and a mentor to the youth.
“I don’t think I’ll retire from doing something that I want to do,” Catapang said.
After working years with the government and private sectors, Catapang, 59, fondly called “Cassy” by friends and colleagues, now busies himself with volunteer work.
“My passion is for the environment,” he said.
A forester, he volunteers in groups such as the Cebu Uniting for Sustainable Water Foundation Inc. (CUSW), Philippine Institute of Environmental Planners, Solid Waste Management Association of the Philippines, Philippine Watershed Management Coalition and Sudlon National Park – Protected Area Management Board.
A native of Lipa City, Batangas, he received his Master in Management Major in Public Management degree from the University of the Philippines-Visayas, and diploma in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of the Philippines-Diliman.
Catapang, who considers Cebu his home, settled here with his wife, Dr. Sotera Mercado-Catapang, the biostatistician of Chong Hua Hospital.
In the 1980s, while working with the Bureau of Forest Development, he was among those who pioneered social forestry programs, organized communities and employed a family approach in reforestation projects.
In the mid-1990s, together with the Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center (EADSC) of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI), he became one of the founding members of CUSW. He went on to become its president from 2008 to 2011.
“When I joined the CUSW, it was practically volunteer work. I didn’t know if they would pay me or not.”
CUSW is a multisectoral organization formed for a more sustainable approach towards the protection, management and development of Cebu’s water resources and supply. It was instrumental in the development of the Land Use Plan in the rural areas of Cebu.
Catapang, a licensed environmental planner, extends his volunteer work to mentoring youths.
Since Season 2 of the Young Minds Academy (YMA), he has mentored YMA scholars in project planning, management, monitoring and evaluation.
Now on its fifth season, YMA is the youth citizenship and leadership development program of the RAFI-EADSC. It develops young emerging leaders aged 12 to 30 years old to become responsible citizens and accountable, proactive leaders ready to serve the public interest.
Mentoring YMA scholars is more than teaching.
“Mentoring is beyond giving evaluations and scores. In mentoring, you have to guide (YMA scholars) to realize their objectives. You evaluate them based on the success of their projects, not on their exam results,” said Catapang.
The youth, Catapang said, tend to be idealists in their projects. As a mentor, he said, “I am there to remind them to be realistic. I am not there to change their projects. I am there to facilitate how to design their projects.”
Even if the task entails meeting them on Saturdays, he said, “I am happy to be mentoring them.” /Ellen Red/Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc.
