Eyeglass technician sings about nature

Abraham Formales keeps a day job so far removed from music and the environment.

But write a song he did, echoing his sentiment to nurture Mother Earth amid so much bad news about the weather.

Formales, 46, a technician at his brother’s optical clinic in Rizal, Laguna, says it does not require genius to actually know that climate change is upon us.

In his hometown, where agriculture is the main livelihood, tillers are starting to feel the effects of climate change.

“Most of the farmers I know said, unlike before, they could not predict the weather and plan their harvest anymore. The rapidly changing weather has been ruining their crops and affecting their produce,” Formales says.

Formales plays acoustic guitar if he is not at the optical shop tinkering with eyeglasses.

“I have been writing and composing songs since high school. Every day I wake up, the first thing I lay my hands on is my guitar,” he says.

It paid off for him. Formales’ song, “Punong Kahoy,” has been adopted by the Calabarzon office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) as its official theme song for the National Greening Program, an ambitious campaign to reforest  8 million hectares of denuded forests until President Aquino’s term expires in 2016.

While Formales says he has composed political jingles, among them “Batang Rizal” which the town adopted as its official anthem, the one about trees was his most cherished.

Reynulfo Juan, DENR regional chief, says Formales’ song can encourage people to support the greening program.

Formales himself believes so. “A song reaches more people and through this, we can help make more people be concerned with the environment,” says Formales.