The Loss of a National Treasure

Privilege Speech
Hon. Angelo  B. Palmones
Representative, AGHAM Party-List
22  November 2010

Mr.  Speaker,  my colleagues in the House of Representatives,  I stand before you today to express our feeling of sadness  for  the loss of a national treasure, by the name of Dr. Leonardo L. Co.

Dr.  Co is a top plant taxonomist and ethno botanist from the University of the  Philippines- Institute of Biology,  where   he served as museum researcher. He was President of the Philippine Native Plants Conservation Society, a non-stock, non-profit organization which promotes the conservation of native  Philippine plants, and popularizes its history through educational fora  and other information and communication activities.

Leonardo is not known to many, but his quiet and simple way of doing things has touched the lives of the underprivileged members of society.  Starting in 1981, he worked with the Community Health, Education,  Services and Training in the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR). He worked not only with his group of researchers but also with the  community people in listing 122 medicinal plants, which include plants description, plant scientific and common names, parts used for medicine, direction for use, and precautionary notes.

In 1984, Leonardo published his book “Common Medicinal Plants in the Cordillera  Administrative Region: A Trainor’s  Manual  to Community-Based Health  Program” intended  primarily to help upland communities in the treatment of common illnesses because medicines are not readily available in the locality. Another book he published “The Forest Trees of Palanan, Philippines:

A Study in Population Ecology” concerns protection and conservation of natural resources and the environment. From reports and personal accounts,  Leonardo was said to be  the only one from his group who has the ability to identify and describe plants and trees  and the actual location where these can be found in the country. Just recently,  Leonardo was   Consultant of Energy Development Corp. (EDC) in a reforestation project in Leyte.

On November 15, 2010  Leonardo  and four other members of the team were in Barangay Lim-ao, Kananga, Leyte to conduct a study on tree biodiversity in the area, and to collect specimen seedlings of endangered trees for replanting.
It is sad that on that same day Leonardo and two members of his team were killed.

Reports  said that Leonardo sustained gunshot wound in his back in a crossfire
during the encounter between the military and the communist rebels. However, a witness, one of the survivors of his team, was saying that there was no exchange of gun shoots,  and the military could not tell whose  gun  killed Leonardo. Furthermore, EDC reported that the presence of the study team in the area was cleared with the military, and that there is an existing security protocol between the  military and the company.

Meantime, the bereaved family  would like to know what really happened to Leonardo. They cry for justice for the loss of their loved one.     

We at AGHAM Party-List feel that the country lost a treasure – the science community lost a good and dedicated researcher and scientist;  Mother Earth lost a committed environmental activist and protector,  whose knowledge and love of the plants and the trees  will no longer continue to contribute to the conservation and protection of the forest; and most of all, the common “tao” lost their scientist, who before his death had been dedicatedly working  to promote their health and their awareness of the environment.

And before the fatal incident,  a five-petal  flower, Rafflesia leonardi, reportedly found by Leonardo’s group  in the rainforest of Cagayan Province was named after him.  Rafflesia leonardi  is said to be the only one of its kind in the world; and so is Dr. Leonardo L. Co. 

AGHAM  filed House Resolution No. 652 seeking for the immediate investigation and  resolution of the case on the killing of  one of the country’s top plant taxonomists, one of  the  country’s treasures,  named  Dr.   Leonardo L. Co.

Thank you.