The Mysterious Water World of the Philippines (Agusan Marsh)

- Everything around you is alive.

We live in a world
where the palette

is overwhelmingly gray on blue.

If you're lucky, you get
a sporadic smudge of green.

Here you can see
the world breathe.

Highways are replaced by streams,
cars by canoes.

Your eyes think that
you're surrounded by land,

but it's a trick.

Underneath the growth,
more water,

a quiet resistance.

You follow one path today,
and by tomorrow it's gone.

There is no place
in the Philippines

that carries more mystery
than the Agusan Marsh.

Some people see these wetlands
merely as ecosystems

and important biodiverse areas.

Others see them
as big bags of cash,

land to be turned
into highly efficient farms,

but a few people see them
as a home.

And this is their story.

The Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary
stretches across

40,000 plus hectares
of wetlands,

roughly the size of Manila.

It's one of the biggest
in Southeast Asia

and one of the most vital
in the Philippines.

A Ramsar Site, globally recognized
but barely talked about.

It's all interconnected by lakes,
rivers, marshes and ponds.

It acts like a giant sponge
during typhoon season,

absorbing flood waters
for the entire Agusan River Basin.

Without it, who knows
what would happen

to neighbor towns like Butuan?

It's home to rare birds,
floating villages,

and indigenous communities
who've learned to live

with the rise
and fall of the water.

But it's under threat.

Pollution and climate change
are slowly choking it.

- Life cannot simply exist
without the Agusan Marsh.

The marsh protects everything here.

When you talk
of the Agusan Marsh,

you got to take into account
the bigger picture

of the Agusan River Basin.

Technically, that's the third
largest river system

in the Philippines,
encompassing Regions XI and XIII—

that's Davao and Caraga.

What you have here in our town,
your catch basin.

And come to think of it,
everything revolves

around this catch basin.

They say that life begins here.

There can never ever be
an Agusan del Sur

without the Agusan Marsh.

- What's that, Datu?

- Walking stick.

Datu Artemio was selected
as one of the leaders

due to his Lumad lineage.

The Lumad are some
of the first wave of people

to settle in the Philippines,
specifically around Mindanao.

Their ancestral land
is often highly sought-after,

making them one
of the most vulnerable

ethnic groups in the country.

They are also one of the few groups
that have held on

to their pre-colonial culture.

As in most areas
in the Philippines,

where there is
a strong indigenous ancestry,

most people with roles to play
in the community also happen

to have official
government positions.

Datu was previously
an LGU official and now his son

is barangay captain.

They both lead the people
in Caimpugan and its peatland,

one of the many parts
of the Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary.

The relationship
between indigenous religions

and the Catholic Church
is complex,

marked by both historical tensions
and reconciliation.

Indigenous religions,
often rooted in animism

and oral traditions,
are distinct from the church's

codified beliefs and practices.

Just like when we were colonized,
one culture doesn't

usually completely erase
the other,

parts of it are indigenized.

So you'll find people praying
to the Catholic God

alongside other entities.

Where people live with the land,
these are still

a common practice.

Most of the people here
are Catholic,

but their own Lumad culture
is still very strong,

as it should be.

These rituals are carried out
to ensure safe passage

and acceptance
into the community.

- What we have here within
the Augustan Marsh Wildlife Santuary

is the Caimpugan peatland.

The peatland, it covers just 3%
of the Earth's surface.

But according to the ICUN,
they believe that peatland

conserves 30%
of the world's carbon,

and that is twice as much
carbon sequestered

as compared to all
the rainforests combined.

The conservation of wetlands
is crucial because it mitigates

the impacts of climate change.

If it is damaged,
it releases tons of CO2

far greater than anything
in order to uplift

and protect our wetlands.