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F.A.Q.

Hi There,

I hope this letter finds you and your loved ones well. Gail and I are in the process of changing our status as the Oilpatch has changed. Shell Holland is laying off all 4 offshore rigs we had been using, and will not resume operations until later this year, maybe. This means I will be working in the office for the foreseeable future, which will be a major change for us. I may end up on a land rig here. We’ll have to wait and see. I am enclosing my new business card, which has our Dutch address details on the back of it.

Well, once again it was a hectic time, but a very rewarding visit. I can not emphasise what a terrific job Butch is doing for all of us. He is a 7 day-a-week, 12 hour per day kind of guy. The one word that comes to mind to describe his efforts is relentless. He met me in Manila this time, as we had been trying to see the Secretary of the DENR for a few weeks, and thought we had a chance on Friday the 5^th. It turned out that Mr. Cerrilles was busy and could not meet us. We took advantage of our location and went to the Subic Bay free trade port zone some 3 ½ hours drive from Manila. Mayor Romy Pulig of the San Guillermo region accompanied us. It was a good opportunity to discuss development plans with him regarding the year 3 land, and to acquaint ourselves with each other. We stayed at his beautiful home in Manila that evening.

We had visited several sites, including the Auction Company that holds 2-3 large auctions each year. The last one was a small event due to the slowdown in S.E. Asia, so they only had 800 pieces of heavy equipment for sale vs. 1800 the sale before. Butch and I will be returning in late April for the next auction, to see what all is available and to check prices. This may be the forum used for future heavy machinery purchases.

We drove north on Saturday and managed to negotiate an excellent price for our second 4-wheel drive tractor at a town en route. We returned on Monday to pay for it and transport it back to Santiago. The second tractor is a 24-hp unit that will be used at Quirino for making fire breaks before the upcoming summer season. We also received a call late Monday informing us that we could meet Mr. Cerrilles on Tuesday afternoon. After purchasing the tractor, we carried on with the additional 6-hr drive back to manila, accompanied by the Forestry Specialist for the Province of Quirino. It turned out that he would be instrumental in helping us meet the Secretary.

We arrived at the main DENR office in Quezon City at 16.30 on Tuesday the 9^th. Butch, Roly (The Forestry Specialist), and I, spent 1 ½ hours with the brother of the Secretary, discussing the progress made on the first two year’s land, and our future in the San Guillermo region. At 18:00, the Secretary arrived and we thanked him for visiting the 1^st year project, and presented him with written and photographic reports of years one and two. He had not even known that we had a year two project, so he was very pleased indeed. He confirmed that we would be reveiving 1000 hectares for the future, and gave tremendous public support to our efforts of creating sustainable, renewable, re-forestation projects. We had a FEW beers that evening with Roly!

We left manila at 23:30 that same evening and Butch drove us back to Santiago. Roly had to be at work the next morning, so we had to leave when we did. We arrived exhausted but exhilarated. We had missed the one chance to see the San Guillermo land the day before, but had received a major public boost to the project from the most senior man in the DENR. He was after all, appointed by the President, so we feel we have a really strong supporter for our projects now. I will be spending a lot of time at San Guillermo next visit in April, and as the land survey was not even completed, we felt it was time well invested.

Wednesday the 10^th was spent viewing the Santa Maria and Quirino lands and I was driven back to Manila on Thursday to catch my flight that evening.

So, that was the latest visit. The two most significant results were the overwhelming public support for our projects from the Secretary of the DENR, and his influence with increasing the size of the land awarded to us, from the original planned 250 to 1,000 hectares. This gives us the additional security of knowing where we will be focusing our operations for the longer term.

Finally, I would like to remind you that it would be very helpful if you would indicate your investment intentions for the 1998 syndicate year ASAP. We will need to have the seedlings ready for the August rains. This means the nursery needs to be started no later than the end of April. I am enclosing a form for you, and I would emphasise its importance for our planning. Thanks again for investing with us.

The description of the 6 pictures is as follows:-

• The first two panoramic ones are of the entrance to year 1 at Santa Maria, and a sweeping view from the highway. The third photo is looking back up the entrance road from the campsite.
• The next two pictures are for comparison with the November photos of Quirino. You can just see the base of the building through the trees now. I had to hold the camera above my head to get a shot of the top of the building from the hilltop!
• The final picture is of Butch reviewing the survey plat with the Community DENR Officer at the Cauayan office. I will have pictures of this land after my next visit in late April. It is just under 4 square miles in size!! (10 square kilometers).

click on the photograph to view full-size

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