00:00And without Harabas' knowledge,
00:03there's an intruder waiting for him at the bottom.
00:08He immediately attacks.
00:13At the sting of the spear,
00:15Harabas becomes weak.
00:20These Fall Army Worms are really strong.
00:23They go into the core of this plant.
00:26They eat the shoots.
00:30TUS-TUSAK
00:34Usually, we see TUS-TUSAK in places like the sea
00:38and the muddy areas.
00:42For example, this one.
00:45We're just wondering
00:47because we can also see TUS-TUSAK
00:50in places like this,
00:52where there's a lot of garbage.
00:54Maybe they live here
00:56because it's adequate
00:58for this place before the garbage arrived.
01:14In a vast corn field,
01:24there's an intruder.
01:28TUS-TUSAK
01:31They can't be noticed
01:35because they go inside when they attack.
01:42TUS-TUSAK
01:46There's not a single plant that wasn't affected by this Army Worm
01:49because all of them have a target.
01:52TUS-TUSAK
01:54Even though they're small,
01:56they carry a lot of corn.
02:00TUS-TUSAK
02:09If there's one thing
02:11that Fall Army Worms or Harabas like to do,
02:18it's eating.
02:24TUS-TUSAK
02:26This one,
02:28because of the amount of food,
02:30can't stop eating.
02:38Because he's full,
02:40he's looking for a place to rest.
02:47He didn't realize that he's already at the end of the plant.
02:55Until...
03:03Harabas didn't know
03:06that there's an intruder waiting for him downstairs.
03:14In the distance,
03:17a crow is looking for food.
03:25Later on,
03:27he noticed that Harabas has fallen.
03:32That's why he immediately attacked.
03:39Because there's only one enemy,
03:44Harabas managed to escape.
03:50But he won't stop.
03:54TUS-TUSAK
03:56Because of the sting of the crow,
03:59Harabas became weak.
04:05TUS-TUSAK
04:10Because of the sting of the crow,
04:13Harabas became weak.
04:19TUS-TUSAK
04:22But he kept on fighting.
04:33Harabas never stopped fighting.
04:39Until...
04:42he saw a plant.
04:45TUS-TUSAK
04:50From here,
04:52he's checking if the prey is still around.
05:01When he's sure that the prey is still around,
05:04he immediately went to the higher plant.
05:12Finally,
05:14Harabas managed to escape from the higher plant.
05:22In this story,
05:24Harabas is not the leader.
05:28Because the truth is,
05:30Harabas and TUS-TUSAK are enemies.
05:33Because Harabas
05:35are considered pests to corn.
05:38TUS-TUSAK
05:40The armyworm fell down.
05:44That's one.
05:45It's positive.
05:47It's in the core of this young plant.
05:53It's eating.
05:54They go into the core of this plant.
05:58They're eating the shoots.
06:01No plant was affected by this armyworm
06:04because all of them have a poison.
06:10TUS-TUSAK
06:13Father Doming has been planting corn for more than 4 decades.
06:18But it's been 4 years
06:21since their big problem started.
06:24It's been 4 years since the first armyworm came to us.
06:29Almost none of the corn came to me.
06:32Because I should have
06:3450 to 60 catties of corn.
06:37I only got 6 catties of corn.
06:40Father Doming lost more than Php 50,000
06:44from the fall armyworms
06:47or Harabas to his corn.
06:49This experiment is new.
06:52It was only in 2019
06:54that the presence of fall armyworms was detected.
06:58And his target is corn.
07:04June 2019 in Cagayan.
07:06The first fall armyworms were detected in the Philippines.
07:10It came from tropical areas in the United States.
07:14And eventually, it arrived in Asia.
07:19To date, it has affected 76 provinces in the country
07:24and more than 100,000 farmers.
07:29Even though insecticide was used,
07:32Harabas did not die.
07:35This armyworm is still alive.
07:37Even though they were sprayed with insecticide,
07:40it can hatch 100 to 400 eggs per adult moth.
07:47Because of their huge size,
07:50even though they are of the same species,
07:53they cannot survive.
08:00Fall armyworms have cannibalistic behavior.
08:05The bigger the Harabas,
08:07the less food it will eat
08:12until it is completely depleted.
08:18After the larva stage,
08:21they will go down to the ground to become pupae.
08:24And they will come out when a moth hatches.
08:27At this stage,
08:29they can lay eggs and reproduce.
08:32The whole life cycle of fall armyworms
08:35lasts for almost a month.
08:38That's why they reproduce so fast.
08:43To stop their proliferation,
08:46predators such as birds and other insects help.
08:53The Department of Agriculture's solution
08:56to control their proliferation
08:59is crop rotation or replacement of crops.
09:02If it cannot be controlled,
09:04because the farmer's cultural management is wrong,
09:07our recommendation would be
09:09not to plant crops for 3 years.
09:12But you know,
09:13the farmer's goal is to earn money.
09:17We don't have other jobs.
09:20We don't have other crops to plant.
09:23Because like other crops,
09:26they cost a lot.
09:28We can't afford to spend that much.
09:32The government also supports
09:34genetically modified corn
09:36that is resistant to fall armyworms.
09:40It can help to stop
09:42the proliferation of fall armyworms.
09:49Even if they have a large crop,
09:53the small larvae
09:56just want to eat and live.
10:02I hope the time will come
10:04when the number of larvae will be balanced
10:09with the help of biological control
10:11and predators
10:14so that they will not be a problem
10:16for the farmers.
10:19Fish
10:24They live in an unusual way
10:26compared to other fish.
10:38These fish can live on land
10:43and are often seen in clean waters.
10:48It's as if they don't belong to us.
10:53Because the homes of mudskippers
10:59are surrounded by mud.
11:04Mudskippers
11:17When the water level reaches the ground,
11:21the mudskippers jump out one by one.
11:24This is how the mudskipper jumps out
11:26using his beak.
11:29This is his way
11:31to show off to the mudskipper.
11:38The mudskippers are common
11:40in places like the sea
11:42where there is a muddy area.
11:45For example,
11:47the mudskipper jumps out
11:49and shows off
11:52like this.
11:54But usually,
11:56we see them in clean areas.
12:00But the mudskippers' fate
12:02is different in a coastal area
12:04in Nagota City.
12:07We are a bit surprised
12:09because we can also see mudskippers
12:11in places like this
12:13where there is a lot of garbage.
12:16Maybe they live here
12:18because it's adequate
12:20or because this place used to be
12:22clean before the garbage arrived.
12:34The garbage comes from the houses
12:36usually sachets, sandals,
12:38and wooden objects
12:41that drifted from the sea
12:43to this place.
12:45Usually, in coastal areas
12:47like Tanza Uno,
12:49here in Nagota City.
13:00According to the fisherman
13:02and resident, Rodolfo Manalaisay,
13:05he has been seeing mudskippers
13:07for a long time.
13:10I have been living here
13:12for 54 years.
13:14Since I moved here,
13:16I have been seeing mudskippers.
13:18The mudskippers' eyes
13:20are very big
13:22and they look scary.
13:27When the water is dry,
13:29they look like this.
13:31You can only see the eyes.
13:35This is one of the food
13:37that the residents eat.
13:39Some of them really catch mudskippers.
13:42We don't know how to catch mudskippers.
13:45When they catch mudskippers,
13:47we just buy them
13:49to eat.
13:51When I first came here,
13:53it was only P20.
13:55Now, it's P150.
13:57It's a hundred pieces.
13:59It's more delicious than tilapia.
14:01When they caught mudskippers,
14:03the soil they used
14:05came from the sea.
14:07The soil probably contains
14:09eggs and individual mudskippers.
14:11That's the reason
14:13why there are mudskippers
14:15in this area.
14:17According to the mangrove nursery worker
14:19of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources
14:21or DNR, Alfie Martinez,
14:23it's possible that
14:25the mudskippers came from
14:27the old fishing grounds in the area.
14:29Where are the
14:31borders of the old fishpond?
14:33There.
14:35It's like a wall.
14:37They just made a hole in it.
14:39Yes.
14:41The stone was destroyed.
14:43I see.
14:45Then, the fishpond was washed out.
14:47What kind of fish do you have here?
14:49We have mackerel,
14:51tilapia,
14:53and shrimp.
14:55Mudskippers can grow
14:57up to 10 inches
14:59or almost the length of a ruler.
15:01Usually,
15:03they can be found in low tide
15:05when the water level
15:07is low
15:09in the marshy area.
15:11That's where they are preferred.
15:13But let's try to find them
15:15if we can find any.
15:17Mudskippers can be found
15:19in tropical countries like the Philippines.
15:23We can see something here.
15:27Okay.
15:29Mudskippers live
15:31in the water.
15:33They go to the area where there's a little water.
15:35If we notice,
15:37it looks like amphibians.
15:39But they really are fish
15:41that can
15:43survive here on the surface.
15:45Mudskippers are
15:47weak, so
15:49they can't be easily approached by humans.
15:51If you approach them,
15:53they will easily go away
15:55and hide under
15:57the soft
15:59parts of the ground.
16:05The sun rises in a coastal area
16:07in Navotas City.
16:09Different types of
16:11migratory birds
16:13are coming out of the area.
16:15Their prey
16:17are small
16:19kabebe and
16:21mudskippers.
16:23Using the long
16:25tail of this bird,
16:27it walks slowly
16:29to catch the small
16:31mudskippers.
16:33But this mudskipper
16:35quickly
16:37goes away from the birds.
16:41Here they are.
16:43There.
16:45We can see them
16:47in the morning
16:49or early in the morning
16:51because the soil
16:53is softer.
16:55As the waters go up, it will be harder
16:57for us to see them.
16:59But we can still see something here.
17:01There.
17:03It's so fast.
17:05It's like it's really jumping.
17:09This fish can survive
17:11in the soil for two days.
17:13Mudskippers
17:15are carnivores.
17:17It means they eat meat
17:19of other small animals.
17:23Mudskippers are funny.
17:25As you can see,
17:27they suddenly go to the land
17:29using their pectoral and pelvic fins.
17:31They use them
17:33like we use our legs
17:35when we are in the land.
17:37They can survive in the land for a period of time
17:39by utilizing the
17:41bubbles that they have
17:43in their gills and then
17:45utilizing the oxygen that they can find in there.
17:47In fact, the eyes
17:49of the mudskippers are more capable
17:51in seeing here in the land
17:53than in water.
17:55Like amphibians, they can breathe
17:57through their skin.
17:59In a coastal area in Navotas City,
18:01the problem is not only
18:03of the residents but also
18:05of the mudskippers
18:07is the huge amount of garbage in the area.
18:13Explained by the Senior Fishing Regulators Officer
18:15of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources
18:17of BIFAR,
18:19it is possible that
18:21the fish will adapt
18:23to the garbage in the area.
18:25When the tide is high
18:27and the mudskippers
18:29are under the water,
18:31the mudskippers can
18:33maintain air pockets
18:35inside the mudskippers
18:37which allows them to breathe
18:39even if the oxygen
18:41concentration is too low.
18:43The mudskippers
18:45can serve as
18:47an environmental indicator
18:49but their presence
18:51does not mean that the place is clean.
18:53If there are a lot of mudskippers,
18:55it can be said that the place
18:57or ecosystem is still balanced
18:59because they depend
19:01on a clean ocean.
19:03To solve
19:05the garbage problem in
19:07Barangay Tanza Uno, Navotas City,
19:09in September this year,
19:11the Philippine Air Force
19:13reservists conducted
19:15a clean-up drive
19:17led by First Lieutenant
19:19Arthur Pareja.
19:21Aside from
19:23cleaning our environment,
19:25the next generation
19:27will be able to see
19:29that we are concerned
19:31about the environment.
19:33We are the first in the community
19:35to conduct a clean-up drive
19:37not only here in the coastal area
19:39but also in the barangay.
19:41In our coastal area,
19:43this will have an effect
19:45on our living things in the ocean.
19:47If it is that bad,
19:49there is a possibility
19:51that they will die.
19:53Many species of animals
19:55depend on the coastal areas
19:57as their home.
19:59That is why it is important
20:01to maintain a clean environment
20:03not only for the health
20:05of the people
20:07but also for the preservation
20:09of the wildlife
20:11that live here.
20:19Thank you for watching Born To Be Wild.
20:21For more stories about our environment,
20:23subscribe to the
20:25GME Public Affairs YouTube channel.
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