Noted lawyer backs Dizon fruit garden

Pomologist Bernardo O. Dizon has found solid backing from International Justice Romeo T. Capulong in his lifetime quest for high fruit trees production. Capulong is a human rights lawyer and president of the Public Interest Law Center (PILC). He is also an interim judge of the United Nation’s International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia with the equivalent rank of Justice.

Dizon manages the DENR-PAWB-Dizon Botanic Fruit Garden at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center across the Quezon Memorial Center. He has been tending to 4,000 square meters of barren waterlogged fields for 14 years now and the area has become verdant with durian, rambutan, lychee, mangosteen, mangoes and many other exotic fruit trees and multi-rootstocked seedlings. Here, he conducts seminars and demonstrations for free to interested fruit tree growers and businessmen across the country every Sunday.

The office of Capulong through lawyer Rachel F. Pastores has reminded director Theresa Mundita S. Lim who wrote a letter ordering Dizon to stop getting water from the nearby lagoon to water his plants that in the memorandum of agreement between then Secretary Heherson T. Alvares and Bernardo O. Dizon on Sept. 4, 2002: "DENR shall provide Mr. Dizon free access to electricity and water source for the DENR-PAWB-Dizon Botanic Fruit Garden and Techno-Demo Center."

The letter of reminder further states: "Any act that would prevent Mr. Dizon from sourcing the water needs of the garden from the lagoon will constitute a gross violation of the MOA. Such act will furthermore defeat the very purpose of establishing the garden. For the foregoing reasons, we hereby request you to desist threatening to deprive Mr. Dizon of sourcing the water need of the garden and seedlings from the lagoon. Otherwise, we will be left with no other recourse but to sue you for injunction, damages and administrative sanction.

According to Capulong, Dizon "is a national treasure and could not be hindered in his quest for alleviating the country’s ailing fruit industry which could be a dollar saver, as well as, dollar earner for the country while generating employment."

Dizon is well known to fruit trees enthusiasts, across the country. Capulong, a townmate of Dizon in San Miguel, has pledged his legal support for Dizon’s projects: "I will be your legal counsel in your fruit tree propagation."