Francisco was unable to save the faces of children.
He goes deep into the dense rainforests of the Sierra Madre mountain range day after day, carrying a wicker bag full of fresh trees on his shoulders.
A lean man ducks under a thick ceiling. With his glasses falling to the end of his nose, he was able to avoid being tripped by exposed tree roots as he hurries along a faint trail to his latest tree planting site.
Clouds rolling down the hillside brush the tips of the branches with a mist of rain following him.
These trees had taken hundreds of years to grow and he used to make a living chopping them down. After witnessing nature's revenge, he became a forest Ranger in his 50's.
Francisco's village and several others were washed away by a slide in 2004.
There were lifeless children lined up on the street. Our house was the last one left. He said during one of the few breaks he was willing to take that he felt powerless when he remembered what happened.
He feels guilty about his past.
He cried as he turned away. He says he blames himself after a few minutes. Maybe it wouldn't have happened if I hadn't cut the trees.
Filipinos say that the Sierra Madre is the main island of the country. The mountain is described as their mother and protectors by some. Stretching for more than 500 km from north to south, her rugged peaks are thought to shield the 64 million people who live there from the worst of typhoons.
The original rainforest is no longer around. Illegal logging has taken a toll. Landslides and flash floods are becoming more common because of the lack of tree roots for stability and the large canopies of the forest to absorb the heavy rains.
God gave all this to us so we can use it, despite people's claims that illegal logging is destroying nature. He is in his 50s and works illegally cutting down wood for construction projects.
After selling his cow, he bought a chainsaw. chainsaws are similar to guns and are a prized possession.
The authorities will only catch him when he's dead, according to the man. He and his wife Grace live in a bamboo hut with a corrugated iron roof deep in the forest. It is built on a hill.
In March, their last big order was placed. It took around a month to complete with the help of others and earned them around $300. There are orders from a man. It is hard to get the wood to them.
We wait until midnight because we are hiding. After that, we will get paid.
Logging is the only source of income for some of the poor in the Philippines.
"My message to people is that we don't actually want to do this, so we don't want to be angry at them." Basic necessities can only be obtained from farming our land. Others can get mad because they have other sources of income, but we don't.
Francisco says that they still have to deal with the devastating impact of logging.
We just cared about getting money for our food because there were no other sources of income. The roots of the trees would be dug up. We would cut down all the trees until there were no large trees left.
It is one of the greatest sins against nature to chop down just one piece of wood.
He lays a heavy bag of trees near a stream and directs an army of volunteers to carry it. Some people are wearing flipflops, but they are still on their feet as they climb up the bank.
Francisco vows to keep working to make sure history won't repeat itself.
flash flooding is our enemy now. I tell my children not to follow those who log.
The first drops of rain fall on the leaves as the clouds dip. The volunteers are still planting.
The narra trees are fast growing in the Philippines.
The hope is that this part of the forest will be green in a decade.
It's a dangerous job to replant trees in the Sierra Madre.
There is a conflict between those who want to make a living and those who want to save life in this rainforest. The risk of that conflict becoming fatal is high.
The Philippines is considered to be one of the most dangerous places in the world to be an environmental or land rights activist.
We used to call out to someone to stop cutting trees. Francisco says that they were told that they might be killed.
I told them that we were not there to fight, but to explain to them what would happen if they continued what they were doing. I said all of us will be affected. They had a discussion and went their separate ways, according to him.
Sometimes that isn't the outcome.
Over 200 people have been killed defending the rainforests in the last decade. The Masungi Georeserve in the south of the Sierra Madre mountain range called for protection for their staff after two forest rangers were shot and wounded.
The Department of Environment and National Resources has called for forest rangers to be armed in the past.
Of the 114 environmental activists killed in the Philippines, 114 were from indigenous communities.
According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, the Philippines is losing around 47,000 hectares of rainforest each year. The area is around 87,700 football fields. It is believed to have the most threatened species in the world.
The fight isn't just over timber.
The mountain range is rich in many minerals. A developing country is trying to rebuild its economy after it was ravaged by the Pandemic.
There was a ban on new open-pit mining projects until 2021.
Tony La Vina is an associate director for climate policy and international relations at the Manila Observatory.
There are connections between politicians and mining companies. Politicians have been influenced by logging and mining. The link has to be severed.
It's hard to get a true picture of the scale of mining projects in the Sierra Madre mountain range. The officials in each province were contacted by the BBC to find out how many permits had been issued.
Those in one province were the only ones to respond. The land owners had "prior rights" which allowed them to also mine in the protected area, despite the fact that they had issued three permits for "mineral extraction".
The Department of Environment and National Resources hasn't responded to the request for a comment.
Hundreds of forest rangers are employed to protect the Sierra Madre.
Developing countries are fighting against climate change. Houses, roads and jobs are in high demand. The infrastructure and industries that provide those are often responsible for the destruction of forests and flooding that threatens their future.
They hope richer nations will help. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia and Brazil are home to over half of the world's rainforests.
In order to meet the rising demand for water in Metro Manila, the Philippines has turned to China for funding. The benefits of the project outweigh the impact on the environment, according to officials. Others worry that it will lead to other developments and further erode precious flora and fauna.
The priorities are changed quickly when storms threaten. Super typhoon Noru made its way through the Philippines in September. Pundits praised the forest for its protection of the island.
Mr La Vina says that they can't just have one use for the Sierra Madre. The Sierra Madre should not be used for infrastructure that will kill or destroy other uses. The stakes are going to go up.
At a time when the country might need their mother mountain's protection more than ever, there is a competition for resources in the Sierra Madre. One of the most disaster prone countries in the world is the Philippines, and it is also one of the most vulnerable to climate change.
Mr La Vina knows that many people are working to protect our forests. Awareness is getting better. We have a better chance of success now that we are moving forward.
The people who are on the frontlines don't feel that way.
The neighbourhood of scattered bamboo huts along a river that was submerged by a flood is next to a quarry that is being investigated by the police. She has a bag with essentials for her and her children.
She pointed to the steep mountainside above the river and said she was born here. Some of her neighbourhood has been destroyed. The quarry is grey.
She says there are no trees to stop the river when it swells.
Everyone is cautious of the future We don't have the ability to stop those things.
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