The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster sa Pilipinas (KBP) led participants from national government agencies, media, academe and local government units in the synchronized tree planting activity in at least 27 identified sites nationwide over the weekend.
DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo said the activity is a joint initiative of the DILG and KBP under the Oplan Broadcast-treeing Project in support of the government’s National Greening Program.
Robredo said that under the project, a total of 270,000 seedlings will be planted in 27 KBP local chapter sites all over the country which were previously identified by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
“We are very pleased to take part in this laudable initiative of the KBP,” said Robredo.
In Tanay, Rizal, Tanay Mayor Rafael Tantuaco, KBP officials led by its chairman Herman Basbano and president Ruperto Nicdao, and DILG’s National Barangay Operations Director Virgilio Castro joined more than 1,500 participants who braved the stormy weather in planting seedlings of mahogany and other fruit-bearing trees at Kaliwa Watershed in Barangay San Andres, which is part of the Sierra Madre mountain range.
Also providing support during the Tanay activity were contingents from the DENR, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine National Police, Channels 2 and 5, UP and Ateneo mountaineers club, La Salle University, Poveda, Generika, San Andres Multi-Purpose Cooperative, and local residents.
Similar tree-planting activities were done in the following sites: Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Pangasinan, Cagayan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Zambales, Quezon, Occidental Mindoro, Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Sorsogon, Aklan, Capiz, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Tacloban City, Bukidnon, Cagayan de Oro City, Davao, Cotabato, General Santos City, Agusan del Sur, Butuan City, Metro Manila and Baguio City.
Earlier, the DILG and the KBP had signed an agreement to undertake the Oplan Broadcast-treeing project in areas of the country most affected by deforestation.
Subsequently, the Department issued a directive encouraging all local chief executives vis-à-vis their roles and responsibilities in the National Greening Program, to engage or enter into partnership with the local chapters of the KBP, together with the DILG field office concerned, for the successful implementation of the KBP project. PAO, DILG
