RP bats for tree planting record

The Philippines hopes to land in the Guinness Book of Records for planting more than 500,000 tree saplings all over the country yesterday.

Over two million volunteers participated in the day-long activity, which President Arroyo said could be the biggest in the world.

"We would probably make the Guinness world record book for that," Mrs. Arroyo said as she led the tree-planting activity at Rizal Park in Manila.

There was no immediate word from Guinness on the record attempt.

The current world record for the most number of trees planted in 24 hours by a team of 300 people is 80,244 and was achieved by the citizens of Nagapattinam district, Tamil Nadu, India on Dec. 4, 2002.

The project, called "Green Philippine Highway Program," mobilized the 22,000-strong Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) workforce.

Environment Undersecretary Francisco Bravo said participants were given a half hour to plant, with each participant asked to sign a document for every tree planted. The documents were to be verified by village officials, sent to a computer network of the DENR and checked by a leading auditing company.

The President herself planted a Saraca tree near Kilometer Zero in Manila. A Saraca tree is an ornamental plant from the Malay peninsula, which can grow up to nine meters tall. It has thick leaves and yellow flowers becoming red at the mouth.

Environment workers and volunteers started planting the tree saplings at 10 a.m. along the country’s primary road networks from Laoag City in Ilocos Norte to Davao City. The area covered was 3,439 kilometers.

Environment Secretary Angelo Reyes said the people must be exposed to such kinds of activity not only for the environment but also for the sake of unity.

Reyes said the tree-planting project was not a government endeavor alone but was supported by various communities, non-government organizations, private sector, media, the youth, academe, religious, civic and other groups.

"It is a community at large mobilizing their resources, utilizing their time, talent and treasure to rally around a common cause," Reyes said.

"For a long time now, we have been divided by issues that polarize the people, now is the time to identify causes that unite and which we can rally about," he added.

The DENR was actually able to produce 800,000 more tree saplings that could be given out for free to organizations and institutions willing to plant them. It would also lead the establishment of "seedling banks" to continue the tree-planting activities.

The target is to plant 50 million trees along the major highways in 16 regions. Mrs. Arroyo earlier directed all heads and officials of the government to actively participate in the project and assist in the advocacy campaign of the DENR to ensure awareness, appreciation and participation of all sectors of the government.

The DENR laments that many Asian cities were cited for environmental initiatives that improve the quality of life of residents, but none was cited from the Philippines.

"Based on the recently conducted survey, our air quality falls far short of the appropriate standards for health, which makes the Philippines the second most polluted country among eight ASEAN countries," the DENR said.

"The bulk of air pollution (about 70 percent) is caused by vehicular emissions while the other 30 percent comes from fuel-burning fixed facilities and area sources," the study said.

Planting trees along the highways is one way of restoring air quality, the DENR said.

Green Army territory

All over the country, elementary and high school students, government employees, members of civic groups and professionals trooped to the streets to participate in the Greening the Philippine Highways program.

In Metro Manila, Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. declared the city yesterday as "Green Army" territory.

Quezon City, being the largest local government unit in the metropolis, has the biggest territory covered for tree planting. The Green Army covered Commonwealth Avenue from the Quezon memorial circle to Jordan Plains and Mindanao Avenue.

Belmonte led city officials in planting 200 fire trees or Caballero saplings along Commonwealth Avenue, assisted by DENR Undersecretary Ramon Paje, city government officials and employees.

The mayor lauded the country’s biggest tree planting program, saying it was a good way of developing volunteerism in Quezon City and other areas.

"It is inspiring to see that so many Quezon City residents and organizations are with us in this endeavor. I hope there will be more of this kind of bayanihan everywhere in the city," Belmonte said.

He added that the program is also crucial, as the city has to maintain its status as the greenest area in Metro Manila.

"If you view Quezon City from an airplane or helicopter, you will not fail to notice that everywhere in the city there are green parks and we want to keep it that way," he added.

People power for the environment

In the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR), 300,000 trees were planted along 20 major highways covering 674.5 kilometers of road linking the Cordillera provinces of Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga and Mountain Province to the Ilocos and Cagayan Valley regions.

In Baguio City, trees were planted along Marcos Highway and Kennon and Naguillan Roads. Perhaps the only city in the country planted with pine trees, Baguio in fact has only 20 percent cover, according to DENR regional executive director Samuel Peñafiel.

Only the former US rest and recreation facility at Camp John Hay and the South Drive area still have forests, he said.

Environment officials were alarmed that Baguio’s scenic environment would be completely lost when its forest cover is diminished further.

Though what Baguio and the Cordilleras really need at the moment is to re-plant forests and not the highways, the activity yesterday was an important move as it heightened people’s awareness of the need to re-green the nation.

In the neighboring Ilocos Region, the 132-kilometer stretch of the Manila-North Road was planted with 28,000 seedlings of various tree species, including mahogany, narra and banaba. Small plants like ylang-ylang, yellow trumpet, caballero and short fire trees were also planted in areas where there are obstructions like power or telephone lines.

Ding Aspacio, information officer of DENR-Ilocos, told The STAR that the planting was simultaneously conducted along the secondary roads from Carmen, Rosales in Pangasinan to Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. La Union Gov. Victor Ortega, his wife San Fernando City Mayor Mary Jane Ortega and other local officials led the activity in La Union.

Meanwhile, in the Cagayan Valley region, particularly in Isabela, church officials led the tree-planting activity.

Ilagan, Isabela Bishop Sergio Utleg and other Church officials led some 20,000 participants in planting trees along the Daang Maharlika Highway.

Forester Felix Taguba, provincial environment and natural resources officer, said that the highway — from Cordon to San Pablo town — as well as the province’s secondary highways — from Santiago City to Sta. Maria town — were planted with at least 15,000 seedlings.

The Church had mobilized schools and private institutions in support of the DENR project.

DENR director for Cagayan Valley Clarence Baguilat said the support of the Church, local officials and residents had contributed to the success of the project. The total length of the road covered by the project in the region was 4,000 kilometers.

Down south, an estimated 200,000 people trooped to the streets in the Caraga region as early as 8 a.m. to form the longest human chain in support for the DENR’s campaign.

DENR Caraga regional executive director Benjamen Tumaliuan said the activity showed the true spirit of Caragnons, which is united for the protection of the environment.

All four governors, seven congressmen and local government officials of the region’s 70 municipalities, three cities and four provinces supported the project. The residents were urged to take care of the seedlings as they grow in their respective communities.

In Zamboanga City, to ensure that the seedlings will survive, Mayor Celso Lobregat said the villages, schools, and private firms along the highway will nurture the trees.

Reyes said certificates of stewardship will be awarded to the planters for three years, for them to take care of the saplings. — With Artemio Dumlao, Jun Elias, Charlie Lagasca, Perseus Echeminada, Ben Serrano, Roel Pareño, AP