MANILA, Philippines — Nearly two million trees have been planted nationwide by teachers and students under the Department of Education (DepEd)’s “236,000 Christmas Trees” program.
Regional offices reported that more than 1.9 million trees were planted across all regions in the country, surpassing the agency’s 236,000 target.
Of the number, students and teachers in the Cordillera Administrative Region planted the lion’s share with 1.1 million trees.
In a memorandum dated Nov. 17 last year, Vice President Sara Duterte said all 47,678 DepEd public schools would each plant at least five trees within school grounds or any available public spaces near schools.
The DepEd said 250,000 of the trees planted under the project would be contributed to its program with the Office of the Vice President, the Project Pagbabago: A Million Trees.