Make a bid for the environment
MANILA, Philippines - Artists, businessmen, well-known personalities and their families celebrate the season of giving through the “15th Festival of Trees,” a fundraising event slated on Nov. 23, 6:30 p.m. at the Manila Polo Club in Makati City.
Highlights of the annual affair include performances from The Company (sponsored by PLDT-Smart Foundation and Smart Infinity) and the festival’s signature “Mystery Boxes,” which contain beautiful, extravagantly wrapped gifts valued at no less than P5,000, available for purchase. There will also be a Plant Boutique featuring unusual ornamentals, as well as live Mindoro Pine trees.
A silent auction will also be held featuring round trips to Amsterdam via KLM, Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand courtesy of Thai Airways; vacations at Amanpulo and Shangri-La Boracay; an overnight stay at Sonya’s Garden; and dinners at fabulous restaurants all over the Metro.
Proceeds from this year’s event, which coincidentally marks Makati Garden Club’s 40 th foundation year, and the Philippine Business for Social Progress’s (PBSP) 40 years of corporate citizenship, will benefit the rehabilitation of the Marikina Watershed.
The Festival of Trees aims to contribute to the reforestation of at least 9,000 hectares and provide livelihood assistance to the local communities, including a small population of Dumagats, a tribe indigenous to the Marikina/Antipolo region.
The Marikina Watershed Rehab program was launched in July by the Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation (PDRF). The PBSP serves as the lead organization for the project’s livelihood development, a major component of the rehabilitation program. The project will likewise help secure future water supply and prevent erosion in the area, which can cause disastrous flooding, as experienced during typhoon Ondoy last year.
The Festival of Trees 2010 honorary chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan culls some of the country’s most creative to decorate a dining table each (the Manila Polo Club can hold up to 30 tables in their Grand Ballroom) and transform the venue into a place befitting of its theme “What a Wonderful World.”
Artists who accepted the challenge are Rene Orosa and Ging delos Reyes, architect Ed Calma, Beng Tesoro, Adan Nathaniel Aranda, architect Anton Mendoza, Gilbert Pangilinan Maya Dayaram Linda Miranda, Josephine Knox, Ninits Paterno, Sonya Garcia, Ruby Diaz Roa, Marilou Laurena, Cynthia Almario, Linda Angeles, Emilie Cruz, Flor Tarriela, Architect Jason Buensalido, Makati Garden Club, Sylvia Yuzon, and Suman Gogna.
Started in 1995 by the Makati Garden Club (MGC) and the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), the Festival of Trees has since become one of the premier fund-raising events in Manila, raising millions of pesos to support the country’s less fortunate through livelihood and educational programs in Cebu Hillylands, Samar Maqueda Bay, in Southern Leyte, Bicol, Basilan and Maguindanao.
For information, call 527-7741 to 48, e-mail pbsp@pbsp.org.ph or visit www.pbsp.org.ph.
