Storm-hit school celebrates World Water Day with tree planting

MANILA, Philippines — When Severe Tropical Storm Kristine hit Bugaan West Integrated School in Laurel town in Batangas, only the stage remained visible. The rest of the structures were covered with mud.

On March 22, as global communities marked World Water Day, hundreds of volunteers gathered at the school and planted about 400 trees to replace those destroyed by Kristine.

Belen Terrago, Bugaan West Integrated School principal, recalled that logs rolled down from the mountains on Oct. 25, 2024 during the onslaught of the severe tropical storm.

“Only the stage remained visible as an aftermath of Kristine. Just imagine the volume of mud brought by the typhoon. When we returned, our school had almost disappeared. The trees had been uprooted. We are recovering, but there is still much to be done because of the extent of the damage. We need to recover since the education of students is at stake,” Terrago said.

She recalled that the river breached its banks on that day, leading to the collapse of the town’s Bugaan Bridge.

Organized by the non-government organization Americares Philippines, Saturday’s tree planting activity was participated in by students and members of the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection and the Departments of Agriculture and of Education.

Paul Gwyn Pagaran, Americares Philippines country director, said Bugaan West Integrated School was chosen for the tree planting activity as it was among the most affected by the typhoon.

“The water from the mountains went down and the trees were destroyed so we need to replace the trees here,” Pagaran said in an interview with The STAR. “We want to raise awareness on the importance of planting trees and how it relates to water as we have to protect our water resources by planting more trees.”

He said water buckets were donated to the school to ensure regular watering of the plants.

The school, for its part, will assign students to water the plants regularly to ensure growth for the fruit-bearing trees donated by the Department of Agriculture and the narra plants given by Americares.

“We need to have a multisectoral approach as it is not only the role of the DENR to protect the environment. We need an all-of-society approach to protect the environment and adapt to climate change,” Pagaran said, referring to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.