9 sustainable, eco-friendly schools named national champions

MANILA, Philippines - Nine schools out of the 45 regional champions were declared national champions of the 2011 National Search for Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Schools organized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).

This year’s national champions for the elementary level are Iliranan Elementary School in Negros Occidental (1st place); Kibawe Central School in Bukidnon (2nd place); and San Mariano Elementary School in Oriental Mindoro (3rd place).

For the high school level: Camarines Sur National High School, Naga City (1st place); University of San Recoletos-High School, Cebu City (2nd place); and Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School, Davao City (3rd place).

Meanwhile, for the college category, the national champions are: De La Salle University-Dasmariñas, Cavite (first place); Palawan State University in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan (2nd place); and Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City (3rd place).

DENR Secretary Ramon Paje said the schools’ response to the call for entries was overwhelming.

“We need to start teaching our kids as early as we can to take responsibility in safeguarding our environment. Schools are dynamic focal points of learning and powerful vehicles of change. Parents and teachers can work together to spread the wonders of living an environmentally-smart lifestyle,” Paje said.

Co-organizers of the DENR-Environmental Management Bureau for the said activity are the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education and Smart Communications Inc.

Smart joined the activity for the second run as part of its corporate social responsibility and community service program “Kabalikat.”

Ramon Isberto, Smart public affairs head, said, “Smart has been taking measures to practice environmental sustainability in our day-to-day operations and promote ecological awareness and preservation to the public. We encourage the youth to do the same and we know we can do this by working through their schools.”

Isberto expressed hope that this search will inspire more schools to go green and will influence participants to adopt an environmentally-friendly lifestyle from what they learned from this program.

Prizes for the national level are P50,000 for the first prize; P40,000 for the second prize; P30,000 for third prize; and plaques of recognition for elementary, secondary and tertiary education level winners.

The said nationwide search is the Philippine initiative support to the ASEAN Environmental Education Action Plan (2008-2012) and the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014).