Eco-friendly schools top national search

MANILA, Philippines - Iliranan Elementary School, Camarines Sur National High School, and De La Salle University-Dasmariñas led the roster of winners in the 2011 National Search for Sustainable and Eco-friendly Schools, a joint activity of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB), the Department of Education (DepEd), Commission on Higher Education (CHED), and Smart Communications (Smart).

Now on its second run, the search was launched in 2009 to recognize elementary, high school and tertiary level schools with the best sustainable and environment-friendly programs and activities.

Joining the topnotchers in the honor roll in their respective categories are: Kibawe Central School and San Mariano Elementary School (Elementary level); University of San Jose Recoletos-High School and Daniel R. Aguinaldo National High School (High School level); and Palawan State University and Ateneo De Manila University (College level). This year, 45 private and public schools, selected as regional winners, went on to compete in the finals.

Juan Miguel Cuna, OIC-Director of the DENR-EMB, thanked all the schools that participated and reiterated DENR’s commitment to support environmental programs and initiatives. “If there are model cities, there can be model schools, too. We at DENR will continue to extend technical services, skills development and education through our regional offices.”

Said Darwin Flores, Smart senior manager for Community Partnerships: “As we do with our other public activities, we would like to promote environmental awareness among the youth. This can be achieved by working with their schools. Smart supports this project as part of our Kabalikat sa Kalikasan program.”

The winning schools were awarded plaques of recognition and cash prizes of P50,000 (first place), P40,000 and P30,000. As regional winners, the schools and 36 other finalists also each received P10,000 cash and a certificate of recognition.

The Iliranan ES in Negros Occidental set up the SPROUT EHCOM (School Personnel Reaching Out to Every Household in the Community) in response to the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000, aimed at improving the habits of the community towards proper waste disposal and segregation.

Since coming in second during the 2009 search, Camarines Sur NHS has added new programs to further boost its efforts. “We started an aquaculture project, the gulayan sa paaralan, and coastal clean-up. We intensified our garden in the main campus and annex, plus we are maintaining a three-hectare reforestation project in Mt. Isarog Natural Park,” says principal Nely Abad. There is also a plan to adopt another school to implement their programs and join the search as well.

De La Salle University-Dasmariñas’ Environmental Resource Management and Campus Development Office implements, supervises and evaluates all its program and policies in compliance with environmental management and safety, pollution control and disaster risk reduction. For its environmental initiatives, the school became the first recipient of the Dark Green School Award, a seven-year accreditation bestowed by the Environmental Education Network of the Philippines.