TACLOBAN CITY – The annual tree planting project of the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP), Department of Interior and Local Government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) was held last September 3, 2016 at Barangay Tanghas, Tolosa town in Leyte. Dubbed as 2016 Oplan Broadcastreeing Project, the activity was in support to the National Greening Program (NGP) of the government that started a few years back. A memorandum of agreement (MOA) was inked between DILG and KBP for this annual event. This year, 1,000 trees were planted in the beach forest of Tanghas provided by DENR.
The member stations of KBP, Philippine National Police (PNP); Tacloban Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Inc.; RADNET; DELTA Fire Brigade; Visayas State University Tolosa campus, the local government unit of Tolosa and other stakeholders supported the event. Last year, 1,000 trees were also planted in the same village. Josephine Agustin of the DENR NGCP office suggested the need to plant more trees in Tanghas as only 80% survived in the last tree planting. During the program, a MOA signing between DILG, Tolosa LGU as represented by Mayor Edwin Ocaña and the village chief of Tanghas stating for the latter to oversee the trees planted in the area.
The KBP Ormoc City chapter will have their own tree planting activities within this month. Arwe Lam, president of KBP EV Chapter, in a message read by KBP officer Hermie Songalia, expressed their full support to the government’s program. He said imagine the world without trees, there will be no oxygen to breathe, no rainforests, birds will have no homes as well as other animals, no shades, no fresh air, and other beautiful things derived from trees. The areas selected by the DENR for the activity is part of the DENR’s 1-billion mangrove and beach forest development project under the NGP aimed at protecting disaster-risk areas in the region. A big part of Tolosa’s beach forest was badly damaged after supertyphoon “Yolanda” decimated Eastern Visayas on November 8, 2013. (VICKY C. ARNAIZ)
