Army plants 4,000 trees in Rizal

Tabuk, Kalinga (25 July) — Four thousand seedlings of various species including fruit bearing trees were planted by the 501st Infantry Brigade of the Philippine Army at a military reservation located in barangay Santor in Rizal just recently.

According to 1Lt. Adonis Banez, the Army’s activity is in support to the government’s campaign against climate change and global warming which he described as posing threat on planet earth. “We cannot deny the fact that the earth is in great distress as shown by the uncontrollable disasters happening today,” he said.

Timed this celebration of disaster consciousness month, Banez said the “Valiant Troopers” under the leadership of Col. Remegio De Vera, 501st Brigade Commanding Officer, planted the surrounding boundaries of the 462-hectare reservation area including access roads and rolling parts of the terrain.

Dubbed as “Sagip Santor”, the composite teams came from the 21st Infantry Battalion (IB) under LtCol. Antonio Lastimado; two platoons of CAFGUs from the “E” Company of the 77thIB under 1Lt. Lawian; one section of the 32LAC Armor personnel under 1Lt. Banez; one section from the 513rd Engineering Battalion under LtCol. Bautista; and two companies of ROTC cadets from the 206CDC under 1Lt. Manuel.

De Vera said the activity is the Army’s contribution in preserving ecological balance and their share in community efforts of addressing climate change. “Planting trees this rainy season is an opportune time since their survival rate is high,” he said.

He encouraged his troops to continue protecting the environment from further destruction, telling them that planting trees is one way of restoring the degraded forest. “Tree planting is also a form of penance to correct the uncaring acts of the past generation,” Col. De Vera stressed as he recalls how the forest was denuded because of human neglect.

Banez said that aside from reforestation activities, nurseries and mini-forests are also established and maintained in every military camp under the area of responsibility of the 501st brigade. “From our major task of securing civilians from enemy threats, we have to shift strategy by countering the armed revolution of the New Peoples’ Army by becoming “green revolutionists” against global warming,” he quipped. (PIA-Kalinga)