(Eagle News) — President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. marked his 65th birthday on Tuesday, September 13, by planting trees to promote the cause of environmental protection and awareness as a way to achieve economic growth and stability.
Marcos Jr., joined the National Simultaneous Bamboo and Tree Planting and Kickoff Ceremony at the Old San Mateo Sanitary Landfill in Rizal. He planted bamboo saplings to raise the environmental awareness, reminding the public to take care of the earth where we live in.
“Itong ating ginagawa nitong araw na ito ay isa sa mga hakbang na maaari nating gawin upang tulungan at patibayin ang ating kalikasan. Alagaan ang ating kalikasan para ay tayo naman ay mayroon tayong ipamamana sa mga anak natin sa mga susunod sa atin na mga Pilipino,” the President said.
Marcos made this remark during a nationwide simultaneous tree planting activity on his 65th birthday celebration.
“We have to do this as a concrete step that we take so that nature is cared for because it desperately needs that care and it desperately needs that attention,” he stressed, adding that the nationwide activity is simple yet impactful.
-Significant symbolism as landfill turned into a reforestation site-
The President also saw a significant symbolism in the tree-planting event as the area where the new trees and saplings were planted was once a sanitary landfill.
That the santitary landfill was turned into a reforestation area is very important not only for the environment but also for the local community, he noted.
“In a way the symbolism is extended, dahil ang ating ginagawa ngayon ay – sa nangyari sa pandemya, sa marami, sa daming problemang na hinaharap ng ekonomiya ng Pilipinas ay parang ito ngayon ay natulog na at hindi na magamit,” he said.
“Ngayon po, itong ganitong gagawin din natin sa ekonomiya, mula sa natutulog at hindi nagagamit na iba’t ibang bagay ay bubuhayin natin ulit. Kagaya ng pagbubuhay natin sa ating mga itatanim na mga puno ngayong araw na ito.” Marcos Jr said.
The President said that the tree planting intitiative will contribute to the DENR’s National Greening Program, the country’s most ambitious reforestation program.
-2 million hectares of reforestation sites-
Through the program, more than two million hectares of reforestation sites were established from 2011 to 2021.
An additional 46,265 hectares will be developed this year, and the DENR is also targeting 11,631 hectares of enhanced National Greening Program sites in 2023.
Marcos also thanked all the agencies that made the tree-planting event possible. These include the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Department of Agriculture (DA), and various civil society non-government organizations which collaborated for the event.
-PBBM notes country’s rebirth during “Marcos Day” celebration on Sept. 11, 2022-
Last Sunday, Sept. 11, the President also marked “Marcos Day” in Ilocos Norte, during the 105th birth anniversary of his father, the late President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos.
He said that he considered it a “rebirth of the Philippines.”
“With the mandate that our people have given us, and I say ‘us’, because no victory, no great enterprise has ever been won by just one person. This victory belongs to all of us, not just Ilocanos, not just family members, not just the supporters, not just the loyalists but all Filipinos, this victory belongs to,” Marcos Jr said on Sunday.
“We return now and that is why I consider it in a way a rebirth of the Philippines. Because we return to the values that we had learned from President Ferdinand Edralin Marcos,” he added.
(Eagle News Service)