TABUK CITY, Kalinga – “About 500 Narra Seedlings were planted to celebrate the 30th Cordillera Day.” The tree planting was conducted within the school compound of Balawag National High School, Balawag here. Participants to the tree planting include some personnel from the National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) headed by Ms. Natividad Sugguiyao (NCIP Provincial Director), their thirty eight (38) scholarship grantees (mostly students from Kalinga State University), some personnel from PENRO Kalinga and CENRO Tabuk, some Forest Guards/bantay gubat and a total of sixty three (63) combined students from Grades 10 to 12 of the said school.
PENR Officer Noel Barrientos said that prior to the activity Ms. Sugguiyao gave a brief back ground and succinct history regarding the creation of the Cordillera Administrative Region wherein she challenged and encouraged the group especially their scholarship grantees to plant more trees in commemorate the 30 years when the region struggled to attain the autonomy it has been wanting/desiring. She added that, with these trees that this generation planted, it will be of great help to mitigate climate change in the province and the region as a whole.
To help ensure the correct manner of planting activity and to give technical assistance to the participants especially the 38 NCIP scholarship grantees and the 63 students, Ray Alfred Banza of CENRO Tabuk demonstrated on-site the mechanics and the procedures on the proper planting of the narra seedlings, before the participants started the activity.
To assist the tree planters, personnel from PENRO Kalinga, CENRO Tabuk, and the forest guards were present during the tree planting activity.
By JOVITO BALLA-AO