𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐄𝐝 𝟐𝟑𝟔,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐓𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐈𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞: 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐚’𝐬 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

𝐁𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐍 𝐂𝐈𝐓𝐘 – 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑.

𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟲, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟯, 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗘𝗱) 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵-𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗱𝘂𝗯𝗯𝗲𝗱 "𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗘𝗱'𝘀 𝟮𝟯𝟲,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀 - 𝗔 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗺𝗮𝘀 𝗚𝗶𝗳𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻."

Anchored on the Memorandum of Agreement among the Office of the Vice President (OVP), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the Department of Education (DepEd), in partnership with local government units, stakeholders, volunteer teachers, students, and other partners, this endeavor has surpassed all expectations.

A staggering 2,114 public schools across 12 Schools Division Offices (SDOs) in Caraga planted 35,165 trees, 197.8% higher than the targeted 10,840 trees. Aside from contributing to the restoration of the environment, this advocacy also instills the value of holistic education, environmental stewardship, climate awareness, and responsible citizenship in the hearts and minds of the learners.

Regional Director Maria Ines C. Asuncion, CESO IV, spearheaded the activity in Caraga, choosing the Cabadbaran South Central Elementary School (CASOCES) as the launching venue. Joining her were Cabadbaran City SDO officials led by Superintendent Dr. Imelda N. Sabornido, Assistant Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Florence E. Almaden, CASOCES School Principal Marilou Asotigue, SELG Officers, teachers, other school officials and select learners. CENRO-Tubay provided 1080 saplings to the 36 schools of DepEd Cabadbaran City Division.

“𝑂𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑖𝑚 𝑖𝑠 𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟: 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡 236,000 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑒, 𝑠𝑦𝑚𝑏𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑖𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑒𝑛ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑜𝑜𝑙 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑎𝑙𝑠𝑜 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑔𝑖𝑓𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑟 𝑓𝑢𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑚,” said Director Asuncion during the opening program at CASOCES linked to DepEd Philippines Facebook live-stream. “𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑏𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑤𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠, 𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝 𝑖𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑦 𝑤𝑎𝑦, 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑏𝑒 𝑎 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑒𝑔𝑎𝑐𝑦 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛'𝑠 𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑛 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑠ℎ,” she articulated.

This remarkable feat was indeed an educational platform that showcased the learners' enthusiasm in the company of their mentors in championing environmental sustainability and fostering a greener future for generations to come.

After the activity, Director Asuncion met the personnel at the Schools Division Office, then proceeded to Caasinan Elementary School to inspect the ongoing rehabilitation/construction of the school’s infrastructure.

𝐄𝐍𝐃