Workers of Public Attorneys Office to plant trees today

EMPLOYEES of the Public Attorney's Office (PAO) in Davao City will hold a tree planting activity in Matina Aplaya Thursday, October 25.

"This is in line with the National Greening Program (NGP) of President Aquino," PAO assistant director Rudy Alonzo told Sun.Star Davao in an interview.

Alonzo said the program mandates them to look for a coastal area of the venue of the activity. PAO picked Barangay Matina Aplaya.

"We have also coordinated with the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro)," Alonzo said.

He added that the tree planting activity will be participated by all PAO officials and employees -- both lawyers and non-lawyers -- and to be conducted from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

He said there will be no office transactions in the afternoon. These will only resume tomorrow, October 26.

Under Executive Order No. 26, a total of 1.5 billion trees will be planted under the NGP covering about 1.5 million hectares for a period of six years from 2011 to 2016.

The tree planting takes place in forestlands, mangrove and protected areas, ancestral domains, civil and military reservations, urban areas under the greening plan of the LGUs, inactive and abandoned mine sites and other suitable lands.

The other priority programs of the government are poverty reduction, productivity enhancement, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.

The NGP is the consolidation of the government's various greening efforts such as Upland Development Program and Luntiang Pilipinas, as well as similar initiatives of civil society organizations and other private groups.