ELEMENTARY pupils and media practitioners will troop to Busol watershed Sunday, July 16, for the annual earthquake memorial rites in honor of those who perished in the destructive quake 27 years ago.
Students of San Vicente Elementary School, media workers under the Baguio Correspondents and Broadcaster Club (BCBC) and members of the City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (CDRRMC) chaired by Mayor Mauricio Domogan will plant more trees in honor of the earthquake victims in 1990.
The tree-planting activity will be held alongside the traditional pig offering and prayer ritual for deliverance from similar calamities led by a “mambunong” or native priest in keeping with the indigenous tradition of the Cordillerans.
The pupils and the media group had kept the memorial tradition with the City Government alive for years now. The rites were first proposed in 1997 by the late newsman Jose Nicolas “Peppot” Ilagan, who suggested trees in lieu of a “cold, non-living marker.”
The pupils will plant their saplings in their muyong established in the same year as eco-walk was conceived while the BCBC members led by president Jane Cadalig will plant theirs in a secluded portion of the watershed assigned as memorial planting site.
BCBC past president Ramon Dacawi who founded the eco-walk will lead the lecture on the importance of trees and forests.
The annual earthquake memorial activity is part of the month-long line-up of activities for the celebration of the National Disaster Consciousness Month spearheaded by the disaster risk reduction council.
Other activities are the blood-letting program last July 1, rescue olympics set for July 15, earthquake drill at City Hall on July 20 and trainings on standard first aid and basic life support on July 18-20 and 25-27. (PR)