THE spirit of bayanihan was once again alive during the Day of Valor, as Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) International, the world’s leading international development charity that works through volunteers to fight poverty in developing countries, initiated the tree parenting activity last April 9 at the Baguio District in Davao City.
Together with the barangay officials and residents, volunteer forest guards of the Bantay Bukid, Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) heads and members, Calinan National High School Alumni Batch 2002, and the Interface Development Interventions (Idis), about 200 volunteers marched to the Cogan Creek, as part of the project’s commitment 2OO2 to protect their water source and to ensure sustained water supply for Baguio and Calinan homes.
Daryl Arceo, VSO Philippines’ people & organization development specialist, said the activity was in line with VSO’s peace building initiatives, which is to have a sustainable environment.
Arceo said more than 1,000 seedlings were planted during the activity. These include indigenous trees seedlings such as malibago, alinsuang, and mata-mata.
“They volunteer to bring about positive social change. VSO will continue to support the civil society, the government, the academe, and the private sectors on various effective ways in volunteering for development and for active citizenship,” she said.
Arceo said Calinan was a strategic place for tree planting, considering that it is the home of the iconic Philippine eagle.
Also present during the activity were Camera Club of Southern Philippines, Philippine National Poice (PNP), and the Rizal Memorial Colleges who in different ways shared their skills, resources and efforts in making this possible.
Arceo said VSO had been annually conducting this environmental endeavor and pledged to continue its mission in the years to come.
“VSO will keep providing Bayanihan opportunities that contribute towards changing people’s lives for the better, thru volunteering and by sharing skills, efforts, and resources locally and collectively,” she said. RGL