THE Abacan River and Angeles Watershed Advocacy Council, Inc. (Araw-ACI), in cooperation with the Angeles City local government, will plant 2,000 trees and bamboos on June 19 as a kick-off activity for the planting season this year.
The activity will be conducted in time with the 160th birth anniversary of Dr. Jose P. Rizal.
Renato S. Tayag, Jr., president of Araw-ACI, said the June 19 activity is just the first leg of a series of tree-planting schedules until the end of the regular rainy season this year.
With the full support of the Angeles City government, Tayag said the works for the rehabilitation of the Angeles Watershed in Barangay Sapangbato have advanced well since last year.
The Angeles Watershed is a 560-hectare former military reservation land administered by the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) as provided for under Republic Act 7227 or the Bases Conversion and Development Act.
The watershed is geographically located in Angeles City. Its rehabilitation is crucial to ensure the sustainable supply of water for Angeles and the Metro Clark area.
Mayor Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin, Jr., through the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (Cenro), earlier pledged to provide 1,000 seedlings for the activity.
According to Cenro Officer Archie Lazatin, at least 200 city government employees will also participate in the tree-planting.
As for Araw-ACI, Tayag said the group will generate the remaining 1,000 or more seedlings from the participating private sector groups and Araw-ACI’s partner cooperatives.
The seedlings include forest trees, fruit-bearing trees and bamboos. These will be planted in a two-hectare land inside the Angeles Watershed area.
Tayag added that Araw-ACI recently signed a memorandum of understanding with Kapanalig Angeles, Inc. and Kaunlaran sa Kabundukan Kooperatiba (KKK) for the establishment of a nursery in the Angeles Watershed.
The three groups will also work hand-in-hand for the preparation of the two-hectare land where the tree-planting activity is set on June 19.
Members of both Kapanalig Angeles, Inc. and KKK are mostly farmers and land stewards in Barangay Sapangbato.
Araw-ACI, a non-stock non-profit organization registered under the Securities and Exchange Commission, is the lead organization advocating for the rehabilitation of the watershed.
For the past two years, the environmental group has been closely coordinating with the BCDA and Angeles City government so the area will be declared as a forest park and as a national protected area in the future.
“The issue of water is a universal concern. We have been advocating for the rehabilitation and development of the Angeles Watershed since 2009. We value the efforts of the past administrations but we still need to do more and we thank Mayor Lazatin for taking an extra step in supporting our common cause. A study from the Japan International Cooperation Agency or JICA revealed that in 2025, Angeles City is highly at risk of losing water due to excessive pumping from the ground. We need to act fast and more decisively. We call upon all Angelenos to join us,” Tayag said.
Araw-ACI will initiate an information and education campaign in the coming months and will later announce the schedule of the next tree-planting activity after June 19. For those interested to join the event, Tayag said they can call these numbers 0946-604-7481 and 0916-320-9246.