THE pandemic may have prevented employees of a mining firm from planting more trees than usual over the past two years, but company’s workers and its suppliers made up for lost time by planting close to 6,000 trees.
About 40 of them were from Solid Earth Development Corp. (SEDC) and its suppliers, Triple 8 Resources Development Corp and FA Manpower Corp. They went to Sitio Sambulawan in Barangay Bugho, San Fernando town, southern Cebu to plant trees.
SEDC and its primary client, Taiheiyo Cement Philippines Inc. (TCPI), also supported and participated in a separate tree growing activity that the local government recently organized.
The local Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (Menro) arranged it at the town’s Educational Hub in Barangay North Poblacion, bannering the theme “Buhayin ang Pangangalaga sa Kalikasan.”
Some 100 municipal employees joined the tree planting along with those from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
TCPI provided Menro with 200 seedlings and gloves and it served meals after the activity, according to Moises Tañola, TCPI administration deputy manager.
SEDC added 300 seedlings, mostly fire tree and pine tree, according to Mitzie Carin, SEDC division manager for human resources and administration.
Local DILG officer Melbourne Navales welcomed the participants. San Fernando Mayor Mytha Ann Canoy gave an inspirational message. Takuya Nose, TCPI senior vice president for HRA and legal and community affairs department, led the company delegation with Tsutomu Hirobe, vice president for operations and process division manager.
Meanwhile, SEDC staff continued planting every morning in the days that followed with their forester and nursery propagators, who are from the local community. They planted 5,869 seedlings, including species like Guyabano, Narra, Cacao, Java Plum, Agoho and Sangil, according to lead organizer Engr. Joel Sombelon, SEDC mine environmental protection and enhancement office head.
They also planted giant bamboo propagules, added company forester Jonathan Tandingan, who taught participants the proper way to plant seedlings and take care of them.
SEDC director and senior technical adviser Motohiro Tonsho took part in the planting with SEDC chairperson Loreli Po, company president Ma. Deeza Guzman and vice president Noel Lorica. SEDC conducts tree planting to rehabilitate mined-out areas and as part of its social development management program.