THE Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has allocated P23 million for the greening program of Bacolod City this year.
City Administrator John Orola said Friday, March 23, that DBM central office has put an allocation “in order to make the empty spaces in the city green.”
“This is a project that will create a new landscape of Bacolod," he said.
Orola noted the City Government is eyeing to occupy the three-hectare lot in Barangay Alijis and eight-hectare property in Barangay Alangilan in lieu of the project.
He said they are planning to build an integrating farming in Barangay Alijis as well as nurseries for the greening project and aquaculture in the area while they will also put nurseries in Barangay Alangilan.
Last year, the City Government and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) launched the Bacolod City Urban Development Greening Program for the planting of one million trees in the city.
The memorandum of agreement to formulate the five-year plan is in support of the National Greening Program.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia earlier said it is one of the most ambitious projects they had ever undertaken because one million trees are something big.
The urban greening program plan aims to achieve five objectives.
First, to establish a Barangay or City Park in all 61 barangays in Bacolod; second, stabilize all riverbanks through planting of different species of bamboo, fruit and forest trees; third, enhance the beauty of the city through planting or growing of ornamental plants and other fruit-bearing trees along the national highway, provincial and barangay roads; Fourth, intensify public awareness through information and education campaign vis-à-vis the importance of biodiversity conservation, protection and rehabilitation of denuded areas as strategy in addressing climate change; and fifth, enhance and encourage public and private sectors and other stakeholder participation in the conservation, rehabilitation, and protection of the environment.
The City of Bacolod, aside from intensifying public awareness, will also conduct the survey, mapping and planning to determine the appropriate and suitable species to be planted on a specific site, undertake plantation establishment, and supervise the implementation of the project, allocate funds for capacity building and other related activities, and submit a monthly progress report to the DENR.
In 2017, the "summer jobbers" hired by Public Employment Services Office (Peso) planted more than 10,000 trees in various public schools.
The seedlings were transported from Barangay Banban, Ayungon town in Negros Oriental, the country's biggest mechanized forest nursery under the DENR.
Just recently, the City Government launched the Search for the Cleanest, Greenest, and Most Well-Managed Solid Waste Management (SWM) Program of Urban and Rural Barangays in the city.
Leonardia underscored the importance of a clean and green city. ”When the city is clean, when the city is beautiful, we can attract investors.”
“If our city is clean, we will be healthier. Health is a very important aspect of our well-being. And more important than all of these is, is the environment that we should always protect,” he added.
So far, 27 villages participated in the event, where its captain or kagawad signed the Pledge of Commitment.
“We, representing our respective barangays, do hereby sign this Manifesto as an expression of our sincere commitment and support to the City’s Clean, Green and Most Well-Managed Solid Waste Management Program, to do everything possible to assist the city government in its effort towards the realization of a cleaner, greener, and healthier Bacolod,” reads the manifesto.
The Search for the Cleanest, Greenest, and Most Well-Managed SWM Program will have two categories: Urban or numbered barangays and Rural or named villages.
The criteria for judging are general cleanliness and environment-friendly practices, 55 percent; space greening, 35 percent; support system, 10 percent.
The prizes under the Rural Barangay category are P350,000 worth of projects for first place; P250,000 worth of projects for second place; P200,000 worth of projects for third place; P150,000 worth of projects for fourth place; P100,000 worth of projects for fifth place; and P20,000 worth of projects each for 10 consolation winners.
The prizes for Urban Barangay category are P300,000 worth of projects for first place; P200,000 worth of projects for second place; P150,000 worth of projects for third place; P100,000 worth of projects for fourth place; P50,000 worth of projects for fifth place; and P15,000 worth of projects each for 30 consolation winners.