A million trees

BUGALLON, Pangasinan – It started with a poem which he often recites to himself alone. When he, who was only in his 50s then, retired from being a police regional director of region I, he devoted his spare time into farming. But, now look, who wouldn't be awed with his 1.3 million seedlings, ready for disposal to anybody who would help him in his vision to green the countrysides?

Pangasinan second district Rep. Amado Espino Jr. admitted to The STAR that it was Joyce Kilmer’s Tree, a poem whose messsage was forever etched on the congressman’s memory.

The poem’s author, according to stories written about him, was killed in a battle in the Great War. He wrote the poem as he was lying severely wounded and observing a still-standing tree on the crest of a hillock a couple of hundred yards away.

The 12-line poem opens with "I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree" and ends with "But only God can make a tree."

The poem inspired Espino — himself a battle-scarred law enforcer (he was a full-fledged colonel) until he retired from service when that elusive star he long dreamed about never came — sometime late 90’s in his moments of solitude to give his share for Mother Earth. Before he aspired for a congressional seat, he realized that he could make even just a little difference if he would help reforest the balding mountains of his turf, and eventually of Pangasinan.

The dream of having a million trees planted in his district became a reality. On Sept. 14,2002 in barangay Portic this town, project GMA which stands for Let’s Green the Mountains Again, was launched. With the help of students and concerned community folks, the trees are being taken care of in a spawling lot turned into a nursery in barangay Portic.

Espino told The STAR that project GMA is the resolute slogan of a development project entitled Nursery sa Barangay and Community Forestation. It is a response to President Arroyo’s and Department of Environment and Natural Resources’‚ Community-Based Forest Management Program as well as House Speaker Jose de Venecia’s One Billion Tree Project.

Joining him in his project are the administration, faculty and students of the Pangasinan State University after the two parties sealed their tie-up with the signing of a memorandum of agreement on June 20, 2002.

Today, with one million seedlings of mahogany, eucalyptus, acacia mangium, gmelina and aurie coliformis of plantable sizes, Project GMA is ready for its massive tree planting activities. About 100 school officials and almost 300 students, local officials and the community, including the local media, joined the drive by initialing planting 70,000 seedlings in about seven hectares of rolling hills in barangay Portic this town.

Espino who initially infused P5 million from his Priority Development Assistance Fund, is inspired with the project as no less than de Venecia who hails from Pangasinan is committing a counterpart fund of P5 million to produce the seedlings for distribution to the other five congressional districts of the province.

He hopes to create awareness among students, their teachers, local officials and communityfolk by making them plant these seedlings in the mountains and along the roadlines.

"This is our future," Espino quipped.