Noy prods Pinoys to go beyond 'Farmville'

Manila, Philippines - President Aquino urged Filipinos yesterday to help the government plant real trees instead of wasting time playing the social network farming game Farmville.

“If kids are familiar with the terms planting, plowing and harvesting, this doesn’t mean they know how to farm but because they spend hours on Farmville,” the President said in Filipino at the launching of the National Greening Program (NGP) at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

“What’s sad is that today many Filipinos are more focused on virtual farming,” he said.

The President said there is a real need to address the worsening problem and a nationwide tree-plating program is necessary to make sure that future generations will benefit from preserving nature.

“So today we will prove that we’re serious not only in planting, but are united in our stand to preserve the environment,” he said.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said Congress has allocated P1.3 billion for the project this year, and they will be increasing the coverage of the program from 30,000 hectares to 100,000 hectares before yearend.

The President earlier issued Executive Order 26 designating DENR as the lead agency to implement the NGP.

Under the NGP, the government targets the planting of 1.5 billion trees covering about 1.5 million hectares of land in public domain for six years, from 2011 to 2016, in a bid to regain the country’s forests and self-sufficiency in timber.

The NGP also gives much-needed boost to inter-agency collaboration and stakeholders’ participation towards massive reforestation consistent with Proclamation 125 issued by the President in March 2011 proclaiming 2011 as National Year of the Forest.

The government expects people’s participation to complement reforestation efforts of the government through the NGP. The program calls for social mobilization with the whole bureaucracy serving as prime mover of the NGP.

Earlier, the President also issued EO 26, which mandates the 1.1 million government workforce and students all over the country to join his tree-planting program.

Each individual is tasked to plant 10 trees every year in 1.5 million hectares of land, where 1.5 billion trees should have been planted by the end of the President’s term in 2016.

In leading the launch of the NGP, the President also planted a narra sapling at the nearby Heroes Park. He was also the first to register in the NGP website.

DENR Assistant Secretary for Special Projects Marlo Mendoza said the NGP website provides information needed by people who will be participating in the planting of 1.5 billion trees under the program.

Mendoza said users can use the map on the main page to determine “unplanted areas.”

“Tree planters can register in the website as volunteers, and get details on the tree planting activities,” he said. – With Rhodina Villanueva, Marvin Sy