Noy signs law reviving tree-planting day for LGUs

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino has signed into law a bill reviving tree-planting day as a yearly event for local government units (LGUs), which will have the responsibility of celebrating the occasion.

Republic Act 10176 or the Arbor Day Act of 2012 mandates all LGUs, from provinces and cities to municipalities and barangays, to specify a fixed date every year that may be the “proper time and season for planting trees in their respective areas” and in consonance with their budgetary allotments.

The Arbor Day shall be declared as a public working holiday to ensure the participation of the different sectors of society.

RA 10176 was a product of Senate Bill 3146 and House Bill 4330 in the current 15th Congress. Under the law, Filipino citizens aged 12 and above are “required to plant one tree every year.”

The national government also mandated the creation of an Arbor Day Committee, whose members will be selected and designated by the local chief executives in their respective jurisdictions.

The members should be composed of officers from the local Sanggunian, local and national offices of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), Department of Education, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Commission on Higher Education, Department of Agriculture, Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Tourism, Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA), civic organizations, Sangguniang Kabataan, Liga ng mga Barangay and media entities.

The LGUs were directed to submit to the DILG the date of the Arbor Day celebration in their locality.