Las Piñas to create own ‘greenbelt’

Las Piñas City Mayor Vergel “Nene” Aguilar has ordered all City Hall officials, employees as well as teachers and students in public schools to plant a tree or bamboo plant that will help create a “greenbelt” area in the city.

An Executive Order Aguilar recently issued by the mayor mandates the more than 3,000 City Hall officials and employees, officers, faculty and students in all of the city’s elementary, high schools, colleges and the soon-to-open information technology school, to plant a tree or bamboo each to be grown and nurtured to create a green park to help reduce air pollution and mitigate the adverse effects of global warming.

Aguilar said each enrollee in all of the city’s public schools starting this school year should be required to care for and nurture a tree or bamboo plant until they graduate.

With this, the city expects to have about 16,000 full-grown trees and bamboo in the next five years.

The tree seedlings and bamboos will be provided by the city government in coordination with the office of Rep. Cynthia Villar, who spearheaded various environmental projects such as the “Sagip Ilog program” and greening of Las Piñas, among others.

Aguilar declared waterways, riverbanks and open spaces in the city as greenbelt areas and created an inter-agency committee to oversee the implementation of the greenbelt program

The committee is led by Councilor Leopoldo Benedicto as chairman, and includes representatives from the Sagip Ilog project, Federation of Homeowner’s Association, Parents-Teachers Association president, Environmental Sanitation Center, Engineering Office, the local Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture, Department of Education, Department of Interior and Local Government.

There will be a simultaneous citywide clean-up on April 25 in celebration of Earth Day. Aguilar will lead the cleaning of open spaces, dredging of waterways and canals, and start the planting of trees and bamboos in various common areas identified for such purpose.

“We enjoin everyone’s cooperation in keeping our environment clean and safe, not only to delay or prevent the serious effects of global warming but to provide our residents a livable city,” Aguilar said.