Sycip honored via tree planting project

SAN MANUEL, Pangasinan ,Philippines —The San Roque Power Corp. (SRPC) led the planting of 90 indigenous tree species at the San Roque  Dam view deck here recently to honor the founder of the country’s biggest accounting firm, Washington Sycip, on his belated 90th birthday celebration. The activity was part of the Plant a Tree for the San Roque Watershed project.  

 The tree planting activity is the power company’s gesture of appreciation to Sycip’s support to SRPC’s Reading and Mathematics Proficiency Program being implemented in partnership with Synergeia Foundation where the philantropist-businessman sits as a board of trustee.

 SRPC president and CEO Ryukichi Kawaguchi and the local chief executives of San Manuel, San Nicolas and Itogon led the tree planting activity.  They were joined by officials from the Department of Education, Department of Environment and Natural Resources and the Philippine Eagle Foundation.     

 Joining Sycip were 90 children from Bobon Elementary School here, teachers and local government officials of Pangasinan led by Vice Gov. Jose Ferdinand Calimlim and Benguet Vice Gov. Cresencio Pacalso.

 At the activity area, a marker paid tribute to Sycip under SRMP’s Plant A Tree for The San Roque Watershed.  Sycip, is a Chinese-Filipino accountant and founder of the Asian Institute of Management and Sycip Gorres Velayo and Company, a leading firm of auditors and accountants in the country .

Washington Sycip plants a tree with the help of DENR Secretary Victor Ramos. Photos by Cesar Ramirez

 Sycip said it was a great and very meaningful birthday gift he received.

 The program is a component of SRPC’s Bringing the Power of Education to the Community Program aimed to enhance quality of education in the host communities of the San Roque Multipurpose Project.

 A memorandum of understanding for the fifth year implementation of the Reading and Mathematics Proficiency program by and among the SRPC, Synergeia Foundation and the municipalities of San Manuel and San Nicolas, Pangasinan and Itogon, Benguet was also signed during the occasion.

 This was followed by the distribution of 5,070 English workbooks for Grades I, II and III pupils; 1,680 Mathematics workbooks for Grade II pupils; and 239 teachers’ manuals for Grades I, II and III teachers of the 53 public elementary schools of San Manuel and San Nicolas.  The workbooks and teachers’ manuals for the 36 Itogon schools were distributed last Aug. 18.

 Also part of the day’s activity was the introduction by SRPC of the Watershed Biodiversity Survey and Philippine Eagle Habitat Suitability Assessment project in partnership with the Philippine Eagle Foundation.

 The project will use the charisma and global fame of the country’s national bird to install a comprehensive program for the preservation of the Agno River ’s watersheds and its biodiversity through a coordinated and systematic cooperation between the government, corporate sector and civil society.