austraLasia #2448

National Tree-planting day in the Philippines
by Jomar Castillo

CANLUBANG: 27th June 2009 -- It is not only in Indonesia that Don Bosco is going green! The Philippines National Tree Planting Day 2009 was highlighted by the Provincial Government of Laguna through its Youth Development Affairs Office in coordination with Don Bosco College, Canlubang, with a talk and a tree planning activity.
    It started at 9:00 am with an invocation and singing of the national anthem led by students of Don Bosco. Fr. Louie Castaneda, Rector of Don Bosco College welcomed more that 200 guests. He also shared that this activity is one of the dreams of the school and thanked the organizers for making Don Bosco part of this important event. They come from different age groups in various environmental groups and educational institutions like the HARIBON Foundation, Inc., the University of the Philippines-College of Human Ecology, the Youth Development Office of Laguna, Red Cross, SalinLupa Youth Movement, Environment and Natural Resources Office of Laguna and other NGO’s, companies and schools around Laguna. Salesians, aspirants, lay mission partners and students were present to represent Don Bosco Canlubang.
    The participation of these groups in the preservation and conservation of the environment, and the importance of biodiversity in forested areas were emphasized in the talks. Youth participation in an act to preserve the environment was the challenge given to the many young people as well as Bosconians present in the event.
    One of the highlights of the event was the declaration of Don Bosco College-Canlubang as a Tree Conservation Area in Laguna. Atty. Angelito Lazaro, the presidents of Don Bosco Student Councils (College, TVET and High School), and the SalinLupa Youth Movement led the pledge to the protection of the environment.
    After the program, a tree planting activity was held at the Don Bosco Tree Conservation Area inside the 13 hectare campus.
    One of the main core values of Don Bosco College is care for the environment. Participation to this kind of activity in solidarity with the government instills in young people the drive to be socially aware and active and to be stewards of our environment and natural resources for generations to come as they forming themselves to be servant-leaders of our country.
  _________________
 AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific.  It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome.  For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use Bosconet-wiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on austraLasia 2009 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser address bar - add it from there.  Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at http://sdl.sdb.org

Title: australasia 2448
Subject and key words: EAo Provinces FIN Tree-planting
Date (year): 2009
ID: 2000-2099|2448