SMC spearheads tree planting in Mandaue

A TOTAL of 2,000 seedlings of mahogany and narra trees were planted on Saturday in barangay Casili, Mandaue City by the combined teams from San Miguel Corp. (SMC), Mandaue City government and Mandaue City Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI) member companies.

The San Miguel brewery firm in Mandaue City is targeting to plant 60,000 seedlings in the Visayas for this year through its “Nationwide Tree Planting Project 12.”

A group from the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) also participated in the tree planting project, before they attended the first National Summit of the Community Investigative Support organized by the CIDG on the same day at the Cebu International Convention Center in North Reclamation Area, Mandaue City.

Leo Amoyan, Human Resource manager of SMC, said “they do this (tree planting) every year as their contributions to bring back the environment to life to help prevent global warming and the ill-effects of climate change.”

Casili barangay captain Jun Suico thanked the participants, especially those who initiated the environmental cause. “Among ipasalig nga among atimanon ug alimahan ang inyong gipananom (We assure you we will take good care of the trees that you planted),” Suico said.

Manny Moreno, SMC Mandaue plant manager, encouraged everyone to continue their commitment tcommitting oneself to a beneficial project especially to the environment, “Buhayin natin ang kalikasan (Let’s bring the environment to life),” he said.

He said the company has always been moving from one place to another in the country to plant trees as the company believes that “trees brew life.”

Some who graced the event were MCCI president Philip Tan, Mandaue City Councilor Ben Basiga and Mayor Jonas Cortes.

Cortes, in his speech, cited the lack of trees as one of the causes of floodings in the country that resulted to property damage and loss of lives.

He lauded SMC’s vision and  encouraged everyone to care of the trees and look forward to seeing it grow. “Our children will surely benefit from it,” Cortes said.

Virgilio Regis Jr., 50 years old from CarCar City, Cebu, who has been working with SMC since 1988 at the Quality Assurance section, said “personal sad ni nako nga committment kay nagtuo man gyud ko nga dako kaayo ni og ikatabang sa kalikupan, ilabi na nga grabe na kaayo ang baha karon (This (tree planting) is my personal commitment because this will help a lot for the environment, especially now that flooding gets worst).”

SMC then presented a wooden board containing a tree with branches but without leaves and challenged everyone to put leaves on the tree by putting their thumb print using a water base paint, turning the tree into a beautiful painting. /CORRESPONDENT NORMAN V. MENDOZA