Quezon taps poor in environment protection

LUCENA CITY—The poor in Quezon province have been tapped to plant trees as part of the “cash-for-work”  program.

The program gives financial help to the poor in exchange for joining the province’s tree planting program.

Quezon provincial  social welfare and development office head Sonia Leyson said P3.1 million had been allotted by her office for the  cash-for-work projects in the province’s second district and the towns of Agdangan and Mauban.

Each  participant  receives P240 a day for a 10-day period, she said.

The participants are also asked to join disaster preparedness, mitigation, rehabilitation or risk reduction activities in their communities, she added.

On Tuesday, at least 300 persons listed under the cash-for-work program in Sariaya joined some 50 volunteer Army soldiers, staff members of the local social welfare office and village officials in planting 1,000 narra seedlings in Barangay Tumbaga I. Village officials and residents were tasked to ensure the growth of the seedlings, said Antonio Calatrava, Sariaya social welfare office chief. Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon