Dipolog
City, Jan. 11 (PIA) - - Senator Loren Legarda lauded the national winners in
the “Best School Forest Park” Program in which Siayan National High School was hailed
as one of the 16 regional winners during the awarding ceremony at the DepEd’s
Bulwagan ng Karunungan last January 10 of this year.
Senator
Legarda, Chair of the Senate Committee on Climate Change and founder
of Luntiang Pilipinas in collaboration with the Department of Education (DepEd)
and in cooperation with the Department
of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the Department of Agriculture
(DA) along with the Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) initiated this effort in creating awareness among youth the value of
growing trees by conducting a nationwide search for “Best School Forest Park”.
DepEd
issued Memorandum No. 141, s. 2012 last August 2012 resuming its Memorandum No.
416, s. 2008 enjoining all schools to actively participate in various DepEd
curricula that promote awareness and concern for the environment. It encourages
participants to put up forest parks inside school campuses as part of their
development projects. The search was also aimed at promoting environmental
awareness and raise the level of consciousness among Filipino youth on the
importance of preserving and protecting the environment for future generations.
“It is an imperative for us to do
everything in our power to protect the forests left for our children and for
humanity,” Sen. Legarda said during her speech in the awarding ceremony.
The participating schools were judged based on four criteria:
the sustainability of the forest park; creativity and aesthetics; the number of
trees or seedlings planted based on size of site; and community involvement in
planning and supervision of the forest park.
Of all participating schools in Region IX, Siayan
National High School of Siayan, Zamboanga del Norte was chosen as the regional
winner for the “Best School Forest Park”.
Prizes for regional
winners include 20 computer units to create a computer laboratory while
national winner got a plaque and Php 1,200,000 for the construction of a new
school building. National finalists were also given trophies. (JPA/MAA/PIA-Zamboanga
del Norte)