MANILA 25 June 2020 — In observance of the Philippine Arbor Day, the Climate Change Commission (CCC) urged local chief executives to ensure the integration of tree planting programs and other environmental conservation measures in its local development and investment plans.

Proclamation No. 643 signed in 2004 declared every 25th of June as Philippine Arbor Day to be observed throughout the nation by planting trees and ornamental plants.

In 2012, Republic Act No. 10176 or the Arbor Day Act was enacted into law, mandating local government units (LGUs) to designate a day of the year to observe Arbor Day and to allocate budget for the implementation of an annual tree planting activity.

The law also requires local officials to create an Arbor Day Celebrations Committee which will specify the area within the LGU where the tree planting or reforestation activity will be performed.

Moreover, the law also requires all able-bodied citizens of the Philippines, who are at least twelve (12) years of age, to plant one tree every year.

The climate body said that there is a need to review the compliance of LGUs with the provisions of the Arbor Day Act and to assess how it has contributed to the efforts of the government to combat environmental degradation and climate change.

According to the CCC, strengthening the said law will be one of the public policy reforms and climate actions necessary to recover and rebound stronger from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The CCC added that the government should ensure that the pandemic recovery will be used an opportunity to transform the country into a climate-resilient and sustainable society that is more resilient to the impacts of climate change and the emergence or reemergence of infectious diseases.