TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Around 2,000 fruit bearing trees were planted at the Balawag National High School (BNHS) grounds on October 20 in celebration of the Cooperative Month with the theme “Cooperative: Empowering the poor and the vulnerable towards inclusive growth and sustainable development.”
The Office of the Agricultural Services (OCAS) gave 1,200 bugnay, calamansi and mango seedlings; 500 rambutan and cacao seedlings from the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO); and 100 coffee and betel nut seedlings from Barangay Balawag. The host barangay will support the project by taking care of the trees to insure its survival.
Tabuk City Administrator Laurence Bayongan also held an information education campaign on the importance of autonomy in the region.
Other than the tree planting activity, the City Health Office along with the Philippine Army also conducted a medical mission and free haircut.
Employees from the provincial government, the Local Government Units, Bureau of Fire Protection, Philippine National Police, Philippine Army, members of different cooperatives, barangay officials and community people participated in the event.
By Darwin S. Serion