The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) affirmed its commitment to environmental protection and sustainability, in celebration of its 126th founding anniversary.

Public Works Undersecretary Emil Sadain and officials from the agency’s Central Office led the simultaneous planting of over 11,000 tree seedlings at the La Mesa Nature Reserve in Quezon City on Friday, the DPWH said in a news release.

“Today, we are planting hundreds of native tree seedlings here in La Mesa, and 11,000 more nationwide through our Regional Offices and District Engineering Offices, with the aim of highlighting that the trees that we will plant today symbolize growth, resilience, and the promise of a greener tomorrow for generations to come,” he said.

DPWH regional offices also held their own tree planting activities in areas identified in coordination with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in their localities.

Following the approval of Secretary Manuel Bonoan, the agency’s Social Affairs Committee has included the nationwide simultaneous tree planting in the activities for its anniversary celebration as a symbol of its commitment to environmental stewardship.

“We also want to stress the Department’s role in finding a delicate balance between fostering infrastructure development and protecting the environment, through the integration of sustainable planning in all our projects,” Sadain said.

As a policy, all DPWH projects require an environmental impact assessment, as well as environmental compliance certificate (ECC) or certificate of non-coverage (CNC) from the DENR before the start of the project.

DPWH offices nationwide are also mandated to implement the Tree Replacement Program which ensures the planting of 100 seedlings as replacement for every tree cut within or along the road right of way of infrastructure projects administered by the agency.

Bonoan also ordered the planting 1,000 seedlings/trees for every flood-control project with a contract, valued at least PHP5 million. (PNA)