The 2,505 Barangay Service Point Officers (BSPOs) in Iloilo led the celebration of the Arbor Day in the province by planting more than 10,000 trees in areas identified by their respective municipalities on Thursday.

Led by the Federation of Iloilo Provincial Point Officers, the event also served as the kick off of the three-day planting activities under the provincial government’s re-greening Tanum Iloilo program of Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr.

Planted were species of mangroves, indigenous trees and fruit-bearing trees.

Provincial Government Environment and Natural Resources Office Senior Environment Management Specialist Mitzi Peñaflorida, in a media interview, said there will be another tree planting in the Purok Resilience site on Friday, and a province-wide activity on Saturday.

The provincial government will join the “Sikad Program” in the Municipality of Cabatuan, where participants will “bike, pick, and plant.”

“There are bikers. We will do a cleanup in their river at the same time we plant,” she said.

Peñaflorida said they are promoting bamboo in partnership with the Local Economic Development and Investment Promotion Office; narra, which is a native tree; and jackfruit, which is a fruit-bearing tree.

She said that they are targeting Iloilo to become a forest province by 2044, with 33 percent forest cover, from the current 18 percent.

“Every year, we have a target of more or less 2,000 to 3,000 hectares to be planted,” she said.

Defensor, in a media conference on Wednesday afternoon, thanked the BSPOs for spearheading the tree-planting activity.

He said that while BSPOs are responsible for data on health, among others, the provincial government is now involving them in environment protection.

The governor added that the Tanum Iloilo targets both primary and secondary forests; the Integrated Social Forestry Projects and available public spaces, including public schools, state universities and colleges; and private places like subdivisions, private parks and malls. (PNA)