PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. marked his 65th birthday on Tuesday, September 13, 2022, with a bamboo and tree planting activity in San Mateo town in the province of Rizal.Marcos said he participated in the “significant event” led by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to remind the Filipinos of the importance of caring for the environment.“The challenges we hurled in recent years highlighted the fact that we have one Earth. We must spare no effort to ensure that it survives in the years to come,” he said in his speech.“During my address as State of the Nation, I made it clear: ‘Preserving the environment is nothing less than preserving life.’ And therefore, it can only be one of our important priorities if we wish to make sure that our plans for the country’s economy will succeed,” he added.Marcos said taking care of the environment is one of the legacies that can be passed on to future generations.Under the DENR’s National Greening Program, 46,265 hectares of land are expected to be developed into reforestation in 2022 and 11,631 hectares in 2023.From 2011 to 2021, more than two million hectares of reforestation sites were established by the government.The program is aimed at reducing poverty, ensuring food security, environmental stability, conserving biodiversity, mitigating climate change, and adapting to climate change.Marcos said it is also seen to generate jobs, opportunities, and livelihood for the Filipino people.“More than the economic benefit of this activity, we are essentially and primarily investing in ensuring that our planet remains a safe space. Never mind for us, but we are only custodians of this earth. But more so that we can say to the children, the Filipinos that follow us, that we have taken good care of them, which they will inherit,” he said.“Trees and plants in general are vital to human existence. They take in the air we breathe out so we may give — so they might give air that we breathe in. I thus wish that as we appreciate the impact of this endeavor, we also see it for the symbolic gesture that it is. It is a reminder for us to see past our personal interests and have the future in sight,” he added. (SunStar Philippines)