TACLOBAN CITY -- The Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) of Samar recently recognized the exemplary performance of its Enhanced National Greening Program (ENGP) implementers.
“We are giving awards and recognition to our ENGP family approach beneficiaries who have performed well in their seedling production activity from January to June 2021, as well as our Extension Officers who performed well in their duty to assist our ENGP beneficiaries. This is to motivate, challenge, and boost the morale of our ENGP implementers,” Samar PENR Officer Angelito Villanueva said.
PENRO Samar’s first ENGP awards and recognition was opened to the two CENROs under its jurisdiction, CENRO Catbalogan and CENRO Sta. Rita. Each of these CENROs have awardees for Best ENGP Nursery and Outstanding Forest Extension Officer.
Selection of the awardees was based on location of nursery, mode of propagation, quality and survival rate of seedlings, timeliness on the accomplishment of targets, and resourcefulness.
Awardees from both CENROs received a plaque of recognition and cash prizes courtesy of the provincial government of Samar and Iraya Energy Corporation.
For CENRO Catbalogan, the family of Mr. Domingo L. Algordo received P20,000 for winning first place in the Best ENGP Nursery category. In second place was the family of Jessie O. Balantino who won P15,000 and third place was the family of Marsha Doquidoc who won P10,000. The families produced seedlings of cacao, langka, toog, narra, kulipapa, and bayog.
The Best ENGP Nursery Awards for beneficiaries of CENRO Sta. Rita was awarded to the family of Jorgie I. Padit, first place; Lilia P. Lamban, second place; and Gilda A. Abayan, third place. CENRO Sta. Rita awardees produced seedlings of coffee, cacao, langka, igot, caimito, pili, rambutan, and guyabano. They received the same amount of cash prizes from the provincial government of Samar and Iraya Energy Corporation.
The assisting people’s organizations of the family beneficiaries were also awarded with certificates of recognition.
“I am thankful to the government for directly providing us with livelihood opportunities especially in this time of COVID-19 pandemic. Despite my disability, I got the chance to earn income for my family and put food on our table. I commit to work for the success of this project in the best way my family can contribute,” Mr. Algordo said.
Outstanding NGP Extension Officers of CENRO Catbalogan, CENRO Sta. Rita, and PENRO Samar were also recognized and awarded with a plaque of recognition and a cash prize of P2,500 each.
“We hike for 2 hours to our NGP sites and sometimes voluntarily provide for the community’s needs like kilos of rice just to win their trust and cooperation. Seeing the families engaged, secured and willing to embrace the goals of ENGP makes me feel so accomplished,” said Juileta Diaz, Outstanding Extension Officer of CENRO Catbalogan.
“This is a laudable initiative from PENRO Samar. Our partners and performing workforce need to be recognized for their efforts, and I’m grateful that the LGU and our partner industries are helping us in this endeavor,” DENR Regional Executive Director Tirso P. Parian Jr. said, “I am hoping that this strategy will be carried on for the succeeding activities under the ENGP,” he added.
The DENR is adopting the "Family Approach" as one of the modes in engaging Filipino families with the NGP. Under this approach, PENRO Samar has contracted 364 families to undertake ENGP activities from 2021-2023. This year, these families are set to produce over 2.5 million seedlings and establish a total of 2,495 hectares NGP plantation in Samar province.
The awarding of Best ENGP Nursery and Outstanding Extension Officer is part of Samar’s lined-up activities for the Philippine Environment Month, anchored on the theme, “Sama-samang pagkilos, Sama-samang paghilom: Ikaw, Ako, Tayo ang Kalikasan.” (DENR-8)
