Over 600 Employee-Volunteers of Aboitiz Group Plant Trees with PBSP in Cebu

Over 600 employee-volunteers from the Aboitiz Group and several of its business units communed with nature last July 13 for the Aboitiz group-wide Simultaneous Tree Planting (STP), in partnership with Philippine Business for Social Progress.

The Cebu-based employees planted 12,000 native tree seedlings in Barangay Pamutan, Cebu City as part of the Aboitiz Group’s A-Park Sustainability Initiative. The STP is their contribution in helping restore the country’s forest cover and biodiversity as well as shrink their overall carbon footprint. It also forms part of the group’s commitment to grow nine million trees by 2020.

Participating business units were Aboitiz Construction, Inc., Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc., Aboitiz Foundation, Inc., Aboitiz Land, Inc., Aboitiz Power Corporation, Balamban EnerZone Corporation, Cebu Private Power Corporation, City Savings Bank, Inc., Mactan EnerZone Corporation, Pilmico Foods Corporation, Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc., Republic Cement Group, Union Bank of the Philippines and Visayan Electric Company, Inc.

Employee-volunteers from Luzon and Mindanao also engaged in tree planting activities which brought the total number of seedlings planted to 95,000 this year. So far, the Aboitiz Group has already grown over six million trees in various locations nationwide and is well on track to planting nine million more seedlings by end of 2020.

“Our re-greening efforts demonstrate our core value of responsibility, the responsibility we have for each other and to the generation we will bequeath our planet Earth,” said Aboitiz Group President and Chief Executive Officer Erramon Aboitiz.

In addition to their annual STP event, the Aboitiz Group also take part in year-round reforestation activities nationwide. Their commitment encompasses nearly four decades of watershed development in looking after the country’s forest lands. They also have their carbon management programs that anchor their collective response to the global call of carbon emissions reduction by providing livelihood opportunities to their host communities.

“We are truly proud of all our A-people, all of you for the positive impact you give to our host communities through our reforestation initiatives,” said Anton Perdices, Chief Operating Officer of Visayan Electric Co.

The tree planting initiative in Barangay Pamutan, Cebu City forms part of the 150-hectare rehabilitation project dubbed “Cebu A-Park.” In partnership with PBSP, Visayan Electric Co., a subsidiary of the Aboitiz Power Corporation, will also be planting over 200,000 native tree seedlings in the Buhisan Watershed and Forest Reserve (BWFR). This is part of the company’s continuing support to improve the condition of the watershed in the Central Cebu Protected Landscape (CCPL) where the BWFR is a part of.

“PBSP has been active in the Visayas for more than 30 years now. Our participation in the watershed rehabilitation has been in the whole CCPL to address water security issues as well as climate risks. By joining PBSP in this cause, you have been given the opportunity to align yourselves and create maximum impact in advancing your business and your communities,” said PBSP’s Director for Corporate Affairs Jerome Daclison.