PBSP, top corporations partner for Marikina Watershed rehab
In spite of the bad weather, around 500 employee-volunteers from 27 companies, professionals, athletes, enthusiasts, and families trooped to the Marikina Sports Complex last Sunday, Aug. 25, 2019 to run for the reforestation of the Marikina Watershed during the 2nd Marikina Watershed Family Fun Run (MWFFR) organized by the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), in partnership with the City Government of Marikina and PLDT, Inc. as co-presenter.
READY. SET. GO . PLANT. Around 500 runners joined the 2nd Marikina Watershed Family Fun Run to support the rehabilitation of the Marikina Watershed.
Proceeds from this run for a cause will support the organization’s Collective Impact initiatives in the Marikina Watershed, particularly the reforestation efforts at the Upper Marikina River Basin Protected Landscape (UMRBPL).
BUSINESS SECTOR RESPONSE
PBSP has long been engaging member companies in watershed rehabilitation and management of the UMRBPL and the Buhisan Watershed in Cebu City, and in helping provide livelihood to communities residing in these areas. The initiative also creates a platform for employee-volunteers to help in their own ways through tree planting and participating in the fun run.
GO THE DISTANCE, SAVE OUR FORESTS. Employee-volunteers, professionals, athletes, and families participated in the fun run.
“We, at PBSP, believe that each of us can contribute in addressing social problems. This is captured in our campaign called #KasaliAko that aims to invite everyone to be involved and included in our nation’s growth and development. By running in the Marikina Watershed Family Fun Run, one is already doing his or her part in helping the environment and is included in PBSP’s collective response that leads to restoring the Watershed and bringing various interventions to the locals,” said PBSP Executive Director Reynaldo Antonio Laguda.
A staunch supporter of the initiative is the Aboitiz Group which has planted over 200,000 trees in 138 hectares of the Marikina Watershed for two years now.
“The Aboitiz Group fully supports PBSP’s Marikina Watershed Family Fun Run. We dedicate this 2019 run to the A-PARK program, the Aboitiz Group’s contribution to the government’s National Greening Program, consisting of various reforestation efforts for a health ecosystem,” The Aboitiz Group said in a statement.
PLDT, Inc. which mobilized around 70 employee-volunteers for the fun run, underscored the need for environmental protection.
“With all the recent environmental catastrophes the world is facing, we must do everything we can to save and protect our one true home – Mother Earth. We hope that our collective efforts in rehabilitating the Marikina Watershed will help in ensuring a better future for our children and the next generations to come,” PLDT Community Relations (ComRel) Division Head Katherine P. Diaz De Rivera said.
Meanwhile, ICTSI Foundation which participates in PBSP’s tree planting initiatives also joined the fun run for the second time around.
STARTING ‘EM YOUNG. Children joined their parents in the fun run for a cause organized by PBSP in partnership with the City of Marikina.
“The deforestation of the Marikina Watershed affects not just Marikina but also the neighboring cities and with the current water crisis, it’s more important to support this kind of initiative. Moreover, when we joined the fun run last year, we saw the interest of the employee-volunteers who joined. Many of them would ask us when the next fun run will be so we decided to participate again this year,” said ICTSI Foundation Program Operations Manager Joy Lapuz.
Deloitte Shared Service Center, Inc. employee Ellen Joy Cajes who bagged first place in the 10K female category expressed her excitement in joining the fun run.
“In joining fun runs, you get to meet people and talk about the advocacies that you want to push forward. Joining the Marikina Watershed Family Fun Run is a really great experience and I’m thankful to Deloitte Philippines Outreach, Inc. for sponsoring us to join this event, help out the environment, and promote a healthy lifestyle,” said Cajes.
The Bookmark, Inc. employee-volunteer and first-time runner Joseph Pirmejo echoes this, adding that aside from giving him the chance to improve his physical fitness, the fun run also enabled him to do his part in saving the Marikina Watershed.
PBSP IN THE MARIKINA WATERSHED
In 2010, PBSP launched its Marikina Watershed Initiative Program (MWIP) as a response of the private sector to the deluge caused by Typhoon Ondoy in September 2009. The deforestation of the Marikina Watershed largely contributed to the record-breaking floods in Metro Manila and neighboring cities at that time. The lack of trees in the watershed left the ground unable to absorb rainwater, which flowed to the lowlands instead.
To date, PBSP and its member-companies have reforested 318 hectares and planted around 200,000 native fruit-bearing trees that will also provide sustainable source of livelihood for the locals.
Other participating companies during the MWFFR 2019 are the BDO Unibank, Inc., First Gen Corporation, Parity Values, Inc., Jollibee Group Foundation, Pacific Paint (Boysen) Philippines, Inc., PhilPacific Insurance Brokers and Managers, Inc., Hino Motors Philippines Corporation, The Net Group, Mabuhay Vinyl Corporation, PHINMA Foundation, Inc., PhilSeven Foundation, Inc., Holcim Philippines, Inc., Unilever Philippines, Mondelez International, Anytime Fitness, The Inquirer Foundation, Inc., The Hershey Company, Geocycle Philippines, La Liga Mariquina Inc., East-West Seed Company, Inc., CDO Foodsphere, Inc./Odyssey Foundation, Inc., and L’Oreal Philippines, Inc.