Brother, PBSP team up for Marikina Watershed

Brother International teamed up with the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) to reforest the denuded Marikina Watershed through Adopt a Hectare tree planting activity.

A total of 625 Cupang, Macopa and Dungon seedlings were planted in Barangay Calawis, Antipolo City with the help of 36 employee volunteers.

Brother International has been supporting the Save the Marikina Watershed project for the last two years, covering a total of two hectares.

Apart from their tree planting initiatives, Brother International through PBSP also provided livelihood assistance to barangay Calawis.

Their financial aid was able to provide planting materials for ginger and ubeng kinampay propagation. These crops will be supplied to two SME’s (Small and Medium Enterprise) namely Delfa’s and Moondish. The livelihood initiatives of PBSP are focused on building community – corporate partnerships wherein PBSP matches the demand of the market to what the community can produce.

Other companies who support the Save the Marikina Watershed through tree planting activities are All Transport Network, and Cathay Pacific.

The Save the Marikina Watershed Program is a post-Ondoy rehabilitation program spearheaded by the Philippine Disaster Recovery Program for the rehabilitation of the Marikina Watershed which aims to contribute to the reforestation of 9,520 hectares of the 28,000 hectares of the watershed within five to 10 years.

PBSP, the country’s largest corporate-led social development foundation, operates nationwide with projects in education, health, sustainable livelihood and enterprise development, the environment and disaster rehabilitation. With more than 240 member companies, PBSP promotes business sector involvement in the fight against poverty.

Published in the Business Mirror, 28 December 2011 ; Malaya Business Insight, 23 December 2011