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Official Publication of the Philippine Information Agency Bicol Regional Office, in cooperation with the RIAC-REDIRAS - RDC Bicol



Friday, December 6, 2013

"Project Silya" provides armchairs for school; pursues environmental care

BY: ANA-LIZA S. MACATANGAY

PILI, Camarines Sur, Dec. 6 (PIA) --- Fifty wooden armchairs were turned over to Principal Marlyn V. Primavera for the Rodriguez National High School in Barangay Cadlan here marking the start of  a pioneering project on turning confiscated illegal logs into armchairs for use of schools in Camarines Sur.

The provincial government of Camarines Sur, through the Sagip Kalikasan Task Force, has recently inked a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Department of Education (DepEd) launching the “Project Silya” to make use of confiscated lumbers and augment facilities in schools.

 “Project Silya” intends to address the shortage of armchairs in classrooms in various schools in Camarines Sur as well as put into productive use the seized lumbers instead of letting them rot in the impounding area of DENR.

The lumbers were either confiscated due to inadequate pertinent documents for transport or seized, recovered and abandoned by owners.

Camarines Sur Governor Miguel Villafuerte, who were at the turn-over activity, lauded the stakeholders and the agencies involved for coming up with the initiative of taking good care of the environment through collaborative efforts from the community.

“Everyone of us might give little of what we have, but our combined efforts will surely mean a lot.  Our mission is to make Camarines Sur the most environment-friendly province in Asia,” Villafuerte added.

Sagip Kalikasan Task Force chief Fermin Mabulo said that the project will not only help the schools in the province but will also taught stakeholders to contribute something to the environment by being caretakers of trees.

“This is actually a pioneering project that our DENR Bicol regional leadership wants other provinces to emulate. School-recipients of armchairs have also an obligation to plant and grow ten trees as their counterpart,” Mabulo said.

SILYA stands for Stakeholders Involvement for Learning and Youth Advancement.

Under the MOA, the confiscated logs will be provided for by DENR, including the seedlings that the partner-recipients will use for their tree planting activities.

The provincial government in turn will handle the production of armchairs and desks including the cost of labor and other materials.

DepEd will ensure that the volume and specifications of the finished material are properly managed. The agency is also tasked to identify the school-recipients, to deliver the arm chairs and to plant and grow the seedlings that will be handed over to them by the DENR. (MAL/LSM-PIA5/Camarines Sur) 

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