The House of Representatives approved on third and final reading two bills making tree planting mandatory for expectant parents and graduating students.
House Bills 6930 and 6931 registered unanimous votes when presented for third and final reading on Wednesday.
Both bills have previously been passed in the Lower House in the previous Congress but failed to get Senate approval.
HB 6930 requires parents to plant two trees for every child born to them. This bill consolidated four separate bills filed by Reps. Olga Kho (PDP-Laban, Masbate) and Tyrone Agabas (NUP, Pangasinan), among other authors.
Meanwhile, Reps. Rufus B. Rodriguez (CDP, Cagayan de Oro City), Joel Mayo Almario (PDP-Laban, Davao Oriental) and Mark Go (NPC, Baguio City) are among the authors of HB 6931 that mandates graduating students to plan at least two tree saplings as a prerequisite for graduation.
HB 6931 covers students in the elementary, high school and college levels of education.
The two bills were endorsed for immediate approval by the Special Committee on Reforestation chaired by Apayao Rep. Elias Bulut Jr.
Kho said the Family Tree Planting bill encourages tree planting as part of the family’s concern and responsibility.
HB 6930 seeks to develop awareness of Filipinos to climate change and environmental concerns.
“This bill makes the basic social unit an important and powerful magnet of change against the threat of global warming,” said Kho.
HB 6931 or the “Graduation Legacy for Reforestation Act” provides that planting 10 trees should be a mandatory requirement for graduation.
Under the bill, students are required to plant trees in areas designated by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources or the concerned local government unit where the school is located.
Almario said the bill aims to promote and pursue environmental protection, biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation and adaptation and food security.
"Through this bill, the boundless energy of the youth will be maximized while allowing them to leave a legacy for the environment,” Almario explained.
“More importantly, it will instill the importance of caring for the natural resources early on in life and encourage younger children to likewise take on this social responsibility of caring for the ecosystem,” he added.