Police forces of Marikina City, Pasig City, San Juan City, and Mandaluyong City banded together to plant bamboo seedlings and clean the surrounding areas of the Marikina Riverside on Saturday, Sept. 17.

The activities were done as part of the Philippine National Police (PNP)'s "KASIMBAYANAN (KApulisan, SIMBAhan, and PamaYANAN)" program. It is a "joint effort of the police, church, and community towards a peaceful and progressive community."

It showcased the efforts of the police in enforcing not only anti-criminality policies, but also pro-environmental programs.

The police were joined by civil society organizations (CSOs) such as La Liga Mariquina, who began the "Luntian Marikina" greening initiative, and other volunteers.

The program started at around 8 a.m. They gathered at the Roman Garden (Zonta Club of Marikina Pavilion) for the introduction and orientation before heading to the planting and clearing spots.

The activity focused on covering the area near the jogging lanes in Barangay Jesus dela Peña in Marikina City.

Participants were asked to bring their own gardening and cleaning tools and materials.

The clean-up and tree-planting drives aimed to proactively contribute to restoring and developing a healthy ecosystem within and around the river, particularly in reforesting previously-barren areas.

It also helped raise awareness on the importance of planting trees in reducing the harmful effects of global warming and climate change caused by excessive carbon-emissions.

Go-to planting site

For years, more prominently since 2019, the Marikina Riverside has been a go-to site to hold regular tree planting activities for many groups and individuals.

The Marikina City local government has partnered with CSOs and national agencies like the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and the Pasig River Coordinating and Management Office (PRCMO) to make the riverside blossom into a more vibrant eco-park.

They continue to collaborate on bamboo tree-planting programs, covering the whole 11 kilometer stretch of the Marikina River, complimentary to the on-going river dredging and widening projects.

Bamboo has been the tree-of-choice to plant in areas near river embankments as they can better protect slopes and canopies more urgently because of their faster growth rate compared to other trees that take 15 to 30 years to fully mature, according to the DENR.

Bamboo helps "retain water in the ground, bind the soil, and help filter sediments flowing downstream," making it advantageous in preventing floods, the DENR said.

The DENR added that bamboo also "absorbs greenhouse gases, insulates carbon dioxide from the environment and produces 35 percent more oxygen than its equivalent tree size."