DAVAO CITY — As part of their celebration of the Philippine Army’s 126th Founding Anniversary, the members of the 4th Infantry Division across Northern Mindana and Caraga regions planted around 8,600 seedlings of fruit-bearing trees on March 9 to 10.
The seedlings were planted by the troops of the 4ID during a simultaneous tree-planting activity that aimed to raise one million fruit-bearing trees to mitigate the effects of climate change. This was part of the initiative of the Commander-in-Chief, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., through his environmental protection and food security programs, in consonance with the Philippine climate change adaptation by catalyzing Private-Public-Partnership (PPP) through the “Whole-of-Nation” Approach.
For this endeavor, the 4ID collaborated with the Department of Agriculture Region-10 and Barangay Patag, Cagayan de Oro City, led by its Chairman Eric D. Abaday. The 4ID Commander, Maj. Gen. Wilbur C. Mamawag, emphasized that the Command is highly committed to work with other government agencies in promoting for environmental awareness.
“This program must be implemented by all, including the Philippine Army, to collectively address the global environmental issues that we are confronting today such as climate change. Let us work together to sustain the tree-planting program for everyone’s benefit,” Mamawag added.
In history, it was on March 22, 1897 when Emilio Aguinaldo was elected as revolutionary president during the Tejeros Convention. Following Aguinaldo’s election, the revolutionary forces were organized into the Philippine Revolutionary Army (PRA) with Gen. Artemio Ricarte named as Captain General. The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) considers the date of the founding of the PRA as the date of establishment of the Philippine Army.