Save a life; plant a tree today

A theme was adopted by the initiators of a tree planting held Oct. 16 by the Disaster Alert System of Smart Communications Inc.

Mayor Manuel “Chiquiting” Sagarbarria is so engrossed with procuring, establishing, and creating measures to help protect and prevent disastrous phenomena from occurring.

The tree planting was done in cooperation with the City Environment & Natural Resources office, officials of barangays Bagacay and Taclobo, and Foundation University.

About 500 seedlings were planted by about 100 people, all clad in green t-shirts courtesy of Smart.

The signing of a memorandum of agreement was completed with the barangay beneficiaries and FU as caretakers of the planted trees to ensure 100 percent survival rate.

Smart provided a tree guard made of bamboo for each seedling, and appealed to the resident beneficiaries to also take care of the planted trees.

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Constituents of this City were caught off guard Oct. 7 when a bomb threat prompted children of some schools, and employees of City Hall to jump off their seats and rush home.

The ever-cool Mayor Chiquiting, together with some of his foot soldiers, immediately turned the City Mayor’s office into a temporary command post, receiving reports and giving orders to City personnel.

The bomb threats broke out as a text message from unscrupulous people. Good it was just a hoax, as the PNP SWAT team and the Disaster Response Team declared the areas free from danger.

The City Mayor, as did everybody else, heaved a sigh of relief, and but warned us all that the bomb threat was a wake-up call for all to be vigilant, and most especially, to be technically equipped, proficient and prepared with our expertise in responding to crisis situations, man-made of natural.