Teaching the Kids
about the Environment
and our Fellowmen
It has been my desire to have a regular tree planting activity so as to help rehabilitate the forests of our beloved province, Negros Occidental. It’s my desire to buy a parcel of land (if only I can afford it) and plant it with trees and make it a reserve. But I don’t want just any other tree planting activity because I don’t want to plant trees and just leave them there.
By God’s direction I was led to the Isabela (Negros Occidental) Fruit Trees Project through a college friend, November Canieso-Yeo. The project is currently ongoing in the Municipality of Isabela. This was started by Mr. Victorino “Bitoy” Siazon with a PhP 100,000 funding.
With that amount, he had several thousands of fruit trees planted in six (6) barangays, as follows:
Brgy. Riverside – 500 Rambutan seedlings
Brgy. Sebucauan – 450 Jackfruuit seedlings
Brgy. Makilignit – 300 Abio seedlings
Brgy. San Agustin – 500 Babana seedlings
Brgy. Tinongan – 600 Calamansi seedlings
Brgy. Banog-banog – 100 Abio seedlings
Now, the project has taken off and they have now planted about 6,000 seedlings across a total of 16 barangays.
The main objectives of this project:
1. Plant 4 trees (of 1 type) per household in all 15 barangays of Isabela;
2. Provide additional food source for residents through the harvest of these trees;
3. Provide additional income source for residents (barangays will become fruit baskets of Isabela); and
4. Provide convenience to buyers of different type of fruits because buyers only need to visit 1 barangay to buy a particular fruit.
While this tree planting activity is not exactly for reforestation, it will still contribute in greening Isabela, which is a part of the province. And also, I like the idea because the trees will have owners–they are not left to fend for themselves in the wild, which gives them a good chance of survival. It has a socio-economic impact as well.
So I thought, it would be a good idea to have our kids participate in this. So last Saturday, Sept. 16, 2017, the members of the Bacolod Homeschoolers Network and our families set out for an almost 2-hour drive to Brgy. Tinongan, Isabela, Negros Occidental. A total of 16 homeschooling kids joined the event.
We bought the calamansi (Philippine lime) from them at P35 each. The seedlings are from marcotting, so in about a year, the residents will already be able to harvest fruits from them. We were given an orientation on how to plant the seedlings on ensure a higher chance of survival.
We were joined with Isabela Mayor Joselito Malabor along with his staff. He also planted with the kids and was able to greet the residents. We are also very thankful to him to providing us with police escorts during the activity.
Our kids had a total of eight seedlings, which we planted in the backyard of four locals. We also gave them loaves of bread. We then had a potluck lunch afterwards.
Homeschooling in Bacolod does not limit our kids nor confine them in our homes. We go out and do our share in the community because the world is our classroom. This is just the first of our future field trips in learning more about our environment.
For more information on this project or to ask how you could help, message them on