Universal Robina Corporation culminated its celebration of Philippine Environment Month with a nationwide tree-planting program.
Under the theme “Protect Nature, Sustain Our Future,” the initiative aims to reinforce URC’s values of environmental stewardship and having a planet-friendly culture, and capitalizes on people engagement to promote environmental compliance, best practices, and the relevance of environmental awareness and protection.
“This is an important step in fulfilling our ambition of becoming a sustainable global enterprise,” said URC Chief Executive Officer Irwin Lee.
More than 1,200 URC employees planted over 6,000 seedlings as part of the company's nationwide tree-planting program. IMAGE URC
The tree-planting activities took place on June 25 — Philippine Arbor Day — and were held simultaneously in 25 areas across the country, from Bulacan to Davao.
To ensure the initiative’s success, URC partnered with various organizations such as the Pasig City Parks and Playground Development Office, Clean and Green Pasig, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau, the Philippine Ports Authority, the respective local government units as well as the municipal environmental offices of the participating tree-planting sites.
Employees from URC’s Flour and Bread Division during their tree-planting activity in Davao City. IMAGE URC
In remarks delivered online at the opening ceremony of the One URC Environment Month celebration on June 6, 2022, Engr. Jean C. Borromeo, Officer in Charge of the DENR’s Environmental Monitoring and Enforcement Division, encouraged the company to “continue to build on the success it has started and make more things happen.”
Doing their part, employees from URC’s Branded Consumer Foods Group, Flour and Bread Division, Sugar and Renewables, and Agro-Industrial Group along with volunteers planted endemic tree saplings such as bamboo, mangrove, narra, and balitarhan, among others, at various locations across the country.
Apart from tree planting, URC also organized a coastal cleanup in Sariaya, Quezon, held sustainability-themed webinars, and promoted the sharing of best practices to mark Philippine Environment Month. The said activities are in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13, which seeks to combat climate change and address its impacts.
For more information on URC, visit urc.com.ph.
