LEGAZPI CITY — As part of the Ibalong Festival being celebrated here until Saturday, the 20 official Mutya ng Ibalong candidates planted trees along the Legazpi Boulevard on Wednesday.
City Councilor Melissa Abadeza-Armedilla, pageant chairperson, in an interview on Thursday said Mutya ng Ibalong is not only a competition of beauty and brain but a way of showing concern and care for the environment.
The candidates planted Pandakaki trees at the city’s southern boulevard in front of the Albay Gulf.
The city boulevard is a four-kilometer stretch of wide concrete road bordering the long Albay beach. Its expansive shoulder of two paved lanes along the beachside is lined with palm and coconut trees.
The boulevard serves as a favorite venue for biking, running, walking, and any other forms of physical activities of city residents. It is also the venue of different international and national sporting events like Mount Mayon Triathlon, EXTERRA race and Le Tour de Filipinas.
The 20 Pandakaki trees planted at the center of the sidewalk of the boulevard by the 20 lovely Mutya ng Ibalong candidates would serve as a decorative trees and an additional attraction in front of Albay Gulf near the obelisk tower of the Mason International Fraternity, Armedilla said.
The planting materials were provided by the City Agriculture Office, she noted. (Emmanuel Solis/PNA)