LAOAG CITY – Ilocanos have gotten back on their feet to start regrowing the greenery that was lost when Typhoon Ompong wreaked havoc in Ilocos Norte.
Hustler Garalde of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) said Wednesday they have resumed the distribution of indigenous tree seedlings to be planted in vacant lots and in the mountainous parts of the province.
Garalde said that since last week, they have delivered hundreds of saplings in the towns of Badoc, Pinili and Nueva Era, especially in areas hardest hit by “Ompong”, to be planted by typhoon victims in exchange for a fee under the provincial government’s cash-for-work program
Estrella Sacro, project manager of the provincial government’s Environment and Natural Resources Office, assured that the greening and cash-for-work program will continue to help the province’s calamity victims.
In previous typhoons, more than 15,000 beneficiaries earned additional income for their families as they were hired by the provincial government to plant indigenous and fruit-bearing trees in public lots and near watershed areas from Badoc to Pagudpud, the northernmost part of Ilocos Norte.
The cash-for-work program pays beneficiaries cash, based on the prevailing regional wages, in exchange for community work rendered, such as tree planting, repair and reconstruction of damaged houses and community facilities, cleanup, and garbage collection.
Victims of previous typhoons received a monthly stipend of PHP3,000 under the program. (Leilanie Adriano/PNA)
