Message at the Tree Planting Ceremony

RI President Barry Rassin, RI Director Raffy Garcia, Governor Rudy Bediones, President Susing Pineda, NPDC Executive Director Penelope Belmonte, fellow Rotarians, guests, ladies and gentlemen:

I am glad that you all came, which I presume not just because you were forced to because of the presence of our guest, RI President Barry, but more so because of the urgent call of nature. We need to plant trees to revitalise the planet Earth, to repair its damaged lungs, if you will. For this reason we are privileged and honoured that the president of the Rotary International has to come here to witness and even officiate our pledging session today to contribute to the mitigation of the worldwide problem of Global warming.

Imagine if only all the Rotary clubs around the world will pledge to plant or cause to plant 100 trees per year which is not really that many. In fact that’s only about 9 trees per month. But on the aggregate, indeed it would be a dramatic game changer of a gigantic proportion. With 1.2 million members of the Rotary International, at 100 trees pledged and planted, that is equivalent to 120 million trees per year. Or 1.2billion trees in 10 years. A giant step indeed to solve a seemingly unsolvable World’s or the Planet Earth’s problem. This will be another wide ranging and impacting project of Rotary after the Eradication of Polio.

My fellow Rotarians it is now time to act. From this day forward, let’s plant trees. And to conclude, with kind permission from our guest, may I therefore paraphrase his motto: Plant trees and Be an Inspiration! Thank you.