By JVLEANDREI GOMEZ | AYEJ.org

WILL our love grow? That’s a question posed by an environmental project in San Antonio, Zambales, where couples seeking to get married need to plant two fruit-bearing trees first.

The project is called Tanim ng Pag-ibig and it literally allows couples to see their love grow while making small contributions to environmental protection efforts of the province.

Since 1996, the municipality of San Antonio has counted 192 couples as participants in the project, said Maria Fe Acebedo, the town’s municipal public information officer.

She added that an average of eight couples signed up for the program each year, but the number has recently declined because of the pandemic lockdowns.

GREENING PROGRAM

“This project is very important because it is one way of supporting the national government’s greening program,” Acebedo said.

It also contributes to conservation and tourism in the municipality, she added.

Fruit-bearing trees like mango and guyabano are some of the seedlings planted in the main project site: the Municipal Restoration Composting Facility at Barangay Pundaquit. Some couples also opt to plant in their own backyards.

The project has some novelty to it, and adds a meaningful layer to the process of marriage. It is based on the Sangguniang Panlalawigan resolution dated September 6, 1996 whereby couples were required to participate in the government’s greening program before they can proceed to tie the knot.

The project is made possible through collaboration among San Antonio barangays, the Municipal Mayor’s Office and the Municipal Population Office.

CHALLENGES

However, sustaining the growth of the seedlings has its own set of challenges—as happy endings are not guaranteed both in tree planting and in marriages.

Acebedo said that based on their monitoring, about 144 trees planted by couples in their backyards have survived, although data from 2012 showed that only half of the 112 recently-planted trees in the municipal project site are surviving.

According to project officers, the program was halted for some time and was relaunched only in 2012. Aside from the gaps in project implementation, some couples were only able to plant a single tree due to scarcity of saplings.

Annual grass fires are also another impediment, a setback that the municipality is yet to address.

Despite survival rates that still need some improvement, Acebedo said that the project still serves as a platform to raise awareness on the environment.

“Alam namin na hindi lang kami ikakasal, sa pamamagitan rin nito nakakapagbigay rin kami ng tulong sa kalikasan at magandang kinabukasan para sa aming pamilya, kabataan at sa susunod pang mga henerasyon,” said Mrs. Sherlyn Bernardino, one of the participants in the project.

FULFILLMENT

Acevedo is also optimistic that the project can be sustained because couples who signed up never found the tree planting requirement to be difficult. The process of signing up, planting, and attending an orientation seminar on the importance of conservation was relatively easy.

The community also finds a sense of fulfillment each time a couple signed up.

“Natutuwa kami kapag may mga ikakasal dahil may mga matatamnan ulit at marami kaming nakikita na lumalaki. At mayroon rin mga prutas na bunga,” said Acebedo.

Barangay Pundaquit is one of the most popular beach tourist spots in the province of Zambales and an abundant source of marine produce.

The enforcement of projects such as Tanim ng Pag-ibig supports the town’s tourism and ecological systems. Tanim ng Pag-ibig also really reminds couples that both the environment and marriage require a lot of work to keep them alive. ~

This article was written by Jvleandrei Gomez from Zambales as a final requirement of AYEJ.org and the US Embassy’s “Green Beat Islas: An Online Environmental Journalism Training.”