Reply to comment

Undeterred by the continuous downpour of rain last June 6, Saturday, a total of 23 Coca-Cola employee volunteers from Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines (CCBP) Head Office and Greater Manila Area (GMA) showed up for the Go Green! Go for the Real Thing tree-planting activity held at the San Francisco High School in Quezon City.

The nationwide tree-planting activity was held in celebration of World Environment Day and in partnership with the Boy Scouts of the Philippines (BSP). Aside from the tree-planting site in Quezon City, nine other CCBP plants and sales office locations simultaneously planted trees in their respective areas on the same day. These include Bacolod, Calasiao, Carlatan, Cebu, Iloilo, Maycauayan, Naga, Sta. Rosa, Tacloban and Tagbilaran. This year’s Go Green! tree-planting activity was a smashing success with the participation of 246 employee volunteers nationwide. The collective efforts of these employee volunteers resulted in the sowing of over 3,000 native tree seedlings in all.

Leading the activity in the Metro Manila site were associates from the finance department of CCBP Bagumbayan Sales Office. When asked what made them attend the activity despite the bad weather, the district HR manager Sarah Villa said, “I told our volunteers that since we were doing this with the Boy Scouts, rain or shine, they will be there. And since we at Coke are also used to that kind of situation especially in the market, we knew we also had to show up, rain or shine.”

The tree-planting activity began with a short program led by officials of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines and the Quezon City LGU. In attendance were Councilor Eufenio Lagumbay, Councilor and Board Member Rommel Abesamis, Board Member Sultan Husur Rusulla, QC Board Member Jose Arnel Guebal, QC Board Member Estelito Lualhati, QC Officer-n-Charge Antonio Merino and Rep. Annie L. Susano. Over 185 boy scouts were present to do their share in saving the environment. They came from various schools in Metro Manila including San Francisco High School, Ramon Magsaysay High School, Batasan Elementary School, Calalay Elementary School, MH Del Pilar High School, Lagro High School, Immaculate Conception School, Alternative Learning System, Muslim Scouts Committee and Philippine Normal University.

Villa shared that even before the activity ended, the associates from her team were already asking when they would be planting trees again. She added, “It was a very nice experience for the group since it was the first volunteer activity for most of the finance team. It was like their outing.”

For their part, Merino said that they were very grateful to Coca-Cola for the company’s unwavering support in the Go Green! Go for the Real Thing Program. “Giving the boy scouts this opportunity will help them earn medal merits,” he said. Lagumbay added that planting trees is just one way of doing our part in doing something about various environmental issues we face today and this includes the problem of climate change. He explained to all the boy scouts present that more than getting medals for their participation, a genuine concern for the environment should be their motivation for planting trees.

This is the second year that Coca-Cola and the Boy Scouts of the Philippines teamed up for the Go Green! Go for the Real Thing tree-planting activity. Last year’s program was held in Teresa, Rizal following its launch in May 2008.