Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Azkals support Church’s one million tree project

By Social Communication Commission, Don Bosco Provincial House - Manila Bulletin

MANILA, Philippines - One Million Trees, a project to help conserve the environment, was recently endorsed by Chieffy Caligdong and Roel Gener of the Philippine Azkals football team.

The national team mainstays urged the youth to take part in a simultaneous, nationwide planting on September 8, 2011, which coincides with the feast of the birth of the Virgin Mary, an important event for Catholics.

Caligdong and Gener, seen on videos in the Salesians of Don Bosco website (http://fin.sdb.ph) and Youtube, called on the youth to join the tree-planting drive by first logging on to Facebook and liking the page “1 million trees (CBCP Year of the Youth)”. Participants will get event updates on their Facebook walls.

The One Million Trees project is part of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Year of the Youth celebration which ends on December 16, 2011.

Representatives from various dioceses, religious organizations and government agencies will plant 49,920 seedlings nationwide on September 8.

Participants include the Archdioceses of Jaro and Cagayan de Oro; Dioceses of Balanga, San Jose, Nueva Ecija, Bangued, Borongan, Laoag, Iligan, Urdaneta, Surigao, Malaybalay and Cabanatuan; Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Princesa, Palawan, a parish in Danao City, Cebu, and the organizations CFC-Singles for Christ (SFC) and the National Youth Commission (NYC).

The project is a response to Pope Benedict XVI’s call to use the earth’s resources wisely and to respect the environment.

In Pope Benedict’s message on January 1 last year for the celebration of the World Day of Peace, he says, “The Church has a responsibility towards creation, and she considers it her duty to exercise that responsibility in public life, in order to protect earth, water and air as gifts of God the Creator meant for everyone, and above all to save mankind from the danger of self-destruction.”

The Azkals, Filipino slang for street dogs, became very popular after the team won different international tournaments and reached the second round of the World Cup qualifiers for the first time.

The Azkals can be seen in tv, print and billboard ads.Their popularity has brought unprecedented interest in football in a country long dominated by basketball.

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