Greening Our Future: DENR’s The Project O2 Plants Hope at Universidad de Manila

In a significant stride towards a more sustainable future and promoting environmental awareness, Universidad de Manila (UDM) in partnership with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) successfully led a tree growing initiative dubbed “𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘖2: 𝘈 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦” last Saturday, April 26, 2025. The event saw the planting of numerous seedlings across the university’s ground.

Key officials from the DENR headed by one of UDM’s Most Distinguished Alumni Awardee, 𝐃𝐫. 𝐇𝐢𝐫𝐨 𝐕. 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐚 (DENR Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and Sectoral Initiatives), along with representatives from UDM, led by 𝐃𝐫. 𝐑𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐝 𝐀. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐚 (VP- Academic Affairs), 𝐃𝐫. 𝐑𝐨𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐟𝐨 𝐕. 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐨 𝐉𝐫. (VP – Student Success and Support Services), 𝐌𝐫. 𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐨 𝐀. 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐨 (VP – Administration), 𝐌𝐫. 𝐉𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐲 𝐅. 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧 (VP – Comptrollership) and 𝐃𝐫. 𝐕𝐢𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐚 𝐈. 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐨 (Assistant Director of Center for Micro-Credentials and Industry Training), together with 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐒𝐀𝐒𝐄), UDM students, faculty, and staff, actively participated in the activity.

An information sharing for proper tree growing was presented by Mr. Frenz Carlo Balagas (DENR – NCR).

This initiative serves as a reminder that everyone has a role to play in protecting and preserving our natural resources for the benefit of future generations.