GINNA is born

To make the annual international Earth Day celebration a more meaningful experience for the people in the province, the Green Ilocos Norte Network and Advocacy (GINNA) group has been founded. With individuals and organizations from various sectors of society as founding members, the GINNA kicked-off this year's Earth Month celebration with a program held April 14 at the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO).

PENRO Director Juan P. De Los Reyes Jr., who is also one of the founders of the GINNA, presented to the audience the making of the GINNA and its planned activities for this month. The GINNA was conceptualized in late March of this year with the help of Mr. Luis Palermo, a member of the Ang Katipunan ng mga Samahang Maharlika and the Earth Day Network Philippines. The PENRO then called a meeting last March 27 where representatives from various government offices, LGUs, NGOs, academes, church, and businesses participated to formalize the creation of the GINNA and its activities. This month's activities include a screening (April 20) of the documentary film "An Inconvenient Truth," a forum on eco-governance, a free concert (April 22), coastal cleanup, cross-country cycling (April 22), interfaith prayer rally (April 22), Oplan Baklas, and radio appearances.

Following the Kick-off program, a motorcade around the city was conducted with the assistance of the PNP. The motorcade then went straight to the town of Badoc and from its Ilocos Sur boundary up to the town of San Nicolas, the participants of the kick-off program started the first phase of the Oplan Baklas. The operation made certain no living tree standing along the national highway was used to post election campaign paraphernalia. The volunteers of the Oplan Baklas were comprised mostly of PENRO and CENRO employees, people from the academe, members of the Timpuyog People's Movement, the PINAKBET, and even officers from the PNP and Philippine Army.