The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) here recently donated 500 wooden chairs to four public schools in Pampanga to support the government’s efforts in the improvement of educational facilities amid the preparation of the pilot implementation of limited face-to-face classes in Central Luzon.

 

Paquito Moreno Jr., executive director of the DENR in Region 3, noted that turned-over logs from government projects were converted into school chairs to benefit more than 1,000 students from Baliti Elementary School in Apalit, Bacolor Central Elementary School in Bacolor, San Miguel Elementary School in Guagua, and San Roque Dau Elementary School in Lubao.

 

“Apart from our intensified effort to combat illegal logging activities in the region, we remain true to our commitment to help public schools secure adequate chairs and facilities, Moreno said.

 

For her part, Schools Division Superintendent Dr. Melissa Sanchez of the Department of Education (DepEd) of Pampanga expressed her gratitude for the assistance the schools received from the DENR, noting that these donated chairs would be fundamental in their groundworks to hold face-to-face learning.

 

Aside from the endowment of chairs to public schools in Central Luzon, the DENR here has donated more than 10,000 board feet of confiscated lumber to local government units and other national government agencies to build temporary quarantine shelters and checkpoint facilities since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic started.

 

DENR records show that over 294,687 board feet of illegal lumber worth P16 million have been apprehended in the region since 2020. (-30-)