Rural Transit Mindanao (RTMI), one of the biggest bus companies in the country, is among the first public transport operators to join the government mandated tree-planting activity of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Region 10, held on Saturday, December 5. (Jigger J. Jerusalem/davaotoday.com)
CAGAYAN DE ORO, Philippines – Rural Transit Mindanao (RTMI), one of the biggest bus companies in the country, is among the first public transport operators to join the government mandated tree-planting activity of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) Region 10, held on Saturday, December 5.
The activity is part of the order of DOTr, requiring public utility owners to help the government’s reforestation efforts before getting a franchise approval or renewal.
LTFRB Region 10 director Aminoden Guro explained that this order by DOTR Secretary Arthur Tugade was made after seeing the destruction of recent super typhoons wrought to the country.
Rural Transit is a subsidiary of the Yanson Group of Bus Companies (YGBC), which pledged support the reforestation project, according to YGBC media relations manager for Mindanao Celer Estologa.
Estologa said the company is mindful of the situation of the country’s forest cover that is consistently dwindling leading to calamities.
“This activity is no longer a requirement but a moral obligation to save mountains from deforestation,” Estologa said.
The reforestation project in this region is coordinated between LTFRB with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources that will provide the seedlings, and with local environment offices in cities, towns and provinces who will identify areas for tree planting.
LTFRB-10 said that operators are required to plant one seedling per unit of their fleet. (davaootoday.com)
Employees of the Rural Transit Mindanao engaged in a tree-planting activity in Cugman, Cagayan de Oro on December 5, as part of the Department of Transportation’s requirement for public transport companies to help government’s reforestation drive. (Photo courtesy of RTMI)
