House approves bill requiring students to plant 10 trees as prerequisite for graduation on final reading

The House of Representatives has approved a bill requiring students to plant 10 trees as a prerequisite for graduation on third and final reading .

The bill known as the "Graduation Legacy for the Environment Act," House Bill 8728 aims to require all graduating elementary, high school, and college students to plant at least 10 trees as a prerequisite for graduation.

The bill provides that said trees should be planted in any of the following areas: forest lands, mangrove and protected areas, ancestral domains, civil and military reservations, urban areas under the greening plan of the local government units, inactive and abandoned mine sites, and other suitable lands.

Seedlings must be planted within the premises of the parents’ own home or in an area to be designated by the barangay council where the family resides.

Furthermore, the bill states that the Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) would spearhead its implementation once enacted into law