On 06 June 2022, the UPLB College of Forestry and Natural Resources held its first face-to-face flag-raising ceremony after two years in front of Tamesis Hall. It was attended by the representatives of the college units and departments through the leadership of the college dean, Prof. Marlo D. Mendoza.
The program is hosted by the Makiling Center for Mountain Ecosystems (MCME) headed by its director, Dr. Roberto G. Visco. The event started at 7:30 AM through a morning Zumba exercise led by the MCME staff. The program continued through prayer by Ms. Gillian Katherine I. Quilloy and the singing of the Philippine national anthem at the tune given by For. Valeriana D. Barredo-Parducho. Subsequently, the director of MCME gave his motivational speech with a message of being thankful in spite of the negativities that are happening around. Some of the events he mentioned that everyone should be grateful for are the celebrations in the month of June, especially the reorganization anniversary of the College of Forestry and Natural Resources and the other units of the college such as the Makiling Center for Mountain Ecosystems. He also announced that the anniversary of the establishment of the Makiling Botanic Gardens is also celebrated in the month of June. Dr. Visco ended his speech with the song “Don’t worry. Be happy”. Afterward, Dean Marlo gave a short inspiring message and made some announcements about the college projects and future activities. The Vice-Chancellor for Community Affairs, For. Roberto P. Cereno also gave an inspiring speech emphasizing the theme of World Environment Day 2022 this year which is “#OnlyOneEarth. Thereafter, the unit and department heads gave their announcements with a dance intermission number from the MCME Staff. For. Nicasio M. Balahadia led the “Panunumpa ng Kawani ng Gobyerno” as the 2022 UPLB Outstanding Extension Personnel Awardee which was followed by the singing of “Awit ng Kolehiyo” and “UP Naming Mahal” by the MCME Chorale. The program ended with the distribution of snacks and mementos from the unit program host.
By: KJPGonzalvo and MSCanceran