Championing Environmental Sustainability: 3,000 Trees Planted at La Mesa Watershed

Sun Life Financial-Philippines Foundation, Inc. (Sun Life Foundation) reaffirmed its commitment to environmental sustainability with recent back-to-back tree planting activities, organized in coordination with Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST).

The initiative was supported by over 200 Sun Life volunteers, including Sun Life Philippines’s Chief Asset Management Officer and Foundation Trustee Valerie Pama and Chief Human Resources Officer Michelle Cordero-Garcia. Together, they planted a total of 3,000 seedlings at the DENR Nursery in La Mesa Watershed.

As the last remaining forest of its size and the only major watershed in Metro Manila, La Mesa helps provide drinking water to the region’s more than 13 million residents. Considered as the “lungs” of the metropolis, La Mesa also acts as a carbon sink, absorbing a significant amount of Metro Manila’s carbon emissions.

“It’s crucial to conserve and protect nature, especially here in Metro Manila where pollution, climate change, and monsoon rains greatly impact the quality of life of millions,” said Sun Life Foundation Executive Director Kristine Millete. “Through annual tree plantings, we hope to help in building a more sustainable, climate-resilient, and livable city.”

“Each step we take contributes to the greater good. If a small step makes a difference, imagine the impact our concerted effort will have not just in the present but for generations to come,” said Sun Life President Alex Narciso. “We must all work together for a greener and brighter future.”

As the philanthropic arm of Sun Life Philippines, the first and longest-standing life insurance company in the country, Sun Life Foundation supports holistic initiatives encompassing education, health, and environmental sustainability.