LAGAWE, Ifugao – The municipal ordinance requiring all couples applying for marriage license to plant trees within this municipality is gaining ground more than 10 years after its enactment.

Municipal Ordinance 29 also known as the Code of “Plant a tree and bear with me” enacted in Novembers 1995, requires that all couples must  plant at least five trees before their marriage license can be issued and certified by their barangay captain.

According to Delia Basilio, local civil registrar officer of this town, although the law was enacted in 1995 and implemented in 1996, its enforcement was only felt to be effective in early 2000.

Despite its late implementation, the law is realizing its objective and serving its purpose, she said.

The local civil registrar record shows that from 1998 to the present, there are already a total of 916 marriage licenses that were issued and this would translate to more than 4,000 trees already planted within the territory of Lagawe.

The enactment of this ordinance was prompted by the policy of the Lagawe municipal government to plant as many trees as possible and protect and preserve its surrounding forest from total denudation done by unscrupulous illegal loggers and kaingeros and in compliance with the national government’s program on human and ecological security.

Compliance with this law can enable this town to replenish its deforested areas and help in environmental conservation and protection.

The ordinance provides that the trees may be planted in any public or private land and in case of private lands, the consent or permission of the owner must be obtained.

The seedlings are provided by the municipal government from nurseries it is currently maintaining and from the seedlings coming from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of Ifugao.

The law covers all persons applying for a marriage license within the territorial jurisdiction of Lagawe. Non-compliance will result in the non-issuance of the license.