Storm-hit school celebrates World Water Day with tree planting

When Severe Tropical Storm Kristine hit Bugaan West Integrated School in Laurel town in Batangas, only the stage remained visible. The rest of the structures were covered with mud.

- —Bella Cariaso

On March 22, as global communities marked World Water Day, hundreds of volunteers gathered at the school and planted about 400 trees to replace those destroyed by Kristine.

Belen Terrago, Bugaan West Integrated School principal, recalled that logs rolled down from the mountains on Oct. 25, 2024 during the onslaught of the severe tropical storm.