PUERTO PRINCESA CITY – Residents and tourists joined educators, non-government and civic organizations, uniformed personnel, and government employees early Saturday to plant 35,000 seedlings to mark the 27th Pista y ang Cagueban or Feast of the Forest.

Trucks provided by the city government picked up participants from the City Coliseum, Palawan National School, and San Jose Terminal (Poblacion area), and brought them to the planting site at Sitio Impapay, Barangay Irawan, Puerto Princesa City.

According to the City Environment and Natural Resources Office, the seedlings included fruit trees and premium species of trees such as Ipil, Narra, Mahogany, and Almaciga.

After planting trees, the participants enjoyed the music of local bands and artists.

Last year, almost 15,000 seedlings of indigenous trees were planted on the same site.

The city government believes that tree planting activities could counter the problem of deforestation due to illegal logging and "kaingin."

The Pista y ang Cagueban started in 1991 through the efforts of the City Government. Over 2 million trees have been planted to date.