[KABANKALAN CITY—June 17, 2026] Pairs of feet marched, and pairs of hands picked up seedlings in pursuit of a common goal. Clad in apparel of white and green, feet covered with different shoes—some in flats, some in sneakers, and some in working boots—gathering from the academic and the non-teaching arms of the university, Cenphilians broke the monotony of their regular duties to heed the common call that transcends position and station.

The process started before the activity itself. It started with the seedlings carefully grown by the Natural Resources and Environment Management Services (NREMS) with care from the mother trees of native tree species that sprawl through the vast Central Philippines State University (CPSU) reserve. As fruits fall down the base of mother trees, they don’t fall with as inevitable futility; they are gathered as materials to build legacies—legacies of literal and poetic meaning.

Picking up the seedlings grown for transplanting, a hundred, more or less, pairs of feet, trek through one of the many hills in the university, officially identified as the Legacy Park 1. Carrying the seedling through the leaf-carpeted ground, the experience grounds one as the uphill trek requires support from the trees along the trail, touching nature tangibly and reconnecting man with the environment.

As breaths grew shallower, it didn’t breed despair but appreciation for the thick foliage of trees and vegetation that sheltered the trekkers from the sweltering heat of the sun and supplied ample oxygen to breathe amid the exhaustion. Having the seedlings on one hand and holding grown trees with the other reminded of the weight of the cause and why it should be realized despite.

As trekkers emerged from the clearing, the warmth of the communal spirit in oneness for regreening the land overwhelmed the senses. Armed with crowbars and nothing but hands that are used to toil of varying kinds, Cenphilians meekly brought themselves near to the soil—in intimate stewardly contact with the ground, silently acknowledging that people and nature sustain each other mutually, and that it is humankind’s calling to protect and restore what nurtures life and caters it day in and day out. As seedlings were transplanted, whether by steady or clumsy hands, the shared prayer for their survival, resilience, and vitality reverberated inwardly.

The sense of fulfillment overflows in the hands that invested in the cause, and the confidence from the groundedness of the university’s campaign to plant a million trees and more grows. It grows from the truth that what CPSU encourages among its partners and its campaign for sustainability doesn’t remain only on social media to build a brand and gain engagement. It is a lived reality and commitment that Cenphilians uphold in this quiet nook in the southern part of Negros Island Region.

[Oplan Tanom, spearheaded by the CPSU-NREMS under the guidance of the Office Director Mr. Gregorio D. Predo, brought together the Cenphilian community in celebration of Kabankalan City’s 26th Environment Week. This meaningful initiative, held in support of Provincial Environment Month 2026 and inspired by the theme, “Inspired by Nature. For Climate. For our Future,” united participants in a shared commitment to environmental stewardship and a greener tomorrow.]

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