By Ma. Rhea Rose N. Santos

Sure, everyone loves the weekend! It is our best time to relax and relieve stress from a workweek. Most of us take advantage of these rest days by going somewhere peaceful or just being in places where we can express ourselves.

Who wouldn’t want to travel, right? It lets us disconnect and achieve peace of mind so that we can get back to work fully recharged and ready to take on another busy week.

Let us keep in mind, however, that while we pamper ourselves with a much-needed break, we should not forget to take care of our environment while we travel, especially the flora and fauna. Here are some of NLEX employees’ stories on how they embody the Corporate Sustainability value during travel.

Kenneth Ablong, AOVP Engineer, Asset Planning and Optimization, Asset Management Division

“I’ve always wanted to explore nature, specifically mountains. I enjoy looking at the forest, the smell and sound of it. Most especially when I reached the top, the sea of clouds makes me feel alive and grateful.”

For Kenneth, he considers himself a visitor to all the beautiful places he has been. His personal rule when traveling is to “take nothing but pictures, and leave nothing but footprints”. Being a mountain lover, he follows the old trail when he hikes so that he won’t step into the greens. During his climb, he is also considerate of the other people on the trail by extending his hand to help them reach the summit.

Lea Cacho, Technical Engineer, Asset Planning and Optimization, Asset Management Division

Uncrowded beaches are Lea’s personal choice for relaxation and reflection. Besides that, she is also fond of discovering unfamiliar places to explore apart from the usual go-to places posted on social media. Like Kenneth, her travel motto is “leave nothing but footprints.” and she always follows this wherever she goes. Amongst her group of friends, she is the only one from the North and so she usually suggests Northern Luzon destinations. She is a corporate sustainability (iCARE value) advocate; she packs her meals in reusable containers to avoid one-time use of plastic materials.

Jonathan Macamus, Traffic Engineer, Asset Planning and Optimization, Asset Management Division

Some of the mountains Jonathan had been into are Binacayan, Pamitinan, Hapunang Banoi, Espadang Bato, Ulap, Kupapey, and Fato. He is into hiking because there are fewer people in the mountains than in the beach or city. This is also his time for self-reflection and introspection. Whenever he’s on a nature trip, he takes care of the environment by bringing reusable food containers and tumblers. He follows the “leave no trace” rule as well and so he takes his trash with him and dispose it properly.

Ericka Shayne Sarmiento, Contracts Administration Specialist, Project Management Department

CLAYGO or “Clean as you go” is Ericka’s personal rule when traveling. She collects her own trash and properly dispose it. According to her, experiencing nature is free and so her way of giving back is to support cleanliness throughout the trip. She refrains from using plastic materials and instead brings her own utensils for meals. She loves to travel up north because for her, Northern Luzon has the most beautiful mountains and beaches that are perfect for quick relaxation.

While people really love to travel and be one with nature, we should not forget that humans are not the only living things in this planet. For us to be able to survive, we must show compassion to our own world. With the advancement of technology, it is better, wiser, and cooler if we consider sustainability a priority.

---

---