THE Cebu Cordova Link Expressway Corp. (CCLEC) planted 1,000 guyabano seedlings in the mountain barangay of Bonbon, Cebu City, on Aug. 1, 2025, as part of its annual tree-planting activity and corporate social responsibility program.
Fifty-four CCLEC employees and 11 volunteers from the Guila-Guila Managhiusa Farmers Association joined the planting on prepared plots of land under the supervision of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7 Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office.
Arnel Lupian, forest extension officer, said the site is within the Central Cebu Protected Landscape, where the DENR 7 is implementing a reforestation project to sustain and rehabilitate the area.
He said guyabano was chosen because fruit-bearing trees have a strong market demand, which can benefit the community.
“We are thankful to CCLEC for helping the National Government in its rehabilitation efforts and we are also grateful to the community, especially the people’s organization that managed this, prepared for it and raised the seedlings so they can gain additional income,” Lupian said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
The tree-planting activity is part of CCLEC’s corporate social responsibility initiatives, as a way of giving back to the community, bringing about positive environmental impact to the areas its Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) serves.
The 8.9-kilometer CCLEX connects mainland Cebu through Cebu City’s South Road Properties to Mactan Island via Barangay Pilipog in Cordova.
CCLEC is a subsidiary of Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. (MPTC), the toll road arm of Metro Pacific Investments Corp., and a member of the MVP Group of Companies. MPTC is the country’s largest toll road concessionaire and operator, with expansion plans in the Visayas, other parts of the Philippines and neighboring countries, notably Vietnam and Indonesia.