News & Articles

Manila, Philippines—DirectWithHotels took a bold step towards helping Mother Nature regain her foothold. Under the battle cry “Tree-mendous Growth!”, the Company held a series of activities aimed at empowering its management and employees to adopt a more environment-friendly attitude while promoting its corporate values, wellness, integrity, and simplicity.

DirectWithHotels’ environmental revolution kicked off last June 26, Thursday, with a film viewing of former US Vice President Al Gore’s controversial documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth”. The plush Greenbelt 3 cinema served as the venue for the much-awaited movie presentation, which started at 9AM and lasted till noon. But even before the film started to roll, environmental consciousness already ran high among those present—thanks to a spirited speech by Atty. Julie Mustapha of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Special Concerns Division.

The following day, all roads led to Ipo Dam in Norzagaray, Bulacan for the tree-planting activity, serving as the highlight of DirectWithHotels’ awareness program. Upon arrival at the site, participants were grouped into five, namely: Apitong, Acacia, Talisay, Kamagong and Balite. The teams reached their assigned areas after a 500-meter uphill trek, where tree saplings were to be planted into prepared holes.

According to Carlos Zulberti, Chief Planning Officer of DirectWithHotels, “Six billion people are doing things that are damaging [to the environment], but six billion people can do good things [for the environment].” So on that proud day, members of the DirectWithHotels family made an indelible mark by planting over 1,000 trees.

That afternoon, the traditional Townhall (appropriately dubbed Out-Of-Townhall) was held at the Grotto Vista Resort in San Jose, Bulacan. Fun and relaxation took center stage. Amid the sumptuous meals and exclusive use of the multilevel pools, everyone felt pride in contributing to a healthier environment. And that will serve as inspiration for DirectWithHotels to develop greener policies for years to come.