“Saving watersheds, forests, and futures now demands a wider circle – and a faster stride”
Some mornings remind you why advocacy must move – literally.
At the quiet edge of the La Mesa Watershed, where trees stand guard over the water that sustains Metro Manila and nearby provinces, the Million Trees Foundation, Inc. formally launched the media campaign for Run for a Million Trees: An Earth Day Celebration last Dec. 27.
It was not a spectacle. It was a statement: that saving watersheds, forests, and futures now demands a wider circle – and a faster stride.
Leading the call was retired Gen. Reynaldo V. Velasco, MTFI Chairman Emeritus and founder of the Annual Million Trees Challenge.
He spoke plainly, the way generals do when the mission is clear: protect the watersheds that supply water to millions across Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, and Cavite.
This first-ever Million Trees Fun Run, he said, is meant to become an annual tradition—an invitation to ordinary Filipinos to do something extraordinary, together.
On April 11, 2026—days before Earth Day—thousands will gather at the Quirino Grandstand for 5K, 10K, and 16K races.
Beginners will jog.
Veterans will chase personal bests.
Families will walk.
Corporate teams will bond.
What unites them is the simple truth behind the rallying call: Run with Purpose. Run for Mother Earth.
On my part as President and Executive Director of MTFI, I emphasized the run is more than fitness and passion.
It is a conversion of movement into meaning.
Every kilometer becomes a seedling.
Every finish line, a pledge.
And yes, a reminder that floods made worse by ghost flood-control projects are not acts of God—but failures of stewardship.
Running, in this case, is a peaceful protest against indifference and corruption, and a hopeful stride toward accountability.
The partnership ecosystem mirrors the breadth of the challenge: organizers Green Media Events Company led by Jenny Lumba, with institutional support from Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Maynilad, QBE and corporate partners, local government units, and civic organizations.
Among the group runners present in the media launch include: MSC Runners, Team Riot, Team Sexy, Team Soleus, APO Runners, Ayala Triads, Accenture Runners, ING Running Club, Barefoot Diva, SAF , Marikina Sport Runner, WGR, Ayala Vertis Nort, Barcena’s Running Warriors BRW, People in Great Shape, PS Bank, SSS Runners, Swift and Fit, Team CholoFlight, Team LPB, Team MegaFiber Runners, TeamBa, UP Night Runners, Titos of Manila, The Running Junkiest PH and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
Organizers are targeting an ambitious 5,000 to 10,000 runners, making it one of the largest environment-themed fun runs in the country.
But ambition is the point.
Because the Philippines does not need another poster campaign about climate change.
It needs participation. Sweat equity. A habit of showing up.
Registration is now open via the Million Trees social channels, with more details unfolding in the weeks ahead.
The finishers will bring home medals and shirts; the country will gain something more lasting—trees in the ground, watersheds protected, and a shared sense that progress can begin with a single step.
Sometimes, saving the planet doesn’t start with a speech.
It starts with tying your shoelaces—and choosing to run.
In the end, Run for a Million Trees is not really about running faster than the next person.
It is about running ahead of the damage—before floods rise again, before watersheds thin out, before the next excuse replaces action.
On April 11, 2026, we run not to escape our problems, but to face them—head on, together, with purpose.
Because sometimes, the most powerful statement a citizen can make is simple: to show up, to move, and to care.
(The writer, president/chief executive officer of Media Touchstone Ventures, Inc. and president/executive director of the Million Trees Foundation Inc., a non-government outfit advocating tree-planting and environmental protection, is the official biographer of President Fidel V. Ramos.)
