Gonzalez, Villafuerte and Alvarez
Young voices filled the room as YES-O (Youth for Environment in Schools Organization) Apolaki sang about initiating change and rapped about saving the environment.
The group, from Infant Jesus Montessori Center (IJMC) in Dasmari帽as, Cavite, performed the original songs 鈥淪ama Sama鈥� and 鈥淧agbabago鈥� at the 4th Greeneration Summit: A Gathering for Youth Empowerment on Climate Change.
The high school club joined 1,000 students and youth leaders at SM Mall of Asia SMX Convention Center in Pasay City to listen to experts and Greeneration ambassadors talk about climate change adaptation.
As the horrors of Supertyphoon 鈥淵olanda鈥澛� (international name: 鈥淗aiyan鈥�) continue to haunt the nation, the youth, comprising majority of the population, has to be more educated and involved, Climate Change Commission (CCC) vice chair Lucille Sering said.
鈥淲e in the government cannot do everything by ourselves. We need you 鈥� to spread the word,鈥� Sering told elementary, high school, college and graduate students from Metro Manila and parts of Luzon.
For YES-O Apolaki coach Rent Salimbao, the best way to spread environment advocacy is through music and social networking sites.
鈥淵ou have to find ways to catch the attention of the youth and make them interested in environmental issues,鈥� the chemistry teacher said.
Multiply
Hoping to create a ripple effect, Sering told the delegates, 鈥淲e want you to multiply on Facebook. Tweet. Be informative.鈥�
Climate change, which causes significant changes in weather patterns, will lead to more devastating natural disasters, shrinking ice shelves and glaciers and rising global temperatures.
鈥淭he best way to address the problem is to accept that it can happen,鈥� Sering said. 鈥淪cience [provides] us certainty about this phenomenon.鈥�
In the current school curricula, climate change is only discussed in science classes. But, as calamities are聽 becoming more severe, experts have stressed the need to 鈥渕ainstream鈥� the subject.
鈥淲hat you know will help you survive,鈥� Sering said.
She said there were plans to make the topic a required subject even for nonscience majors.
Until that happens, the Greeneration summit is one of the vehicles used by environmental advocates to provide more young people a crash course on climate change.
CCC鈥檚 website (https://climate.gov.ph/) and social media also provide answers to frequently asked questions like what is climate change, on global warming, the people鈥檚 survival fund
Kenny Dave Abapo sings 鈥淧agbabago.鈥�
and the local climate change action plan.
In an interview, Sering said the learning and sharing of knowledge would go beyond the summit as there would be a 鈥渇ollow through.鈥�
Students and their advisers pledged to organize activities promoting climate change awareness in their respective schools, communities and the World Wide Web.
Spreading the word
Grade 6 science teacher Erwin Donelo of College of the Immaculate Conception in Cabanatuan City said they planned to have his students talk on climate change at public schools.
Donelo said that after every conference, his organization, Children for Climate Change, made it a point to share what they had learned with the community.
His student, Rizviolet Balanquit, 11, said she 鈥渓earned a lot of things 鈥� that I can apply in my daily life.鈥�
The Grade 6 pupil said聽 Greeneration ambassador Bianca Gonzalez鈥檚 10 tips for an eco-friendly lifestyle were very doable.
The tips included using eco-bags for shopping, using less paper by recycling used paper and having one notebook for three subjects, conserving water by using a tabo (dipper) and energy by unplugging gadgets when fully charged and聽 switching off lights and聽 appliances when not in use.
Gonzalez added that it was more economical in the long run to invest in LED (light-emitting diodes) and converters and it was more fun to use mass transit and to carpool.
The ABS-CBN talent encouraged students to support eco-friendly products, clean coolers like electric fans and refrigerators at least once a week to lessen energy consumption, and read about environmental issues. And, more importantly, they should care for Mother Earth, she said.
鈥淯nless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It鈥檚 not,鈥� Gonzalez quoted the Lorax, a nature-loving character from the children鈥檚 book written by Dr. Seuss.
Balanquit鈥檚 classmate, Felix Rafael Paradas, 11, was amazed by Camarines Sur Gov. Miguel Villafuerte鈥檚 El Verde project.
Paradas said he liked the idea that students received scholarships for helping protect the environment. Camarines Sur supports 10 scholars for every 2,500 trees planted. In 2012, it broke the Guinness World Record by planting 64,096 trees.
Zsahanie Paigan, 13, a Grade 8 student at IJMC, said she was inspired by the presentation of Mayor Carmela Alvarez of San Vicente, Palawan, on their quest to be an ecotown鈥攁 climate-resilient community.
Paigan hoped that the whole country would adopt the San Vicente framework to avoid devastation similar to Yolanda鈥檚.
San Vicente is a coastal town susceptible to storm surges. The local government has conducted聽 vulnerability assessments to plan and build houses strong enough to withstand disasters.
Alvarez said that with the help of Gawad Kalinga, they planned to put up a resort community that would not only shelter the people but also provide them with a livelihood.
鈥淓ach house will have a [business depending on the owner鈥檚 preference],鈥� she said. It could be a barbershop, a sari-sari store or an inn for backpackers.
鈥淲e are teaching residents to be entrepreneurs,鈥� the youngest chief executive of Palawan said.
Gail Mar, 16, a Baliuag University freshman, said Rappler chief executive officer Maria Ressa鈥檚 talk on crowd-sourcing and social media was 鈥渧ery interesting and informative.鈥�
SERING
鈥淐rowd-sourcing is the new form of bayanihan (teamwork),鈥� Ressa said.
Obtaining information, services and ideas from a large group of people through social media proved helpful during the Yolanda crisis.
People found missing relatives through Facebook. 黑料社 about the catastrophe quickly spread in the Internet and drew international aid, Ressa said.
Social media gave youth the opportunity to help, she said, adding, 鈥淵our generation can do things that my generation only dreamt about.鈥�
PHOTOS BY RIMA JESSAMINE M. GRANALI