'Save the Biosphere' action plan wins slot in Brazil conference for high school students

Out of 345 high school students, three students won the national competition, “Ating Kalikasan, Ating Pananagutan! Kilusan ng Kabataan Alay sa Mundo!” (Conserving Nature is Our Responsibility – Youth’s Offer to the World). They are Hannah Eunice Amihan of Palawan National High School, James Noroña of Jipapad National High School (Eastern Samar), Patricia Carla Undang of Matiao National High School (Mati, Davao Oriental). Meantime, Blessed Bea Piondaya of St. Joseph School (Iloilo), who accomplished all the requirements, was chosen by NASSPHIL to join the delegation.

These four Filipino students will represent the country as delegates to the Let’s Take Care of the Planet Children and Youth International Conference for the Environment on June 5-10, 2010 in Brasilia, Brazil. The students were selected after a national selection process that mobilized schools all over the country to come together and act on environmental issues and sustainable development.

Engaging the youth in taking responsibilities

Over a thousand young children ages 12 to 14 years old all over the world are expected to attend the Brazil Conference which aims to enable the youth of the world to assume global commitments locally, taking on responsibilities for the construction of sustainable societies and promoting a network to protect the planet. The Brazilian government invited countries to undertake a national process of environmental education involving the participation of students, teachers, communities, NGOs and the government.

In the Philippines, the Charter of Human Responsibilities (CHR) coordinated the national process and formed the Philippine Organizing Committee composed of the Department of Education, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, National Association of Secondary Schools of the Philippines (NASSPHIL) and the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines. I was elected by the Committee as its Chairperson.

Countrywide selection process

The national process was launched in July 13-15, 2009 at the NASSPHIL Youth Congress in Baguio. From August to October last year, DepEd organized school conferences on environmental responsibility all over the country wherein students were elected as their school’s representatives to the area conference.

Twelve Area Conferences were held in environmentally and geographically diverse sites, namely: Iloilo, Nueva Ecija, Palawan, Samar, Camiguin, Ifugao, Mindoro, National Capital Region, Davao Oriental, Agusan del Sur, Bohol and Isabela. Blessed Bea was selected during the Area Conference in Iloilo as NASSPHIL’s sponsored student to the International Conference. The NCR Conference was held last November 20, 2009 at the OB Montessori Center in Greenhills, San Juan participated by 85 students in the region.

The selection of delegates culminated at the National Meeting held on February 4, 2010 at the Ristorante La Dolce Fontana in Greenhills, San Juan wherein 12 students selected from the Area Conferences represented their respective regions. Hannah, James and Patricia bested over 345 students who participated in the countrywide environmental education movement. They were selected based on the quality, effectiveness and sustainability of the environmental projects they have implemented in their communities. The students were also judged according to the clarity, relevance and appropriateness of the edu-communication materials they have presented as well as their active participation during the group workshops held at the National Meeting.

The eloquent boy from Samar, the decisive delegate from Mati  and Palawan’s pride

James, the only boy amongst the 12 students, lives in a small island without electricity, in typhoon-prone Eastern Samar. Knowing that his town of Jipapad is prone to flooding due to illegal logging, kaingin and improper garbage disposal in their waterways, James, only 13 years old, initiated a tree planting and proper waste disposal project in his community. He eloquently presented his project in Tagalog, in the manner of Ted Failon, with such conviction using a manually-operated diorama on preserving coastal resources and planting trees to avoid floods.

Patricia, also 13 years old, led her fellow students in Mati, Davao Oriental to promote awareness on climate change, a coastal clean-up, mangrove planting, solid waste segregation and information dissemination on responsible mining. Mrs. Iluminada Duran, High School Principal of OB Montessori and workshop group facilitator was impressed that she articulately expressed her thoughts and feelings on environmental issues. She was found to be decisive and reflective who keenly listened first and substantially contributed to the workshop discussions.

The eldest among the group at 14 years old, Hannah, proudly asserted that she is from the province of Palawan, home to two World Heritage Sites of Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park and Puerto Princesa Underground River. Her project, E-Barkada Environmental Summit and Campaigns, mobilized a thousand students to raise awareness on environmental issues via a rock concert, use of popular social networking sites such as Facebook, field trips, film showing and a youth summit. Her creative audio and video presentation certainly caught the attention of the judges.

Observation of how secondary school students and teachers work

Their project of protecting our eco-system has connected students and their teacher advisers to networks of mayors, barangays, and federations of schools, teachers, and parents. They are also the source of funding. This practice is commendable. However, they still have to comprehend every facet of the environment and human life affected by climate change, including economy, transportation, communication, food production and health.

The participants focused only on waste management, tree planting in the forests and mangrove area. They still must understand the bio-dynamics of the Philippines. DepEd should enrich a comprehensive Geography course. Problems keep piling up from the failure of our countrymen to conserve the land, the water, and the air that envelop it.

UNESCO studies on Asia Pacific countries include a list of archipelagos, like the Philippines, with numerous islands that have a very long coastline. Some provinces, such as Ifugao and Leyte, are typhoon-prone, causing landslides. There are also 22 active volcanoes all over the country.

Students living by the seaside have not been exposed to “Ocean Watch”, an exercise in monitoring the nature of the sand, the height of the waves, and various litter tourists live behind – so they can volunteer to safeguard the seaside. The participants barely mentioned problems of squatters along rivers and harbors contaminating it, whose pollution destroy fishing grounds. Their advisers who are their classroom teachers fail to discuss that this problem extends to flooding or stagnating the water with poisonous sedimentation, the major cause of red algae.

Caring for our country and for the Planet Earth involves an extensive, scientific and practical knowledge. Then, youthful enthusiasm will accompany this.

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