For a time now, Sipalay has become known for its environmental awareness and law enforcement, learning after crucial turning points in its history that not only will clean and thriving beaches bring in a green (or blue) economy, they also represent a healthy ecology, all the way from their forest ridges, down mangrove-lined rivers, to their coral reefs. And a healthy ecology means happy residents, as well as seasonal visitors like sharks and surfers frolicking in Sipalay’s shores. In this episode, Danjugan Island Manager and licensed fisheries technologist Pre Gaurana, whose family lives in Sipalay, shares her thoughts after participating in the city's Shark Conservation Legislation Workshop last July 25-26, and Wala Usik Social Enterprise Officer and surfing enthusiast Ida Vecino talks about Sipalay's 1st Skim and Surf Fest held last July 25-27. 

Our True Nature

Sharks, surf, Sipalay!

Antoinette Taus talks about transforming pain into empathy, which led her to a journey in humanitarian work with CORA, a nonprofit she founded to honor her mother and later to tackle issues such as hunger and plastic pollution. Her passion for social impact and sustainability is shared by Carlo Delantar, social entrepeneur behind the circular design studio Altum, and country director of Waves4Water, which has provided access to clean drinking water to more than a million Filipinos in over 50 provinces since Typhoon Yolanda. This conversation I had with Antoinette and Carlo reminds me that 'sustainability doesn't just mean life cycle analysis or circular economy, it is all about working together for the sustenance of the world.'

Rising from hopelessness and suffering, for people and the planet

Burning out is unavoidable if you're not satisfied with the status quo. Here's a timely and honest conversation with two people who believe we all deserve better, leading projects and campaigns that seek to cultivate care, break apathy, and spark action for the issues we face as a Filipino and global community. Called 'changemakers', they talk about self-care while trying to be selfless, dealing with seemingly perpetual burnouts, seeing the bigger picture, and making peace with the responsibilities that come with their roles. In this episode, Anna Oposa (Chief Mermaid and Executive Director of Save Philippine Seas) and Patch Dulay (Founder and CEO of the Spark Project) debrief and share their thoughts and experiences that may be valuable for those who seek solutions to society's complex problems, as we question what it truly means (and costs) to be a changemaker. 

Changemakers burning out: Can selflessness and self-care coexist?

In the last two weeks, a petition lodged in Change.org for the incoming Negros Occidental provincial governor Bong Lacson named “Save Negros Forest Park” gathered more than 33,000 signatures online. Behind the campaign are mostly millennials who grew up visiting the said facility in Bacolod City and learning its importance for the conservation of Negros endangered endemic wildlife. Mark dela Paz, Jed Jalandoni, and returning as my co-host, Kath Salimbagat, are featured in this episode as three of the thousands of voices in the community who do not want to see the facility go. They benefitted from the facility’s educational programs during their childhoods, and they did “grow up” with its resident animals: the Visayan warty pig, Tarictic hornbill, Visayan spotted deer, Walden’s hornbill, and the Negros bleeding-heart pigeon. 

Growing up in the city with endangered endemic wildlife

To celebrate World Environment Day (June 5), World Oceans Day (June 8), Philippine Environment Month, as well as Pride Month, I am featuring advocates of the Earth who also identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community. Interviewing Iril Ian Rollo, Lucille Jean Raterta, and Joshua Villalobos, was a colorful time of course. As the rainbow flag symbolizes diversity of sexual orientation and gender identity, which we have begun to see as a spectrum rather than distinct labels, I thought of the many, diverse colleagues who are passionate about the future of our shared Earth. In this podcast, we get to know three members of our community through their stories and advocacies.

LGBTQ+ of the Earth (the Universe, rather)

In this episode, as I sit down with two women at the forefront of the Coal-Free Negros Movement - one being a veteran anti-coal activist for more than two decades (Dr. Romana delos Reyes), and the other being younger than 20 years old (Coleen Awit) - I see the intergenerational bond that is essential for our community to be sustainable. It is through their journeys that we see a glimpse of what the island of Negros (Philippines) can become: A truly sustainable community, not just in terms of safeguarding our life support systems and food security, but as well as the continuity of our efforts generation after generation.

Coal-Free Negros and Our Power

This is Our True Nature's first episode exploring human nature in the zombie or apocalyptic film genre, as I interview Bacolod City's young activist leaders for climate justice and human rights: Kath Salimbagat, Krishna Ariola, Claudia Gancayco and Jean Paul Amit. Pardon the amateur audio quality, we will improve as we build on this community podcast! 

Zombies, Climate Crisis, and the Endgame

Interviews with personalities in the fields of ecological sustainability, natural and cultural heritage conservation, circular economy, and social enterprises in the Philippines, and how these themes are expressed in journalism, design thinking, also in film and the arts, even standup comedy and performing in drag! The stories of the characters we get to know in this podcast will lead us to discussions of what kind of community we are building, what collective consciousness is made of, where we're going as a species, what is true human nature, and just WTF are we doing to our planet and ourselves.

hubhopper

Our True Nature

hubhopper