The Philippine Online Chronicles

Anna Oposa, so young and passionate.  I am her online stage mother as I often kid this young and promising writer. She joined Blog Watch as the youngest blogger in our team just  a few months before the May 10, 2010 national elections. Anna was only a third year English Studies major but I already felt her desire to make a difference in our country through the promotion of domestic tourism and protecting our environment. Her blog articles Dear Future DOT Secretary, the Dear DENR Secretary, and Dear DOH Secretary actually ended up on the desks of these Secretaries.  As a Filipino youth representative in Cancun, Mexico for the UN Framework on Climate Change in October 2010, she wrote about their future, that Our Future is not for Sale.

Anna came to my mind when I was alerted of Shell Horizons Inc, allegedly selling Philippine Corals for sale. Since April 9, Anna took up the challenge to stop the plunder of our marine life by sending out letters to key government officials and other tasks which will be known some day when things are in order. After all, it is not easy taking up this challenge when the people involved have been doing these for years.

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Anna Oposa at the first senate hearing on Coral Poaching,  June 1, 2011

Pitong Pinoy

It is not a surprise that Anna was chosen as one of  the seven Filipino modern-day heroes in the Pitong Pinoy project of Yahoo Philippines. In Seven stories, seven inspiring Filipinos, the entry on Anna tells how “a lot of people claim to care for the environment but how many actually go out of their way and really work beyond lip service?”

“Oposa, director of the Law of Nature Foundation, has proven her love for Mother Earth by vigorously working on protecting marine life.

She also initiated "Save the Philippine Seas," spurred by recent reports of massive coral reef destruction in several parts of the country. Her initiatives made quite a huge social network ripple and united Filipinos through a national blog day to save the Philippine seas.

She is also lobbying to strengthen laws for environment protection, a long-term goal that we hope would live on far beyond our grandchildren's life spans.”

I agree with Blogie Robillo  who in behalf of Save the Philippine Seas, sent me a copy of the nomination letter to Pitong Pinoy, where he said that “Anna Oposa deserves to be hailed as one of the nation's modern-day heroes. She possesses a passion, intelligence, discipline, community-mindedness that drive her to achieve her goals.”

The future belongs to the youth

Some say the youth is wasted on the young. Perhaps they are the ones who have never met the youth in action. When faced with the challenge to do something for climate change, Anna says that “ I am sure that something good will come out of this because of the promise and unwavering passion of the youth. Because we have been so disillusioned with the lack of progress of the previous generations, we understand that the time for talk is over. We will continue fighting for our rights as inheritors of the Earth and keep changing mindsets and practices, with or without the world leaders by our side.”

Anna’s generation and the generations yet unborn have a right to inherit a country that has sustained my generation. There are probably many young people out there with the same burning passion but need a platform to advocate their stand. More young people can learn from Anna and realize that there is no age requirement to making a difference in the world. Blog Watch is seeking out young writers to be part of our team. You can contact me here.

I believe the future belongs to the unwavering passion of the youth.

Photo 1 from 350.org and the rest of the photos by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado. Some Rights Reserved