The Balangay Media Project, held in 2021 by the Oscar M. Lopez Center, highlighted the role of storytelling in addressing climate change. The Balangay Media Project culminated with Umalohokan Fellow, Team Bintuwak, winning the final grant for their campaign on the role of indigenous knowledge in developing climate resilience. 

To further encourage turning Balangay Media stories into action, Asia Society Philippines in partnership with the Oscar M. Lopez Center brings Ang Ating Kwentong Klima or Our Climate Story. The project not only highlights the climate challenges featured by the Umalohokan Fellows, but also further explores these themes to better understand the whys and how we can move forward. 

Ang Ating Kwentong Klima is a four-part series exploring four climate change impacts: 

• Kwentong Pagkain, tackling food security; 
• Kwentong Isla, tackling the distinct experience of Filipinos living in an archipelago;
• Kwentong Kultura, tackling the effects of climate change on indigenous communities and the impact on culture; and 
• Kwentong Kinabukasan, tackling climate resiliency and exploring our climate future. 

Episode 3: Kwentong Kultura

Kwentong Kultura features a conversation among experts and advocates about the adverse effects of the current climate crisis on small communities, particularly indigenous groups, and how these effects harm the rich culture of these communities. Join our esteemed speakers as they engage in a discourse about the experiences of specific groups and how it puts their rich culture in peril.

PANEL:

Dr. Noralene Uy is currently a researcher at the International Recovery Platform Secretariat. She is a climate and disaster risk management specialist with over 15 years of experience. She has worked in different capacities for the Asian Development Bank (ADB), UNDP Philippines, UN University Institute for Environment and Human Security, Philippine Red Cross, American Red Cross, Office of Civil Defense, Ateneo de Manila University and the National Resilience Council.

Her interests lie in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation focusing on community resilience, risk governance, nature-based solutions, indigenous knowledge and human mobility, migration and displacement.

Ronald Maliao is an Umalohokan Fellow from Team Bintuwak. Through the “Kinaiya it Kailayahan: The Role of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices (IKSP) of Nabaoynons in Malay, Aklan in Developing Local Climate Change Resiliency”, Team Bintuwak sought to enhance the understanding and appreciation by the general public of the importance of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practice (IKSP) in riverine conservation, promote it as an integral component of the knowledge pool, and making the local community partners in developing local adaptive mechanisms for climate change resiliency. 

The team envisions that the IKSP of Nabaoynons and the local community will be tapped as a critical component and partner in local policymaking, particularly in the context of riverine conservation. Parallel to this, the Nabaoy Watershed will be afforded its due importance in any local development discourse.

Ritchel C. Cahilig is the founding president of Aklan Trekkers. She is an advocate of ridge-to-reef conservation, sustainable community tourism, cultural sensitivity, and social entrepreneurship. An experienced hiker, she organizes events for a cause, engages in mountain explorations and community immersions, and leads upland outreach missions to last-mile schools and geographically isolated and disadvantaged communities.

Richard R. Cahilig currently works as a field manager at Darwin Project by Darwin Initiative through the Bristol Zoological Society in partnership with the PhilinCon. He is a social entrepreneur, freelance photographer, and cofounder of Aklan Trekkers. Mr. Cahilig engages in community immersions, mountain explorations, digital mapping, backpacking, and traversing borders. He is an experienced hiker, blogger, outdoor event organizer, humanitarian volunteer, and environmental advocate.

Robert Mansalo-on Cahapon is a co-founder of Salumayag Youth Collective for Forests, an indigenous youth-led initiative focusing on Agroecology, Ecological Agriculture, and Environmental Storytelling. Mr. Cahapon belongs to the Manobo-Kulamanun indigenous community in Southern Bukidnon in which their organization also operates. Moreover, he is an organic farmer and permaculture practitioner that excels in the fields of Forest Management and Ecological Agriculture.

MODERATOR:

Kato Sarmiento is the Communications Manager at the Oscar M. Lopez Center for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management Foundation where she works with technical experts in communicating the relevance, risks and impacts of the changing climate to Philippine communities.

She describes her expertise as communication wrangling for mission-oriented organizations. Prior to her work at the Oscar M. Lopez Center, she managed and implemented communication programs at SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan, the Asian Institute of Management, and De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, among others.

Ang Ating Kwentong Klima is produced in partnership with the Oscar M. Lopez Center

About Oscar M. Lopez Center

The Oscar M. Lopez Center for Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management Foundation, Inc. (OML Center) is a non-profit organization born out of a private sector initiative to enhance support for research and innovative solutions towards climate change adaptation and disaster risk management. It is rooted in the principle that science must play a role in building the resilience of communities through actionable knowledge. Founded in 2012, the OML Center was established in response to an apparent research gap that was alarmingly disproportionate to the climate-related risks and vulnerabilities of the Philippines. The first of its kind in the country, the OML Center continues to be the only privately funded grant-giving non-governmental organization (NGO) doing research-based climate change programs and initiatives.

And special thanks to our Promotional Partners:

ABS-CBN Foundation Inc, Biodiversity Conservation Society of the Philippines, Eco Explorations, Forest Foundation Philippines, Knowledge Channel Foundation Inc., ParaBukas, Philippine Parks and Biodiversity, Rare Philippines, Save Philippine Seas, Sustainable PH, Sustainable PH Youth