Bayer - Eco-Minds

Philippines | May 15, 2007

Philippines Names Four Eco-Minds Delegates

The best four from among 80 Eco-Minds applicants were recently proclaimed as the official Philippine delegates to the Eco-Minds Forum at a simple awarding ceremony held at the Hotel Intercontinental Manila. Mrs. Elisea Gozun, former Secretary of the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources, and also 2007 UNEP Champions of the Earth laureate, was the guest-of-honour.

Zoom imageDeo Florence Onda, Edwina Astrid Abanto, Wainwright Gregory Yu, and Francis Ron De Guzman from left

The four winners are: Deo Florence Onda, Edwina Astrid Abanto, Wainwright Gregory Yu, and Francis Ron De Guzman.

Deo Florence Onda is a 3rd year BS Biology student of the University of the Philippines Baguio. Demonstrating a brilliant scientific mind that understands the social, political and economic dimensions of river sustainability, Deo showed the relationship of development and ecological sustainability. He also contrasted long-term and short-term views of development, and related present developmental conditions with the future of the environment. Finally, he laid down the main problems of water scarcity and outlined solutions on how to sustain river basins.

Edwina Astrid Abanto is a 4th year BS Electrical Engineering student of the University of Southeastern Philippines in Davao City. Edwina impressed the judges with her pioneering research on the use of the Candle Nut Tree as an economical and environment-friendly substitute for kerosene, a project that placed her as Champion for the Industrial Category at the Engineering Congress held in Davao. She proposes to have upland watershed areas planted with Candle Nut Trees not only to protect the watersheds’ forest cover but also to offer residents a source of livelihood, given the tree’s versatile uses as a food ingredient and product additive, and now as a potential energy source.

Wainwright Gregory Yu is an AB Philosophy and BS Accountancy student of De La Salle University Manila, now on his fifth year of studies. Wainwright’s comprehensive knowledge and broad perspective on the issue of a sustainable river basin earned for him a slot at the Eco-Minds Asia Pacific Forum. As a framework for building a sustainable river basin, he presented a system of balancing water demand with supply by putting the focus on the management of existing water sources rather than the development of new ones. His ideas capitalize on collective action and innovation at the grassroots level.

Francis Ron De Guzman is a fourth year law student of UP Diliman who typifies the country’s policymaker of tomorrow. Francis presented a dissertation on the pros and cons of dams. On the one side, he cited how dams can be agents of development, and on the other hand, he pointed out some trade-offs like severe social, environmental and cultural destruction. He concludes that sustaining a river basin, vis-à-vis creating a system of water resource allocation, should be a multi-sectoral responsibility. To this end, he recommends focusing individual goals to water conservation as a step towards a larger collective action.

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