Bird of Prey: An Environmental Fair at Mapúa Malayan Colleges Mindanao
On August 24, 2019, Mapúa Malayan Colleges Mindanao hosted the ‘Bird of Prey: An Environmental Fair’, a film showing and advocacy event centered on the wildlife documentary about the Philippine Eagle entitled “Bird of Prey” at the MapúaMCM Auditorium on the 4/F, Admin Building. Around three hundred and sixty MapúaMCM students including outsiders who were allowed inside the campus to watch the film were in attendance. In the hallway outside of the Auditorium, attendees could peruse the different booths manned by social entrepreneurs with environmental advocacies from Global Shapers Community – Davao Hub, The Philippine Eagle Foundation and Pasalidahay. These booths were selling various products like handmade soaps, stickers, t-shirts, sandals and Philippine Eagle merchandise.
Aside from the booths, you could see the photos of those who participated in the Bird of Prey: Amateur Photo Contest as they were displayed on easels in the hallway where attendees could view and appreciate the hard work and creativity of the photographers. Along the bottom of the photos, you could also read their respective messages concerning the health of the environment and its impact on the quality of urban life. The winner, Mr. Julius R. Paner, was announced at the end of the event.
The program officially commenced with an introduction to five specially curated short films about the environment – curated by Pasalidahay’s co-founder Jay Rosas – starting with “Consequences of Man” by Jeffrie Po, “Juana and the Sacred Shores” by Antonne Carbonell Santiago, and then followed by “Sakmit” by Seph Tan, “Bulig” by Andrew James Maraguinot and “Guna” by Bob Perez. After watching the short films the students were able to have a Q&A session with Jay Rosas and James Maraguinot – the director and editor of “Bulig”, one of the short films presented. They answered questions about the process of choosing and making short films.
The afternoon session continued with the main event which was the showing of the Bird of Prey film. “Bird of Prey” – the wildlife documentary film on the Philippine Eagle – delves into the journey of wildlife cinematographer Neil Rettig and his wife, Expedition Coordinator and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Laura Johnson; along with their team of expert cinematographers and tree riggers. This film is produced by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Their main goal throughout the documentary is to find and film the rarest eagle on the planet: The Philippine Eagle. The audience sat enraptured as they told their story and visualized it in such a way that you couldn’t help but be taken in by the sight of our national bird.
After the film, we were given the privilege to ask questions in a special Q&A session with Mr. Neil Rettig and Mrs. Laura Johnson via Skype to talk to them about the Bird of Prey movie. The audience became very involved and passionate, asking questions here and there about what their experience was like, what was going through their minds, and what the viewers themselves could do to help their environment and the Philippine Eagle from going extinct. Mr. Rettig and Mrs. Johnson answered what they could with clarity, and did their best to keep the audience informed and inspired, leaving them with a call to action and a new hope that we would be able to do our best as a community to protect our planet and its inhabitants.
