Hiatus

October 31, 2012 was the last broadcast of my radio program "Kalikasan Vigilante" on DWBL. (As I had feared, I ran out of fuel, as the advertisers who "promised" to keep the show on the air didn't come through to back the monthly block time fees of P50k.)

You may still listen to the podcast of my episodes that ran from September to October 2012. The information you will hear from my wonderful guests will prove timeless and always relevant.

To resurrect my advocacy on radio and podcast, I am offering to give lectures to your barangays, offices, condominium residents, civic groups, etc, that will encompass the following topics:

- garbage recycling
- turning trash to cash through livelihood projects thereby alleviating hunger and malnutrition in poor communities
- natural farming practices
- water conservation starting from the home
- the healthful practice of vermiculture
- child-care and breastfeeding
- natural healing (through organic herbs,spices,weeds)
- consumer rights
- and many more.

Please send your email to me at emarcelo@inquirer.com.ph or post your comments below.

Many thanks for your support and let's keep in touch.

Episode 43 - October 31, 2012 Guest: Bert Guevara

It is apropos that Bert would grace my last broadcast for the year. He has been a true kindred spirit in the protection of the environment. He is relentless in his pursuit of ways to better the lives of the most ordinary folk and tireless in coming up with innovative projects to support them. Bert and I are in agreement that this advocacy for the environment is a lifetime commitment that neither money nor naysayers can stamp out. Our voices will be heard in whatever medium will carry us through- be it radio, or the internet.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 42 - October 30, 2012 Guest: Ana Alfonso

Ana is the consummate educator in that she approaches teaching in a holistic way- mind, body, and spirit. That she is able to integrate the intellectually-challenged children (who are called special) with regular students, and blend them into one harmonious classroom, not only fills up one group with compassion and empathy, but embraces the other with the feeling of being wanted and understood. She also credits the atmosphere in a happy family for the values one sees in kind and good people.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 41 - October 29. 2012 Guest: Lydia Robledo

I love having Lydia as guest. She is a housewife who first dabbled in bird-watching, then started taking fantastic photographs of butterflies beautiful enough to be included in a book of book about butterflies, and now lectures on native trees and the correct way to reforestation. She did it all because she was committed and cared enough to understand the bottom line of the life cycle of living things.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 40 - October 26, 2012 Guest: Jimmy Dy-Liacco

I've said time and again how Jimmy cured me of the constant migraines I have suffered from grade school through adulthood. How? by telling me how dehydrated I've been! He does it again in our interview tonight when he dispenses such simple solutions to high blood pressure, diabetes, heart ailments and others. He thoroughly believes that the food we eat is truly the best medicine to cure the body of its various ailments.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 39 - October 25, 2012 Guest: John Paul Olivares

I heard of John Paul through Facebook. He has an umbrella NGO called Green Agenda where they're sort of a clearing house for the different environment groups that can be sourced out to whomever needs help. He is an artist, educator, writer/advocate. We talked about the diminishing values among the young of the country and how solutions can be arrived at with the right attitude. He laments that older people are constantly talking of the "good old days" thus making youngsters feel that the bad that's happening is all their fault.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 38 - October 24, 2012 Guest: Dr Judea Mellora

Dea and I met when she was interviewed in the other radio station to discuss the mountains of garbage in the city in the late 90s. She was already practicing medicine in the poor sections of Navotas and Tondo, but she made time to teach communities on how to segregate their garbage. These days though she is a full-time medical practitioner specializing in natural medicine, she still finds time to go to those communities for free consultations and cater to the needs of the poor.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 37 - October 23, 2012 Guest: Inday Berroya

Inday and I had a free-wheeling discussion on the state of our environment specifically the planting of indigenous trees, trees being cut due to ignorance, and giving way to the building of no-sense commercial structures in its place. We also talked about the garbage dumped by ships in the sea that find its way to beaches, and how wildlife like birds and turtles are harmed by this practice.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 36 - October 22, 2012 Guest: Dr Rommel Tinio

Dr Tinio expounded on the importance of taking Vitamin C for those suffering from diabetes, hypertension, heart problems, dengue- and just about everything that ails the body because of its collagen building components. He said there is no over-dosage of this supplement because the body is able to expel it immediately. He said Vitamin C is most important for stressful people.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 35 - October 19, 2012 Guest: Innes Fernandez (Breastfeeding)

Innes was in her elements again as she attacked the perverse practice of multi-national milk companies in planting seeds of doubt and fear among new mothers about breast-feeding. She blames some of it as well on the ignorance and/or misinformation of health practitioners like midwives, OB-Gyns about the correct way of breastfeeding. She also defined the real sources of calcium that can be found in plant-based food- not only in milk.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 34 - October 18, 2012 Guest: Victor Villanueva

Vic is a passionate educator who grew wary of the educational system in the country by founding a primary school just so he would not let his knowledge go to waste. He instead poured this lifelong reservoir of information to his growing children who are now benefiting, together with their classmates, from his ideals. He is young, dynamic and full of hope for this new generation of citizens- given a solid foundation in education.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 33 - October 17, 2012 Guest: Carmen Dayrit-Padilla

Menchu is a reluctant concert pianist (though having recently performed in Russia), and is the present president of the International Organization of Folk Arts, a UNESCO accredited NGO. She is the former director of the Commission on Culture and the Arts, responsible for the funding and support of projects by Filipino artists. We discussed the waning cultural activities and music education of students in the primary and secondary levels as well as the lack of interest among the authorities to sustain sponsorship of the arts.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 32 - October 16, 2012 Guest: Dr Nina Galang

Dr Nina Galang was vice-president of Miriam College for Academic Affairs; former Executive Director of the Environmental Studies Institute of the college; and now consultant of the Institute. We discussed the various activities being undertaken by the Institute where they cater to the education and involvement of communities and local government units (LGUs)with regard to the problems of the environment, and their possible solutions. She tackled their recent SONA (State of Nature Assessment) (coinciding with the actual SONA of the president of the country), where participants like farmers, fisherfolk, and scientists, all concluded how climate change is affecting everyone, rich and poor alike.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 31 - October 15, 2012 Guest: Bert Guevara

Bert's Earth Day Network where is president, was featured prominently in the front page of the Philippines'Daily Inquirer on Sunday because of his group's effort to identify and revive the planting of native trees in its reforestation campaign. He said only 1.5% of the total trees being planted is native. We also talked about the importance of educating people on the problems of the environment to be able to talk to them intelligently, and related to this, their new logo, "Stop Ignorance."
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 30 - October 12, 2012

I began by talking about the "Broken Glass Theory," - where people who see buildings with broken glass windows assume it could be a dangerous place, thus avoid it altogether. I mentioned how cleanliness in the homes is not only found among the rich, but also among the very poor. I urged listeners not to use commercial scents to deodorize their homes and cars, as these might jeopardize the health of vulnerable children.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 29 - October 11, 2012

I started the program describing the passing of two people I know. One died after a long battle with cancer. The other person was someone I met a few weeks ago who was so full of life talking about his family and telling me how much he enjoyed reading my weekly column on relationships. He died suddenly while in an office meeting. I said life is too short and that we should care more about family and helping those in need.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 28- October 10, 2012 Guest: Offie Panganiban

Offie was her usual enthusiastic self, as one listener commented, in describing her livelihood topics such as turning jackfruit peels, banana peels, pineapple peels- stuff meant for the garbage ordinarily- into jam or vinegar. She also warned parents against buying cheap and highly toxic toys from China for their children who would put anything and everything inside their mouths.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 27- October 9, 2012 Guest: Beth de Castro

Beth is a professor of psychology at the University of the Philippines besides being a farmer, together with her husband, Tony de Castro. We discussed the health benefits of organic foods, primarily vegetables one grows personally. She said she and her husband decided early on not to use pesticides, and lo and behold, nature provided the natural enemies of plant pests to thrive like lady bugs and birds. She said she witnessed one bird literally pulling a worm out of an eggplant.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 26 - October 8, 2012

Having watched the documentary on Agent Orange the previous night in the History Channel- that toxic powder dumped in Vietnam by the American Forces to destroy by poisoning all vegetation that could hide anybody and anything, I talked about the horrors of the collateral damage wrought upon the communities that is suffering the brunt of that terrible act. Children are disfigured or damaged neurologically, and it is feared that this is going to be a generational problem- with no end in sight.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 25- October 5, 2012 Guest: Norma Japitana

Norma is a journalist at heart and a public relations practitioner. She has managed actors and entertainers and basically instilled in them kindness to their fans. Here we talked of values and how children have to be nurtured early on the fundamental goodness at home by their parents for them to constantly practice it in life.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 24- October 4, 2012 Guest: Annie Pascual-Guerrero

Annie is the president of Zero Waste Philippines. Her group started a livelihood program for a poor community in Quezon City, basically, to walk their talk that zero waste is possible and viable. She funded this project with her personal money. Some of their products, culled from recycled garbage were, brooms from pet bottles that will never wear out, paper coffins, jewelry, vinegar, and many more. They became so successful the organization that owned the place stopped their activities and told them to pack up.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 23- October 3, 2012 Guest: Mila Magsaysay-Valenzuela

Mila's dad is the late President Ramon Magsaysay who died in a plane crash, three and a half years into office. She's that type of person one can bond easily because of her caring, humble, quiet, nature. I met her in my other show when she called to say her appreciation for an environment program. We discussed family values and how much of it is being eroded at present.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 22- October 2, 2012 Guest: Bert Guevara

As president of Earth Day Network, Bert has become a revolving guest because of his knowledge of the activities of other environmental NGOs, not only his, and could share many of the ideas and problems floating around these days. One recent horrid news was the intimidation by illegal loggers of forest rangers who are guarding newly planted trees literally with their lives because of the spate of killings among their ranks by this lawless murderers.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 21- October 1, 2012 Guest- Inday Berroya

Inday is a civic leader and a passionate environmentalist. During the late 90s, she and her co-eco-warriors fought hard for the passage of the Clean Air Act (the first country in the world to ban incinerators on a national level) and the Ecological Solid Waste Management Law or R.A. 9003. She lectures nationwide knowing that the information dissemination on pollution and recycling is never-ending.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 20- September 28, 2012 Guest: Innes Fernandez

Innes is a staunch advocate of breastfeeding in the Philippines. She founded "Arugaan," the child care center she wishes would be put-up by corporations where mothers would not be deprived of nursing and caring for their babies even at work. She also discussed the horrible practice of giant international milk producers in their massive advertising campaigns on distorting the truth between mother's milk and the cow's milk they're aggressively selling.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 19- September 27, 2012 Guest: John Estacio

John is the Operations Manager of Nuvali, the Ayala Land development in Santa Rosa (a city south of Manila.) He explained the different environmentally friendly practices Nuvali is adapting like water conservation with their catchments, installing energy friendly bulbs, a forest buffer around the development, birds sanctuary, trees nursery, among others. They also host tens of thousands of school children who are given access to first hand knowledge of the environment.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 18- September 26, 2012 Guest: Lissa Romero-de Guia

Lissa was a shining stage actress performing in some of Europe's most glamorous cities, being one of the top stars in the Broadway musicale "Miss Saigon." When she got tired of living life in a suitcase, she came home and pursued her first love - writing. She also took time to teach some young aspiring stage talents. When she married film maker Kidlat de Guia, she evolved from glamour to human rights activist/environmentalist. Her transformation is inspiring.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 17- September 25, 2012 Guest: Former Tourism Undersecretary Sostenes "Jun" Campillo

Usec Campillo said that tourism is a much underrated revenue generator in this country. It's a lamentable fact that instead of the various government agencies undertaking infrastructure projects that would compliment each other and strengthen a money-making industry, they seem more interested in pushing their own agendas - and in the process lose sight of the whole picture and what's truly important.
Click on the player to listen or download this link

Episode 16 - September 24, 2012 Guest: Lydia Robledo

Lydia is also called the "Butterfly Lady" because of her commitment in protecting butterfly habitat in the country. She recommends planting nursery plants where it would encourage butterflies to lay their eggs, as well as nectar producing flowers where they would feed. She says that nature is a partnership wherein one cannot eliminate one species and not expect another species to disappear as well. To learn more, her email is birdwingtravel@gmail.com.
Click on the player to listen or download this link.

Episode 15- September 21, 2012 Guest: Bert Guevara

Bert is one of my revolving guests because of his knowledge of the problems of waste disposal and how to effectively solve them. But alas, private initiative still needs government support in this. Tonight he discusses how to scale this problem with the cooperation of the people, the corporations, and the local governments.
Click on the player to listen or download this link.

Episode 14- September 20, 2012 Guest: Nona Andaya-Castillo

One of my ardent advocacies is on breastfeeding. Nona is called Nanay or mother by students who are prospective mothers or breastfeeding women. She is a consultant in Breastfeeding Philippines and lectures women on the horrors of cow's milk and the benefits and tailor-made quality of a mother's milk in her child.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 13- September 18, 2012 Guest: Grachie Madridano

My guest is the Livelihood Director and Culinary Consultant of Nego-Skwela, a livelihood and techology tranining center. She was caught up in traffic and reached the studio seven minutes before the program ended. She discussed in a capsule the courses offered in the center and requirements needed to enroll. While waiting for her, I continued my commentary on water conservation, the bane of unregulated use of anti-biotics, among others.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 12- September 18, 2012 Guest: Cesar Villariba

Director Sonny Villariba is a member of the governing board of the Philippine Coconut Authority of the Department of Agriculture. We discussed the coconut, the health attributes of the products derived from it, like oil and sugar, as well as the gifts of the tree to humanity, like building materials.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 11- September 17, 2012 Guests: Dr Gina Tinio and Dr Rommel Tinio

Part of my now revolving guests: This husband and wife team of doctors who specialize in integrative medicine discussed dengue- that horrible mosquito borne disease and how Vitamin C, when constantly loaded in the body as a supplement, can truly arm the human system and fight this dreadful virus.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

New Emily's Post - September 16th, 2012 - "He always falls for young girls and his relationships don’t last"

I am 32 years old and have always been unsuccessful with relationships. My problem is that I always fall for younger girls who have to be pampered and whose every whim catered to. Then, my work prevents me from spending time with the girl I am in a relationship with, and this always leads to our inevitable breakup.

CLICK HERE TO READ COLUMN

Episode 10- September 14, 2012 Guest: Professor Felipe Alfonso

Prof Fil Alfonso is respected both in the academe- where he was president of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) for over a decade, and the corporate world- where he was chairman of Meralco for over five years. He also served on the boards of various corporations. In this interview, he held the view that good education is the foundation of a strong society, and the importance of constant communication between educators and companies to find out each other's needs, and the training students are getting vis a vis the jobs available.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 9- September 13, 2012 Guest: Neal Cruz

Neal Cruz is a respected journalist and prominent political columnist in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Though politics is his forte, he almost always puts the case for the environment in the front burner when issues for its protection are being compromised. He argues that everything around us affects the environment, whether it be traffic or population. In this episode, I also had a 12-minute commentary on garbage and organic planting.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 8- September 12, 2012 Guests: Beth and Tony de Castro

Beth and Tony de Castro were professors in well-respected universities- he with the San Francisco State University and she with the University of the Philippines- when they both decided to make a detour from their careers and devote their newfound passion for the soil and its very valuable companion- worms, which they've dubbed "angels of the earth." Together they've taught scores of farmers to transform barren, unproductive lands into thriving farms with the use of vermiculture. Here, they talk about how human health is jeopardized by the use of chemical fertilizers that deplete the soil of nutrients- thereby see the rise of diabetes, heart diseases and other ailments.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 7- September 11, 2012 Guest: Dr Rommel Tinio

Dr Tinio is a medical doctor who is able to integrate the benefits of western medicine and natural healing. He believes in the holistic approach in determining a person's health through a long and thorough analysis of the state of his mind and the suffering his body is experiencing at the moment. In this interview, the doctor gives a short course on the relationship between the co-relation between mind and body and how diseases come to play.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 6- September 10, 2012 Guest- Bert Guevara

Bert Guevara rose to fame during the huge garbage problem that beset the greater metropolitan area in the late 1990s. He was then chairman of the Sun Valley Subdivision in Paranaque where he was able to strong-arm his constituents in separating their garbage into biodegradables and recyclables with the phrase- "No Segregation - No Collection." For his work, his subdivision became the model of political will in action. Now that he is president of the NGO, Earth Day Network Philippines, he is at the forefront of bringing water to water-deprived upland communities from water sources 100 meters below by installing "ram pump"- a booster pump that does not use gasoline or electricity. His group is also into reforestation and have set up nurseries to propagate native tree species.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Emily's Post - September 9th, 2012 - "Does this ‘friendship’ have to be defined?"

CLICK HERE TO READ COLUMN

Special Flashback Episode- August 31, 2010 Guest- Jejomar Binay

This interview with the new Vice President Jejomar (Jojo) Binay was my swan song in my advocacy on radio. The program Kalikasan Vigilante was being terminated after 13 years. We talked about his formative years as a student in public schools, and gave a short history of how he entered politics. He discussed his projects in government and touched on his frustrations as a politician. He was excited to unveil his agenda for the poor as the incoming chairman of the Housing Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC). Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 5- September 7, 2012 Guest- Ping Valencia

Ping Valencia was a supermodel in Philippine fashion in the 60s and 70s. She now gives lectures on beauty, etiquette, and professional decorum to corporations and pursues a career on estate planning. Listeners were treated to a discourse on the values of well-trained, wholesome office personnel (from officers and staff), and the benefits of preparedness when it comes to finances. Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 4- September 6, 2012 Guest- Luz Sabas

Luz Sabas is considered the godmother of recycling in the Philippines. At 84 years old, she has devoted a lifetime educating people on the necessity of recycling garbage. In this episode, this unsung heroine is talking tirelessly again about garbage disposal in a clear and simple manner that can be understood by even the most stubborn polluter. Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 3- Sept 5, 2012 Guest- Jimmy DyLiacco

Jimmy DyLiacco is a natureopathist who heals patients the natural way by prescribing fruits, vegetables, and supplements instead of pharmaceuticals. He gave a commentary on how he came about espousing nature's bounty and how he got cured by this method when he got cancer 18 years ago. Water, he said, is truly the source of life. Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 2- Sept 4, 2012 Guest- Offie Panganiban

Offie Panganiban has been at the forefront of the recycling movement in the country, giving lectures and demonstrations in depressed communities on how to turn trash to cash. She gave the new listeners a peek at how this is done, example: turning old torn clothes, pants, or bedsheets into grocery bags to wean people away from plastic bags.
Click on the player below to listen or download this link.

Episode 1- Sept 3, 2012 Maiden Broadcast

I introduced the program "Kalikasan Vigilante" to new listeners and welcomed the old faithful who were sending text messages way before the show started. - Told listeners to expect a lot of information and educational news and commentary about the state of environment and health. Click on the player below to listen or download this link.