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 4: Kwentong Kinabukasan

Dr. Faye Abigail Cruz is a climate scientist, and currently Head of the Regional Climate Systems Laboratory at the Manila Observatory in the Philippines. She is actively involved in atmospheric and climate research in the Philippines, as well as in Southeast Asia, where she is one of the Points of Contact of the Coordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX) Southeast Asia. With her extensive experience in regional climate modeling and data analysis, she continues to work on projects with scientists and various stakeholders to provide enhanced climate change information for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.

Dr. Cruz was a Lead Author in the IPCC AR6 Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. She also contributed to the Philippine Climate Extremes Report 2020: Observed and Projected Climate Extremes in the Philippines to Support Informed Decisions on Climate Change Adaptation and Risk Management.

Arch. Arlene Christy D. Lusterio is a member of Team DanTAOn, together with Tanya Mariano, Ma. Theresa Amor J. Tan Singco, and Issabelle Therese M. Baguisi. Their team is aims to humanize climate data by contextualizing it within community stories and transforming them into an interactive, accessible, and visually appealing form. 

The campaign was intended to provide opportunities to present local realities, amplify  the voices of the most vulnerable sectors in the country, and put vulnerable communities at the forefront of the dialogues on the climate crisis and climate actions.  

Atty. Lesley Y. Cordero is a Senior Disaster Risk Management Specialist at the World Bank based in Singapore. She is managing a two billion dollar Disaster Risk Management program (DRM) in the Philippines. She worked on innovative policies and instruments such as recovery frameworks; adaptive social protection measures;resilient infrastructure program; local government catastrophe risk insurance; and contingent financing facility for disasters. 

Mainstreaming the DRM agenda, Lesley is currently leading the implementation of the $500 million DRM standby loan facility (CATDDO4) and the $500 million DRM Policy Loan to support the Government’s response and recovery efforts for recent disasters and COVID-19. She is preparing a $150 million Sustainable, Inclusive, and Resilient Tourism Project in select destinations in the Philippines. She also worked on various DRM projects in Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia, and Fiji Islands. On Fragility, Conflict and Violence, Lesley co-led the support for the Marawi Post-Conflict Recovery Program. 

Prior to joining the Bank, Lesley served as an Undersecretary at the Office of the President of the Philippines. She coordinated the recovery efforts of the Philippine Government for Typhoons Yolanda in 2013 and Pablo in 2012. In 2011, Lesley served as Undersecretary at the Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO). In 2010, she was a Commissioner at the National Youth Commission in the Philippines. 

Lesley graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s degree of Philosophy at University of San Carlos, has a Juris Doctor of Laws degree at the Ateneo de Manila University School of Law, and a Master’s degree in National Security Administration at the National Defense College of the Philippines. She is an Adjunct Faculty at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM). She was awarded as one of The Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) of the Philippines in 2020 and the ASEAN 40 under 40 in 2018.

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