Face to Face with the Inconvenient Truth

It was an afternoon were members from the corporate world, government, church and academe gathered together to come face to face with the inconvenient truth. Al Gore, beyond presenting the problems and solutions, inspired people to get out of their comfort zones and move, and that I think is what we Filipinos need now - inspiration and momentum.

I have always mentioned before that there have been lots of conferences dedicated to information feeding about environmental degradation, but those seminars lacked the charisma and probably the authority of Al Gore. So people get lost. After the seminar, what are they supposed to do?

I was invited before to a movie screening, The Age of Stupid, sponsored by Greenpeace and yes, the material they showed was interesting and informative but it lacks that "K" or that "umph" to keep people going. It wasn't memorable enough. Al Gore's event was filled with memorable elements. One is the price of the ticket (i spent 5,000 from my own money just for this!) and the people who flocked to the occasion.

It was not surprising that President Gloria graced the event and probably with some representatives of president to be Noynoy Aquino. This just shows that the government is serious about following the Kyoto protocol. Actually, the Philippines and the United States are the two major countries that utilize geothermal energy to generate electricity.

Representatives from my own university were also there. I saw the familiar faces of Mr. Guerra the Stat and Finance prof, Ms. Favis the Environmental Science prof, Deans Ang, Vilches and Dr. Dayrit. There were also some people from the student council.

I liked how Al Gore emphasized that our responsibility to the Earth is beyond political, environmental and even economic. He goes back to us as being by products of thousand of years of evolution and we owe to the Earth what we are now. It is a MORAL DUTY because our efforts today for environmental preservation will benefit our sons and daughters and the next generation.

During the Q&A moderated by Cheche Lazaro, things got really interesting especially at the personal question regarding his recent break up with his wife. Apparently, amidst all the formalities and international relations talk, Filipinos didn't forget who they are and a chance to gossip even from the former Vice President and Nobel Peace Prize winner won't escape everyone's curiosity.

PS. I didn't try to go into details regarding his presentation because I'll reserve that for a later blog... and sorry I wasn't able to take some pictures because my camera can't read any memory card.

I'm still back blogged! I have yet to write about the last day of fashion week where I was a model dresser, the classical concert during the Italian National Day, and the French Film Festival where Lady Gagita and Haronce makes another public appearance. Kilabutan sana sila! hahaha!