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Bloggers group concludes summit on social media for environment


A newly organized blogging society in Iligan City sought to spread awareness on caring for the environment in a recently concluded summit attended by bloggers from around the Philippines. Iligan Bloggers Society, Inc., a newly formed and SEC-registered blogging organization, had partnered with the Chamber of Commerce & Industry Foundation of Iligan, MinandaoBloggers.com and the Iligan City Tourism Office to host Mindanao Bloggers Summit 2011. The society also had Globe Telecom as its co-presentor.

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The summit was the fifth of its name and was held last October 29-30, 2011 at the Celadon Pensionne House in Iligan City. Its theme is One Green Mindanao: Mobilizing Bloggers to Promote Sustainable Lifestyle and it was graced by bloggers and environment advocates from the government and private sectors. When asked why the topic was chosen instead of peace in Mindanao for example, Ms. Xyza Yape, President of the Iligan Bloggers Society explained that the topic was chosen because of their belief that it is time for Mindanaoans to think and care for the environment. "After all the drastic events relating to the environment that we are experiencing now, we feel that we need to educate people most especially leverage bloggers to care about what we still have.", Yape adds. The first summit speaker was Commissioner Naderev M. Saño of the National Climate Change Commission who gave his keynote address on climate change. On his talk, he expressed the dire events that has been happening in our planet and showed that when we change the climate, we change everything. "Writers and bloggers are change makers. When asked if it's too late, never say no.", Sano said. And as a metaphor to embracing change as solution for climate change, Sano noted that bloggers should start using the Dvorak keyboard as a good anti-RSI (repetiitve strain injury) alternative to the QWERTY keyboard.
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Dr. Marilou Siton-Nanaman, Ph.D., a professor, MSU-IIT also gave her overview of sustainable lifestyle for Mindanaoans wherein she mentioned that sustainability involved sustaining self, relationships, and communities. She also mentioned that unsustainable materialism, which touches on the subjects of subjects of consumerism, climate change and depletion of resources, causes potential damages to the environment. However, she added that spirals of change begin with small acts. These includes acts like compost, waste segregation, using energy efficient light bulbs and even little acts like turning off and unplugging computers when not in use. Ali Bari, DENR Region 10 talked about on Sustainable Environment and the Government. He discussed the DENR policies and programs from the perspective of sustainable development. Such programs mentioned includes the E.O. No. 23 and 26 which is a moratorium for cutting and harvesting of timber, creation of anti-illegal logging task force and the implementation of the National Greening Program (NGP) as a government priority, respectively. "This calls for massive participation not only in tree planting but also in plantation maintenance and seedling production by all sectors of the Philippine Society, " said Bari. A representative from the Systems Operations Department of CEPALCO together with his colleague were the fourth to present their topic on "NO to Power Shortage in Mindanao; YES to Solar Power for Mindanao Advocacy." The representative gave an overview of the current power situation of Mindanao. He mentioned that current reserves are part of the base load which means that Mindanao has no power reserve at all. He also explained why solar is best for Mindanao and that even of the costs are declining, the Philippines should not wait before using solar energy. Ms. Anna Oposa, Blogger and Environmentalist, Pitong Pinoy Awardee talked about Blogging for the Environment. She mentioned that the challenge in blogging about environment is how to make it exciting and in choosing what to write about. "Think as a reader. Know basic HTML. Write editors." Those were a few of the tips that she gave to bloggers who are interested in blogging for the environment. "Plant the world with hope. Build bridge between scientists and the general public."
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The summit may be for and about One Green Mindanao but it was also peppered with two topics that are helpful for aspiring blog entrepreneurs and those who want to earn through their blogs. Ms. Janette Toral, Author, “Blogging from Home" and owner of www.digitalfilipino.com gave her talk on Becoming a Blogger Entrepreneur. She gave various tips and advices for aspiring blogger-entrepreneurs urging them to help solve three market needs: Low-cost but effective websites, the need to rank in search engines and the need to tap social media. The last speaker for the day was Ms. Aileen Apolo – de Jesus, Country Consultant for the Philippines of Google Inc. Her talk was presented using Google Hangout and it made an impression the participants as she delivered her talk on Google University: Content, Analytics & Adsense. Mindanao Bloggers Summit 2011 hosted by the Iligan Bloggers Society ended well with its participants learning a lot about caring for the environment and using their blogs for the cause. They also got to enjoy a tour around Iligan City the day after. The event was graced with bloggers not only from Iligan City but also from Dipolog, Misamis Oriental and Occidental, Quezon City, Kidapawan, Pagadian, Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu and Bukidnon. As a resolution to the goal of mobilizing bloggers to promote sustainable lifestyle, Ms. Lovette Jacosalem, the founder and current secretary of Iligan Bloggers Society, Inc. presented the following activities: One Green Mindanao advocacy, tree growing, environmental awareness seminars, clean-up drive, green volunteer blogging, and the Familiarization Tour II (Waterfalls Chasing). [Fleire Castro, a professional blogger and co-founder of the Iligan Bloggers Society, Inc. is based in Cebu.] — GMA News
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