DFA Mindanao Celebrates Mana Mo 2023 

DFA Mindanao Assistant Secretary Renato Villa personally handover the comic book to OIC Salome Enoc at the Davao City Library and Information Center

MINDANAO 03 October 2023 – In celebration of the Maritime and Archipelagic Nation Awareness Month (MANA Mo) in September, the Department of Foreign Affairs Mindanao (DFA Mindanao) organized book donation activities and participated in a virtual symposium in coordination with the Department of Science and Technology Region 11.

DFA Mindanao donated a copy of the comic book anthology “Ten Years to Save the World” to the Davao City Library and Information Center, Daniel R. Aquinaldo National High School and the Institute of ASEAN-European Studies of the Holy Cross of Davao College, as well as to the DFA Foreign Service Institute.

The comic book, which was supported by the British Council, is a collection of 10 comics that tackles different climate change issues, particularly its impact on the marine environment. Ten internationally-recognized comics creators – five from the Philippines and five from the United Kingdom, are represented in the anthology. 

Ten Years to Save the World featured 27-year old Davaoeña artist Renren Galeno. She contributed the “I pray you're born with gills,” a sobering reflection on the anxiety of mothers who are bringing children into a world impacted by climate change. Other Filipino artists featured in the book were Budjette Tan & Kajo Baldisimo (The Siren’s Executioner), Manix Abrera (Sound of Silence), Kevin Eric Raymundo (Inuman Sessions : West Philippine Sea) and Emiliana Kampilan (We, Malaika I, the People).

Assistant Secretary Renato Pedro O. Villa said he hopes that the book will foster awareness for both old and young readers on how to help protect and care for the environment and mitigate climate change.

In addition to the book donation activity, DFA Mindanao participated in the Virtual Symposium on Ocean Science on September 27 via zoom. The event was organized by the Department of Science and Technology XI, in coordination with the Department of Foreign Affairs, HELP Davao Network, Davao Central College and Davao del Sur State College.

The resource speakers were Atty. Gloria Estenzo Ramos, Vice President for the Philippines, Oceana (Protecting the World’s Ocean), Dr. Rhodora V. Azanza, President of the National Academy of Science and Technology Philippines (Pagtanaw 2050 : Towards a Prosperous, Archipelagic, Maritime Nation), Dr. Caroline Marie B. Jaraula, Professor of the UP Marine Science Institute (Protecting the World’s Ocean) and Assistant Director of Ocean Governance, Shipping and Seafaring Division Joel M. Peralta of the DFA Maritime and Ocean Affairs Office (Marine Science and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS). END