Two high school students of the Southland Kabankalan College in Kabankalan City, Negros Occidental have vowed to actively promote the protection and preservation of the environment after winning the Battle of the Brains quiz bee grand finals.
Southlanders Jamaica Cortez Corpus and Sharette Reyes bested four other schools to win this year’s BOTB 2017 grand finals held in Dumaguete Tuesday afternoon.
Coached by Kieja Anaseb, both girls, in their senior high, promised to undertake on-campus and off-campus projects in their own small ways to engage the public, especially the youth, in environment-related activities.
They also want to sell the idea of renewable energy and campaign against the use of coal power. Both girls stressed the need for the youth to take active participation in activities, campaigns and other ways to help protect the environment because it is their future that is at stake. Asked what they would do with the money that they won in the quiz bee, they said they would save it for college tuition.
The BOTB 2017 champions received P30,000 cash and a trophy for bagging this year’s championship tilt.
The Don Vicente F. Gustilo Memorial National High School of Cadiz City, Negros Occidental placed 2nd while the Negros Oriental High School in Dumaguete came in 3rd.
Two other schools that competed in the grand finals were the Ramon Torres Malingin National High School – Atipuluan Extension in Bago City, Negros Occidental and the Bais City National High School.
Sponsored by the country’s leading geothermal power provider Energy Development Corp., the Battle of the Brains, now on its second year, is a science quiz contest to “engage the youth in the promotion of clean and renewable energy”.
“Together, EDC and its youth champions aim to secure a brighter, carbon-positive future for Negros and the Philippines as a whole”, said EDC in a statement.
Jay Joel Soriano, head of the EDC’s Negros Island Geothermal Business Unit, in his message, lauded the people in Negros Island, for taking “climate action”. “Even the youth, such as everyone here today, have their own efforts to fight climate change”, Soriano pointed out.
These activities include native tree planting, environment clean-ups, environment education and the like, such as the science quiz bee, he said.
“Negros Island should be at the forefront of environmental preservation and we at EDC are just proud to be part of it, as the region’s only developer of its abundant source of geothermal energy for the past 35 years”, according to Soriano.
Meanwhile, Filipino TV host/actor Robi Domingo, who graced the BOTB 2017 quiz bee, lauded EDC for spearheading the science quiz bee, saying that it is a suitable venue for the youth to be well-informed on climate change and its effects as well as on renewable energy and the environment.
Domingo disclosed he has always been into climate change mitigation and environmental preservation, noting the drastic changes affecting the environment over the years, especially in highly urbanized areas like Metro Manila. “It’s just aggravating”, the young TV start noted. “Being in showbiz grants you a certain amount of followers and it gives you the voice. So it’s a matter of choosing what to do with that voice,” Domingo said.
The judges in the Battle of the Brains 2017 grand finals were Rodne Galicha, country director of Climate Reality PH; Dr. Paciencia Milan, referred to as the “mother of rainforestation in the country” and former chair of the Foundation for Philippine Environment; Rey Maleza, supervising Science Research specialist at the Department of Energy; Norreen Bautista, assistant manager and head of EDC’s Community Partnerships, External Relations & Watershed Management Division for Negros Island; and Arvin Aqui, head of EDC’s Resource Management. (Judy Flores Partlow/PNA)
