Kuala Lumpur, 19 September 2021– In celebration of this month’s Maritime and Archipelagic Nation Awareness Month (MANA MO), the Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur hosted a webinar for the Filipino community in Malaysia entitled, “Our Seas, Our Livelihood, Our Heritage” on 19 September 2021 from 1:00PM to 3:00PM. The webinar was took place on Zoom and was livestreamed on the Embassy’s Facebook page.

The presentations highlighted the Philippines’ rich marine resources and biodiversity, the pressing threats to the marine environment, the Philippine Government’s programs and initiatives to promote marine protection and conservation, and the ways by which Filipinos overseas can contribute to marine conservation efforts.

In his welcome remarks, Ambassador Charles C. Jose noted that as an archipelago, the Philippines is a center of marine biodiversity with rich marine resources that form part of our national heritage. However, this rich biodiversity and heritage face serious threats of destruction. In response this problem, Ambassador Jose said that even as Filipinos live outside the Philippines, they can take action in their homes and communities to help protect our marine resources and biodiversity

Expert resource speakers for the webinar included Ms. Desiree Eve Maaño, Chief of the Coastal and Marine Ecosystems Management Section, Coastal and Marine Division, Biodiversity Management Bureau, Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR); Dr. Christine Abellana Orosco @ Siti Aishah Abdullah, Former Associate Professor, School of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT); Dr. Mohd. Uzair Rusli, Head of the Sea Turtle Research Unit (SEATRU), Institute of Oceanography and Environment (INOS), UMT; and Dr. Maizah M. Abdullah, Ocean Hope Coordinator and Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Science and Marine Environment, UMT.

The presentations highlighted that understanding the threats to marine biodiversity is an important first step towards saving this rich heritage and, as individuals and whether at home or abroad, everyone can contribute to averting these threats in order to ensure the future of “our seas, our livelihood, and our heritage”.

The Embassy also prepared trivia questions for the participants during the webinar, which were based on the presentations of the resource speakers. Participants who were the first to submit the correct answer to the trivia questions won RM100 worth of Grab Food vouchers each.

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For more information, please contact:

Embassy of the Philippines (Attention: Information Section)

1 Jalan Changkat Kia Peng, Kuala Lumpur 50450 Malaysia

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Tel No. +603 2148 4233

Fax No. +603 2148 3576