By Maria Monica L Borja
The Development Communication (DevCom) Department of Xavier University has tied up with the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) in the production of Information, Education and Communication (IEC) materials on the Philippine eagle.
Second year students taking up media writing will produce two primers on protecting the Philippine eagle, one intended for grade school children and another for college students.
“The Philippine eagle is [in every inch] as Filipino as we are,” drummed Jayson Ibańez, director of research and conservation of PEF during an orientation with the students on ways to increase public awareness in the conservation and protection of the country’s national bird.
In 2010, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and BirdLife International listed the Philippine Eagle as “critically endangered.”
In June, PEF released into the wild Pamana (Legacy), a Philippine eagle bred in captivity who was found shot dead two months after in a protected area of Mount Hamiguitan, also a Unesco World Heritage Site in Davao Oriental, ringing the alarm for the reassessment of our present conservation efforts.
“The moment I heard about Pamana’s death, I was disappointed and thought of doing something. I believe that as development communicators we have the responsibility to convey the message of conservation,” said Mai Zamora, media writing class instructor of the DevCom Dept.
“I asked my students to create a primer from what they learned in the orientation. [Besides] I want them to enhance their writing skills and practice dealing with professionals, in this case, with the PEF staff,” she added.
“We had a hard time coming up with creative and interesting ways of informing grade school students about the Philippine eagle,” shared DevCom student Kim Ivan T Ragmac.
“So we thought of doing a survey among grades five and six students to find out how much they know about Philippine eagles, especially about Pamana,” Ragmac mused. “Indeed the opportunity has enhanced our skills in writing for a young audience.”
The other group used the concept of "forever" for the Philippine eagles, asking, “Will they exist forever?”
“We actually got this idea from one of our classmates who got a comment — ‘Naa’y forever ang Philippine eagle?’ — right after posting a question on Facebook about what people would want to know about the Philippine eagles,” said Samantha Nicole L Tabor.
She added that they based their concept on what’s "in" or popular among teenagers nowadays.
Their primer is titled “On the Wings of Love,” patterned after ABS-CBN’s popular romantic comedy television series.
“I think the concept catches the students' current interest,” explained Tabor, saying that their group wanted to add some kilig to their material.
The students’ IEC materials are expected to be circulated beginning October 5 in various schools in Mindanao and on social media platforms. These materials will also serve as the students’ final exam.
(Photo of Pamana courtesy of Philippine Eagles Foundation's Facebook page.)