Have you ever entered class only to find yourself in complete shock to hear your teacher announce that you're just about to take one of the biggest exams of the semester? You look around in class and everyone around you seems to have known about the exam, but you on the other hand, are in shock, asking yourself, "Why didn't I get the memo?"
I had one of those moments today, except I wasn't in class, and I didn't forget about a big exam. I was at a pet store with my siblings choosing fish for our house-pond when it dawned on me that I had missed an event that would have been (or so it seemed) one of the most historical moments of my life. Okay, well maybe I'm being just a tad bit dramatic, I could probably settle for, one of the biggest moments of my year, (and also one of the top moments for my country too).
Over a month ago, I received an invitation from the Philippine Department of Energy Secretariat to attend the grand launch of the National Renewable Energy Program (NREP) that honored Philippine President Benigno Aqunio III, to be held at the Makati Shangrila Hotel this morning. The invite had been sent to me twice, and the confirmation email of my attendance, sent to me over two weeks ago (as seen in picture below). The attire for the event was the native formal wear, a barong tagalog for men, and a filipiniana for women. Like every girl when it comes to "big" events, I already had an attire in mind-- A filipiniana I've only had the chance to wear once, designed by Philippine fashion designer, Oliver Tolentino.
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| Confirmation letter of Dept. of Energy Renewable Energy launch |
As a sustainable solution junkie (call it, if I may), missing this event was a total tragedy for me. For those of you who do not understand why, I'd compare it to missing a first date with someone who'd you'd think would be a potential "love of your life," or for die hard soccer fans, it would be like missing the FIFA finals, which only happens every four years. The invite itself was a big deal for me. Having been told by my elders to "stop my passion," by passion meaning my environmental advocacy, I had discontinued contact with most of my colleagues in the environment field over the past few months. It was encouraging to know that even despite my absence, there were people who still recognized my climate work in the Philippines, a government agency, to say the least.
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| Invitation |
In the next two weeks, I will start my studies at Yale Summer School studying an engineering course on "Green Energy" & a Physics course on "Energy, Technology and Society." The NREP event would have been a great pedestal in providing me with the appropriate knowledge on the developments of renewable energy (RE) technology in newly industrialized countries, like my own. With members of the diplomatic corps, legislators and policy-makers, non-government organizations, RE developers, energy sector stakeholders, community leaders and members of the research and scientific communities in attendance, it would have also been a great opportunity to rub elbows with the "Who’s who” of renewable technology in my country. This also meant that the Republic Act 9513 "Renewable Energy Act of 2008," of which my previous boss, Senator Legarda, was a co-author of, was being implemented. I recall campaigning for this legislation during the Philippine elections of 2010, the promulgation of the RA 9513 through the NREP was most definitely overwhelming.
Realizing my stupidity, I came home from the pet store, with fish in oxygenated plastic bag in my hand, and immediately googled the event. To those of us who missed the event, at least we get somewhat of a preview in this video:
