Marveling at a hidden gem that is Antique

“Antique is a hidden gem.”

That is what Deputy Speaker and Representative Loren Legarda stressed about her home in the documentary, Antique: Where the Mountains Meet the Sea.

“Antique is a paradise where the mountains meet the sea, where nature and culture are protected and where people are mightily proud of our heritage, our culture and our bountiful nature, as well,” Loren offered.

Conceptualizing, hosting and producing a documentary is nothing new to Loren. Recently, she simply returned to her regular chores when she was still at ABS-CBN with the tele-magazine program, PEP Talk and the current affairs show, The Inside Story.

Representing the lone district of the province of Antique elected in May 2019, Loren is not surprising to protect Antique, as she previously chaired the committees on climate change, as well as finance and formulations in the Philippine senate.

As early as 2014, Loren launched the Philippine marine biodiversity video documentary, her third collaboration with award-winning director Brillante Mendoza, following Buhos, a climate change documentary in 2010 and Ligtas, an instructional video on disaster awareness in 2013.

In 2015, Loren collaborated again with direk Brillante for the Yolanda-inspired disaster awareness advocacy film, Taklub, that premiered at the 68th Cannes and earned a special commendation from the festival’s ecumenical jury.

She also conceptualized and hosted the documentary series, Our Fragile Earth, in 2017 to promote ecological and sustainable tourism.

Antique: Where the Mountains Meet the Sea is Loren’s pandemic project that merited her full and undivided attention. “This is what we worked on,” Loren said about the documentary. “We even did my voice-over and spiels during lockdown.”

The 10-minute documentary offers viewers a detailed window to the rich and multi-colorful environment marvels of the seahorse-shaped Antique, especially its endangered species — the wrasse crocodile and the oceanic manta ray — found in the waters of the province.

Tyra Abrina, a researcher from the University of the Philippines, focuses on fisheries and coral reef, marine eco-systems of Antique. On weekends, she is also a free-diving instructor.

“The objective of the project is really for tourism, where people can go to dive and where guests can stay,” Tyra explains. “The approach was to do the surveys, but also allow local people here learn the method also, so they can continue with the monitoring or at least, be interested in learning more about it.”

It is important that we know what we are protecting, according to Loren. To be able to teach people, we must show them the wealth of marine life.

“Antique is seemingly undiscovered unlike other eco-tourism spots in the Philippines,” Loren maintains. “But sometimes I want it to remain a hidden gem, because I want to sustainably develop it. We must protect it with all our knowledge, wisdom, power, influence and might.

“My dream for Antique, my dream for Panay, my dream for our country is that we live in a healthier, resilient, green and sustainable environment, while we provide jobs for people protecting Mother Nature and nurturing her and caring for her.

“The source of life of our food, our oceans, our mountains must be protected, not just for ourselves but for the next generation.”

Loren’s team will continue to inventory, list documents and protection which will lead to enhanced rural livelihood for the pandemic recovery of Antique. That will only be successful if it is aligned to Antique’s environmental laws and attuned to the climate pathway.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is every inch an environmental issue brought about by the illegal wildlife trade,” Loren shares. “Let this two-year pandemic give the great pause the world needed so that it could have rested and give a breather to nature.

“As leaders of our country and our communities, we must be answerable to the present and the future generations for the kind of society that they will inherit.”

Antique: Where the Mountains Meet the Sea aired on Discovery Channel yesterday and will have replays today, March 24.