Youth Corner
Credits International Coastal Cleanup 2023 - STAGE theater artists traded their costumes for gloves and trash bags as they joined in removing litter and debris from Yawa River, Legazpi City
Published on June 13, 2025

Lights, camera, climate action: How theater shapes youth-led environmental and socio-cultural effort in Legazpi City and beyond 

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President, University of Santo Tomas - Legazpi - Tourism Society; Public Information Officer, UST-Legazpi STAGE

I can feel the pressure dropping. The vibration of the revving engine as the plane makes its final descent. The cabin crew announces: Welcome to Palawan! 

Palawan, the Philippines’ last frontier, is also famous for its pristine beaches and sparkling waters. It will also be my home for three days. Puerto Princesa, Palawan, was chosen to be the host of the 2024 International Assembly of Youth for UNESCO (Y4U). The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, commonly known as UNESCO, is the UN specialized agency to promote world peace and security through international cooperation in education, the arts, the sciences and culture. The Y4U bannered the theme “Empowering Communities through UNESCO Initiatives: Advancing Science and Technology, Culture, Creativity and Lifelong Learning.”  

I was among the delegates representing my organization. The University of Santo Tomas-Legazpi’s theater organization, Sama-samang Tinig ng mga Aktor na Gumagalaw sa Entablado (STAGE), in its monumental success in being recognized as a UNESCO-accredited organization. From over 400 applying for accreditation, only 104, including UST-Legazpi STAGE, successfully passed the rigorous assessments composed of screening, interview and mentoring phases. 

This accreditation strengthens the organization’s dedication to fostering cultural and creative education through the performing arts, aligning with UNESCO’s vision of building peace and understanding through diverse initiatives. 

 

Arts Workshop for Partner Communities 2023 - Trained local youth in the theater arts and inspired future generation of performers
Arts Workshop for Partner Communities 2023 - Trained local youth in the theater arts and inspired future generation of performers 

STAGE Cast 

As a member of STAGE since my first year of college, and having held several key leadership positions, its central principle remains unwavering. It believes that theater is an important and powerful form of people’s expression that students should develop within and outside the university as a meaningful and responsible contribution to our people’s development. It propagates, preserves and contributes to the development of the Bicolano and Filipino people’s culture, one where environmental stewardship is deeply ingrained in its values, given that our country is an archipelago and the Bicol region teeming with natural resources. 

The STAGE and its artists join in community environmental drives, a testament that our passion extends far beyond the spotlight, harnessing our diverse talents for a common cause: safeguarding our precious environment. We also coordinate and act in theater plays during festivals like Magayon, and Ibalong. 

Break a leg 

Shaped by this social responsibility and imbued with the desire to use my talents for environmental good, I continued my work expanding outside the four corners of my university. I took up a United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) online training programme on Women’s Leadership in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). This is fundamentally essential as the course required to create a DRR Plan to which I developed one for volcanic eruptions, as I am living near Mayon Volcano, an active volcano. 

I also joined the Children and Youth Major Group to the United Nations Environment Programme (CYMG to UNEP) as a constituency member active in several working groups related to tourism and the blue economy. 

Now a senior tourism management student, I am one of the student members of the London-based Nautical Institute. You may wonder: nautical, does it not only focus on maritime? As this is a multi-faceted degree program, I can work in hotels, cruise ships, and airlines; I am in a unique position to advocate for marine tourism and sustainable tourism practices in land, sea, and air. 

I am also now part of the directory of OceanExpert, a project under the International Oceanographic Data and Information Exchange (IODE) of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO. In 2023, a year before our coveted accreditation with the UNESCO Clubs, UST-Legazpi STAGE proved that civic engagement extends beyond the confines of the school walls. We trained 10+ youth in our community, equipping them with skills in acting, public speaking, and the theater arts. But we are not only artists, we are environmentalists too! We joined in the International Cleanup activity in the same year clearing up marine debris, litter, and plastics from the river before it flows to the Albay Gulf. In theater as in biodiversity protection, we take on different roles and are actors for change! 

Denouement 

From an artist in a school theater to expanding my horizon to the global stage, I am happy that I have been shaped by the people who mentored and guided me. 

That single pivotal moment of joining the 2024 Youth for UNESCO as a representative of STAGE set me up for success as I gained greater appreciation for the environment, and I have since then been actively joining social and civic causes.  

Final call for all passengers towards a greener and more equitable future, it’s your time: 

Lights, camera, climate action!