“What is your dream?”
“What are your goals?”
“Who do you want to be like when you grow up?”
These unending questions shape us from the beginning of our years until the time we stop for a moment and think if any of it has been met according to our desires. Some may have been realized already. Others remain hanging in our heads. Then, new dreams come—more important and significant. These visions put us to a higher perspective, making us see beyond the horizon and making us grow to become wiser.
So here I am, welcoming one of the most exciting events in my life: to be a Tubbataha Youth Ambassador. The thought of becoming a representative for something such helpful and important gets me excited. Sharing Tubbataha’s mandate to protect the seas and the environment for the future generations, I feel that I, too, can be an agent for a good cause.
This great opportunity has been handed on to me thanks to the labor of those who have worked hard to shape the present age. They were the ones who first fought for the preservation of the natural resources. These are still intact but are facing threats from rapid industrialization and harmful human activities.
I was able to witness the beauty of nature for years. I can give thanks now in my own little words, but the world I am in today is what I ought to give to the next generation. They, too, deserve to see the beautiful surrounding that I have come to live in. If there should be someone who would instill to the minds of the masses a purpose to live for, it should be the Ambassador.
This is an ambassador’s legacy: to pay it forward. Be an example. Be the catalyst. Be the leader.
Jherson M. Pugay
As a Petroleum Engineering student of Palawan State University, Jherson knows all about exploitation of natural resources. He has also worked in a petroleum company and has observed the negative effects of irresponsible resource use. He now feels he is perfectly suited to work in environmental conservation.
The Tubbataha Youth Ambassador Program is a project run by the Tubbataha Management Office through the support of Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc.