00:00Getting paid to travel around the country, nako!
00:04Hashtag ultimate goal yan, diba?
00:07But you know what?
00:08Yan lang naman ang mga ganap ng ating Gallagram guest
00:10na isang conservation and travel photographer.
00:14Aha, mapapasana all ka na lang talaga.
00:18Kaya join ka na sa chikahan namin ni Pars Jose Gabriel Mejia
00:23or si Pars Gab!
00:25Hi Mars Camille! Hi Mars Ia!
00:28Alam mo Gab, you are so lucky because you know I often hear this from people
00:33when they see Drew and of course because Drew has a travel show
00:36so you have a lot of people saying
00:38ah sana, sana all, sana all
00:40ikaw yung literal na
00:41I mean you might not be working on TV with a travel show
00:45but you've got your own thing going on
00:47and being paid to travel and go to all these beautiful places around our country.
00:54How lucky are you?
00:56Yeah, I'm just so grateful for it.
00:59Super fun, fun job.
01:00And such a young, at such a young age too, when did you start?
01:04Well, I started hiking in the Philippines when I was 13
01:07but I really got into professional photography and travel, making films and documentaries
01:13noong 18 na ako, noong college.
01:15So around like six years ago.
01:17So I suppose in college you, what did you take up in college?
01:21Well, it's funny actually I take up civil engineering. I took up civil engineering. So medyo far away.
01:26So it was really just a hobby noong umpisa.
01:29Yeah, I really loved hiking. So hobby talaga siya noong una. Then I guess I really wanted to push it into a career to make a living out of it because this is my passion. This is what I want to do when I grow up and like really live the life that I want to live.
01:44Wow, Mars. Coming from this young man, Mars.
01:49Yes! Pero kung mayisip mo, Mars, siya yung tipo na tao na tinapos na muna yung pag-aaral niya, kumuha muna siya ng degree, tsaka na pinursue yung hobby niya, and look kung nasaan siya ngayon. Successful siya kasi nandun talaga yung heart niya, Mars. Pero may degree siya. O, di ba?
02:05At what? At such a young age of what? 24?
02:09Yup, 24.
02:11Gab, let's go! San mo ba kami igagala today?
02:14So una, punta tayo sa Mount Pulag. Actually yung Mount Pulag yung parang pinakaunang bundo ko sa Philippines na na-climb.
02:24So, sobrang ganda na Mount Pulag.
02:25Did you take the hard rock?
02:27Yeah, the Akiki.
02:28Or the easy one?
02:29The Akiki trail.
02:30You did the hard one!
02:31Yeah, and also the Ambageg. I've been to Mount Pulag several times just to document, you know, the dwarf bamboo, the white rainbows, the sea of clouds.
02:43Then, I also love to travel punta sa Visayas, yung mga beaches, and experience and visit wildlife, like document the tarsiers, and go around cruises in the wetlands, yung mga river.
02:56At syempre, yung mga primary forests natin, yung mga forests na sobrang hindi pa nata-touch.
03:02At syempre, di ba yung famous Chocolate Hills?
03:04Yes, at sana hindi na ever matouch.
03:05Oo nga, sana ma-protect and conserve talaga.
03:08Yes!
03:09Pero yung favorite ko talaga yung sa Agusan, sa Mindanao, yung sobrang napaka-jungled, napaka-very pristine na lakes.
03:17Pero yun nga, nasusunog, dinodocument namin yung mga fires, kasi nasisira na talaga yung mga places sa Philippines na hindi pa, you know, na-de-discover at hindi pa na-experience ng mga ibang tao.
03:28Wait, bakit sya nasusunog?
03:29Bakit nasusunog?
03:30Yun, the effects of climate change as well, and yung mga illegal logging, yung mga plantations na sinisira yung protected area.
03:40Nasada ko dun sa last part, Mars. Happy na ako nung umpisa, tapos parang nasada ko nung banang huli.
03:46Dapat pala balik ka d'yo.
03:47Pero sino?
03:48Kaya, ikaw talaga, Gab, ano ba yan?
03:52Gab, kasi diba you're a conservation and travel photographer, so ano naman yung mga advocacy na ginagawa ninyo to make sure na masabi sa lahat ng tao kung paano pa natin mamaaalagaan yung environment natin, yung forests natin, at lahat pa ng mga lugar na napupuntahan mo.
04:08Paano natin i-encourage yung mga mars at parts natin out there na kailangan talaga natin to do it together to protect our environment?
04:18I think the first step is para ma-experience ng mga tao, mga Filipinos, yung kagandaan ng mga mountains, mga beaches natin.
04:26I think doon nagsisimula yun eh, love talaga sa environment para, ay, nakita na lang, pwede pala natin protectahan to, may mga animals tayo na ganito, may mga creatures pala tayo na pwede natin i-take pride in.
04:39So, para for them to share that love and awareness for, you know, the issues that are happening sa Pilipinas, katulad nung sa Agusan.
04:49Mars, meron siyang projects for WWF, and currently, meron naman siyang work for National Geographic Storytelling Project.
04:59Oh, wow, these are huge projects, Gab!
05:02Can you tell us more about these projects of yours, Gab?
05:04Yeah, for the WWF, I really worked and lived with the Tamaraw Rangers.
05:09So, yung Tamaraw is one of the, you know, national landmamas of the Philippines.
05:14And, yung, the effects of the pandemic, I was documenting their lives of how, you know, the pandemic affected the poaching, yung pinapatay yung mga Tamaraw, kahit endangered na sila.
05:25Then, also the stories, I wanted to tell the stories of the Rangers.
05:29And the Agusan one was the videos that I showed.
05:31So, we were making a documentary and had it published in National Geographic, yun, kasi nasisira talaga because of climate change.
05:39And yung Manobo indigenous community, we were living with them for, you know, two years and really documenting their lives and how to show na, you can co-exist, you can live with nature talaga in the Philippines.
05:49Wow! Mars excited akong makita at mapanood lahat yun, diba?
05:55Sana nga mas maraming yun yung mga kabataan, mga tao na mag-go into this field kasi wala pa, well, auntie pa lang talaga yung nag-pursue sa tarir ng conservation photography.
06:06Gab, para sa mga Mars at Mars natin, John, who are inspired by, with what you do.
06:11And would like to be updated with everything that you're doing.
06:16Do you have any social media accounts that they can follow?
06:20Yeah, I usually post the stories and photos on my Instagram.
06:24So, it's just my name. My handle is Gab Mejia.
06:27Ayan! Check natin lahat ng mga ganap ni Gab d'yan.
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