Among the 20 national entry finalists, the entries of John Patrick Garcia Paneda and John Dovi Gonzales won in DOST-PAGASA-funded Mobile Photography Contest as they landed 2nd and 6th Place, respectively, during the celebration of 156th National & 71st World Meteorological Day on March 23, 2021.

Following the celebration’s theme “The Ocean, Our Climate, and Weather”, both finalists captured scenic Agoo seascapes while sharing varied wavelengths of advocacy.

Paneda’s 7,000-peso winning shot carefully sewed the interconnections of life and the ocean through a summer pre-sunset palette of a fishing boat silhouette over the calm waters under bluish-grey bands of clouds with a sharp burst of sifting sunrays.

“We live because of these elements. We sail our boats atop of the ocean. In there, we can either feel heat or a drop of rain, [and] we live,” he wrote.

On the other hand, Gonzales’s sixth place entry, which earned for him a thousand-peso cash prize, aimed to address the dangers of changing environmental threats brought by the lack of proper pandemic hazardous waste management and discipline.

“Parang information dissemination na rin iyon sa public na huwag nang magdagdag pa ng bagong kalat sa dagat kasi hazardous iyong mga ganoong klase ng basura,” he said.

His shot of a blue surgical face mask left behind and forgotten along a cacophony of crashing waves over rocks along the shoreline engaged various opinions which worked for his purpose. Gonzales explained that upon capturing the photo, he fished up the face mask with a rod and he disposed it off properly.

Gonzales acknowledges Roel Madriaga, his friend and co-contender in the contest in helping to facilitate while Paneda, who recently lost his father, thanks and appreciates everyone who supported and strengthened him.

Meanwhile, in his Facebook post, Paneda thanked his friends who helped him in the submission of his entry:

“Thank you sa mga solid kong kaibigan na gumawa ng paraan para maipagpatuloy ang entry ko kahit nung araw ng pagpapasa, ay saktong namatay si Papa😢😇🤗”.

Both Paneda and Gonzales have been inspiring their fellow students through their leadership, Paneda in the SBO being the Governor of the College of Education, and Gonzales in publication being the Associate Editor of the College FORUM, SLUC’s Official Student Publication. Both are students of the College of Education.