Then came lunchtime, there was a live flower arrangement demonstration headed by the Floral Designer Circle of the Philippines. They’ve made quite a number of gorgeous arrangements but what interested me most was this particular arrangement.
Who would’ve thought you could use those to decorate your home? Genius, eh. 🙂
After that came the Bonsai Demonstration done by Mr. Atish in which he showed how to make one, from cutting it stems to wiring them in order to control the way the stems grow.
As the other guests continue to watch the Bonsai Demonstration, the Media delegates were ushered into a small press conference (headed by Mr. Sid) wherein we can freely ask questions. Mr. Robert Yupangco (CEO and President of Zoomanity Group) himself then proceeded to discuss some major plans regarding where the Zoomanity Group is headed. According to him, their main advocacy is for the Philippines to become “one, big, green park/resort” and that the government should put priority to improving our tourism.
They put emphasis on what they call the 4 E’s: education, environmental conservation, exhibit and entertainment (click here for a more detailed look on the 4 Es). And through this mission/vision, the Zoomanity Group has been expanding its business increasing people’s awareness on our country’s natural flora and fauna plus the animals that dwell in it. It is currently the leading company in the Philippine theme park industry, and, according to Mr. Yupangco, “productivity is the key”. They enhance their productivity through the use of only high tech and best practices in agriculture.
The Zoomanity Group is indeed headed to something greater as they plan to also venture on building music camps, science parks, and more theme parks and safaris – and are gearing towards innovation as they are now thinking of incorporating biotechnology in their business, grabbing the chance of using embryo transplant, artificial insemination, and other things.
The group is also an advocate for helping budding farmers revive the agriculture industry, and together with Meralco, , help pay for the education of these up and coming farmers – training them with the latest technologies and techniques the field has to offer. It’s an obvious fact that nowadays, the country is growing to be pretty industrialized that the agriculture industry is not as strong as it has been in the past. Personally, I commend the Zoomanity group for the help they’ve extended to these folks. Even though it was being heavily industrialized, the Philippines is first and foremost an agricultural country, and Filipinos must try hard to remember that – ad our strength lies in taking advantage and making the most of our natural assets.
Mr. Yupangco ended the press con with an ancient proverb saying “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children” implying that we should protect and cherish our natural environment because it is the next generation that would so be affected by our actions – which goes to show that the group is committed to preserving our environment for the benefit of the next generation.
It has been quite an interesting press con, and each question was answered satisfactorily. I remembered someone asking if the “RH Bill applies to the animals” and Mr. Yupangco said that it is the opposite because they need to venture into breeding. XD
