Energy Transition and the Transport Sector

Brief History of Kamayan

The three ‘founding fathers” were journalists and broadcasters Vic Milan and Ed Aurelio or Ding Reyes, and restaurateur Vicvic Villavicencio of Triple V, the well-known group of Kamayan, Saisaki and Dad’s Restaurants.  All three were Earth and Nature lovers. Vic Milan and Vicvic were scuba divers exposed to Nature’s beauty and bounty, while Ding, who was my younger brother, was – among many other things – an artist who drew inspiration and creativity from God’s creation. In 1990, unhappy about the lack of attention and action on the worsening state of the environment, they hatched a plan to hold a monthly forum to educate journalists on pressing environmental issues, in hopes that this would open up media space for such issues and attract public interest.  Thus, in March 1990, Kamayan Para sa Kalikasan was born, with a roomful of journalists in attendance at Vicvic’s Kamayan Restaurant on EDSA.  It was held there regularly  every 3^rd Friday of the month for more than 3 decades except for one or two occasions of extreme flooding and – if I remember right – one Good Friday. (Can’t compete with that, of course!) Free lunch was always provided, sponsored by the restaurant.

The good news is, it worked!!! Before long, articles on the environment slowly found more and more space in both broadcast and print media. Then reporters took environmental beats, green columnists sprouted, and news on the environment got on the front page.

Subsequently, the forum was opened up to the general public so that it could reach more people directly. Students, teachers, various organizations, faith-based groups and would-be environmentalists came to learn and discuss solutions to the planet’s challenges. Organizations and shared campaigns came into being after some fruitful discussions.

Alas, the founding fathers were all called home to God’s bosom one after the other. When my brother Ding who was the main forum organizer was taken ill in 2012, he entrusted its sustainability to Green Convergence. And GC has, to this day, continued their legacy.