Remedios Trinidad Romualdez Medical Foundation

Calanipawan Road, Tacloban City

Environmental Sciences

Reflection on the Mobile Museum Boxes Experience

Name: Coreene S. Loquinte

Course, Year & Section: BMLS 2E

To be educated of and introduced to the wonders of one’s own country is a privilege for
everyone. It is not every time that we get introduced to the beauty that surrounds our country, and this
Mobile Museum Boxes project is the perfect opportunity for everyone who’s not capable to personally
witness what beauty hides in the nature of Philippines.

I have always been fascinated by the idea of exploring culture and nature, but being a student I do
not have much resources as of the moment to do so. Although I have been to some places, the craving for
more always nag within. Initially, I was not really interested on the prospect of these museum boxes,
because I did not expect much seeing as they can be moved from one place to another. But as the tour
started, with the guide actively introducing us to each artifact, things got interesting. It felt really nice to
look at animals or plants or other artifacts for that matter and be educated in the process, in that way the
museum tour was entertaining and interesting.

Honestly speaking, some of the artifacts are already physically familiar to me because I have seen
them on the internet. But to know their background and interesting information about them that I was
clueless about was fascinating but also saddening at the same time. It saddens me that the beauties I have
seen in that museum resides in the very same country as me but I know very little about them. This is my
country, I live here, but I probably know a lot more about the Giant Otters or “river wolves” of South
America than the Philippine Duck which I didn’t know was even endemic in the Philippines if it wasn’t
for this museum tour. This made me realize that I have paid more attention to the species I see outside of
our country than those that are commonly found in ours that I may have neglected. It saddens me even
more that some of the animal and plant species that were introduced to us are now bordering extinction,
and that the cause of this are Filipinos. The experience may have been nice, I learned not only about
certain endemic species in the Philippines but also about the unique geography of our country.

To be able to be educated in this manner, to know more about the beauty of the species that
resides in this beautiful country is really an honor. Despite the fact that I feel ashamed of myself due to
my lack of knowledge about our biodiversity, I still feel accomplished in a way now that I have realized
what I missed in our nature this whole time and now that I have encouraged myself to be a better citizen
and start to actually explore the beauty of the Philippines in my own way and help preserve it.