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In 2022, the Philippines celebrated September as Maritime and Archipelagic Nation Awareness Month, or MANA Mo, under the national theme Our Seas, Our Livelihood, Our Life Source: A Whole-of-Nation Approach Towards Raising Maritime and Ocean Awareness. The Department of Foreign Affairs has adopted the sub-theme: “Philippines as an Archipelagic State: UNCLOS@40” to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
The DFA Home Office, Consular Offices and Foreign Service Posts conducted events and activities for MANA Mo. We have sought to align these with the call to action towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 14, to conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and maritime resources.
Our Foreign Service Posts all over the world together with the Consular Offices throughout the Philippines contributed to MANA Mo. Several lectures, workshops, and various activities were conducted in support of this important national celebration.
In particular, we have the following numbers of participation:
Foreign Service Posts: 47
Consular Offices: 13
Total Participation: 60
DFA led a total number of ninety-two (92) activities. These are identified into the following categories: (1) Webinars/Lecture/Academic, (2) Cultural, (3) Environmental, (5) Assistance-to-Nationals (ATN), (5) Information Drive, and (6) Special activities.
Webinars, Lectures : 16
Cultural : 33
Environmental : 14
ATN : 1
Information drive : 22
Special activities : 5
Photos and other documentation of the celebration may be accessed though this link:
At the DFA Home Office, the following are the MOAO-led activities:
“Giant Dandelions Art Installation” made by Filipino-French artist Ms. Olivia d’Aboville, which features flowers with dandelion heads made from approximately 5,000 recycled water bottles cut and connected to one another by nylon weave. We hope that this exhibit will raise awareness of the fragility of our marine environment and the need for eco-friendly sustainable development, as well as highlight Philippine efforts to address marine plastic pollution.
We had two activities focused on the youth.
The Department with the cooperation of the DFA Ladies Foundation and the Japan Foundation Manila, conducted the MANA Mo “Your Heritage” Classroom, a story-telling session on the book “Bayan ng Basura” by Mr. Augie Rivera, and a marine-life paper-folding workshop.
The computer adventure game “Islands Abridged”, developed by one of the Department’s Office of Public and Cultural Diplomacy Principal Assistant Marthy Angue. “Islands Abridged” features a character who can explore the entire archipelago of the Philippines including its provinces, famous landmarks, destinations, and natural wonders. We believe that this video game can help mainstream the maritime and archipelagic nature of the Philippines.
We also have an online exhibit on the “PH role in the crafting of the Archipelagic Doctrine”.
This recalls the Philippines’ leading role in the adoption of this doctrine during the UNCLOS negotiations, in line with the objective to promote public understanding of Philippine identity as a maritime nation and an archipelagic state and to generate support for the country’s advocacies for a rules-based international maritime regime.
MANAMo 2022 Microsite
MANAMo 2021 Microsite
Recorded Webinars/ Activities
2021 Quincentennial Commemorations Webinar
MANAMo 2021
Maritime Champions Webinar
MANAMo 2020
The Balangay Webinar
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