Photo contest on water

MANILA, Philippines - “Water is Life: Too much or too little, every drop counts”.

With this as its theme, a Southeast Asia-wide photography contest has been launched by the Philippine government-hosted Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization-Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEAMEO SEARCA).

Based in the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) in Los Baños, Laguna, SEARCA is one of the 20 regional centers of SEAMEO, an inter-government body founded in 1965 to foster cooperation among Southeast Asian nations in the fields of education, science, and culture.

The photo competition is open to Filipinos and nationals of the 10 other member-countries of SEARCA’s mother association, SEAMEO, namely: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leyte, and Vietnam.

Cash awards and plaques of recognition await the winners in the art contest whose deadline for submission of entries via http://phltocontest. Searca.org. is Dec. 31, 2012.

SEARCA director Dr. Gil C. Saguiguit Jr. said the center is looking for photographs that emphasize the usefulness of water, the challenges it faces, and the opportunities and threats it brings.

The photographic subjects may focus on three sub-themes: water in people’s daily lives, water and food security, and water and climate change.                                        

“The photo contest entries should best capture the importance of water in the lives of people, plants, and animals. Photos of users interacting with streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, springs, and wetlands from all over Southeast Asia are encouraged,” Dr. Saguiguit said.