It’s a daunting task that he took upon himself to care for the environment.
Eric Pestaño Smith, 26-year-old earth-advocate and founding chairperson of Youth for Livable Cebu (YLC), is gung-ho in protecting Mother Earth.
Eric Smith with his dog in Hale Manna in Moalboal town, south of Cebu. (CDN PHOTO/ VAL CASUCO)
Together with like-minded individuals (Fiona Jade Lim, Francis Sollano, Cara Riña), Eric espouses ways to make Cebu a model for sustainable development. Educated at the Cebu International School (for high school), Ateneo de Manila University (for college), and currently earning an MBA from UP Cebu, Eric is bent on making a mark in this endeavor.
One hot summer weekend in his family-owned resort in Hale Manna Beach Resort and Coastal Gardens in the southern town of Moalboal, we got to know more about this modern day renaissance man—the epitome of gentlemanly grace whose heightened awareness in protecting the environment inspires and empowers a lot of the young.
Have you always been a nature lover?
I grew up with a family that loves going out. This was back in Manila where I was born and raised. We would always go to the farm, either my Tito’s or my Mom’s. Or we go to the beach because we had a property in Batangas. Every weekend my Mom made sure that we’d go out to either the beach or the mountains. My love for nature started from there. We would have our own mini garden as our project for that weekend or my Mom would teach me snorkeling.
How did the opportunity to become an advocate for the environment happen?
Even as a kid,l I’ve been pretty much outspoken in terms of ideals like… Why are there so many jeepneys? Or why aren’t they organized? This and that. And then when we moved to Cebu, I learned to love Cebu. But it was in college when I felt the need to do something for Cebu. I was exploring tourism stuff to promote Cebu. After college, I came back and worked here. Things just evolved into something cause-based, to turn my love for Cebu into something that will transform society. And it was matched when the whole issue of flyovers came about. Here’s a group of concerned people coming together, succeeding in their cause. I came to the realization that I should involve the youth more. That’s when I formed Youth for a Livable Cebu (YLC), to bring like-minded souls together, tell them that we need to participate as citizens, and that we are part in the whole governance. We really have to do something if we want a better place to live in. So my love for Cebu, the whole advocacy of
a livable Cebu, and my love for nature became something that’s more proactive.
What’s your plan for YLC?
There are currently four of us at YLC. We’d like to get more into the core group, come up with that magic 12. We put out five pillars of livability that we defined and we’d want to get advocates for each pillar. These pillars are heritage and culture preservation, socially good enterprise economies, urban revitalization, good governance, and community and self well-being. I’m a pillar for arts and culture because of Handuraw and policies governance—I am strong on those two. So, I’m like the liaison if there are stuff with the CITOM or mga meeting. And there’s Francis Sollano, who is into upcycling. Fiona Lim is into vertical farming, and Cara Riña. We’re growing pa as a group.
Who are your icons?
My Mom is my greatest influence. I look up to her in terms of environmental protection and her involvement with the Coastal Resource Management Project (CRMP) and United States Agency for International Development (USAid). Other than my mom, I also admire Bill Gates.
What’s your educational background?
In elementary, I studied in Brent International School for a few years. When we moved to Cebu, I studied in CIE, then CIS in high school. For college, it was in Ateneo. And MBA, UP Cebu.
Aren’t you looking for that rootedness as you’re mostly influenced and educated in the “bourgeois” sense of education?
There was this thing with my language ‘cause I grew up speaking English and Tagalog. And then Bisaya when I came back to Cebu, then going back to Manila, Tagalog na sad. So I am kinda balanced with my language, but I had a good educational mix—kindergarten in my village school in Manila, then going to Brent after. With Ateneo, it was kinda bourgeois but it also exposed me to independence. Because it was me lang and I lived with my Tito and I had to adjust my way of life there in Manila. Prior to coming back here, I worked with Hewlett Packard for almost a year in Makati as SAP consultant, technical support. When I came back here, I worked for a year in Filinvest and thereafter joined Handuraw. It’s a good mix— going to UP, coming from Ateneo because of the people and brand of education. If I took pa my further studies in Ateneo, it would have been another wealthy-entrepreneurship education, and it’s their kind. With UP naman, I kinda feel like I’m at home there.
Before my Dad passed away, he told my Mom na this money should go to the kids’ education. And he really told my Mom that he wanted us
to go to international schools, that’s why my Mom made sure that we all finished schooling in IS.
How old were you when your father died?
Two years old.
So what do you like to do other than managing the business and spreading the advocacy? What do you want to achieve for yourself?
Right now I feel like I’m hitting the right spot in terms of what I’m doing. I wanted to do something for Cebu— there’s YLC. Career-wise, there’s Handuraw. Love life, I am working on it! Friends are there. Social life is there. I just want to finish my MBA first and then apply it in Handuraw. I really look forward to diversifying the business. So we might enter into a different market for pizza. I want something to be of my own, ‘cause
I didn’t start Handuraw. But since I came, I’ve been taking good care of it.
You seem to be a Mama’s boy. When was the last time she reprimanded you?
A little over a year ago, ‘cause I also have a temper man gud. Saputon ko. And masungit usahay, most especially if I am hungry, or had little sleep. Or when there’s so much people talking and I get impatient. There was one time that I raised my voice, I was just trying to say something and nangluod dayon si Mama. “Ikaw ha! Mr. Sapot gyud ka, you’re so masungit!”
Have you received indecent proposals from gay men?
I’ve had. Chat-chat lang. I don’t block them off pero I could always sense them na mura og lahi na ni. But I remain friendly. My sister is gay and the whole family has been accepting of her and her girlfriend—so it’s nothing.
Eric Smith
What is your favorite pastime?
I watch DVDs. I stay at home, eat junk food, and watch TV. I’m not the sporty type, but I do like playing badminton, for quite awhile I was into it, pero right now, napasagdan.
What is in your bucket list that you haven’t fulfilled?
For the longest time, working on love, being in a relationship. Then, traveling ‘cause I’ve traveled local. My sisters were able to take advantage of the travel abroad visiting my other relatives in the States and Canada. I’d also like to do that. I just don’t have the time yet.
You said you’re working on that relationship. What do you look for in that person?
Someone fun! Someone who can push spontaneity in my life ‘cause for the most part I have been very serious. Someone who is easygoing, chill, street smart.
How has the search for a relationship been so far?
I met this girl through a common friend in UP. We got to know each other and now we’re already dating.
Let’s talk about your spiritual life. How do you categorize your faith?
I’m Catholic. Not strictly Catholic since I don’t go to church every Sunday, but I’d like to think I am spiritual because I always meditate. I make sure I have my silent time. I may not be strictly religious, but I pray. Sometimes when I am saputon, I just take a deep breath and listen to Enya or some other music. I believe in the third eye and those basa basa (readings), chakra. I am open to those.
How do you pray?
I talk to God. I always praise and thank Him. The whole attitude of gratitude and specifically ask for what I want and what I need.
What’s your regular day like?
In the morning, I make my own coffee. I take my time during breakfast but by 11 a.m., I have to get out of the house to go to Handuraw. And then I visit the other branches, JY and Kasambagan. I have lunch in either one of the branches and if I go puol, I go to Ayala.
If I need to buy stuff or do errands, I go to SM or White Gold. Sometimes I have coffee with friends or by myself in any Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf branch. Then I go home for dinner with my Mom. On days I want to hang out with friends, we go karaoke, have a beer.
What’s your dream environmental project for Cebu?
An organized roadway. Kanang you fix the side road, it looks good and it works well. It’s painted, there are trees, the signs are properly placed, and the wires are clean and underground. And it should be uniform from the airport to the city proper. Kanang it doesn’t mean na if it’s from Mandaue to Cebu everything should be different. The whole tourism aspect should be taken into account when they design these things. In terms of environment, I want to see more parks.
What’s your stand on bicycle lanes?
It’s a contentious issue. Yes it would be good for more people to bike but if the roads are not conditioned, yet then it wouldn’t be safe. It wouldn’t
be practical yet ‘cause you have to delineate the bike road and the road drivers are not quite trained yet. I would like the infrastructure in place first.
What about alternative sources of energy?
Just because we are a developing country doesn’t mean that we have to go through what the developed countries went through. We have to use coal, for instance. We can learn from the experience of other countries and really bank on new energy so we can be leaders in terms of practical applications. Fiona and I actually thought of introducing the COMET here, the E-jeepney that’s making waves in Manila. They’re prototyping it in Manila, pero sana they can bring it here and you just hire na lang the existing jeepney drivers, give them decent pay and benefits.
Is there a movie or TV show recently that moved you?
I was really hooked with “Breaking Bad.” It was so real man gud. You can really see the transformation of the person. You saw the greed. And you saw how he burned bridges with friends and how he broke the family because of greed, just for money. The last movie I saw was “300: Rise of an
Empire” and it wasn’t really that good.
What are the top three things you can’t live without?
Internet, a computer, a pillow.
If you can be a thing, what would you like to be?
A smart phone. It can access, it can do video. It can do a lot of things actually.
How do you feel being the poster boy of the environment?
Daunting. I’m a Taurus, there’s a part of me that likes the publicity. There’s also a part of me that’s afraid of being at the forefront. I am humbled. I still have to do more.
If you could resurrect something, what would it be?
The general idea of planning. Right now, everything is a shortcut. Even the youth, with social media, they are into the click and view, quick to
react and share. They react to something and its a spoof diay! I mean, read it first before you talk. And it couples with planning, the whole critical look, examination, and observation, di ba?
If you can be a youth ambassador in places of the National Youth Commission, what major policy would you like to impose?
Maybe Immersion. Something that happened to me in college in Ateneo where we are required to do an immersion. I was lucky enough to be put in Gawad Kalinga North Edsa. I helped build houses, cleaned stuff. It’s really a good experience to be with these people. Some of my classmates were with the Aetas or indigenous communities and the experience really changed them.
What’s your Earth Day message for the youth?
Let’s go beyond taking a picture and sending the message and hashtagging. Transcend by joining one activity and sana it’s more sustainable. Practice it every day. Little things like changing your lights to LED. And then it becomes a habit.
What is your idea of a good life?
A good life is not finding the comforts in life. It is all about finding personal meaning. The sense of achievement. Being able to touch other people’s lives. To be able to make a difference in someone’s life significantly. A sense of fulfillment not just for yourself, but also for others.