Gina Lopez’s award-winning travel show “G Diaries” on ABS-CBN is going global with a partnership with the National Geographic Society (NAT GEO) for its third season.
Kicking-off on March 3, the new season of “G Diaries” will feature the eight communities of I LOVE (Investments in Loving Organizations or Village Economies) that won last year’s “Quest for Love” and will be getting technical and financial support for their proposed business and livelihood projects.
In fulfilling its dream of “Creating a Planet in Balance,” NAT GEO – known as a world leader in geography, cartography and exploration – has agreed to take part in transforming marginalized communities into successful and sustainable agro – forestry, fisheries and ecotourism sites, by showcasing the beautiful I LOVE sites through their identified media platforms and digital assets.
These “I LOVE” sites, are located in Tublay, Benguet; Bulusan, Sorsogon; Sta Cruz Island, Zamboanga; Polomolok, South Cotabato; Lake Sebu, South Cotabato; Simunul Island and Bongao, Tawi Tawi; Upi, Maguindanao; and Maramag, Bukidnon.
“What we want to do in the program is create a model. We want to show that when the people care, when there’s someone who stands for integrity and love, you end up making more money, there will be peace and order, there will be good health,” Lopez said.
In a press conference on February 15, Lopez and Fox International Channel senior vice president and general manager Jude Turcuato held a memorandum of agreement signing to formalize the partnership, where NAT GEO will be creating and showing communication materials on the featured communities in “G Diaries” to its global audience.
Turcuato shared that NAT GEO and Lopez’s I LOVE Foundation are same in looking for change agents in the world and he believes by showing the stories of the eight communities they can prove that change is possible.
“Because our mandate is to really inspire people to care about the planet globally, we are now gonna tell the story (of the communities in “G Diaries”) to not only the Philippines but we’re gonna do our best to tell the story elsewhere so that people can see the model, especially if it works, and the whole world can know the great things that are happening in the Philippines,” he said.
Lopez founded I LOVE in 2017 to bring together private institutions, local government units, government agencies and ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya’s Bantay Kalikasan to address the reality that although the Philippines boasts of a 6.7% GDP growth and is seen to be one of the top 3 fastest growing economies in Asia, the robust growth has not trickled down to the remotest areas of the country – the fishermen, farmers, indigenous people and people in conflict areas.
Among I LOVE’s partners are People Design Places (PDP) Architects, ESCA Inc. and, Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers of the Philippines, Inc. (IIEE).
“G Diaries,” which first aired in 2017, has been supporting I LOVE’s advocacy ofuplifting the lives of the marginalized community through sharing the inspiring stories of communities in the program. Last year, the show won Best Travel Show at the 32nd PMPC Star Awards and Most Development-Oriented Environment Program at the UP Gandingan Awards 2018.
Watch “G Diaries” Season 3 in ABS-CBN every Sunday starting March 3 at 10:00 am. It will also air on cable TV on ANC, the ABS-CBN News Channel, and the METRO Channel.