CONRAD F. VIRINA
As in most of my stories, POK Tales did not start as outright advocacy.
The raw story idea was about the friendship between two improbable creatures — a mouse-deer and a tikbalang. (Sorry, a slight spoiler alert)
It was only when I did my usual research about the mouse-deer, its size, color, behavior, diet, habitat, etc., that I found out about its possible sad fate. Then I dug deeper and found out about the endangered creatures, including our mouse-deer (at that time, he and the other creatures had no name yet).
I found out all of them come from one island on the whole planet — Balabac, Palawan! Yes, in the Philippines.
Suddenly I felt sad for them.
I started sketching Pok and his friends and created a whole world for them.
Still, I remembered why I set out to create POK — it was to do something entertaining and earn on the side. I didn’t set out to do advocacy; I didn’t have huge money for that.
I was not a wealthy philanthropist and was just a stroke survivor.
I decided to do a native version of Bambi cum Pooh and studied how Mr. Walt Disney did them.
Ergo, I do not talk about this sad planet — Balabac, in particular — but I slide in the tearful reality of Balabac via entertaining stories.
If I pontificate, I supposed, nobody will listen. But if I give them entertaining stories (with subtle pro-Earth insights), perhaps they will let POK into their homes.
And as my young readers grow up, they will remember Pok. And how much he loved the pristine beauty of Balabac, Palawan.
Here, on planet Earth is a beautiful world God so lovingly created for us to enjoy and take good care of everything and everyone on it.
Maybe creating Pok and his friends, Toto, Mang Guling, Rodrigo, Pilo and Pilar, was no accident. Maybe it was intentional on the Lord’s part to use the gifts he gave me to reach out to others. Make more people aware of what’s happening on the island of Balabac, Palawan. To what is happening to all our lands and seas in the world.
The advocacy may have been accidental; God behind the act was not! He caused it to be! Truly, White Butterfly!
