MANILA: When Celine Murillo traded the bustling streets of Manila for the nature of Bicol region 400 km south, she began to use TikTok to share her journey — a decision that soon shot her to social media fame.
Almost three years later, Murillo’s account has over 620,000 followers. Filled with conversational content and tidbits in under two minutes, her content resonates with viewers of all ages who appreciate learning more about the plants and animals they see around them.
An experienced travel writer, she was creating long-form content for years. But the outreach was not yet enough to make a difference. It was her social media venture that changed it.
“For almost a decade, I’ve been creating stories about the natural world — written features, photo stories, and, ultimately, documentaries. While these have been fulfilling, I felt like they were reaching the people that already cared. There was this dread of being in an echo chamber,” she told Arab News.
“(I asked myself), ‘Where’s the audience? How can I make the message reach more of them?’ These were the questions I consistently mulled over. And the answer I came to was TikTok.”
It all clicked as Filipinos were eager to learn about their country’s rich biodiversity.
Murillo travels with her husband Dennis, who shoots and edits their content as they explore the Philippines’ natural wonders — from hiking in the mountains to documenting endangered species.
One of the videos about a yellow-vented bulbul, a common bird in the Philippines, has earned 12 million views, while the views on her series called “Saribuhay sa Salapi” (Biodiversity in Local Currency) range from over 1 million to 3 million views for each clip.
Celine Murillo and her husband and video producer Dennis during one of their field trips. (Celine Murillo)
With the number of her followers growing, Murillo realized there was great interest among Filipinos to learning about their own natural heritage — something that many were never introduced to, as the Philippines’ native flora and fauna was not a subject typically covered in school curricula.
“It makes me sad and a little angry that foreign species like lions and cherry blossoms are more known to Filipinos and more prominent in popular culture than our own local biodiversity,” she said.
“This should be taught in schools. This should be inculcated in our psyche.”
The lack of knowledge and awareness stems, according to her, from a systemic issue of long-held colonial narratives.
“For so long, all of our institutions forward colonial ideas. This is true in all aspects of our lives as Filipinos, even in the way we perceive our environment,” she said.
“We see nature as something to profit from, and ultimately exploit and abuse. That’s why I’m proud of my work because it has started a resurgence in interest, a remembering that our natural heritage is just as amazing and worthy of attention, that it’s inherently valuable, even without factoring in how much money we can profit from it.”
Living with indigenous communities and working, among others, with Climate Tracker Asia — a non-profit committed to enhancing climate journalism — Murillo has witnessed the situation on the ground and the fight of those trying to stop the destruction of the environment, which to her was linked to the continuing presence of “colonial systems” that “allow the wanton abuse and oppression of people, communities, and our natural treasures.”
She is trying to address this, making more people aware by sharing online the knowledge of experts, conservation institutions and grassroots groups she has learnt from.
“My work as a storyteller and communicator is built on the collective knowledge and experiences of scientists and Indigenous communities. I am a proud product of their legacies ... “I’m so happy that the online community is empowered to share their experiences, in the context of their cultural and personal history,” she said.
“I know my work in social media is barely scratching the surface, but I hope this will instill a sense of wonder to the viewer, and hopefully, this will turn into love. In time, we will collectively harness this love to create a better, kinder, more compassionate world.”
