A Creative Crisis: To Engage, Or Not To Engage

Russell Molina is currently the Chief Digital Officer and founding partner of advertising agency Seven A.D., seven-time winner of the prestigious 4As as Independent Agency of the Year. With close to two decades of advertising experience, he has worked on the world’s biggest brands.

Molina is also a published children’s book author and graphic fictionist with over thirty books to his name. His stories have won in the Palanca Awards, PBBY Salanga Awards, PBBY Larry Alcala Illustrator’s Prize and the National Book Awards. He was also a part of the Honour List of the International Board on Books for Young People. In 2022, Molina was awarded the lifetime achievement award UMPIL’s Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas for his valuable contribution to children’s literature.

Working across painting, installation and sculpture, Kawayan De Guia incorporates an eclectic mix of objects into his wall-based works and art projects, including Ifugao rice gods, decorative torpedo bombs, and American jukeboxes transformed into Pinoy jeepneys. His works humorously and piquantly comment on a multitude of issues, from the histories of occupation, trade and exchange that have influenced Philippine history and culture, to the relationships between community and commodities. De Guia lives in Baguio City, a key alternative art centre to Manila, situated in the mountainous region of Cordillera in the northern central part of the island of Luzon. Like his mentors who were part of the Baguio Arts Guild, he is deeply embedded in Cordilleran culture and interested in the heritage and indigenous cultures of the region. De Guia is also a curator and author of key projects such as the Axis Art Project presenting the artists of his community.

Danielle Florendo is an illustrator, picture book author, and visual artist based in Baguio City. After earning her Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts, she pursued a career in children’s book and media illustration.
She was one of the key illustrators for the Baybayin LRT Train Project by Turo Guro in 2019 and debuted in children’s picture books with Balitanay’s Laktob by Dr. Analyn Ikin Amores and Renalyn Albert (CordiText Project) and Pong Pong Ginatbong edited by Dr. Felicidad Prudente (Ilaw ng Tahanan Publishing Inc.) in 2020.
Her works have earned both local and international recognition. Maselan ang Tanong ng Batang si Usman (The Tricky Question of Young Usman) by Palanca awardee Doc Luis Gatmaitan (OMFLIT Hiyas Publishing, 2022) was a finalist at the 16th Cardinal Sin Book Awards for Children’s Book Category and received a Finalist Medal at the 1st Severino Reyes Medal in 2024. The Perfect Tree by Glory Moralidad (Oh Kids!) and Ang Bahay na Maraming Klasrum (The House with Many Classrooms) by Eugene Evasco (Johnny and Hansel Publishing) also earned Finalist medals at the 1st Severino Reyes Medal. The Perfect Tree was additionally recognized as a finalist at the 9th National Children’s Book Awards and featured in the 2023 White Ravens Catalogue. Her book A Whale in Prison by Mary Ann Ordinario won the 18th Cardinal Sin Book Award for Children’s Short Story.

Her latest book, Kaub-Ofuden Shin Lijang Uta (The Legend of Uta Cave), a collaboration with the Indigenous People of Balbalan, Kalinga, received the 2024 Translation Grant from the National Book Development Board. It will be featured at the 2025 Bologna Children’s Book Fair in Italy as part of the Illustrators Exhibition.

Danielle also served as a National Judge and Workshop facilitator for the 2023 and 2024 Gawad Teodora Alonso Story Writing Competition by the Department of Education. She was a Philippine delegate and key speaker at the 2024 Asian Festival for Children’s Content (AFCC) in Singapore, where she delivered multiple lectures on culture-focused children’s books during the Philippines’ Country of Focus showcase. She was the key visual illustrator for the AFCC-Philippine Circle under IBBY-Philippines and one of the lead illustrators for the 2025 Philippine Book Festival under the National Book Development Board. She is currently working as the lead illustrator for the Philippines’ publication materials for the upcoming 2025 Geneva Convention under the Department of Science and Technology–Technology Application and Promotion Institute.

Today, Danielle is a lecturer at the University of the Philippines Baguio. She is an advocate for promoting culture in children’s books and education. When not illustrating or teaching, she pursues research and writes stories inspired by communities across the country.

Aurora Almendral is a Filipina American journalist and writer based in London. She has worked in over 30 countries, from Somalia to Mexico, and has lived in Thailand, Spain, New York and the Philippines, where she maintains a home in Cebu. Her journalism has been published by The New York Times and National Geographic Magazine, and has been recognized with multiple awards, including from the Overseas Press Club of America, and a Hillman Prize for investigative journalism. She is currently working on her first book.