MANILA, Philippines—For the second straight year, TEDxDiliman, a locally hosted version of the popular TED conference, will take place on September 15 at the Malcolm Theater of the University of the Philippines in Diliman.

With the them focused on the “The Future,” TEDxDiliman will feature a selection of thinkers, artists, writers, entertainers and policy experts representing such diverse interests as politics, photojournalism, law, sports, the environment, culture, urban issues and music, among others.

Confirmed speakers with their chosen topics to be discussed are as follows;

• Former Senator and Ambassador Leticia Shahani – “Our Future as a Maritime Power.”

• Urban planning expert Benjamin de la Peña – “The Future of Metro Manila as a City.”

• Noted artist Gerry Alanguilan – “The Future of Comics.”

• Sports columnist Jaemark Tordecilla – “The Future of Philippine Sports.”

• Law professor Ted Te – “The Future of Law.”

• Movie director Jose Javier ‘Joey’ Reyes – “The Future of Media.”

• Photojournalist Rick Rocamora – “The Future of Visual Storytelling.”

• Tour guide and performance artist Carlos Celdran – “The Future of the Past.”

• Environmental expert Tony Oposa – “The Future of Floods”.

There will be surprise performances from the Philippine High School for the Arts and from Casa San Miguel representing “The Future of Music.”

TEDxDiliman 2012 is managed through the Center for Art, New Ventures & Sustainable Development (www.canvas.ph), and is proudly supported by Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (Philippines), Sun Cellular Inc., and TV5 online.

The latest updates on TEDxDiliman are available at www.tedxdiliman.com and on Facebook (www.facebook.com/tedxdiliman).

On September 15, TEDxDiliman will also be available for viewing live on TV5’s website.

For more information about TEDxDiliman, please email [email protected]

TED is a nonprofit organization devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. Started as a four-day conference in California 26 years ago, TED has grown to support those world-changing ideas with multiple initiatives. At TED, the world’s leading thinkers and doers are asked to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Talks are then made available, free, at TED.com. TED speakers have included Bill Gates, Jane Goodall, Elizabeth Gilbert, Sir Richard Branson, Benoit Mandelbrot, Philippe Starck, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Isabel Allende and former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Two major TED events are held each year: The TED Conference takes place every spring in Long Beach, California (along with a parallel conference, TEDActive, in Palm Springs), and TEDGlobal is held each summer in Edinburgh, Scotland.

TED’s media initiatives include TED.com, where new TEDTalks are posted daily; the new TED Conversations, enabling broad conversations among TED fans; and the Open Translation Project, which provides subtitles and interactive transcripts as well as the ability for any TEDTalk to be translated by volunteers worldwide.

TED has established the annual TED Prize, where exceptional individuals with a wish to change the world are given the opportunity to put their wishes into action; TEDx, which offers individuals or groups a way to host local, self-organized events around the world; and the TED Fellows program, helping world-changing innovators from around the globe to become part of the TED community and, with its help, amplify the impact of their remarkable projects and activities.

For information about TED’s upcoming conferences, visit http://www.ted.com/registration

Follow TED on Twitter at http://twitter.com/TEDTalks, or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/TED