Life Bitter and Sweet, Harsh and Wonderful: The 2009 NCCA Writers’ Prize Winning Entries

Concepts for a collection of poems in Iluko dealing with the sweetness of life despite tragedy and for a novel in Filipino following the adventures of an aswang are awarded the 2009 National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Writers’ Prize, which will bestow financial grants for the authors to finish their works.

The entries of 52-year-old managing editor of Bannawag Cles B. Rambaud and 44-year-old freelance writer, editor and translator Rosy May M. Bayuga, more known as Mayette Bayuga, were judged the best out of 10 in poetry in Iluko and 19 in novel in Filipino, two of the five categories open for 2009. The other categories—drama in Bicol, language in southern Luzon Island, and essay Pampangan, language of Pampanga in central Luzon—do not have winners.

Rambaud’s project in mind is called “Tagisam-itek Pay Laeng ti Tagapulot” (I Still Find Molasses Sweet), a collection of about 30 poems, written in Iluko, the language in the Ilocos region and the dominant one in northern Luzon, chronicles his own experiences and life. The poet chooses to be cull from his own life to lend truthfulness to his work.

Rambaud wrote: “Awanen, para iti proponent (kalpasan ti personal a pannakaisangolna iti datdatlag a pagteng nga isu ti ipupusay), ti kasayaatan, kapupudnuan a mabalinna nga isurat a dandaniw no di met laeng dagiti agwerret iti bukodna a biag, nga isu ti am-ammona unay, a patienna met a saanna laeng a bukod a rikna wenno padas no di pay ket nariknan, napadasan wenno marikna ken mapadasanto met ti sabsabali ken mangibatinto met kadakuada a mangam-amiris iti bukodda a biag. Iti sabali a pannao, gapu ta ti liday, ragsak, namnama, pannakapaay, ipupusay, pannakaipasngay ket saan a kabukbukodan a mapadasan ti maymaysa laeng a tao, patien ngarud ti proponent a saan nga agbalin dagiti daniw a kas orasion ti maysa a mangngagas wenno Latin a litania ti maysa a padi nga isuda laeng ti makaawat no di ket babaen dagitoy a daniw, daydiay makabasa, makipagragsak, makipagladingit, makikinnatawa, makiinnisem, makipagbaklay met iti pungtot, suron nga imet dagiti daniw. Ngarud, saan nga agtungpal a kabukbukodan ti proponent dagiti daniw no di ket agbalin a daniw met ti asino man a makabasa, nangruna ket kadagitoy a daniw, maibagasan met ti kultura a dinakkelanna.” (After having been personally put through the painful experience known as death, there will be no other poem that could ever come out of my pen that is better, more truthful than those that come about through my experiences, my life which I know so well…experiences that [I] believe are not mine alone, but which others must have also felt, gone through, and/or will experience in the future and which will make them analyze their own lives. In other words, because pain, happiness, hope, failure, birth and death are not the monopoly of just one person, [I] believe that these poems will not become like a faith healers’ oracion or a priest’s Latin litany which they alone can understand. Through these poems, the readers will laugh, cry, and smile with the persona; and will share the same burden and hatred that the poems contain. And so the poems will not just be the author’s but the readers’ as well.)

Sadly, the very personal collection was prompted by the death of Rambaud’s 20-year-old daughter, the firstborn of three. Just graduated from a nursing course, she was waiting for the results of the Nursing Licensure Examination when she died, six months after her heart operation.

“Dayta nga ipupusay ti inauna iti dua a mutiami ken baket ti nangiselsel iti panunotko (iti pammatik) iti pudpudno a kaipapanan ti biag— ken patay,” Rambaud further wrote. “Nakakaskasdaaw, no di man nakalaladingit, ngem kadagiti napalpalabas, iti laksid ti ipupusay dagiti dadduma nga ipatpateg iti biag: gagayyem, kakabagian, ken mismo a kameng ti pamilia, nupay naipanurok idi, iti ammomi, ti panangus-usigmi iti kaipapanan ti biag ken patay, nagbalin dagitoy nga ubbaw iti ipupusay ti anakmi, a gapu ta inauna, isu ti nakaitalimudokan ti panunotmi a kas mangkitkitanto iti pagimbagan dagiti dua a kakabsatna.” (I believe that the death of our first child instilled in our minds the real essence of life and death. It is amazing, if not sad, that while the deaths of other loved ones—friends, relatives and other members of our families—had caused us so much pain, the pain these deaths had caused us is incomparable to that caused by our child’s death. Because she was the eldest, we had always looked upon her as the one who would look after her younger siblings.)

“Manipud iti ipupusay, adda biag (nga isu dagiti daniw) nga agrusing a mangitan-ok, mangrambak, mangsangit, mangkatawa iti biag (From death there is a life [which is these poems] that grows to cry and laugh at, glory in and celebrate life.),” he said.

And despite the pain and tragedy, the writer still find life sweet, a realization to be distilled and crystallized in poems in the mother tongue of Rambaud, who is born in the town of Pinili in Ilocos Norte, and now living in Caloocan City in Metro Manila.

“Ken kas met laeng iti panagrupsa ti sipnget a nangbalkot iti biagmi ken baket gapu iti ipupusay ti balasangmi, ad-adda nga agtalimudok dagitoy a daniw iti panangrambak iti biag—a ti biag naan-anag gapu met laeng kadagiti rekadona a katawa ken lua, sam-it ken pait, pannakapaay ken namnama (And in the same way that the darkness that cloaked my wife and me when our daughter died slowly gave way to light, these poems will be more of a celebration of life, a life that is more meaningful because of its many spices—tears and laughter, happiness and pain, failure and hope),” he ended.

A long-time writer, Rambaud has had several awards and grants for his works in Iluko, and his short stories, poems and articles were published in different publications, many in Bannawag, the leading if not the only magazine in Iluko, published by The Manila Bulletin. Educated to be a civil engineer and a teacher, Rambaud chose to be a writer instead, working for Bannawag for 31 years now.

The judges for the category—veteran writers in Iluko Herminio Beltran, Juan S.P. Hidalgo and Jose Bragado— evaluated the entries and their authors according to their contribution to Iluko poetry and to Filipino poetry as well; authenticity of [presenting] Ilocano culture; originality; and credibility (of the author).

On the other hand, Bayuga’s work may be considered larger in scope and ambitious. The concept of her novel called Sa Amin, Sa Dagatdagatang Apoy (In Our Place, In Dagatdagatang Apoy) examines life and its power struggles, taking inspirations from folklore and mythology, with plots, characters and places that operate simultaneously in the literally and symbolic/figurative levels.

At first, the concept is intriguing because of our familiarity and popularity of Western works such as JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series and Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series. While these works’ protagonists are wizards and vampires, Bayuga’s is an aswang¸ vampire-like creature in Philippine folklore, named Darling Kaloloy-on from the place called Dagatdagatang Apoy (literary, sea of fire). The novel follows her adventures with a narrator that will present another theme of the novel: “pagsusulat bilang pagbabalyan” or writing as a mystical act.

Written in the Tagalog-based national language Filipino, the novel overall has a heavy social comment. Bayuga wrote: “Bubuksan at tutuldukan ang nobela sa usapin ng kapangyarihan. Ang pagyakap sa esensiya ng salitang ito ang magiging salalayan ng kuwento. Hahaging ang nobela sa mga landas na kaugnay ng isyu ng kapangyarihan—tunggalian ng babae’t lalake, pamantayan ng naghaharing-uri at ng alipin, palihan ng iskolar at ng laking-kanto, at marami pang iba—pero ang tuwirang dadalirutin nito ay ang naiibang uri ng kapangyarihan.” (The novel will begin and end with a discourse on power. The embracing of this word’s essence will be the axis of the story. The novel will touch on issues concerning power—the sexual battle between women and men, the standard of the dominant kind and the slave, the exchange between the scholar and the street-smart, and many others—but what it will directly analyze is a different kind of power).

Additionally, Bayuga also said that the novel is an end-of the-world story: “Ihahain ang tunay na kahulugan ng gunaw—hindi bilang kahindik-hindik na apokalipsis kundi isang pagbuwag ng mga institusyong makamundo; hindi bilang katapusan ng sansinukob kundi isang simula ng bagong kamalayan; at hindi pagluluwal sa isang bagong daigdig kundi isang pagbabalik sa sinapupunan ng paglikha.” (It will present the true meaning of end of the world—not as a terrible apocalypse but the demolition of worldly institutions; not as the end of the universe but the beginning of a new consciousness; and not as a birthing of a new world but a return to the womb of creation.)

Currently based in San Pedro, Laguna, Bayuga has won second prize for short story in Filipino in the 1997 Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature and other awards. She has been a fellow, panellist, judge and resource speaker for various writing workshops and literary contests. In 2002, she published a collection of short stories in Filipino, Virgintarian at Iba Pang Akda (University of the Philippines Press).

The judges for the novel in Filipino—poet-professor Cirilo Bautista, novelist Jun Cruz Reyes and scholar and critic Rolando Tolentino—found the concept and the initial output to be “fantastic, witty and poetic.” Additionally, “seryoso ang paksa,” (the topic is serious) and the work has “panlipunang kabuluhan at magaan at kontemporaryo ang gamit sa wika. Matalinghaga rin ang pagkakasulat.” (social relevance, and the use of language is easy-flowing and contemporary. The writing is also metaphorical.)

Rambaud and Bayuga will be given a grant of P250,000 gross each to assist them during the writing stage of the project and will be given in four tranches. The grant is good for one year, after which a manuscript of the writing project will be submitted to the NCCA for possible publication.

The biennial award was spearheaded in 2001 by National Artist for literature Virgilio Almario when he was executive director of the NCCA, the leading government arm and funding institution for arts and culture. This is in line with its mission of “encouraging the continuing development of a pluralistic culture by the people themselves,” and of creating the opportunity to have a direct hand in the development of Filipino literature. With this grant, the NCCA Writers’ Prize, writers will be freed from the demands of their work and shall be able to focus on the writing of the project for one year.

Open to all Filipino writers, the NCCA Writers’ Prize has different genre categories such as the novel, short story, essay, poetry and drama. Since 2007, it has opened to other vernacular languages. The NCCA announces what categories and languages are open for the year.

Since 2001, the prize has been bestowed to several established and emerging writers. In 2001, the winners were Timothy Montes for his novel in English Running Amok; Lourd Ernest de Veyra for his collection of poetry in English; Jimmuel C. Naval for a collection of short stories in Filipino Dalumat sa Labinlimang Pagkatha; and Alfred A. Yuson for the English translation of Mike Bigornia’s poetry in Filipino, which was published in a book, Love’s A Vice (Bisyo ang Pag-Ibig): Translation from Filipino to English of 60 poems of Mike L. Bigornia, by the NCCA in 2004.

In 2003, the grantees included Ramon “Mes” de Guzman for his novel in Filipino Rancho Dyanggo; Francis Macansantos for his epic Womb of Ocean, Breasts of Earth, which was published by NCCA in 2008; Eugene Evasco for a collection of essays in Filipino Nasa Dulo ng Dila: Mula Kina Mariang Sinukuan, Mariang Alimango, Pilandok Hanggang Kina San Roque, Binembi at Edward Stratemeyer;

Virginia Mercado-Villanueva for a collection of children’s stories, Stories from the South; and Helen V. Banez, translation of the poetry of Fernando A. Buyser from Cebuano to Filipino.

In 2005, Edgar Calabia Samar was awarded the NCCA Writers’ Prize for his novel in Filipino, Walong Diwata ng Pagkahulog, which was published by Anvil Publishing in 2009, together with Alvin B. Yapan for his collection of short stories in Filipino, Sa Paghahanay ng Bagong Anyo Para sa Moda ng Panlipunang Realismo: Isang Proyekto ng Labinlimang Kuwento; Rebekah M. Alami for a collection of essays in English, A Rose for Angela: The Muslim Filipino Woman Taking the Word to Create Textual Expression of Hu Psyche; and Joel M. Toledo for a collection of poetry in English called What Little I Know of Luminosity, which won first prize in poetry at the 2005 Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature; and Danton Remoto for Awit Para sa Tuyong Panahon, a translation project.

In 2007, Ed Maranan won for his essays in English, The Country in the Heart: A Writer’s Times and Travels; Elyrah Loyola Salanga for literary biography in Filipino, Alfrredo Navarro Salanga: Sa Mga Pahina at Ibang Salaysay ; Telesforo Sungkit, Jr. for a novel in Cebuano, Mga Gapnod sa Kamad-an; Kristian Sendon Cordero for poetry in Bicol, Segunda Mano: and Rosario Cruz-Lucero, for a collection of short stories in English called Papa’s Field and Other Stories of the Disappeared.

For a poor country like the Philippines, writers constantly struggle between making a living and writing and staying true to his/her art. With the NCCA Writers’ Prize, an opportunity is presented to them to create their works, which will become part of the nation’s imperishable treasure and heritage, and to touch and enrich other people’s lives with their art and insights on life itself—bitter, sweet, harsh and wonderful.

Writer in Iluko Cles Rambaud

Judges in the poetry in Iluko category - Juan SP. Hidalgo, Herminio Beltran and Jose Bragado - deliberating on the entries. With them are a couple of NCCA employees.

Flock to Eagle Point Resort

On the road, there is just parched land and no sign of the sea. A sign of the resort seems to point deeper into a forest with a dirt road choked with dry brambles and weeds. The road would go down rather steeply and zigzag through palms and hedges until the sea shows. Once in Eagle Point Resort, there is much sea to enjoy and views of it to imbibe, and sprawling dry land is a memory at the back of your head. The room opens up to the sea. The restaurant almost perches above it. The paths may not lead you to it but they always afford you an azure backdrop. Eagle Point Resort nestles on a thin strip of land and against a cliff, like most of the resorts in the area, and the natural direction is facing the sea, a blue eternity with occasional dreamy islets.



The Calumpang Peninsula of the town of Mabini juts out of the province of Batangas into the South China Sea, its craggy shores and cliffs defiant sometimes rough waters of the bays of Balayan and Batangas. There is nothing luxurious about the place—steep and daunting cliffs, rocky and jagged shores, wild and hardy vegetation—but the Mabini-Tingloy area suggests adventure and has coral reefs teeming with marine biodiversity that have long attracted divers. Soon, resorts despite almost unmanageable terrain cropped up over the years to cater to them and eventually even to non-diving vacationers, who erroneously call the whole area Anilao, actually one of Mabini’s barangays with the most concentration of resorts of different types and the most accessible in the peninsula. People are lured by a sense of adventure and the proximity of the area to Manila, the Philippines’ capital. Resorts line the northern shore of Calumpang Peninsula starting in Anilao East and Anilao Proper, and then going on southeast to Majuban, San Jose, Selo, Ligaya, Bagalangit and San Teodoro. Aside from dive resorts, there are also small to medium picnic resorts. Many resorts are of the “rugged” type, not really built for a luxury vacation. Many divers are not particular about poshness but are keener on the dive facility. Excursionists from nearby areas, on a budget, look for inexpensive resorts. Right now, there are 34 dive resorts and there are 24 small- to medium-enterprise picnic resorts. Among them are 16 private resorts.



In Bagalangit, Eagle Point Resort sprawls on six hectares of sloping land, the biggest resort in the area. Being at the northeast tip of the peninsula, it also has one of the best views of the seascape. The island municipality of Tingloy and the hat-shaped Sombrero Island lie across the Maricaban Strait.

The resort formerly served as a private vacation spot of Norberto “Doy” Quisumbing and his family in the late 1980s. In 1993, the family decided to expand the area and open it to the public as a resort with Doy’s son, lawyer Ramon Quisumbing, managing.



Now, Eagle Point is one of, if not the best, resort in the area, offering a wide range of amenities and facilities. From serving divers, it is open to diverse clienteles—barkadas, families and companies. Able to host guests of up to 300, the resort wants to promote itself as a good venue for company outings and conferences, and other group activities.

There are accommodations of different types. The newest facility is the Terrace Hotel, a four-story white structure with 30 rooms with verandas facing the sea. It sits next to the Main Core, so-called because it is the heart of the resort containing the reception area, restaurant and bar and the main pool.









On the other side, the southern, eighteen one-bedroom cottages line the slopes, each air-conditioned, equipped with toilet and bath and possessing a balcony with a view of the sea. The cottages actually have large sliding glass doors for the spectacle. One can wake up with sea beckoning.

Among the cottages are the Native Cabanas, ten of them. Without air-conditioning, these simulate native living with thatched grass roofs, woven walls and bamboo slat floors. The resort says that many foreign guests prefer them.

One of the original structures of the resort before it began accepting guests is The Villa, now renovated with two-bedroom suites on the second level, a small function room on the ground level, and a large multi-purpose room used for wedding receptions and other large functions on the third level.



The other suite and rooms are in the Casablanca, a four-storey building beside the restaurant. It was once a spa but was converted into a three-bedroom condominium suite with three bathrooms, living room, satellite television and five hotel-like rooms.

While cuddling inside the room with the view of the sea can be enough to fill one’s length of stay, activities on offer are tempting. Of course, swimming and diving are top on the list. The resort’s Safety Stop Dive Shop (SSDS) can address a diver’s needs. It also has a resident dive master and licensed instructor to assist divers in exploring the numerous dive sites of the Mabini-Tingloy area and teach introductory diving lessons to non-divers. Non-divers wanting to have a glimpse of the reefs can go snorkelling. The reefs are accessible. Just beyond the piers of the resort one can get a view of the corals and other marine life. The resort’s reef is level with a depth of about fifteen feet, then sloping down a shelf to about a hundred feet. Just under the shadow of the Main Core, a site called Canyon Land manifested itself during low tide—two large rocks just beneath the surface with a canyon-like crevice of about eight feet deep and usually filled with fish.

One can go further, to Sombrero Island, for more snorkelling. Reaching the islet by boat takes about fifteen minutes. The east side has a beach for swimming but the west side offers a coral garden to marvel at.

With special arrangement, one can go riding a banana boat, kayak, Jet Ski and speedboat.
Three swimming pools are at the guests’ disposal. The Main Pool, between the restaurant and the hotel, has two levels connected by a thirty-foot water slide. Adults usually hangout at the main deck and three-foot-deep swimming pool while kids can frolic at the two-foot-deep upper-level pool with a waterfall. Nearby, the Nipa Bar dispenses drinks and snacks. At the southern end of the resort, a more secluded and private place, the South-end Pool lies more accessible to guests in the cottages and the cabanas. With a bar and coffee shop, and a good view of Tingloy Island, this pool can accommodate big groups, thus they would not be distracting to other guests who can use the other pools. The last pool is an interesting one—a saltwater pool that simulates the marine environment. The twelve-foot-deep Reef Pool is used as a “launching pad and training tank for novice scuba divers and snorkelers,” but anyone can use it, especially those who wants to get the feel of the sea but are afraid to venture out in the open. Located very near SSDS, this pool even has groupers and baby sharks.





Non-water recreation is also available. There is a tennis court and a game room with billiard and pool tables by the Main Pool. A Videoke machine can be rented out. One can walk around the resort; there is a walk-in aviary housing birds like ducks, fowls, eagles, kites and owls, gifts to the owners. The resort’s name is inspired by the birds.

When hungry, the restaurant, which is built like a Samoan longhouse and has Wi-Fi connection, offers an array of American, European, Filipino and Oriental dishes. Salad choices include panzanella (crisp bread and vegetables with anchovy red wine vinaigrette), mixed greens, Caesar’s and tomato mozzarella. The restaurant also offers pasta (spaghetti, fettucine or penne with Bolognese, creamy chicken, marinara and primavera sauces and lasagne al forno) and pizzas (Margarita, pepperoni, New York, Espaniola, prawn and mango, Hawaiian and vegetarian). Grilled items—steak ala pobre, king prawns, lapu-lapu (grouper) fillet, chicken steak, fillet mignon, pork chop, mixed seafood and Spanish mackerel or tangigue—come in a combo with buttered vegetable and rice or mashed potatoes. The house favorites are wiener snitchzel (breaded pork cutlet with German potato and sweet and sour cabbage), bistecca alla pizzaiola (tenderloin of beef with capsicum-tomato sauce and country-style potatoes), grouper alla Dieppoise (grouper fillet with prawns on Dieppe sauce and mashed potato), Cajun bourbon chicken (chicken barbecue with rice or mashed potato), beef bulgogi (tenderloin on Korean sauce), sautéed Brazil prawns (sautéed tiger prawns on garlic and olive oil) and sizzling squid teppanyaki (squid grilled on flat iron and flavored with traditional Japanese sauce). Filipino favorites on the menu include crispy pata; chicken, squid or pork adobo; pork, prawn, beef or fish sinigang (sour soup); bistek Tagalog; beef bulalo; Bicol Express; chicken inasal; and pancit gisado. Sandwiches, desserts and kids’ meals are also available.



Eagle Point Resort has ways of mixing business with leisure. Out-of-town conferences and seminars can be held here as the resort offers two function rooms. The main function hall, on the third level of the old villa next to the Casablanca and accessible from the Main Core, can accommodate about a hundred persons. A smaller function room at the ground floor of the old villa can hold about forty people. Equipped with comfort rooms and air-conditioning, the function rooms can also hold other events like wedding receptions, parties and other group activities.
One of the highlights of a stay at the Eagle Point Resort is the short trip to Sepoc Beach Center, located at Sepoc Point.

In 1998, the resort acquired a two-hectare piece of land at the northeast tip of Tingloy Island, in the barangay of Maricaban. The property, with a white-sand cove and a recognizable promontory, is set apart from the rest of the island by a range of hills, a secluded enclave. The hazy outline of Mindoro Island can be seen on the horizon. Beautiful in its desolation, the area has large crows, hovering above or resting in the forest. Sepoc Point is reachable by a fifteen- to twenty-minute by boat ride from Eagle Point Resort, across the Maricaban Strait. Here, the resort built a host of facilities like a large hall for functions and dining, a bar, a watchtower, rest rooms and shower areas, a volleyball court, among others. Hammocks and kubols or mini huts were set up for resting.






Sepoc Beach Center can accommodate up to 350 people and is usually used training, teambuilding, seminar or even a wedding. Many people find the place an ideal venue for such activities because of its beauty and isolation. All guests of the resort can have a day tour to the place. They can swim to their hearts’ content, lounge around, have lunch, play volleyball, or simply lie on the hammock and read a book. There are trails that one can tackle either up a hill to have a panoramic view of Sepoc Point or around the area up to the promontory.
Snorkeling is also an ideal activity here as the area has an extensive coral garden, most in front of Cemetery Beach. The garden stretches from the shore to about a quarter of a mile out, abruptly ending in sand. The deepest is only about fifteen to twenty feet during low tide. Several long crevices, carved out by the ever moving tides, make ideal avenues for the snorkelers.
It is discovered that Sepoc Point is also a nesting area for the endangered green turtles. If guests are likely, they can be releasing baby turtles. The resort has been into environment conservation, including caring for and the releasing of the hatchlings.



Before sundown, one has to leave Sepoc Point Center, which has no power and accommodation facilities. One can enjoy the setting of the sun at the resort, particularly at the South-end Pool. At this time, the light guilds your magical stay at the resort, a treasure found after a rough but adventurous way.



Getting There
Driving to Eagle Point Resort is now faster and more convenient via the Star Tollway, Phase II. The PhP2.75 billion road project was inaugurated recently by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. This new toll way extension cuts travel time by as much as thirty minutes and is considered more scenic—corn fields, mango orchards and a deep, forested river gorge. Instead of exiting left at the Lipa City exit, keep going straight on the Star Tollway Extension for twenty more kilometers until the very end, where you enter the Batangas City Diversion Road.
From Manila, go to the South Luzon Expressway to the very end toward Calamba, Laguna, (42 kilometers). Turn right at Exit 50 onto Manila-Batangas National Highway toward Batangas City, and travel 7.5 kilometers. Turn right into Star Tollway and go to the very end toward Batangas City (32.6 kilometers). At end of Star Tollway, go around the rotunda and turn right into Diversion Road toward Batangas International Port and travel four kilometers. Turn right under overpass onto Batangas-Balayan National Highway toward Bauan, and travel six kilometers. After leaving Bauan, passing a Petron gas station and crossing Manghinao Bridge, turn left toward Mabini and travel for nine kilometers. Turn right at the Mabini rotonda toward Anilao and travel 1.7 kilometers. Turn left on coastal road in Anilao toward Bagalangit and travel 8.8 kilometers. Turn right to Eagle Point Resort private road and go to the very end at the EPR parking lot (1.5 kilometers).

Contact Information
Eagle Point Resort is at Barrio Bagalangit, Mabini, Batangas, with telephone number (043) 986-0177, fax number (043) 986-0187, mobile phone numbers +63917-846-3958, +63918-846-3958. Its Makati sales office is at the Ground Floor, Corinthian Plaza, 121 Paseo de Roxas corner Gamboa Streets, Legaspi Village, Makati City, with telefax numbers (+63 2) 813-3353 and (+63 2) 813-3560. E-mail rsvn@eaglepoint.com.ph for reservations. Web sites are www.eaglepoint.com.ph and www.eaglepointresort.com.ph.

The Good Fight at the Muziklaban Fete

Jose “Pepe” Smith said that aspiring rock musicians must enjoy themselves while performing—just keep rock-and-rolling without thinking if they can win or lose in a contest. The previously obscure, young band Hatankaru must have epitomized what the Filipino rock legend said, performing like there was no tomorrow (and they must have felt it as they were about to disband) to clinch the championship of the Red Horse Beer Muziklaban Rock Challenge grand finals last Jan. 30 at the Metrowalk Complex in Pasig City.

Muziklaban is being held for 11 years now by San Miguel Brewery, maker of Red Horse beer, along with the well-known San Miguel Pale Pilsen and its varieties, to promote the strong beer brand as well as to boost the Philippine rock music scene by discovering unknown and unsigned bands. In the decade of its existence, the annual competition has risen in magnitude and prestige, emulated by other companies as well as by communities, from provinces to the smallest barangays, with their “battles of the bands” and producing such bands as 3rd Degree (2001 champion), 18th Issue (2002), Fuseboxx (2003), Mayonnaise (2004), Sunflower Day Camp (2005), Hardboiledeggz (2006), Gayuma (2007) and Even (2008). All were given a shot at rock immortality. Some did not garner outrageous fame; some continue to produce music to enrich the scene. But Muziklaban is always there -- one of the grandest rock events of the country and one that makes dreams come true, especially of rock aspirants.

Now, after a decade, organizers have deemed Muziklaban ripe for a change as it expands its scope to include other fields/interests to constitute a lifestyle that expresses a rebel spirit, independence and excellence, which Red Horse beer as a brand is aspired to project and uphold.

With its new slogan, “Bago na ang labanan” (‘It’s a new fight,’ or ‘The battle now is different’), Muziklaban now includes contests in tattooing, independent filmmaking and bicycle motocross riding, getting prominent personalities in those fields to act as promoters and image endorsers— local rock icon Jose “Pepe” Smith, tattoo artist Ricky Santa Ana, indie filmmaker RA Rivera and BMX stunt pro rider Armand Mariano.

Of course, making rock-and-roll music is still at the core and remains the most important aspect, if not the definitive soul of Muziklaban, as evidenced by the intensity of the contestants and the audience, around 11,000 people, who trooped to the event. The sprawling open parking area at the back Metrowalk Complex, a cluster of bars, stores and restaurants at the Ortigas Center, swelled with rockers, groupies and rebel-type youths, stomping to raise dust from the ground to the music of the grand finalists and guest bands.

It was a fine selection of grand finalists, distilled from regional elimination rounds held as far as Cebu and Davao since Muziklaban opened in May of last year. Five bands from different parts of the country were pitted against each other for a final showdown—Hatankaru from Valenzuela City, Metro Manila; Kukumban from Naga City, Camarines Sur; 2nd Squad from Baguio City; Cambronero from Bacolod City, Nergos Occidental; and Hoodswhite from Cagayan de Oro City in Mindanao—to clinch P500,000 in cash prize, a recording contract with Viva Philippines and a shot at fame.

Representing the Bicol Region, in southern Luzon, was Kukumban, formed in 2006 in the town Baao in Camarines Sur, by vocalist Kurt Gonzaga, guitarist Kervi Gonzaga, guitarist Jimbo Boy Barcenal, bassist Marvin Bayrante and drummer Donn Llanes, who all previously belonged to different bands but, by twist of fate, collaborated to join in a band competition. The band’s name was taken from the children’s pronunciation of “coupon bond,” a white sheet of paper, which the members often heard children buying in the sari-sari store. Thus started the band, which went through the rounds of band competitions and then began writing songs inspired by their teenage experiences. Band members consider Kukumban not just a band, but as their family and the life they have chosen.

At the northern end of Luzon was Baguio-based 2nd Squad, representing the Cordillera Region. Formed in November 2005, the band started as a project of guitarists-siblings Carlo and Neil Ian Briones and long-time friend Paul Victor Guieb, who is a bassist. Stephen Ancheta auditioned for the part of the vocalist and was immediately welcomed. Three years after, a drummer left the band and was replaced by Dan Allan. The band members, all in their mid-twenties, decided to name their group 2nd Squad because “incidentally all members have 2nd Squad as their second band.” Neil Ian’s hobby and business is guitar effects building, and 90 percent of the band’s guitar effects pedals is handcrafted by him. On the other hand, brother Carlo, who studied basic recording, editing and rendition of mastering techniques on his own, is the owner of 2nd Squad project studio and is in charge of the band’s recording and demos. Bassist Guieb “contributes ideas on the string section and arrangement of the song, and most of his bass lines were converted to guitar riffs.” Acosta, the youngest at 21, is described “as a fast learner” and they “appreciate his eagerness to contribute to the songs that they write.” Lastly, Ancheta is influenced by the music of Maynard James Keenan of Tools whom he considers his hero. His colleagues describe him as “the soul writer of 2nd Squad.”

From Bacolod City, the capital of Negros Occidental in Central Visayas, Cambronero held the flag of the Visayan region. The band was formed in 2004 by Joseph Desquitado (bassist), twins Jan Michael Bais (guitarist) and Jan Vincent Bais (drummer), who were in high school. The name came from the twins’ middle name. They started performing different genres from alternative to punk, then matured through the years as they frequently performed in different gigs until they were able to write their own songs. Cambronero is currently undertaking recording sessions from their own home studio, and hope that record companies take notice. Aside from the Desquitado and the Bais twins, other members include June Vincent Bernus, vocalist, and Vicente Bais III, guitarist.

Mindanao’s bet was Hoodswhite, an admirably well-educated lot, from Cagayan de Oro City in the northeast part of the island group. Hoodswhite was founded on Dec. 24, 1999, when siblings Michael Anthony Donina, the bassist and an accountancy and MBA graduate of San Beda College of Cagayan de Oro, and John Anthony Donina, the vocalist and a hotel and restaurant graduate from the Philippines Women University, decided to form a metal band. The band’s name is said to mean “fallen ones cover and act as pure for holy ones” and literally means “covering oneself with a white hood to be purely seen.” Other members followed: Paul Brian Salucot, the drummer and fourth-year tourism student of Liceo de Cagayan University, and Anthony Allen Sahirani, the lead guitarist and fourth-year information management student of Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan. The band said that Anthony’s arrival led them to revise old compositions, and he put leads and scaling to produce more horrific tunes. To make their dark music act complete, they got Nicole Charmaine Salise, a third-year business administration student majoring in marketing management at the Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan, on keyboards and for backup vocals, the only female in the band. John realized that it sounds much better to have rhythm guitars to make their music heavier to listen at so they asked their friend Michael Cosare, Jr. or Yoyong, a hotel and restaurant management graduate of Philippine Women University, to play rhythm guitars. Together, they produced new and more eerie and evil notes. The band covered songs from Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir, and got inspired by other black metal bands such as Satyricon, Old Man’s Child, Darkthrone, Dark Funeral, Gorgoth, Venom, Bathory and Immortal. Anthony or A2 took a break from the band and Yoyong was assigned in the lead guitars and Mark Glazer Niderost or Mackoy, information technology student of the Mindanao University of Science and Technology, as session in rhythm guitars. Hoodswhite performed clad in all black and with Kiss-inspired face makeup.

Finally, the champion Hatankaru represented Valenzuela City and the whole of the National Capital Region. The band was formed in 2004 and was about to disband in 2009 but an opportunity—Muziklaban Rock Challenge—prevented that from happening. Composed of Michael Villaflores (bass guitar), Elmer Glino (drums), Roy Elinzano (vocals) and Gilbert Pacariem (guitars), Hatankaru got its name from Aldwin Musni, the original bass player, who interchanged the two syllables with the last two of Karuhatan, the barangay in Valenzuela where the members hail. They claim that they are really proud of their hometown.

Each finalist performed three songs, originals and covers, and Hatankaru’s original “Lakip” (Something enclosed or attached) and “Larawan” (Picture) were crucial in the band’s victory aside from its engaging performance. It also covered POT’s “Ulitin” (Do it again) to the delight of the crowd. “Lakip” is said to be “a song about the unity among common Filipinos sharing the same aspirations and difficulties,” conceptualized after Pacariem and Elinzano watched Razorback’s performance at the Music Museum for Karl Roy’s recovery concert, inspired by Razorback’s simplicity and “feel good” rock and roll music. On the other hand, “Larawan,” originally titled “A Song for Francis” and written in 2006, is described as “about the joy and bitterness of having memories and giving up on those who are still with us and those who are not.” Its main guitar riff was a variation of the late Francis Magalona’s “Meron Akong Ano.”

Aside from the plum prize, Hatankaru was also awarded special prizes: Best Live Act and Breakthrough Performance. The winner was chosen by judges Lourd de Veyra, poet and vocalist of Radioactive Sago Project; Ian Tayao, vocalist of Queso; Reg Rubio, vocalist of Greyhoundz; Bel Sayson, owner of 6Underground and marketing manager of JB Music; Joey Dizon, editor-in-chief of Pulp magazine; Brian Velasco, drummer of Razorback; Mally Paraguya, bassist of POT; Nadine Wee, Starcom media manager for Red Horse Beer; and Griffey de Guzman, copywriter of the agency JWT for Red Horse Beer.

The five newbie bands were joined by over 20 bands in an extravaganza that lasted from late afternoon to the wee hours of the morning. Past Muziklaban champions Mayonnaise, HardboiledEggz, Gayuma and Even made appearances together with Kadangyan, Zach Lucero and the Action Pack, Kapatid, Franco, Typecast, Music Hero, Chongkeys, Dogfight, Boy Elroy, Bloodshed, COG, Slapshock, Kamikazee, Greyhoundz, Radioactive Sago Project, Kjwan, Intolerant and Kapatid. Pepe Smith jumpstarted the rocking, as well as provided amusement. Other endorsers led the winners in tattoo art, biking and indie filmmaking. While the stage remained the heartbeat of the event, there were stations for Muziklaban’s new aspects—an indie film mini movie house, a booth to view live tattoo sessions and a BMX and skateboard gallery. A Muziklaban retrospective exhibit was also put up, attesting to how the Red Horse Beer Muziklaban Rock Challenge has helped in shaping recent Filpino rock-and-roll history, a better struggle and fight.

For more information, visit www.redhorsebeer.com.

An Icon for Our Time: Swatch Issues Corazon Aquino Tribute Watch

On January 24, 2010, a nice Sunday afternoon, the business hub of Makati City was laidback, but the Ayala Museum, within a cluster of malls, put on a conspicuously festive atmosphere, mimicking a Filipino fiesta but with an “upgraded” and thematic look complete with popular merienda fares served with flair—chicharon baboy topped with a blob of cottage cheese and sariwang lumpiang ubod, sliced and served on a sungka—and common street food such as popcorn, cotton candy, sorbetes in carts and sorbeteros. More noticeable was the color yellow—on buntings, on the confetti, on the uniforms of the band players and baton twirlers, and clothes donned by many of the guests. This event was for former President Corazon “Cory” Aquino, considered by many as the “mother of Philippine democracy” whose death last year was overwhelmingly lamented and who would have been celebrating her 77th birthday the next day, Jan. 25, and the launch of a tribute watch by Swiss watch company Swatch designed by eminent industrialist Jaime Zobel de Ayala.
Yellow, the “color of courage,” Aquino’s speechwriter and politician Teodoro “Teddy Boy” Locsin said, is the emblematic color of the Aquinos and revolution that the 1983 assassination of Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino sparked. His unassuming wife Cory was the leading figure in that Edsa or People’s Power Revolution in 1986 that toppled the 20-year dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. The event gained worldwide recognition, and Cory was hailed as Man of the Year by Time magazine and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Her administration, while beset with many problems, was praised for its sincerity and attempt at honest governance. Even after her presidency, Cory’s voice carried weight. As she reverted to private citizenship, her power seemed to wane, but her death proved how much she is revered.
After suffering from colon cancer for over a year, Cory died on Aug. 1, 2009, at the Makati Medical Center. The Aquino family declined an offer for a state funeral and Cory’s wake was held at the Saint Benilde Gymnasium of the De La Salle School in Greenhills, San Juan. She was then transferred to the Manila Metropolitan Cathedral in Intramuros on Aug. 3, becoming the second lay person permitted to lie in state in there as the church is reserved for deceased archbishops of Manila. People trooped to the cathedral day and night to bid her farewell, the queues stretching to several kilometres, and kept vigil. The outpouring of grief and support magnified when she was brought to her final resting place at the Manila Memorial Park in Sucat, Parañaque, on Aug. 5. Mourners flocked along the funeral route and many more accompanied the cortege. It was a revolution once again—streets decorated with banners, television and newspapers making tributes, people wearing literally or symbolically yellow ribbons, institutions pronouncing their grief—and Cory became the most exalted personality in recent times.
The fast iconization of Cory Aquino has begun. There are even talks of sainthood. As with many groups of people, Filipinos are fond of symbols and images and the mysticism surrounding them, and seem to have a constant need for heroic icons. Cory represents the Filipinos’ finest hour.
Starting with books and shirts, other commemorative items are now being made, and a watch seems to be an important item in the process of becoming a cultural icon. Mickey Mouse, Mao Zedong and other popular icons are in watches. But with Cory, the watch is invested with heavy meaning.
The first company to unveil a commemorative watch is the luxury watch company Philip Stein. Made available in November 2009, the Philip Stein Corazon C. Aquino Commemorative Watch features a yellow ribbon on the dial, a yellow lizard leather strap, the engraved phrase “A Tribute to the 11th President of the Philippines Corazon C. Aquino—Mother of Democracy” at the back, the number 11 highlighted in yellow on the clock face, a sapphire scratch proof glass, and other Philip Stein technology. Endorsed by Cory’s youngest daughter and celebrity Kris Aquino, the watch, with only 1,011 pieces made, costs a hefty P53,000.
The Cory Aquino Swatch watch is more accessible and popular, and perhaps more memorable because of the involvement of personalities close to the late president. Virgie Ramos, owner of the company Gift Gate, which exclusively distributes Swatch in the Philippines, is a close friend of Cory, as well as the designer Jaime Zobel.
The former chief executive officer of the Ayala Corporation and his wife Bea first met Cory when they visited Ninoy Aquino, who was in exile in Boston in the United States. From then on, they became strong supporters of Cory and crucial personalities in the revolution.
“They were among the few who openly supported Mom and her fight for democracy and decent governance even when it was not yet safe or fashionable to do so,” Cory’s daughter Ballsy Aquino-Cruz said.
Yellow confetti raining on the stretch of Ayala Avenue was one of the most memorable images of the revolution. Yellow confetti also rained at the Swatch launch, reliving those momentous times as about 300 friends, family and supporters of Cory attended the event. The Aquino children were present—Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, Ballsy, Pinky Aquino-Abellada and Viel Aquino-Dee—except for Kris, a former Swatch endorser and image model, who had work that day.
Hosted by singer Martin Nievera, the program included actress-singer Lea Salonga singing “Ang Bayan Ko” (My Country), which is considered an alternative national anthem, and Zobel telling the story of how the Cory Aquino Swatch came to be.
In August 2009, Zobel was vacationing in Europe Ramos called and asked him to design a tribute watch. Although a noted art photographer himself and an art patron, and having designed a Swatch watch—the Philippine centennial Swatch watch—before, Zobel said, “My first reaction was panic.”
“How does one put a heroic life into a watch?” he asked himself.
That night, he wrote a letter, more of a tribute, to Cory, pouring out his emotions, and then began the processing of creating the tribute watch, a project in partnership with ABS-CBN Licensing and the Benigno S. Aquino, Jr. Foundation.
Swatch released two watches, both with yellow-and-black straps with the faces of Cory and Ninoy, the words Ipagpapatuloy Ko (I will continue) and a rain of the emblematic yellow ribbons. One has a black clock face with the yellow sun of the Philippine flag, evocative of Zobel’s Philippine centennial watch. The other, a bigger one, has a plain yellow clock face. The two watches are sold as a set in a case formed like a coffee-table book titled A Woman Dressed in Sunshine, reminiscent of an epithet of a Marian apparition and an attempt at iconography. The book casing has several pages of pictures, articles including a reprint of an important piece that appeared in Mr. & Ms. magazine in Sept. 16, 1983, and an introduction by Locsin. The letter Zobel wrote is reprinted at the back of the casing.
Swatch has only made 801 sets, each selling at P8,100, the number signifying Cory’s date of death, which was almost sold out during the launch.
“Today, in a small but important Swatch watch, Cory becomes alive again. We must all remember not to forget and we must not forget to remember,” Zobel ended his speech.
The culminating activity of the launch was the unveiling of the 24-foot replica of the tribute watch at the plaza of the elegant Ayala Museum, along Makati Avenue. Yellow confetti rained down. The band played “Tie a Yellow Ribbon,” Ninoy’s favorite. Attendees glowed reliving what they called the “golden times” and basked in the sense of unity and pride at that instance. There was an emotional bubble at that time. It may create tension with reality like the tension of the tribute watch itself—between the watch’s essential function of telling time and the tribute purpose, which wants to break time into timelessness.

Art for Eye: Raising Funds to Combat Eye Diseases in Northeast Luzon

Through the eyes, we imbibe with profound pleasure the beauty of a painting or sculpture and process the insights it gives. This is but one of the multitudinous benefits of sight that its loss can greatly diminish not just how we function in everyday life, but how we appreciate life in general.

It may be a rare but not altogether farfetched twist that art now helps in restoring eyesight. Prominent artists, art lovers and an eye doctor gather together to raise funds for the operation of a little eye hospital in the province of Ifugao on Feb. 3, hosted by the Manila Polo Club.

Curated by Italian gallery owner and art connoisseur Silvana Ancellotti-Diaz, a small assemblage of works by renowned artists such as National Artist Benedicto Cabrera or Bencab, Betsy Westendorp, Valeria Cavestany, Duddley Diaz, Ramon Diaz and Impy Pilapil will be put up on sale, and the proceeds will go to the projects of Restoring Sight International (RSI) and the Ophthalmological Foundation of the Philippines (OFPHIL), led by Dr. Felipe Tolentino, particularly to the operations of and treatments to be done in the newly inaugurated Ifugao State University-Ophthalmological Foundation of the Philippines (IFSU-OPHIL) Eye Center, located in the town of Alfonso Lista in Ifugao. The eye center will help not just underprivileged residents of Ifugao but of the Cordillera Administrative Region and Cagayan Valley as well.

“The impact of this project is great for the people of Ifugao and the Cagayan Valley region because it is located in an area with the highest incidence of blindness in the entire Philippines. Thousands of patients with cataract are expected to benefit from this center after several years,” said Dr. Tolentino, who is the founder of RSI.

It is said that there are more than 40,000 needy sufferers of cataract blindness in the region, and the eye center, which was inaugurated just last Jan. 26 at the Potia campus of IFSU, will be of great help to them.

Awarded the Philippine Presidential Medal of Merit in the arts in 2008, Westendorp, a Spanish painter of Dutch descent married to a Filipino and who is known for her portraits of the Filipino elite, has been very keen on the project: “This advocacy is very meaningful to me as I myself suffer from age-related macular degeneration (ARMD). It affects older adults resulting to the loss of vision in the center of the visual field. I am more than happy to be part of this fundraising project especially when Ambassador Isabel Caro Wilson broached the idea of hosting a cocktail to support Dr. Tolentino’s eye center program.”

A former ambassador to Spain and the recently installed president of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Wilson is organizing the cocktail-cum-art-sale as a project also of the Manila Polo Club, in which she is also the president, the first woman to hold the position. The club celebrated its centennial last year, in 2009, and Wilson led a renewal project including the construction of a state-of-the-art kitchen, an elegant new lobby leading to the Turf Room and McKinley Room and the Banyan Garden overlooking the lobby. The art sale event will be held at the Turf Room.

“Both Betsy and I are patients of Dr. Tolentino. The IFSU-OFPHIL Eye Center in Alfonso Lista is a prime example of corporate social responsibility, and of giving back the blessings we receive to those who have less,” Wilson said.

The involvement of the personalities in this fundraising was serendipitous. A friend of Westendorp, who also had ARMD, referred Dr. Tolentino, a Filipino-American eye doctor practicing in Boston, Massachussetts in the United States and said to be the best doctor for that disease, to her. On the other hand, Dr. Tolentino often went to Madrid, where Westendorp is based, for his patients including the Spanish royal family. One time in Madrid, a common friend suggested that Westendorp help out Dr. Tolentino’s cause, and Westendorp eagerly agreed. Two years later, Dr. Tolentino wrote to Westendorp to help out in an auction.

“I don’t believe in auction because people come to buy an item for a lower price. If they believe in the charity they would buy something even it is above the usual market price,” Westendorp said.

At the same time, Wilson asked Westendorp for a painting she could buy for the Manila Polo Club, and Westendorp asked her to give the money instead to Dr. Tolentino’s project. Eventually, the art sale event came about and Westendorp thought of gathering other artists for the eye center project.

The eye center, which is the first RSI and OFPHIL eye care center outside of Metro Manila, represents the largest commitment of resources of the two humanitarian non-government agencies have ever dedicated to a single project, serving as a model for future projects of RSI.

The OFPHIL, in which Dr. Tolentino is currently president, was established in 1989 by philanthropists from the Philippines, Japan and the United States, to upgrade eye diagnostic treatments and technology and provide training to medical staff. It has partnered with RSI for outreach missions to poor communities. Established by Dr. Tolentino in 1996, RSI aims to raise funds for medical missions to the indigent blind throughout the world. Its first project, still ongoing, is focused on the Philippines. It is a way of “giving back” to his home country for Dr. Tolentino, who studied and practiced almost entirely in the United States.

“I came from a middle class family from the boondocks of Agusan,” Dr. Tolentino related. “My parents were from Luzon who migrated to find a better life in Mindanao. They started as hardworking teachers and became pioneer farmers in Agusan, clearing up the jungles there and converting them into rice land. (My) mother quit teaching to become a woman farmer while my father remained a public servant. I helped my parents worked on the land, exposing me to the value of hard work and honest labor. I helped my parents sell the products of their farm which allowed me to see the value of money, trust, integrity, dignity of labor and honesty in dealing with all kinds of people.”

He further recalled: “I am the product of World War II and learned how to survive and stay ahead of the enemy. This was a valuable lesson because the experience, though very risky, was completely enriching. Since my father was part of the guerilla movement against the Japanese Imperial Army, I was left to head the family of six children at a very early age of 11 years old, acting like the head of the family at such a young age. The family stayed in the jungles of Agusan for four years and survived in 1946. I had the satisfaction that we survived despite the lack of food and constant harassment by the enemy.”

When Tolentino was about to enter college he chose to become a doctor because an uncle is a physician who was well loved and respected and “left a very positive and deep impression on me that…I quietly told myself that I want to be physician like him.” Becoming an eye doctor he told was inspired by his professor, Dr. Germiniano de Ocampo, said to be the “father of modern Philippine ophthalmology.”

After graduating from the University of the Philippines medical school in 1957, Tolentino stayed for two years at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) to specialize on eye, ear, nose and throat treatments. Then, “I felt at that time that to succeed, graduates had to specialize in the United States. In 1959, I was fortunate to land a residency training program in Rochester, New York, for two years, then to St. Louis in Missouri for one year,” he said.

Also, he got accepted at the famous Retina Associates at Harvard Medical School in Boston to train in retinal diseases. He related, “I did pioneering work in the less understood vitreous diseases which became my passion in research, resulting in new discoveries and the publication of hundreds of scientific articles as well as two definitive books based on my research work.”

He returned to the Philippines in 1966, joining the medical faculty of the University of the Philippines. Then, he explained, “I saw the disturbing clouds of trouble in 1970, forcing me to accept the invitation of my mentors at Harvard to join them at the famous Retina Associates. The decision to return to Boston was not difficult, since I foresaw the trouble ahead in the Philippines at that time. My wife strongly supported me in this decision.”

During the 1980s, there were suggestions of returning to the Philippines and helping out. In 1989, he finally did. One patient, Benita Marasigan Santos, granddaughter of Marcelo del Pilar, from Bulacan, encouraged him and said to remember the country of his birth.

His first project in the country was with the PGH, which badly needed equipment for eye treatments. After the establishment of OFPHIL, he helped establish an eye operating room at the public hospital with the generous donation of the Miyake family of Nagoya, Japan. Additionally, the organization introduced phakoemulsification cataract surgery in the country and made possible modern eye surgery training to several ophthalmology residents of the PGH. The Miyake Eye Operating Room was the beginning of the journey of giving back.

OFPHIL established a mobile eye clinic in 1995 and pioneered ambulatory cataract surgery especially to poor communities in the country in 1996, through the efforts of Dr. Jose Pecson, vice president of OFPHIL.

In 1996, Dr. Tolentino established RSI, with the mission “that no person should be needlessly blind,” which established long-term affiliation with OFPHIL. The two organizations have made several eye operation missions; established the Manila-OFPHIL Eye Center in Gat Andres Bonifacio Memorial Medical Center in Tondo, Manila, in 2000; established the Asian Eye Institute at the Rockwell Center in Makati City in 2001; formed the Pediatric Eye Center at the Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Quezon City in 2002; and helped train eye doctors, among others.

To date, over 6,500 surgeries were done, over 42,000 patients treated and over 30 clinical missions held by the organizations. Now, the latest project is the IFSU-OFPHIL Eye Center.

Dr. Tolentino related that they had several medical missions to the province of Ifugao since 2004 because one member, Dr. Joseph Odan, is a provincial board member there. But the missions were not enough to address the overwhelming problem of eye disease in the area that a permanent eye care facility must be built.

“The Ifugao provincial government made a request to RSI to help build an eye center in Ifugao because the surgical missions being conducted several times a month have not reduced the high incidence of blindness in the region,” Dr. Tolentino explained.

The IFSU, through its president Dr. Serafin Ngohayon, offered a site in its campus in Potia, Alfonso Lista. Through the efforts of local governments and private donors, the eye center was put up, a simple two-story building with several rooms and a bulol adorning its stark white façade.

“The center will focus on cataract surgery which is the most frequent cause of blindness in the region. RSI will fully subsidize the IFSU-OFPHIL Eye Center for the first few years. As soon as the center becomes Philhealth approved, it can become self sustaining which is the ultimate goal,” Dr. Tolentino said.

He added: “The eye center will be managed by OFPHIL which has many volunteer eye doctors helping out. International doctors will be recruited soon.”

Now, the operations and treatments will be funded by the money raised by the Manila Polo Club art sale. The fund-raising event is an intimate affair with small number—13 in all—of works to be up on sale. But the art works are all masterfully done by esteemed artists led by the National Artist Bencab, fetching hefty prices. The five paintings of Westendorp alone are said to be collectively worth P2 million.

Multi-awarded and highly respected Bencab, who is based in the Cordilleras, donated a recent work of acrylic on paper, Sabel (2009, 37.5 x 27 cm./14.775 x 10.638 in.)

Westendorp’s sizable paintings, in oil and acrylic on canvas, are very recent, most especially made for the mission, depict mostly flowers, which is the subject of her latest exhibit here in the country.

Sculptor Impy Pilapil, who is versatile and works with different media, gives her Aqua Bella Series (1999, H 67 x W 56 cm./H 26.38 x W 22.05 inches) done in glass and other materials, while Ramon Diaz, husband of Sylvana, printmaker and businessman, offers Ribs, a painting of acrylic on braille paper (2007, 87 x 96.5 cm./34.278 x 38.021 in.).

Duddley Diaz, who is based in Italy and is known for his religious sculptures, has two works: Small Messenger in cast bronze (23.3 x 6 x 6 cm./9.1802 x 2.364 x 2.364 in.) and Blue Angel II in larch with acrylic (2007, 44 x 90 x 9 cm./17.336 x 35.46 x 3.546 in.). Filipino-Spanish artist Valeria Cavestany offered three paintings: China Girl (acrylic on canvas, 91.7 x 72.8 cm. /36.1298 x 28.6832 in.), To D.H. (acrylic on canvas, 86.9 x 88.7 cm. /34.2386 x 34.9478 in.) and The Blues (acrylic on wood, 109 x 69 cm./42.946 x 27.186 in.)

The greatness of these works will be enhanced now with the ability of restoring eye sights to many people, aside from giving insights and making the world more beautiful and meaningful. The artists are more than happy to help out, after all making art is itself already an advocacy and a way of giving to the world.

For his part, Dr. Tolentino said, “Like many ophthalmologists I know, I have the passion and moral obligation to help the blind. Society has been kind to me. I am happy to share what has been given to me over the years.”