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.”

Showdowns and Showcases: Creative Continuance for the National Arts Months 2010

Most of the flagship projects, which remain the core of activities of the Philippine International Arts Festival (PIAF) in celebration of the National Arts Month (NAM) this coming February, are furtherance and continuation of last year’s undertakings, which are the gathering and showcasing of best works, thematically inclined or not. But they are no less interesting or intriguing.
“The flagship projects in each of the seven arts continue to explore new modes of expressions and collaborations with one another even as they firm up their connections with their roots and document their aesthetics,” explains the festival director, poet and professor Ricardo de Ungria, who is also the commissioner of the Sub-commission on the Arts (SCA) of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), which oversees PIAF.
The NCCA has been holding the celebration, a series of festivities and activities mounted throughout the country celebrating Filipino artistry and promoting the arts and the artists, for 19 years now, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 683 signed in 1991.
De Ungria further says the celebration has “featured the genius and talent of the Filipino artist and affirmed the continuing and revivifying evolution of Philippine art from traditional roots to more contemporary forms of expression.”
Indeed, PIAF aims to feature the talents and performances of the many artists and arts groups in the seven arts on whose trainings, competitions, and creative expressions it has invested the past year or so. More than a way of looking back at past accomplishments, the festival is said to be a celebration of the fruits of the creative efforts for the past year and a looking forward to a richer, more fertile ground in the coming years for the evolution of artistic modes of expression available to the Filipino creative imagination.
All over the country, different arts and culture groups as well as local governments will hold events for the PIAF with funding and support from the NCCA with the theme “Ani ng Sining” or harvest of the arts.
“Starting from simple festivities held in Metro Manila and involving a limited number of fields in the art in the early nineties, the celebration of NAM has expanded since then to include the active participation of all the seven arts as flagship projects, to involve various regions in the country as art sites, and to accept as partners an increasing number of private organizations and government agencies at both the local and national levels,” De Ungria adds.
At the forefront and as the highlight of the PIAF are the major projects of the committees of the SCA, namely, Cinema, Dance, Literary Arts, Architecture and Allied Arts, Visual Arts, Music, and Dramatic Arts.

Grand literary gathering in Cebu with Taboan
The NCCA Committee on Literary Arts, also headed by De Ungria, follows up its successful Taboan: Philippine Writers’ Festival, with a sequel, this time in Cebu. Taboan again will gather writers from all the regions and across generations to interact with one another and with their audience on issues pertaining to their craft or the situation of writing in the country, or read from their new works. The three-day festival now gives focus on writers and writings in the Visayas region and expects lively participation from writers in the Visayas and Mindanao regions. There will conferences, seminars, workshops, performances such as a zarzuela and a poetry performance by Sakdap, and recognition of local writers in the first Taboan Writers Awards. For the first time, there will a conference for teachers on teaching literature. Interesting topics to be discussed includes “eco-literature” with Hope Yu, Dinah Roma Sianturi and Mindo Aquino; Visayan aesthetics with Erlinda Alburo, Simeon Dumdum and Macario Tiu; writing erotica with John Iremil Teodoro, Danton Remoto and Richel Dorotan; writing using dreams with Gemino Abad, Scott Sabot, Judith Salamat and Jhonnalyn Cruz; writing and spirituality with Renato Madrid, Calbi Asain, Clarito de Francis and Dante Rosales; and writing ethnicity with Anthony Enriquez, Teng Mangansakan and Arifar Jamil, among others. Slated from February 10 to 12, 2010, at the Casino Espanol del Cebu in Cebu City, Taboan 2010: The Second Philippine Writers’ Festival has the Arts Council of Cebu Foundation as proponent.

Moving images from the regions in Cinema Rehiyon
The NCCA Committee on Cinema, headed by Miguel Rapatan, will likewise hold a second Cinema Rehiyon, after audiences appealed for another run. This is a showcase of nascent cinema from the regions, culling the best from festivals held in various regions of the country. This year’s Cinema Rehiyon will feature 10 regions, four more than the first one. To be held at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), Cinema Rehiyon will show cinematic expressions from Bacolod, Baguio, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, Iloilo, Naga, Pampanga, Samar, Central Visayas (Cebu and Bohol), and Western and Central Mindanao, with for a and panel discussions. Showings are slated from February 16 to 20, 2010.

The continuing movements of Sayaw Pinoy
The NCCA Committee on Dance, headed by Shirley Halili-Cruz, will stage Sayaw Pinoy, now on its seventh year, which is a touring dance concert that brings together different dance forms and features local dance troupes of the host cities and municipalities performing back-to-back with the different professional dance companies in the country. Now, with the subtitle “Creating Venues of Creative Interaction Through Dance,” Sayaw Pinoy aims to become more accessible with performances to be staged in public places and to include other art forms as well as indigenous arts and artists. Sayaw Pinoy promises to be in at least 27 localities with at least 30 performances and 40 performing groups.

The sum of architecture
Last time, the NCCA Committee on Architecture and Allied Arts, headed by Henry Yap, mounted “Pa(ng)Labas,” a composite of a traveling exhibition, lecture-forum, and a film showing which examined both the medium of film and the form and style of architecture as they relate to the development of film media, architecture and urban landscape. A proposed project this year focuses on the role of water in architecture with “Aquatecture = Water + Architecture,” a multimedia and installation exhibit exploring the long-standing relationship of water and architecture in Philippine society. The exhibit will tackle themes such as water as design metaphor, water-borne architecture, water and sacred space, and designing with water, among others. However, the project changed. Instead, the committee gathered past exhibits for “Archi [types/text]: Architecture in Philippine Life.”
Eight distinct exhibits in different venues aim to “explore the many facets of architecture and the production space in Philippine life through a transdisciplinary lens, which converge landscape and urban planning, painting and photography, cinema, postcards and urban cartography to illustrate that architecture is imagined as at once type and text because it is both a thing and a subjectivity, an artifact and a sensibility.”
These are composed of “Imperial Reproductions: Imag(in)ing the Philippines in Color” at the atelier at the Bulwagan ng Dangal, University of the Philippines, on February 1; “Deco Decadence: Philippine Art Deco Architecture” at the Aldaba Hall of the University Theater of the UP on February 1; The Vargas Collection including “Province/Laan (1899-1934)” and “Unease/Ligalig (1935-1946)” at the Vargas Museum of UP on February 1; “Manila and the River that Runs Through It” at the Plaza Mexico Ferry Station in Intramuros, Manila, on February 7; “PA(ng)LABAS = architecture + cinema” at the Greenbelt mall in Makati City on February 7 ; “Andres Luna de San Pedro: Painter and Architect” at the Museum of the Filipino People, National Museum of the Philippines, Manila, on February 9; “Imperial Gaze: Representations of Far Zamboanga in Colonial Photography” at Fort Pilar, Zamboanga City, on February 16; and “Philippine Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning, 1900-1960” at the Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu City, on February 20

Collegiate drama in Tanghal!
The NCCA Committee on Dramatic Arts will hold Tanghal! The Fourth National University and College Theater Festival, celebrating the outstanding achievements by theater groups based in the universities and colleges. Having seen rich exchanges of works and experiences in the past three years, this fourth Tanghal! will face the challenge of highlighting the contributions of university and college based theater groups to Philippine theater. It will have a conference on the contribution of these groups and a showcase of six outstanding works. The theater fest happens from February 1 to 5 at the De La Salle University in Manila.

Music as food for the soul
The NCCA Committee on Music, headed by Joey Ayala, will hold Organik Muzik 2: Palay Bigas Kanin, following up the first Organik Muzik, which was a series of four concerts showing the metamorphosis of elements of Philippine music from village roots to urban manifestations. This time, the committee is staging a collaborative musical production called Palay Bigas Kanin (PBK), with libretto and lyrics by poet Vim Nadera and music and performances by contemporary artists such as Radioactive Sago Project, Junior Kilat, Sigaw ng Tundo and Cynthia Alexander. It will be staged on February 19 at the Atrium in Tagum City, and on February 23 at the University of Baguio in Baguio City.

Feast of colors
The NCCA Committee on Visual Arts, headed by Egai Talusan Fernandez, will mount the Philippine Visual Arts Festival 2010, featuring the masterworks of renowned visual artists. The exhibit will also showcase the talents of the Filipino artists from different regions as well as make their works accessible to the public. Aside from the exhibit, seminar-workshops will also be conducted, and sand sculpture and body paintings sessions will also take place. The festival will be held late February at the Shangri-la Plaza mall in Mandaluyong City, and March on Boracay Island, Malay, Aklan.

Arts all-over
PIAF will be launched in Metro Manila at Rajah Solaiman along Roxas Boulevard and in Intramuros, Manila on January 31,2010, with a soft launching on February 1 in a morning show of a local TV network, featuring numerous performances. It will also be launched key cities around the country.
In addition to the flagship projects, the NCCA also awarded grants to new works, restagings and tributes to National Artists for the NAM celebration in different regions of the country.
Local artists of Jose Panganiban in the province of Camarines Norte will mount a showcase of art works and dance performances called “Pagkilala sa Ani ng Mambulao sa Angking Sining” at the town hall from February 1 to 28. The UP Visayas’ Balangaw and the UP Diliman’s Kontragapi Music and Dance Ensemble will stage a musical concert, Bag-o Nga Timpla Pinoy Performing Arts Festival, at the Balyu-an Amphitehater in Tacloban City on February 28. In Cagayan de Oro City in Mindanao, the Capitol University Dance Troupe and Capitol University Glee Club will perform local and contemporary dances and songs in a series on shows called “Saulog, An Anniversary Concert of the Capitol Dance Troupe and Glee Club” at the Capitol University Gym on February 1 and 13, Cogon Market and Night Café DVsoria on February 6 and 20, and at the atrium of LimKetKai Mall on February 27.
An exhibition of art boxes that will showcase the dream and aspiration of Filipinos called “Damgo Quatros Ka” for the whole month of February in different venues in Bacolod City and Dumaguete City. “Mga Kwentong Pinagmulan,” a cutout animation film tackling the myths, legends, origin and culture of the Negros Island, will be shown in Silay City, Bacolod City, Kabankalan, Bago City, Sibulan and Dumaguete City.
Led by Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan awardee Bai Lang Dulay, the T’boli cultural community in Lake Sebu of South Cotabato will hold its first National Arts Month celebration with “Ken Kenhulung (A Celebration of Arts)” for the whole month in several venues in the town.
The “Pahandaja na Mamanua Ka Surigao” is a “one day gathering of the Mamanua cultural community in Surigao City to present, promote and develop creativity, specifically of local indigenous talents, through various form of expressions,” will be on February 24 at the Surigao del Norte capitol grounds.
A dance-drama called Hilum-na Pag-ampo, meaning “silent prayer,” promises to “give a moment of healing through dances accompanied by Mindanao divine chanting and lullabies” on February 25 at Malitbog, Bukidnon, and on February 26 at the Kung Hua Auditorium, Kung Hua School, Cagayan de Oro City.
From February 19 to 28, the Kaliwat Theater Collective, the Kathara Dance Theater Collective, the Magugpo Theater Guild and the TCNHS special Program for the Arts will mount a series of musical, dance and theatrical productions at the Tagum Trade and Cultural Center Pavillion in Tagum City.
Old works will be restaged for further appreciation such as Severino Reyes’s zarzuela Walang Sugat in Marinduque by Bulacan’s Barasaoin Kalinangan Foundation from February 15 to 21. “Interaksyon” of the group Tupada will again “set venues for instantaneous and independent performances, which enticed and encouraged local artists from various disciplines to explore performance art as a less restrictive and more inclusive form of creative expression” in Manila, Batangas and Cavite from February 17 to 21. Writers based in Baguio City and Benguet including young Cordillera writers will read their poems for “Panagbenga: Baguio Poetry Reading for Arts Month 2010” at the University of the Philippines-Baguio, University of Baguio and Benguet State University. The Philippines will host the 3rd ASEAN Puppetry Association, showcasing ASEAN puppet tradition from February 24 to 26 at the Tanghalang Abelardo Hall Auditorium of UP Diliman. “Pangalay at Musika ng Bayan,” an annotated performance of an endangered dance style indigenous to the Sulu archipelago, will be mounted on Feb. 12 at the Emilio Aguinaldo College Auditorium and February 24 at Holy Angel University in Pampanga.
In the Visayas the Arte Kalye: Art for Earth will have public art talks, street dance festivals, street fashion shows, painting, art workshops, art sale, music festivals and live street performances at Artekalye Street, San Agustin Extension, Bacolod City.
In Mindanao, Ballet Philippines will perform “Masterworks” in Davao City; “Silip Sayaw sa Mindanao,” a touring dance performance and workshop of indigenous dances and rituals of the Bukidnon, T’boli, Blaan, Maranao, Maguindanao and Tausug cultural communities, will be held on February 6 to 8, 13 to 14, and 24 to 26 in Camiguin and Lanao del Norte; and “Tecla: Mga Kwentong Kababaihan,” presenting the vulnerability of women in domestic violence through dance, poetry and music, will be shown on February 11 to 12 at the KCC Mall Convention Center.
Works of and tributes to National Artists will also be put so that people will have greater appreciation and awareness of our artist heroes.
A series of performances at the Rizal Shrine in Calamba City called “Ang Artista ay Bayani: Romancing the Arts at the Rizal Shrine” will highlight songs and stories that pay tribute to National Artists as well as music and narrative traditions of Laguna on February 5, 6, 12 and 13.
“Saludo! Tribute to Philippine National Artists,” a multi-media and multi-disciplinary presentation of National Artists from the Visayas region, will be held on January 31 in Bacolod City, February 7 in La Carlota City, February 14 in Silay City and February 21 in Ilog.
The Panaghugpong 2: Xavier Arts Festival will feature the art and works of Edith Tiempo (literature), Lucresia Kasilag (music), Jose Maceda (music), Ramon Obusan (dance), Lino Brocka (film) and Eddie Romero (film) throughout February in Cagayan de Oro City.
The arts will also be brought to different government offices through the “Ani ng Sining sa Iba’t Ibang Sangay ng Gobyerno” and the malls, particularly the Ayala malls. Also throughout the month, people can get free entrances or discounts to museums
Indeed, it will be an enriching month. “Come and join us one and all as we allow art to restore us to high spirits once again and to the wisdom of our still undreamed dreams!” De Ungria invites.

For more information, contact Rene Napeñas, head of the NCCA Public Affairs and Information Office and PIAF media director at 527-5529 or mobile numbers 0927-5582656 and 0928-5081057 or Vanessa Marquez, PIAF deputy festival manager at 527-2209 or 0918-6380412. Call also 527-2192 (local 612 to 615), e-mail at ncca.paio@gmail.com, or visit www.ncca.gov.ph or www.paif-ncca.org.

Negros Oriental in a Blast: Central Visayan Province Celebrates the Buglasan Festival

For all its occasional tackiness, ostentation, artifice, theatrics, commercialism and loose interpretations, a festival is a considerable summation of a place with its display of folklore, livelihood, history, character, aspirations and identity. With the recent Buglasan Festival, the province of Negros Oriental, the Cebuano-speaking half of Negros Island at the heart of the Visayan archipelago, presented a moving panorama of itself via dance, costumes, songs, tableaux and mock rituals in a grand showdown from several of its towns and cities.

The cavernous Lamberto Macias Sports Center in the capital Dumaguete City burst with colors and pulsated with energy as dancers converged for the Festival of Festival Showdown on October 23, 2009. The event later spilled on to the streets including the famed Rizal Boulevard, which is flanked by a strip of bars, restaurants, hotels and remnants of old mansions on one side and a street lamp-lined promenade overlooking Tanon Strait on the other.

We gawked at the spectacle from the bleachers in the sports center, entertained by the brisk movements, crafty costumes and the stories they tell. Later, from the terrace of the old Perdices house, we gazed at the jubilant images of towns we’ve visited or longed to visit as floats in the form of icons of each towns, carrying their “kings and queens,” trailed behind groups of dancers—a papier-mache volcano of Canlaon City, the caves of Mabinay complete with indigenous Atis drinking tuba, the chocolate pot of Tanjay City. The stories were told during the showdown, participated in by Negros Oriental’s 13 towns and cities—Santa Catalina with its Pakol Festival, Canlaon City with Pasayaw Festival, Zamboaguita with Baulan Festival, Dauin with Kinaiyahan Festival, Dumaguete City with Sandurot Festival, Bayawan City with Tawo-Tawo Festival, Jimalalud with Hambabalud Festival, Tanjay City with Bodbod Festival, Bindoy with Libod Sayaw sa Bindoy, Bais City with Sipong Festival, Sibulan with Gapnop Festival, Mabinay with Langob Festival and Bacong with Sinulog de San Miguel.

Santa Catalina made a rousing start with dynamically choreographed dancing with the dancers, mostly high-school students, swayed, jumped and ran, carrying bunches of bananas, the town’s most important crop, to enact the Pakol Festival, which it celebrates every April 25 in honor of Saint Catherine of Alexandria. Choreographed by Widmark Alanano, the dance enacted a common town scene—bananas being harvested, brought to the tabu-an or makeshift marketplace, and sold or bartered in a practice called tag-ilis. As a comic interlude, children dressed as monkeys tried to steal the bananas. The dance concluded in a thanksgiving to the saint for the good harvest of bananas or pakol, saying that “the devotees celebrate their prosperity and well-being, believing that in the heart of the lowly pakol their lives are alleviated [sic] and their faith strengthened.”

The cultivation of cut flowers and vegetables was the focus of the dance, choreographed by Stalen Gabuan, for the Pasayaw Festival of Canlaon City, the northernmost local government unit of Negros Oriental. The dancers traipsed across the ground carrying large replicas of calla lilies and vegetables in a dance that celebrated the fertility of the land because of Mount Canlaon and told the folklore on the origin of the volcano—the ill-fated romance between the warrior Kan and the princess Laon. The name of the festival, which is celebrated every July 1, the city’s Charter Day, is a contraction of “pasalamat diha sa mga sayaw,” a thanksgiving through dance, which is an important purpose of many festivals in the country.

Many contingents showed grandiosity and gimmickry such as Zamboanguita, a coastal town south of Dumaguete City. Aside from the dancers carrying big replicas of corn, there was a humongous corn wheeled in, revealing children dressed as grasshoppers gnawing at the kernels upon peeling of the husk. Men fetched the “pesky” kids from the corn with bamboo poles, to the amusement of the audience. Not only that, the float was fashioned into a convincing likeness of a giant grasshopper for the parade. The dance, choreographed by Ryan Garcia, aimed to relay the meaning of Zamboanguita’s Baulan Festival, the name meaning “field” and celebrated every May 12, which implies the people’s transformation from being hunter-gatherers to cultivators of the land, with the corn being the main crop and the grasshoppers or locusts one of the problems of farming life. The show was able to incorporate the Polka Biana, Zamboanguita’s unique dance, as a tribute to the town’s culture.

Dauin, very near Dumaguete and where many resorts cluster, presented a melange of superstition, environmentalism and religious faith in a dance for the Kinaiyahan Festival. The dance, choreographed by Angelo Sayson and Ronilo Jaynar, told of townspeople cutting down the galawin or dalakit trees which “they believed were the refuge of supernatural creatures and were therefore cursed.” As a consequence, their town and farms were flooded when strong rains came. A dawinde or elf suddenly appeared from a galawin and offered seedlings for the people to plant. The seedlings they planted grew into forests, and they realized the importance of caring for the environment. The dance also showed the people’s devotion to their patron saint, Nicholas of Tolentino, whose feast day on September 10 is the origin of the festival.

Another patron saint, Catherine of Alexandria, was the featured in Dumaguete City’s Sandurot Festival, held every November 22, in the dance, choreographed by Ariel Distrito, relating the social history of the city, the different people coming together, and the role of the saint, who protected the city in times of danger. A gigantic image of Saint Catherine was the highlight of the show.

Choreographed by Arlan Entac, the number from Bayawan City for its Tawo-Tawo Festival, celebrated every February 17 before the feast day of its patron saint Thomas of Villanueva, condensed the history of the town—the life of the early settlers, the Bukidnons, and the coming of the Spaniards—with emphasis on farming, showing how birds were pests to their crops and the tawo-tawo or scarecrow, said to be “an indigenous device…perceived as representative of the guardian spirits of the rice fields to protect their crops.” The festival dance, they explained, “revisits the defining moment from hostility to assimilation, from simple rice production to celebration. It breathes life into the central character of the rice fields: the palay, the tawo-tawo, the maya birds, the farmer with his wife who play roles as protagonists in the age-old struggle for survival between man and nature.” Simple made dramatic, indeed.

The town of Jimalalud presented a medley of its culture. The Hambabalud Festival, celebrated every January 14, was originally the feast day for its patron the Holy Infant Jesus, and was named after the hambabalud trees, from which the town also derived its name. Basically, the festival is a form of thanksgiving, particularly, for saving the town from a destructive typhoon long time ago. This was re-enacted in the dance, which was made more colorful by incorporating cultural elements like the reciting of balak or poetry and the signing of balitaw and harana, native songs.

The contingent from Tanjay City presented images the city is known for or wants to project—as the province’s oldest settlement and first parish, as a “city of professionals” because of the large concentration of degree holders, a “city of musicians” and the native sweet called bodbod. The last became the focal image of its festival, the Bodbod Festival, held on December 15, and the dance, choreographed by Jaymar Salboro, had maidens dancing with bodbod.

Choreographed by Robert Enopia, Rico Valencia, Jovanie Ampil and Joel Eullaran, the show of Bindoy to represent their Libod-Sayaw sa Bindoy emphasized the importance of the coconut, a ubiquitous sight in the town and in most of the island. Actually the festival—whose name libod means “to move around” or “sway” and sayaw means “dance”—is to honor of their patron saint, Vincent Ferrer, every April 4 by dancing. It is said that the present form of the festival originated with Jesus Trumata, once the town’s parish priest, to “draw crowds and set a festive mood,” as well as preserve the “dance traditions that enrich Bindoy culture.”

Thanksgiving was also one of the main themes of the number from Bais City, choreographed by Glenn Vincent Torres. It was for their Sipong Festival, celebrated every September 7, inspired by sipong, a thanksgiving gathering. “The Baisnons traditionally celebrate their bountiful harvest with merrymaking…comprising a Holy Mass, dancing, a tabo, agri-fair and other post harvest activities,” they explained. Bais, like most of the towns of the country, is an agricultural city, and its main crop is sugarcane, covering 36 percent of the cultivated land.

Gapnod means “driftwood.” In the town of Sibulan, there is a popular local lore about a fisherman finding what he thought was useless driftwood. While the fishers of the town were having bountiful catches, one fisherman was having no luck since daybreak. By the afternoon, he caught something but turned out to be only driftwood, which he threw back to the sea. But he kept finding the same driftwood in his net. The puzzled fisherman called out to his fellow fishermen and examined the wood. An image was engraved on it. They took it to the priest, who said that it was the image of Saint Anthony of Padua. Now, Sibulan celebrates the Gapnop Festival to commemorate the founding of the image, and the story was dramatized in a dance choreographed by Archie Baconaje for the Buglasan Festival grand fete.

Held on January 25, the Langub Festival honors its patron saint, the Holy Infant, and promotes the caves, with which Mabinay is endowed and is famous for. One of the few landlocked and upland towns of the island, Mabinay is a backwater place whose charm lies in its rusticity and feel of adventure. Its Buglasan presentation choreographed by Wisley Magalso highlighted its trademark geologic attributes with a story of early cave dwellers clashing with new settlers and an environmentalist aim. “The new settlers, who were lovers of nature, made efforts to stop the cave dwellers from destroying the Mabinay environment. In time, the cave dwellers came to understand the good intentions of the new settlers, stopped hunting bats and birds, and began to care for all creatures and the environment,” they told.

Another form of thanksgiving, the Sinulog de San Miguel is celebrated by the town of Bacong. Its presentation showed a peacefully and abundant town being ravaged by disasters and pestilence under the rule of the fallen angel Lucifer and being saved by Saint Michael the Archangel.

These 13 delegations showed their arsenals of creativity and energy to impress the crowds and the showdown judges, mostly dance experts from Metro Manila, to win pride, prestige and the cash prize. In the end, Santa Catalina’s mesmerizing Pakol Festival presentation was declared the most impressive, the group taking home Php100,000 in cash, a trophy and the right to represent the province in Cebu’s Sinulog Festival, as it did in 2008.

The Tawo-Tawo Festival number of Bayawan City was placed second, while the Kinaiyahan Festival of Dauin was third. Special prizes went to Sipong Festival of Bais City for having the best in drum corps, which accompanied the dance; Baulan Festival of Zamboanguita for creating the best float—the amazing grasshopper!—with Libod Sayaw Festival of Bindoy and Hambabalud Festival of Jimalalud the second and third best, respectively; Zamboanguita again for the best identification arc, which preceded the dancing contingent during the parade, with the Langub Festival of Mabinay and the Pasayaw Festival of Canlaon City the second and third best, respectively.

As jubilant as the winners were the festival organizers, headed by provincial board member Mariant Villegas, who has been at the helm of the festival for several years now. People have been very participative this festival. In 2008, only five towns and cities deployed contingents for the showdown and parade.

The showdown and parade were two of the highlights of the 10-day festival that transpired in late October. The festival calendar was replete with events—parties; contests on cooking, singing, and dancing; sports activities; a congress; religious services; fairs; awarding and recognitions; and exhibits. The incorporation of traditional arts and entertainment—rondalla, kumparsa, balak, balitaw and harana—in the form of contests was commendable.

The fireworks display and competition over the Tanon Strait were spectacular, the varicolored sparks embellishing the night sky and being reflected on tenebrous waters. It drew sizable crowds to the city’s night strip. A band started playing while the oldest building of the Silliman University, a century old, which houses an ethnological museum, loomed in the background. On another side of the city, in the barangay of Piapi, the Sidlakang Negros Village was also abuzz.

Aside from the street dancing parade and the showdown, another staple of Philippine festivals is the fair/exhibit/expo, in which products are displayed and attractions promoted. In the past years, the Buglasan Festival organizers invited the provinces towns and cities to set up booths on the provincial capitol grounds. Through the years, the booths have become grander and more elaborate, some recreating their famous landmarks. The capitol grounds had virtually become a theme park of sorts. At the end of the festival, the booths had to be dismantled and it could be a heartbreaking occasion. Additionally, many people saw the activity as a waste of money as much had been spent in building the booths.

Thus the Sidlakang Negros Village, built and opened in 1988, was expanded to include permanent booths for all the province’s towns and cities. The village was designed to be one-stop showcase and shop of the province’s tourism, delicacies, arts and crafts. The main building houses the administrative offices, the office of the provincial tourism, a souvenir shop, a showroom featuring furniture and other products, a conference hall and a gallery.

The buildings were tastefully designed by Rene Armogenia, one of the province’s famous architects, who used to own and designed the Bahura Resort in Dauin and now operates the charming restaurant Azalea perched on a cliff in Cambaloctot, San Jose. He merged the rustic and industrial looks—an assemblage of unpainted cement walls, steel pipe banisters, glass panels, bamboo beams and grass roofs.

Behind the main building is an open-air auditorium of sharp geometric design, where the Festival King and Queen pageant was held and crowned. Beauty contests are another festival staple. In Buglasan Festival, the contestants, both male and female, are part of the major activities. They are featured in the dance showdown and they ride in the floats, representing the best of their towns and cities. On pageant night, they show their poise, beauty and alertness in answering questions. The 2009 Festival Queen and King crowns were both clinched by contestants from Bayawan. The Festival Queen first runner-up honor was won by Bais City and the third runner-up place by Dauin. The Festival King first runner-up title went to Santa Catalina and the third runner-up to Jimalalud.

Scattered on the one-hectare grounds were the booths of the different towns and cities. One was given to the province of Siquijor, which was formerly part of Negros Oriental. The province’s 25 towns displayed their wares and promoted their attractions. Tanjay’s house was virtually a cafeteria serving bodbod, which is their version of the suman or cylindrical rice cake, eaten with hot chocolate and slices of ripe mango. The Mabinay house exhibited photos of its many caves, the façade made to look like a cave entrance. One could arrange for a dolphin and whale watching excursion at the Bais house. There was no need to cross Tanon Strait to reach Siquijor for its amulets, talismans and even potions. They were all available at the Siquijor booth. Perhaps, there are no other permanent exposition grounds in the country of this scale and attractiveness. Although many of the booths are closed without an occasion, Sidlakang Negros Village is open year-round.

The Buglasan Festival is getting grander through the years, showing its aspiration to be at par with the festivals of their neighboring islands, which have garnered much attention, such as the Sinulog Festival of Cebu, the Ati-atihan Festival of Aklan, the Dinagyang Festival of Iloilo, the Masskara Festival of Negros Occidental.

The first three were borne out of tradition—feasts in honor of their patron, the Holy Infant Jesus—which has acquired the flamboyance of the Mardi Gras and Brazilian carnival, as the national government wants to draw visitors and created a tourist attraction. In the process, festivals have been made where there is no or little tradition on built on like the Masskara Festival. Likewise, the Buglasan Festival is of recent concoction. It started in 1981 as a contingent to the Folk Arts Festival convened by then First Lady Imelda Marcos. Organized by Foundation University and the Balikatan sa Kaunlaran-NCRFW Negros Oriental chapter, with support from the provincial government, five towns showcased their dances at the Folk Arts Theater in Manila—Siaton’s inagta, Zamboanguita’s Polka biana, Dauin’s kasal Kadauinonan, Tanjay’s sinulog and Manjuyod’s amamaranhig. Collectively, they named themselves Buglasan Festival, after buglas, the napier-like reeds that once covered Negros Island. Also, Buglas Insulis was the former name of the island, according to a1572 map attributed to encomendero Diego Lope Povedano, a member of the expedition of Miguel Lopez de Legazpi. Legazpi’s men saw dark-skinned natives, which they called negro, on the island, which was eventually called Negros.

Eventually, the Buglasan Festival came under the management of the local government, culminating in the passing of an ordinance in 2002 designating the Buglasan as the province’s official festival. So every October, the usually laidback Dumaguete City, a known educational center, springs to life with a frenzy of activities. Negros Oriental claims the Buglasan Festival as the country’s first “festival of festivals,” a festival that gathers all other festivals. This proved to be true with the substantial participation of its towns and cities for the 2009 celebration. The provincial government with Negros Oriental governor Emilio Macias is always in full support as well as numerous national and local organizations and institutions. Hopefully, the crowds and the visitor influx will get bigger in the coming years, making the Buglasan Festival not just a window to the culture of Negros Oriental, but also a cherished tradition.