a great article recognizing the Filipino's heroism of Peñaflorida, Jr. Read on:
Not just once, but thrice!
Two weeks after winning the celebrated Cable News Network Hero (CNN) Hero of the year award for establishing the Dynamic Teen Company (DTC), Efren Peñaflorida, Jr. continued receiving recognitions and support from various organizations and prominent personalities. The most recent addition to the 28-year-old Caviteñeo’s growing list of commendations is the three awards given to him by the Coca-Cola Foundation, the public service arm of the Coca-Cola Company and the Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (TAYO) in an awarding ceremony held Friday, in a hotel in Pasig City.
TAYO is a non-profit award giving body which recognizes the contribution of the Filipino youth to their community.
Senator Francisco “Kiko” Pangilinan, the founder of TAYO, attended the event and awarded Peñaflorida the copy of the Senate resolution 217 recognizing his invaluable contribution to the children’s education in his community and the prestige he gave the country for winning the CNN award.
“It’s a badge of honor for us. It inspires us to continue to work,” Pangilinan said in his congratulatory speech.
Meanwhile, TAYO president Paolo Benigno Aquino, a grandchild of the late Corazon Aquino, conferred the TAYO kasama award to Peñaflorida for their KKK: Kariton, Klasrum, and Klinik program, where volunteers with pushcarts go to the trash dumpsites in Cavite to teach underprivileged children.
DTC joined the TAYO award twice. The first in 2006 where it failed to be included in the finalist and in 2007 where it became a part of the ten successful recognized organizations. In 2009 Peñaflorida also became a judge in the competition.
The Coca-Cola foundation, represented by its President, Cecil Alcantara gave Peñaflorida his last award in the event, which was a plaque with a reproduction of a painting, “Sa Isang Musmos,” which reflects the simple desires of a child.
“Your life may change, but you would not change,” Alcantara said in her emotional speech recounting the humility Peñaflorida showed despite winning the CNN Hero award.
Aside from interviews from various newspapers, radio and television stations, which includes an appearance in CNN’s Larry King Live, prominent personalities also recognized Peñaflorida’s contribution including Albay Governor Joey Salceda, who adopted Peñaflorida as a son of the city, Cavite Governor Ayong Maliksi, who promised to donate P1 million to DTC, and no less than the President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who bestowed to him the prestigious Order of Lakandula, the highest award given to a civilian.
Peñaflorida arrived at the awarding ceremony together with his mentor Bon Manalaysay, founder of the Club8586, the organization, where DTC is a part of, dedicated in restoring Cavite’s identity as the home of heroes, some of the children who became a part of DTC’s project, and Emmanuel Bagual, the incumbent president of the DTC, who was also nominated as one of the five finalist of the Nobel Peace Prize for Children in Europe for his project “My rights,” which empowers children in pediatric wards by informing them of their rights.
see more from here
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/232595/cocacola-tayo-give-pe-aflorida-3-awards
Monday, December 14, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
With wide open arms
Please read on this article about a gallery for democracy by Mara Andres:
It was, perhaps, the most intimate gallery closing I’ve ever witnessed. At most 20 people nestled within the humble walls of the Sigwada Gallery, celebrating democracy in the most solemn way.
The exhibit, Yellow Democracy, was Sigwada’s tribute to the late President Corazon Aquino and also a celebration of the gallery’s first anniversary. Yellow Democracy opened on the 9th of September, aptly on President Aquino’s 40th day. Upon entering Sigwada, you will immediately see that many artists have taken the message and essence of democracy to heart as there were more than 20 artworks which filled the walls of Sigwada. From paintings to photographs and other types of mixed media, the spirit of democracy continues to overflow.
The night was accompanied by the music of Tribung Kayaw, a small group composed of five men with a passion for music and innovation, which shows with the kind of instruments they use: Water gallons, a guitar with some add-ons like Sony playstation buttons which play sound effects among others, and other ethnic instruments.
As Sigwada bids goodbye to Yellow Democracy, it once again opens its arms to another artist whose advocacies include women’s rights and child welfare among others. From Oct. 9, Alma Quinto, a graduate of the University of the Philippines Diliman, has been holding an exhibit entitled Arms at the Sigwada Gallery.
Alma Quinto is a visual artist and art educator known to have collaborations with marginalized children and women. She has been affiliated with CRIBS Philippines since 1995, Bantay Bata 163, the Philippine Association for Citizens with Developmental and Learning Disabilities (PACDLD) and Project: Brave Kids, a group composed of children afflicted with cancer. Quinto is also an advocate of Greenpeace.
Various organizations have taken recognition of Ms. Alma’s advocacy such as the National Commission for Culture and Arts, where she is a trainer for their Crisis Program, the Department of Education and the United Nations Development Program.
By collecting narratives on opposites such as love and terror, war and peace, she aims to show the contradictions of war and violence and man’s capacity to tame it. In war, we see arms. In peace, we seek the comfort of the arms’ embrace.
What makes this exhibit different and remarkable is how Alma has chosen to reach out her arms to chidren as to empower them that they are capable of expressing their voices, their advocacies through art.
Besides Arms, Alma also held Art Workshops with 15 children from the Kaibigan Ermita Outreach Foundation. She aims to help children in unblocking the creative block, developing their sense of awareness regarding various social and environmental issues surrounding society today. With these workshops, she hopes to empower these children to exercise their rights. Arms lets a child reach for a crayon or a colored pencil so he or she can draw also lets him or her reach out even further.
The Sigwada Gallery reaches out its arms to Ms. Alma and the children as it joins the nation in celebrating the Global March for World Peace.
The Sigwada Gallery is located at 1921 Oroquieta Street, Sta. Cruz Manila. Visit http://www.sigwadagallery.multiply.com
more from here:
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideLifestyle.htm?f=2009/december/1/lifestyle4.isx&d=/2009/december/1
It was, perhaps, the most intimate gallery closing I’ve ever witnessed. At most 20 people nestled within the humble walls of the Sigwada Gallery, celebrating democracy in the most solemn way.
The exhibit, Yellow Democracy, was Sigwada’s tribute to the late President Corazon Aquino and also a celebration of the gallery’s first anniversary. Yellow Democracy opened on the 9th of September, aptly on President Aquino’s 40th day. Upon entering Sigwada, you will immediately see that many artists have taken the message and essence of democracy to heart as there were more than 20 artworks which filled the walls of Sigwada. From paintings to photographs and other types of mixed media, the spirit of democracy continues to overflow.
The night was accompanied by the music of Tribung Kayaw, a small group composed of five men with a passion for music and innovation, which shows with the kind of instruments they use: Water gallons, a guitar with some add-ons like Sony playstation buttons which play sound effects among others, and other ethnic instruments.
As Sigwada bids goodbye to Yellow Democracy, it once again opens its arms to another artist whose advocacies include women’s rights and child welfare among others. From Oct. 9, Alma Quinto, a graduate of the University of the Philippines Diliman, has been holding an exhibit entitled Arms at the Sigwada Gallery.
Alma Quinto is a visual artist and art educator known to have collaborations with marginalized children and women. She has been affiliated with CRIBS Philippines since 1995, Bantay Bata 163, the Philippine Association for Citizens with Developmental and Learning Disabilities (PACDLD) and Project: Brave Kids, a group composed of children afflicted with cancer. Quinto is also an advocate of Greenpeace.
Various organizations have taken recognition of Ms. Alma’s advocacy such as the National Commission for Culture and Arts, where she is a trainer for their Crisis Program, the Department of Education and the United Nations Development Program.
By collecting narratives on opposites such as love and terror, war and peace, she aims to show the contradictions of war and violence and man’s capacity to tame it. In war, we see arms. In peace, we seek the comfort of the arms’ embrace.
What makes this exhibit different and remarkable is how Alma has chosen to reach out her arms to chidren as to empower them that they are capable of expressing their voices, their advocacies through art.
Besides Arms, Alma also held Art Workshops with 15 children from the Kaibigan Ermita Outreach Foundation. She aims to help children in unblocking the creative block, developing their sense of awareness regarding various social and environmental issues surrounding society today. With these workshops, she hopes to empower these children to exercise their rights. Arms lets a child reach for a crayon or a colored pencil so he or she can draw also lets him or her reach out even further.
The Sigwada Gallery reaches out its arms to Ms. Alma and the children as it joins the nation in celebrating the Global March for World Peace.
The Sigwada Gallery is located at 1921 Oroquieta Street, Sta. Cruz Manila. Visit http://www.sigwadagallery.multiply.com
more from here:
http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideLifestyle.htm?f=2009/december/1/lifestyle4.isx&d=/2009/december/1
Friday, November 13, 2009
Manila to hold painting exhibit honoring Cory Aquino
Read on this article about a painting exhibit for Cory:
MANILA, Philippines—The Manila city government is holding a painting exhibit titled "Democracy in Yellow" as a tribute to former president Corazon Aquino who died a hundred days ago on Sunday.
The exhibit, organized by The Manila Historical and Heritage Commission, Manila Tourism and Cultural Affairs Bureau, Museo ng Maynila and Sigwada Gallery, will be formally opened by Mayor Alfredo Lim at 11 a.m. on Monday at the Lacson Underpass in Quiapo.
Pinky Aquino-Abellada, one of the five children of the late President, is expected to grace the occasion and deliver a message on behalf of the Aquino family.
The event will be followed in the afternoon by the national convention of the Kapayapaan, Katarungan and Kaunlaran (KKK) party during which Lim and Vice Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso are expected to officially announce their respective bids for reelection in 2010.
Apart from Lim and Domagoso, the party will proclaim its other candidates in the Liberal Party-KKK coalition which has Senators Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas for its presidential and vice presidential candidates, respectively.
The convention will start at 3 p.m. at the Bonifacio Shrine. Expected to attend are some 60,000 party members.
Manila police said parking for guests will be along the stretch of Muñoz Palma Street from A. Villegas to P. Burgos Streets; parking for buses that will ferry party members will be at Mehan Garden/Manila Library, while parking for light vehicles will be at the Veterans Compound. Formation will be at 2 p.m. at N.A. Lopez and P. Burgos Streets.
All vehicles coming from Victoria/Intramuros intending to use a portion of A. Lopez (eastbound) shall turn left on P. Burgos (northbound) from A. Villegas to P. Burgos. All vehicles coming from A. Lopez and A. Villegas intending to use a portion of P. Burgos (westbound) shall turn right on Villegas to the point of destination.
From 3 p.m. onward, the two lanes of P. Burgos fronting the Bonifacio Shrine from N.A. Lopez up to Muñoz Palma and the entire stretch of both lanes of N.A. Lopez from Villegas to P. Burgos will be closed to traffic.
MANILA, Philippines—The Manila city government is holding a painting exhibit titled "Democracy in Yellow" as a tribute to former president Corazon Aquino who died a hundred days ago on Sunday.
The exhibit, organized by The Manila Historical and Heritage Commission, Manila Tourism and Cultural Affairs Bureau, Museo ng Maynila and Sigwada Gallery, will be formally opened by Mayor Alfredo Lim at 11 a.m. on Monday at the Lacson Underpass in Quiapo.
Pinky Aquino-Abellada, one of the five children of the late President, is expected to grace the occasion and deliver a message on behalf of the Aquino family.
The event will be followed in the afternoon by the national convention of the Kapayapaan, Katarungan and Kaunlaran (KKK) party during which Lim and Vice Mayor Francisco "Isko Moreno" Domagoso are expected to officially announce their respective bids for reelection in 2010.
Apart from Lim and Domagoso, the party will proclaim its other candidates in the Liberal Party-KKK coalition which has Senators Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas for its presidential and vice presidential candidates, respectively.
The convention will start at 3 p.m. at the Bonifacio Shrine. Expected to attend are some 60,000 party members.
Manila police said parking for guests will be along the stretch of Muñoz Palma Street from A. Villegas to P. Burgos Streets; parking for buses that will ferry party members will be at Mehan Garden/Manila Library, while parking for light vehicles will be at the Veterans Compound. Formation will be at 2 p.m. at N.A. Lopez and P. Burgos Streets.
All vehicles coming from Victoria/Intramuros intending to use a portion of A. Lopez (eastbound) shall turn left on P. Burgos (northbound) from A. Villegas to P. Burgos. All vehicles coming from A. Lopez and A. Villegas intending to use a portion of P. Burgos (westbound) shall turn right on Villegas to the point of destination.
From 3 p.m. onward, the two lanes of P. Burgos fronting the Bonifacio Shrine from N.A. Lopez up to Muñoz Palma and the entire stretch of both lanes of N.A. Lopez from Villegas to P. Burgos will be closed to traffic.
more from here http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20091107-234837/Manila-to-hold-painting-exhibit-honoring-Cory-Aquino
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Kris Aquino greets Startalk on its 14th anniversary
An interesting interview with Former Cory's youngest child... Kris Aquino.
Startalk host Ricky Lo went one-on-one with former Startalk host Kris Aquino for an interview segment that was aired during the show's 14th anniversary yesterday, October 24. As the two sat down inside the home of the late President Corazon "Cory" Aquino, the topic first revolved on the original plans Kris and her siblings once had to demolish the house and build a new one.
"Hindi na," revealed a smiling Kris. She said that the house was 48 years old and its historical value has made the Aquino siblings decide that the house should be left to look as their mother originally wanted it to be: simple and homely. There were times, however, when the house seemed to have a life of its own after Cory passed on. Lights would switch on and off by themselves. For Kris, though, it was all an expression of love.
Moving on, Kris proceeded to show Ricky some of the family's prized possessions, including Cory's portrait, paintings, an engagement ring (blue-white diamond) given by Benigno Aquino. The ring by the way, Kris commented, will be given to Noynoy should he marry.
Kris said, "Because it came from mom it will go to whoever will marry an Aquino and he is the only Aquino [son] naman."
How about Kris' son Joshua who has all his life been very close to uncle Noynoy? How will he react if his uncle decides to marry?
"'Tito Noy, never get married,'" laughed Kris, quoting Joshua. "Security blanket niya talaga si Tito Noy."
HEARTFELT THANKS. Having been a part of Startalk, Kris took this perfect opportunity to express her appreciation, in time for the show's 14th anniversary, especially to Lolit Solis who proved pivotal in shaping her career as a talk show host.
"I would not be in a talk show right now," Kris revealed. "Four days before giving birth to Josh, ikaw pumilit na pumirma sa kontrata. Utang na loob na kung ano mayroon kami, e malaking bahagi ka doon."
Then with a laugh, she joked, "'Nay Lolit, alam ko kung sino pini-PR mo, pero maraming-maraming salamat sa lahat ng suporta at pagmamahal. Alam mo naman love mo ako... My heartfelt thanks [to Joey de Leon, et al.] for the love, the respect, and more important, iyong binigay nila sa mom namin. We never had the chance to thank you, pero maraming salamat sa inyo na the fact na they were so vocal in their love for mom."
more from here: http://www.pep.ph/news/23652/Kris-Aquino-greets-Startalk<-em>-on-its-14th<-sup>-anniversary
Startalk host Ricky Lo went one-on-one with former Startalk host Kris Aquino for an interview segment that was aired during the show's 14th anniversary yesterday, October 24. As the two sat down inside the home of the late President Corazon "Cory" Aquino, the topic first revolved on the original plans Kris and her siblings once had to demolish the house and build a new one.
"Hindi na," revealed a smiling Kris. She said that the house was 48 years old and its historical value has made the Aquino siblings decide that the house should be left to look as their mother originally wanted it to be: simple and homely. There were times, however, when the house seemed to have a life of its own after Cory passed on. Lights would switch on and off by themselves. For Kris, though, it was all an expression of love.
Moving on, Kris proceeded to show Ricky some of the family's prized possessions, including Cory's portrait, paintings, an engagement ring (blue-white diamond) given by Benigno Aquino. The ring by the way, Kris commented, will be given to Noynoy should he marry.
Kris said, "Because it came from mom it will go to whoever will marry an Aquino and he is the only Aquino [son] naman."
How about Kris' son Joshua who has all his life been very close to uncle Noynoy? How will he react if his uncle decides to marry?
"'Tito Noy, never get married,'" laughed Kris, quoting Joshua. "Security blanket niya talaga si Tito Noy."
HEARTFELT THANKS. Having been a part of Startalk, Kris took this perfect opportunity to express her appreciation, in time for the show's 14th anniversary, especially to Lolit Solis who proved pivotal in shaping her career as a talk show host.
"I would not be in a talk show right now," Kris revealed. "Four days before giving birth to Josh, ikaw pumilit na pumirma sa kontrata. Utang na loob na kung ano mayroon kami, e malaking bahagi ka doon."
Then with a laugh, she joked, "'Nay Lolit, alam ko kung sino pini-PR mo, pero maraming-maraming salamat sa lahat ng suporta at pagmamahal. Alam mo naman love mo ako... My heartfelt thanks [to Joey de Leon, et al.] for the love, the respect, and more important, iyong binigay nila sa mom namin. We never had the chance to thank you, pero maraming salamat sa inyo na the fact na they were so vocal in their love for mom."
more from here: http://www.pep.ph/news/23652/Kris-Aquino-greets-Startalk<-em>-on-its-14th<-sup>-anniversary
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Aquinos to lead La Naval Act of Consecration
read on this article about the La Naval Act of Consecration...
AS WE celebrate the month of the Holy Rosary, let us pray it every day, offering a beautiful crown of roses to the Blessed Virgin Mary. With one Hail Mary, we offer a rose. We will also ask her protection from calamities.
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Dominic in 1214, accompanied by three angels, and gave him the rosary. She said that the Hail Mary is the principal weapon to reach hardened souls and win them over to God. St. Dominic promoted the rosary for the rest of his life. Bring the rosary every day; place it in your pocket.
La Naval procession
Today is the grand procession of La Naval de Manila, Our Lady of the Rosary, at Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City.
La Naval is the first Marian image in Asia to be canonically crowned on orders of the Holy See, in 1907.
Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco will celebrate the Grand Mass today at 8. The traditional grand procession will be at 4 p.m.
According to the Dominican fathers of Santo Domingo, the Act of Consecration to Our Lady after the procession will be led by the family of the late former President Corazon C. Aquino.
Ninth Rosary Congress
World Fatima Apostolate Philippines will hold its Ninth Rosary Congress on October 13, 8 a.m.-l2 noon at the St. Ignatius Cathedral in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.
Rosario Melchor, president, told me that the event will commemorate the “Great Miracle of the Sun” which occurred on October 13, 1917 in Fatima, Portugal, where 100,000 people witnessed it.
The group will also celebrate the 100th birth anniversary of Father Patrick Peyton, the Rosary priest, whose cause for beatification is pending in the Vatican.
World Fatima Apostolate has a membership of 25 million people in 113 countries.
Rosaries to soldiers
Organizing the event on October 13 are members of the AFP Officers Ladies Circle. Rosaries will be blessed and given away to the Family Rosary Crusade and to the soldiers in Mindanao. During Mass, the national pilgrim image of Our Lady of Fatima will be crowned. Monsignor Sabino Vengco will celebrate Mass at 11 a.m. Another church marking the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on October 11 is the Basilica Minore de San Lorenzo Ruiz in Binondo.
Marian exhibit at MOA
To raise funds for victims of tropical storm “Ondoy,” Radio Veritas 846 is holding its Fourth Grand Marian exhibit on the second floor of SM Mall of Asia until October 14. In addition to the 200 life-size images of the Blessed Virgin, there are Marian paintings by inmates of the National Bilibid Penitentiary on exhibit/sale.
Entrance is free, but donations for flood victims are welcome.
For details, please text 0915-515-6417. Father Anton Pascual, president of Radio Veritas, encourages Marian devotees to see the exhibit which is also a drop-off point of donations for Caritas Manila’s relief efforts.
Living with the saints
I marvel at the tenacity of Antonio Aguilar Medina, former vice governor of Masbate, in organizing the “Living with the Saints” seminar every year.
Now on its third year, the seminar (October 17) aims to create awareness about the lives of saints.
With the help this time of the Knights of Columbus, Legion of Mary and the Faithful Heroes Shining Times, the seminar will be held at the Veritas Parochial School gymnasium, Gil Puyat St., BF Homes Phase II. Registration is at 8 a.m.
Speakers
Monsignor Mario Martinez, parish priest of Resurrection of Our Lord Parish, will welcome the participants. The speakers are: Fr. Rolly Agustin (St. John Mary Vianney and the Year of the Priest); Fr. Ed Pacete (St. Ignatius de Loyola and St. Francis Javier); Sir Knight Ted Dominguez (Venerable Michael McGivney and The Knights of Columbus); Fr. Vic Robles (Sts. Monica and Augustine and the Blessed Mother); and Fr. Lorenz Festin (Mary and Eucharist).
Emcees are lawyer Al Lopez, past grand knight of 7147 Pagkabuhay Council, and this columnist.
Millet Espiritu, VPS principal will give closing remarks. Mass at 4:15 p.m. by Father Festin.
College of the Holy Spirit
In 2013, the College of the Holy Spirit on Mendiola St. will mark its centennial, according to Guillermina “Ging” Ong (Class ’68) who works in the office of the Bangko Sentral governor.
Holy Ghost College started in a small rented house at 663 Legarda St., Manila, with five nuns belonging to the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS), and 20 girls and four boys as students. The nuns came in response to the invitation of Manila Archbishop Jeremias Harty.
By the time it had elementary and high school departments, the student body had grown to 4,000 girls. Dedicated to the Holy Spirit, the school’s motto is “Truth and love.”
On April 5, 1965, the school name was changed to College of the Holy Spirit of Manila (CHSM). Today, the school president is Sister Genoveva Salva, SSpS. It’s no longer an all-girls school.
Open house on November 7, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. CHSM is inviting interested fourth year high school students and Grade VI pupils. Call 735-5981.
October 18 is the feast day of Our Lady of Ubanon, patroness of Catbalogan, Western Samar. Bishop Emeritus Max Cruz brought me to Barangay Ubanon years ago and told me about the miracles wrought by God through her intercession. Happy feast day, Mama Mary!
see more from here http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20091010-229384/Aquinos-to-lead-La-Naval-Act-of-Consecration
AS WE celebrate the month of the Holy Rosary, let us pray it every day, offering a beautiful crown of roses to the Blessed Virgin Mary. With one Hail Mary, we offer a rose. We will also ask her protection from calamities.
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St. Dominic in 1214, accompanied by three angels, and gave him the rosary. She said that the Hail Mary is the principal weapon to reach hardened souls and win them over to God. St. Dominic promoted the rosary for the rest of his life. Bring the rosary every day; place it in your pocket.
La Naval procession
Today is the grand procession of La Naval de Manila, Our Lady of the Rosary, at Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City.
La Naval is the first Marian image in Asia to be canonically crowned on orders of the Holy See, in 1907.
Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco will celebrate the Grand Mass today at 8. The traditional grand procession will be at 4 p.m.
According to the Dominican fathers of Santo Domingo, the Act of Consecration to Our Lady after the procession will be led by the family of the late former President Corazon C. Aquino.
Ninth Rosary Congress
World Fatima Apostolate Philippines will hold its Ninth Rosary Congress on October 13, 8 a.m.-l2 noon at the St. Ignatius Cathedral in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.
Rosario Melchor, president, told me that the event will commemorate the “Great Miracle of the Sun” which occurred on October 13, 1917 in Fatima, Portugal, where 100,000 people witnessed it.
The group will also celebrate the 100th birth anniversary of Father Patrick Peyton, the Rosary priest, whose cause for beatification is pending in the Vatican.
World Fatima Apostolate has a membership of 25 million people in 113 countries.
Rosaries to soldiers
Organizing the event on October 13 are members of the AFP Officers Ladies Circle. Rosaries will be blessed and given away to the Family Rosary Crusade and to the soldiers in Mindanao. During Mass, the national pilgrim image of Our Lady of Fatima will be crowned. Monsignor Sabino Vengco will celebrate Mass at 11 a.m. Another church marking the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on October 11 is the Basilica Minore de San Lorenzo Ruiz in Binondo.
Marian exhibit at MOA
To raise funds for victims of tropical storm “Ondoy,” Radio Veritas 846 is holding its Fourth Grand Marian exhibit on the second floor of SM Mall of Asia until October 14. In addition to the 200 life-size images of the Blessed Virgin, there are Marian paintings by inmates of the National Bilibid Penitentiary on exhibit/sale.
Entrance is free, but donations for flood victims are welcome.
For details, please text 0915-515-6417. Father Anton Pascual, president of Radio Veritas, encourages Marian devotees to see the exhibit which is also a drop-off point of donations for Caritas Manila’s relief efforts.
Living with the saints
I marvel at the tenacity of Antonio Aguilar Medina, former vice governor of Masbate, in organizing the “Living with the Saints” seminar every year.
Now on its third year, the seminar (October 17) aims to create awareness about the lives of saints.
With the help this time of the Knights of Columbus, Legion of Mary and the Faithful Heroes Shining Times, the seminar will be held at the Veritas Parochial School gymnasium, Gil Puyat St., BF Homes Phase II. Registration is at 8 a.m.
Speakers
Monsignor Mario Martinez, parish priest of Resurrection of Our Lord Parish, will welcome the participants. The speakers are: Fr. Rolly Agustin (St. John Mary Vianney and the Year of the Priest); Fr. Ed Pacete (St. Ignatius de Loyola and St. Francis Javier); Sir Knight Ted Dominguez (Venerable Michael McGivney and The Knights of Columbus); Fr. Vic Robles (Sts. Monica and Augustine and the Blessed Mother); and Fr. Lorenz Festin (Mary and Eucharist).
Emcees are lawyer Al Lopez, past grand knight of 7147 Pagkabuhay Council, and this columnist.
Millet Espiritu, VPS principal will give closing remarks. Mass at 4:15 p.m. by Father Festin.
College of the Holy Spirit
In 2013, the College of the Holy Spirit on Mendiola St. will mark its centennial, according to Guillermina “Ging” Ong (Class ’68) who works in the office of the Bangko Sentral governor.
Holy Ghost College started in a small rented house at 663 Legarda St., Manila, with five nuns belonging to the Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS), and 20 girls and four boys as students. The nuns came in response to the invitation of Manila Archbishop Jeremias Harty.
By the time it had elementary and high school departments, the student body had grown to 4,000 girls. Dedicated to the Holy Spirit, the school’s motto is “Truth and love.”
On April 5, 1965, the school name was changed to College of the Holy Spirit of Manila (CHSM). Today, the school president is Sister Genoveva Salva, SSpS. It’s no longer an all-girls school.
Open house on November 7, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. CHSM is inviting interested fourth year high school students and Grade VI pupils. Call 735-5981.
October 18 is the feast day of Our Lady of Ubanon, patroness of Catbalogan, Western Samar. Bishop Emeritus Max Cruz brought me to Barangay Ubanon years ago and told me about the miracles wrought by God through her intercession. Happy feast day, Mama Mary!
see more from here http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/lifestyle/lifestyle/view/20091010-229384/Aquinos-to-lead-La-Naval-Act-of-Consecration
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Aquinos celebrate Cory-Ninoy 55th wedding anniversary
an interesting read on how the Aquinos celebrate their parent's wedding anniversary...
Family members, government officials, and supporters gathered anew to offer Mass for the celebration of the 55th wedding anniversary of late opposition leader Sen. Benigno S. Aquino and icon of democracy President Corazon C. Aquino, at the Manila Memorial Park, in Parañaque City.
The occasion was another reunion for the Aquino family: Ballsy Aquino-Cruz, Pinky Aquino-Abellada, Viel Aquino-Dee, Noynoy, and Kris Aquino-Yap, and their children at the family mausoleum.
In his homily, Don Bosco parish priest Fr. Manny Domingo said it was his first time to officiate a wedding anniversary for a couple who is “united in heaven.”
Domingo encouraged those at the Mass to emulate the love of the couple who remained faithful, true, and committed to each others to the end.
Among family friends and supporters who showed up at the late couple’s wedding anniversary Mass were Senator Mar Roxas, former Senator Franklin Drilon, Akbayan Party-list Representative Riza Hontiveros-Baraquel, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon 'Dinky' Soliman, former Education Secretary Butch Abad, Representative Teddy Boy Locsin, and Frank Chavez.
Many came dressed in yellow to match the yellow ribbons strung on tree, shrubs, and posts inside the memorial park.
A charcoal painting of the Ninoy and Cory were placed on the couple’s tomb which was decorated with yellow and white flowers.
Noynoy remained steadfast in continuing the “fight that his parents started” as he seeks presidency in the 2010 elections.
Two months ago Cory, 76, was laid beside the tomb of her husband, who was assassinated on August 21, 1983.
Cory, the widow of assassinated opposition leader Aquino, was propelled into the spotlight in 1986 when she headed a massive "people power" movement that ousted the late President Ferdinand Marcos.
Ninoy, was a former senator, governor, vice governor, mayor who was known as the leader of the opposition during Martial Law. He was assassinated at the Manila International Airport upon returning home from exile in the United States
more information here: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/224274/aquinos-celebrate-coryninoy-55th-wedding-anniversary
Family members, government officials, and supporters gathered anew to offer Mass for the celebration of the 55th wedding anniversary of late opposition leader Sen. Benigno S. Aquino and icon of democracy President Corazon C. Aquino, at the Manila Memorial Park, in Parañaque City.
The occasion was another reunion for the Aquino family: Ballsy Aquino-Cruz, Pinky Aquino-Abellada, Viel Aquino-Dee, Noynoy, and Kris Aquino-Yap, and their children at the family mausoleum.
In his homily, Don Bosco parish priest Fr. Manny Domingo said it was his first time to officiate a wedding anniversary for a couple who is “united in heaven.”
Domingo encouraged those at the Mass to emulate the love of the couple who remained faithful, true, and committed to each others to the end.
Among family friends and supporters who showed up at the late couple’s wedding anniversary Mass were Senator Mar Roxas, former Senator Franklin Drilon, Akbayan Party-list Representative Riza Hontiveros-Baraquel, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon 'Dinky' Soliman, former Education Secretary Butch Abad, Representative Teddy Boy Locsin, and Frank Chavez.
Many came dressed in yellow to match the yellow ribbons strung on tree, shrubs, and posts inside the memorial park.
A charcoal painting of the Ninoy and Cory were placed on the couple’s tomb which was decorated with yellow and white flowers.
Noynoy remained steadfast in continuing the “fight that his parents started” as he seeks presidency in the 2010 elections.
Two months ago Cory, 76, was laid beside the tomb of her husband, who was assassinated on August 21, 1983.
Cory, the widow of assassinated opposition leader Aquino, was propelled into the spotlight in 1986 when she headed a massive "people power" movement that ousted the late President Ferdinand Marcos.
Ninoy, was a former senator, governor, vice governor, mayor who was known as the leader of the opposition during Martial Law. He was assassinated at the Manila International Airport upon returning home from exile in the United States
more information here: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/224274/aquinos-celebrate-coryninoy-55th-wedding-anniversary
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Noynoy’s date with destiny
a news about Noynoy's presidential bid decision
Gary Olivar, the former FQS firebrand who now functions as one of President Gloria Arroyo’s spokesmen, says Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd has to “establish his identity and record” before he contemplates running for the presidency.
Gabby Claudio, Mrs. Arroyo’s political affairs adviser, says Noynoy’s presidential bid would “only complicate matters for the opposition.”
That kind of disparagement from Malacañang can only mean one thing—the ruling coalition is scared to death by the prospect of yet another Aquino aspiring for the highest political office in the land.
Palace mouthpieces have never before sunk so low when the administration was confronted by political challenges to its bid to remain in power beyond 2010.
They have held their scornful tongues in the face of the possible return to power of former President Joseph Estrada—revealing perhaps their confidence that the Arroyo-packed Supreme Court would never allow it.
They have not even derided the rise of Manny Villar in the opinion polls although not a few quarters—outside the Palace, of course—have serious doubts about the “oppositionist” credentials of the former Senate president.
But soon after agitation for Noynoy’s presidential candidacy started spreading like wildfire, the ruling coalition’s talking heads began hauling out buckets of scorn to heap on the senator from Tarlac.
Far from complicating matters for the opposition, Noynoy’s candidacy now looms as the sharpest instrument for consolidating the various formations trying to demolish the seemingly monolithic Lakas-Kampi CMD.
The decision Tuesday of Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd to withdraw from the presidential race has been hailed as a magnificent and selfless act—as well it should. He has, after all, already invested so much in his candidacy.
But magnificent and selfless as his decision was, Roxas also realized that he had to bow to pressure from, not just within his own faction of the Liberal Party, but also the many other sectors beyond. Faced with this inescapable reality, he realized—manfully—that he had to step aside.
It was a decision that was obviously painful to Roxas and those around him but not a few observers agree that his display of pragmatism could serve him well, if not in the immediate future, then certainly in the long run.
The call for Noynoy to run is a genuine groundswell, which even the most jaded politicos can ignore only at great risk to their careers.
It is a spontaneous, popular response to the cynicism and fakery that now mark Philippine politics. It is a sign that despite decades of treachery by and disenchantment with their political leaders, many Filipinos continue to aspire for clean, honest and uncompro-mised leadership.
Given the Filipinos’ experience with democracy, other nations would probably have resorted to more draconian measures. Where representative government fails to live up to its promises, the siren song of authoritarianism or totalitarianism sounds tempting indeed.
Even now a number of us continue to be tempted by the promises of would-be liberators and self-styled Messiahs. Thankfully, such temptations are quick to pass—but for how much longer?
The spontaneous agitation for Noynoy’s presidential bid is certainly rooted in the deep emotional attachment that the nation has for his parents. However, it would be a mistake to measure the viability of his candidacy only in terms of the outpouring of public affection during last month’s wake and burial of President Cory Aquino as well as the similarly massive demonstration of sympathy during the funeral of the assassinated Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. in 1983.
The call for his candidacy has outgrown Noynoy himself—and even his much loved parents. No matter what recent surveys say, it shows the general disillusionment and distrust with the other politicians who have already launched their presidential bids.
None of the aspirants has managed to capture the imagination of voters—not even those bets whose survey ratings have been climbing and whose support comes from, even at best, less than a quarter of the voting population.
As this was being written Wednesday noon, the media were awaiting Noynoy’s response to Roxas’s withdrawal. At this point, his candidacy is not yet a certainty.
Would that Noynoy not miss his date with destiny.
Constantino exhibit
Visual artist Marika B. Constantino is set to launch POSTURA, her second solo exhibition, at the Boston Gallery in Cubao, Quezon City, on September 12.
A pre-exhibition review reads: “In POSTURA, the artist discloses her sentiments and predilections through an interrelated assortment of stylized figurations depicting awareness, desire and empowerment. Parts of a whole, close-ups, and relational pieces are unlocked for us to interpret visually, emotionally and mentally. Her art works show an unwavering balance of courage and vulnerability, surrender and dignity. With subtle metallic tonal values reminiscent of a sunrise paving the way for the break of dawn or vibrant jewel hues that blaze before twilight, Constantino uses her evolving biomorphic mosaic to express her own life’s journey in the here and now.
“Through built-up paint in flowing undulations, the palpable sensuality of her paintings is experienced. The raised patterns and relief, which the artist forms in her compositions, entice the viewer to follow the nooks, crannies, vines and blooms of visual metaphors. Constantino’s evocative titles further enhance the exhibit’s poetic visual narrative.”
see more from here http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2009/sept/04/yehey/opinion/20090904opi2.html
Gary Olivar, the former FQS firebrand who now functions as one of President Gloria Arroyo’s spokesmen, says Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd has to “establish his identity and record” before he contemplates running for the presidency.
Gabby Claudio, Mrs. Arroyo’s political affairs adviser, says Noynoy’s presidential bid would “only complicate matters for the opposition.”
That kind of disparagement from Malacañang can only mean one thing—the ruling coalition is scared to death by the prospect of yet another Aquino aspiring for the highest political office in the land.
Palace mouthpieces have never before sunk so low when the administration was confronted by political challenges to its bid to remain in power beyond 2010.
They have held their scornful tongues in the face of the possible return to power of former President Joseph Estrada—revealing perhaps their confidence that the Arroyo-packed Supreme Court would never allow it.
They have not even derided the rise of Manny Villar in the opinion polls although not a few quarters—outside the Palace, of course—have serious doubts about the “oppositionist” credentials of the former Senate president.
But soon after agitation for Noynoy’s presidential candidacy started spreading like wildfire, the ruling coalition’s talking heads began hauling out buckets of scorn to heap on the senator from Tarlac.
Far from complicating matters for the opposition, Noynoy’s candidacy now looms as the sharpest instrument for consolidating the various formations trying to demolish the seemingly monolithic Lakas-Kampi CMD.
The decision Tuesday of Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd to withdraw from the presidential race has been hailed as a magnificent and selfless act—as well it should. He has, after all, already invested so much in his candidacy.
But magnificent and selfless as his decision was, Roxas also realized that he had to bow to pressure from, not just within his own faction of the Liberal Party, but also the many other sectors beyond. Faced with this inescapable reality, he realized—manfully—that he had to step aside.
It was a decision that was obviously painful to Roxas and those around him but not a few observers agree that his display of pragmatism could serve him well, if not in the immediate future, then certainly in the long run.
The call for Noynoy to run is a genuine groundswell, which even the most jaded politicos can ignore only at great risk to their careers.
It is a spontaneous, popular response to the cynicism and fakery that now mark Philippine politics. It is a sign that despite decades of treachery by and disenchantment with their political leaders, many Filipinos continue to aspire for clean, honest and uncompro-mised leadership.
Given the Filipinos’ experience with democracy, other nations would probably have resorted to more draconian measures. Where representative government fails to live up to its promises, the siren song of authoritarianism or totalitarianism sounds tempting indeed.
Even now a number of us continue to be tempted by the promises of would-be liberators and self-styled Messiahs. Thankfully, such temptations are quick to pass—but for how much longer?
The spontaneous agitation for Noynoy’s presidential bid is certainly rooted in the deep emotional attachment that the nation has for his parents. However, it would be a mistake to measure the viability of his candidacy only in terms of the outpouring of public affection during last month’s wake and burial of President Cory Aquino as well as the similarly massive demonstration of sympathy during the funeral of the assassinated Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. in 1983.
The call for his candidacy has outgrown Noynoy himself—and even his much loved parents. No matter what recent surveys say, it shows the general disillusionment and distrust with the other politicians who have already launched their presidential bids.
None of the aspirants has managed to capture the imagination of voters—not even those bets whose survey ratings have been climbing and whose support comes from, even at best, less than a quarter of the voting population.
As this was being written Wednesday noon, the media were awaiting Noynoy’s response to Roxas’s withdrawal. At this point, his candidacy is not yet a certainty.
Would that Noynoy not miss his date with destiny.
Constantino exhibit
Visual artist Marika B. Constantino is set to launch POSTURA, her second solo exhibition, at the Boston Gallery in Cubao, Quezon City, on September 12.
A pre-exhibition review reads: “In POSTURA, the artist discloses her sentiments and predilections through an interrelated assortment of stylized figurations depicting awareness, desire and empowerment. Parts of a whole, close-ups, and relational pieces are unlocked for us to interpret visually, emotionally and mentally. Her art works show an unwavering balance of courage and vulnerability, surrender and dignity. With subtle metallic tonal values reminiscent of a sunrise paving the way for the break of dawn or vibrant jewel hues that blaze before twilight, Constantino uses her evolving biomorphic mosaic to express her own life’s journey in the here and now.
“Through built-up paint in flowing undulations, the palpable sensuality of her paintings is experienced. The raised patterns and relief, which the artist forms in her compositions, entice the viewer to follow the nooks, crannies, vines and blooms of visual metaphors. Constantino’s evocative titles further enhance the exhibit’s poetic visual narrative.”
see more from here http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2009/sept/04/yehey/opinion/20090904opi2.html
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Designer bags launched in honor of Cory Aquino
see this news from ABS-CBN on Rajo's bags for Cory
MANILA - Famed Filipino fashion designer Rajo Laurel recently launched a set of environmentally-friendly bags inspired by the late president Corazon "Cory" Aquino.
The limited-edition "Cory Aquino enviro-chic bags" were unveiled at the Eastwood City on Friday.
The woven bags sport straps in yellow, gray, and black scrap fabrics. The color yellow is widely associated with Aquino.
The bags were launched in partnership with Rags2Riches Inc., a company that links up with women from poor communities and helps them craft clothes and accessories using discarded fabrics from factories.
The Cory Aquino-inspired bags were made by poor women from Payatas in Quezon City, known as one of Manila's largest dump sites.
"It's the same concept of helping others. We were inspired by Tita Cory primarily because she really is a symbol of motherhood. The women who made these are mothers themselves from Payatas and Smokey Mountain," Laurel said in an interview on "SNN: Showbiz News Ngayon."
Designer bags launched in honor of Cory Aquino
"The bags are woven, symbolically for how she (Aquino) put the nation together," he added.
Laurel has been working with Rags2Riches in promoting more eco-friendly shopping and styling practices in the fashion industry.
"Everything else on the (Cory Aquino) bag is actually environmentally friendly and all recyclable materials," he said.
The bags also honor not only Aquino's legacy as a democracy icon, but also her artistic talent.
When she was alive, Aquino was an avid painter and her favorite painting subjects included women and flowers.
The simple woven bags proved to be as popular as its namesake, since Cory Aquino bags were reportedly sold out on the first day of its release last September 1.
Proceeds from bag sales benefit the Benigno S. Aquino Jr. Foundation, a non-government organization established in 1985 that focuses on democracy and human rights education.
The eco-chic bags follow a slew of merchandise created in honor of Aquino, including handkerchiefs, t-shirts, fans, puzzles, prayer books, and calendars that feature Aquino's own paintings as designs.
see more news here: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/09/05/09/designer-bags-launched-honor-cory-aquino
MANILA - Famed Filipino fashion designer Rajo Laurel recently launched a set of environmentally-friendly bags inspired by the late president Corazon "Cory" Aquino.
The limited-edition "Cory Aquino enviro-chic bags" were unveiled at the Eastwood City on Friday.
The woven bags sport straps in yellow, gray, and black scrap fabrics. The color yellow is widely associated with Aquino.
The bags were launched in partnership with Rags2Riches Inc., a company that links up with women from poor communities and helps them craft clothes and accessories using discarded fabrics from factories.
The Cory Aquino-inspired bags were made by poor women from Payatas in Quezon City, known as one of Manila's largest dump sites.
"It's the same concept of helping others. We were inspired by Tita Cory primarily because she really is a symbol of motherhood. The women who made these are mothers themselves from Payatas and Smokey Mountain," Laurel said in an interview on "SNN: Showbiz News Ngayon."
Designer bags launched in honor of Cory Aquino
"The bags are woven, symbolically for how she (Aquino) put the nation together," he added.
Laurel has been working with Rags2Riches in promoting more eco-friendly shopping and styling practices in the fashion industry.
"Everything else on the (Cory Aquino) bag is actually environmentally friendly and all recyclable materials," he said.
The bags also honor not only Aquino's legacy as a democracy icon, but also her artistic talent.
When she was alive, Aquino was an avid painter and her favorite painting subjects included women and flowers.
The simple woven bags proved to be as popular as its namesake, since Cory Aquino bags were reportedly sold out on the first day of its release last September 1.
Proceeds from bag sales benefit the Benigno S. Aquino Jr. Foundation, a non-government organization established in 1985 that focuses on democracy and human rights education.
The eco-chic bags follow a slew of merchandise created in honor of Aquino, including handkerchiefs, t-shirts, fans, puzzles, prayer books, and calendars that feature Aquino's own paintings as designs.
see more news here: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/lifestyle/09/05/09/designer-bags-launched-honor-cory-aquino
Friday, October 9, 2009
Five fruits of the National Arts tree
an interesting article about the National Artist nomination:
The tug of war continues between those who want Gloria Arroyo to retract her insertion of Carlo Caparas and Cecile Alvarez into the National Artist status roster, and those who want to defend a President's prerogative through legalism or aesthetic liberalism. “I’m happy it’s in court," Alvarez told the press. "There will be no more shouting in the streets. We can have a civilized discussion."
Really. Come the day of the awarding ceremony, a few will reel, others shake their heads, some feel self-congratulatory. I merely ask the question: Where does this really end?
1. Battles
I do not mean just this one with Caparas and Alvarez but the whole battle for aesthetic hegemony and political accommodation - long here, only not as loudly annoying. There was less raucous protest over Ernani Cuenco's award, Fernando Poe's, Virgilio Almario's, Bencab’s and more. Who’s to say they do or don't deserve it? Like the first EDSA revolution that birthed a thousand mini-rallies all over the country each time a mayor was asked to vacate his seat, I imagine the Caparas-Guidote affair birthing an annual parade from CCP to NCCA in the coming years of these awards.
And why is that? Because everybody agrees it's not the system that's rotten – only Arroyo, Caparas and Alvarez. In fact most everyone agrees, constantly nodding to each other church-like, that the National Artist Award is holy.
This column last Saturday read, "Only 15 days had passed since this fighting spirit went to court for arbitration of this controversy weighted to the side of the Muses. I'm wondering if the Filipino Muse is aware that the defendants are her son Caparas, daughter Alvarez and political stand-in Arroyo. When she allowed herself to marry and remarry over and over, always at the disposal of her husband government, she birthed a monster to forever contend with.
It's not going to stop at Caparas and Alvarez; it did not at Cuenco, Poe or Almario. There will always be this battle because the Muse has had her children scrambling for their father government’s blessing. I'm not just talking about Malacañang but of institutions celebrating nationalized art, turning this award into an artistic Filipino child's ideal. I don’t blame the children. I blame the Muse in us all.
From the Philippines to Europe and the U.S., the same combats over judgments, marginalization and misappreciation, unworthy authority, deserving and undeserving all rankle, an itch no one has cured.
2. Dependence
It's all over the country. In every province is the classic complaint: “Our government here is not supportive of the arts.” We heard the same from Teddy Boy Locsin as Cory Aquino's press secretary, "Culture is not a priority." We wept the same pail of tears when the FVR government echoed him.
I say “we,” and why not? Nearly all of us in the arts are guilty of benefiting from this system at one time or another. “We” because artistic hunger has led us to approach anyone, anything dangling art sponsorship. Whether you've failed or won a grant, we’re all affected. Both grant winners and funding application losers expressed disgust on Facebook and marched to the NCCA in protest. But isn't it time we examined whether this cycle of dependence, this mode of measuring art and achievement, this route of guaranteeing production is really what we want?
I will surely be despised by many of my peers for sticking to my belief: The state has no business interfering in the arts, which are exchanges among artists and audiences. When government favors certain voices with grants of public money, that's tantamount to asking another voice to contribute taxes to the fund for government-favored voices that may actually be his competitors.
I say, why not leave the arts to the private sector and individuals; relieve the state of the headache of choosing artists to favor? Why not leave government to museums, education and social services? If it is to put a stake in the arts should that not be only for educational purposes? Art is often for education in universities; they, not commission bureaucrats, should handle the arts.
When government interferes in education, it’s cognizant of its obligation to equality. When it interferes in the people's arts, it does so ignorant of their diversity. I don’t know of friends happy to pay a cultural tax with every movie ticket, aware that it could fund the art or literature of peers whose art makes him/her puke. I may not mind contributing materials to artists already funded by government but government dictation does not make me happy. Why does it have to be regulated? I’ll visit my artist friends anytime to give them loans, but not on government say-so.
It's ironic. While Poland and the rest of Eastern Europe fought to liberate its artists from state control, here we are – a democracy where even communist-hating elements, the schooled, the financial elite ask government to put its hand deeper into the arts pot. This awards controversy is a monster everyone in the arts helped create. It will not be the last until we face the fact that it’s presently an arena for government patronage.
Why are we so into the nationalization of the arts that Lino Brocka so hated? And why are the arts alone getting this favor? Why not, say, baking? Imagine bakers rallying around a town plaza with placards saying, "Support Baking Culture!" Each one approaches the media on lack of government support for bakers and baking – not with flour price regulation but for flour-making grants or the National Baker of the Year award.
Would Dunkin Donuts enjoy watching Mister Donut bakers go home with the grant, knowing they contributed a hefty sum to the bakers’ subsidy fund? Why can't bakeshops and bakers just compete without a public option? What’s true for baking or the party events business should be true for painting, filmmaking or the writing of cute little poems!
3. Stultification
I had another discussion about this with Lila Shahani, an Oxford University doctoral candidate on postcolonial writing in English, a Facebook friend and main character in last week’s blog. She agrees that I should ask each and every artist in this artistic nation “the larger question – Should government be funding the arts and, if so, in what manner? You apparently think government shouldn't interfere, period.
"I feel it should be involved in funding indigenous/ larger ethnic and regional communities so they can produce the art more easily (venues, workshops, materials, etc). But should there be academic/cultural canon-makers? I'd have to think about that some more. It might appear at first blush that this encourages creativity, but too much of it can actually stultify the very creativity it hopes to engender."
Too much of it, not enough of it – stultify it will. The nationalization of art produces acceptable art, safe, pretty, nationalistic protest art that doth not protest against the government that feeds it. What it does not produce is art that questions the standards and clichés of authority; explores virgin forests of beauty regarded as ugly by those who approve the funding; defies the codes of the pretty, of convention and conventional rebellion; that questions long-established definitions of nationhood and good citizenry. The reason is simple: Guided art is un-free art.
Am I saying that much of the art sponsored by government has been mediocre? No. Some of them could be revolutionary. But that would be because their revolutions got approval. What about those not approved – what happens to their revolution? How many have been sponsored that turned out mediocre; how many turned out great? How many got hefty grants for forgettable performances?
Only critics in their fields of specialty can answer those questions and tell us whether government funding hath really wrought champions. How much revolutionary, or simply innovative art was disapproved? Why? And even assuming that critics agree that the CCP under Emily Abrera has been a grand phase in its history, what’s to stop it from degenerating into a less grand epoch under new management?
4. Death of the Individual
Creativity is anywhere and everywhere. Apart from artists supporting themselves though not all are well to do, how often do we see support for artists from private individuals and foundations? Lacking that, how many times have we heard the phrase "aesthetics of poverty" as creativity runs amok in lack of funds for expensive oil paint? Why should government dip its hands in the democratic exchange, like a TV station to rival private networks yet operate with those very networks' large taxes?
The nurture of achievements? Artistic achievement can neither be a property nor claim of the state. The experience of communist countries has shown us many times over: It’s futile to aim for high artistic standards by state guidance. The US National Endowment for the Arts with its more advanced guidelines for approval in communal representation or democratic accommodation is still constantly pestered by questions of too much interference by Boards
Artistic achievement is finally by the individual, and many an individual artistic genius proved to have achieved stature because of minimal interference. To say it’s worthwhile for government to spend P20 million for 12 artists in the hope that the investment will catch one genius is baloney. Artists become lesser geniuses with patrons’ interference; they even turn visceral in a falling out. Ludwig van Beethoven didn’t care much for what his patrons demanded, instead surprising them with unexpected beauty.
5. Brainwashed Art
Who will mother the arts if government opts out? This has been the classic blackmail line of those who believe that they will die if government opts out of arts funding. Even the branding they see around them can inspire such fearful dependence. Booker, Man Booker, Pulitzer, Nobel, Palanca, Ayala among others are private efforts of better patronage than their government counterparts. If you don't agree with their standards of the good and beautiful, fine. It's their money. A government arts commission would tell you to go to hell if you can’t agree with their standards yet make you pay taxes to operate.
Who will mother the arts if government opts out? Ask artists in the provinces with no access to public funding and never did. Ask urban artists who scoff at the approval demands and inane requirements of masters of the acceptable in committees lording it over artists’ themes and theses.
"France is pretty heavily centralized this way and there hasn't been as much new blood as, say, England or the US," says Shahani. That’s a critical opinion. But she gives an example of long dependence that has not adapted well to the globalized valuation of respect for the market. As in the US National Endowment for the Arts, long an arena of contention, the Philippine cycle of cliques battling for hold on the CCP or NCCA (like the French with their proclivity for subsidies), artists long alienated from popular art of the mid to late 20th-century have come to distrust the market.
They have called the market or the popular audience stupid, uneducated. And so, as if to wound the market with vengeance, these artists want to indirectly tax it for their survival and nurture, ramming their idiosyncrasies on the masses’ uncomprehending throats. "But leaving artistic recognition to the invisible hand of the market," as Ms. Shahani points out, "might not necessarily be a bad thing as long as production itself has been subsidized since it will generate competition and creativity, which is exactly what we want and need. This might in fact be more effective in the long-run than having artists wait for, and conform to, government dole-outs."
This is all understandable. Many a book has been written on art veering too far away from the popular audience. Although there still are the Juzo Itamis and Quentin Tarantinos in cinema who have found ways to address the needs of both professors and salary men, most artists still prefer to talk to fellow artists, or critics embedded in art societies, or well-heeled patrons of art.
Which is just fine, really. I do that, too. My poetry and fiction are mostly not for the masses. Not yet anyway, and perhaps never will be. But we artists shouldn't tax the people so we can forever concoct our esoteric stuff. Who will mother the arts if government opts out? No one! No one should baby artists, certainly not the state. An artist should work and fund himself.
He should see that when he begins to do that, he learns not just to work but also to think and compete. And what if our artists cannot do that? I'd say no number of Caparases and Alvarezes will ever wake us to the real problem: artists scrambling for and dependent on state subsidy and approval. Why should your art as a single artist be subsidized by a hundred of your peers and a thousand of your uncomprehending neighbors? Isn’t that itself embarrassing?
see more details here: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=502802&publicationSubCategoryId=471
The tug of war continues between those who want Gloria Arroyo to retract her insertion of Carlo Caparas and Cecile Alvarez into the National Artist status roster, and those who want to defend a President's prerogative through legalism or aesthetic liberalism. “I’m happy it’s in court," Alvarez told the press. "There will be no more shouting in the streets. We can have a civilized discussion."
Really. Come the day of the awarding ceremony, a few will reel, others shake their heads, some feel self-congratulatory. I merely ask the question: Where does this really end?
1. Battles
I do not mean just this one with Caparas and Alvarez but the whole battle for aesthetic hegemony and political accommodation - long here, only not as loudly annoying. There was less raucous protest over Ernani Cuenco's award, Fernando Poe's, Virgilio Almario's, Bencab’s and more. Who’s to say they do or don't deserve it? Like the first EDSA revolution that birthed a thousand mini-rallies all over the country each time a mayor was asked to vacate his seat, I imagine the Caparas-Guidote affair birthing an annual parade from CCP to NCCA in the coming years of these awards.
And why is that? Because everybody agrees it's not the system that's rotten – only Arroyo, Caparas and Alvarez. In fact most everyone agrees, constantly nodding to each other church-like, that the National Artist Award is holy.
This column last Saturday read, "Only 15 days had passed since this fighting spirit went to court for arbitration of this controversy weighted to the side of the Muses. I'm wondering if the Filipino Muse is aware that the defendants are her son Caparas, daughter Alvarez and political stand-in Arroyo. When she allowed herself to marry and remarry over and over, always at the disposal of her husband government, she birthed a monster to forever contend with.
It's not going to stop at Caparas and Alvarez; it did not at Cuenco, Poe or Almario. There will always be this battle because the Muse has had her children scrambling for their father government’s blessing. I'm not just talking about Malacañang but of institutions celebrating nationalized art, turning this award into an artistic Filipino child's ideal. I don’t blame the children. I blame the Muse in us all.
From the Philippines to Europe and the U.S., the same combats over judgments, marginalization and misappreciation, unworthy authority, deserving and undeserving all rankle, an itch no one has cured.
2. Dependence
It's all over the country. In every province is the classic complaint: “Our government here is not supportive of the arts.” We heard the same from Teddy Boy Locsin as Cory Aquino's press secretary, "Culture is not a priority." We wept the same pail of tears when the FVR government echoed him.
I say “we,” and why not? Nearly all of us in the arts are guilty of benefiting from this system at one time or another. “We” because artistic hunger has led us to approach anyone, anything dangling art sponsorship. Whether you've failed or won a grant, we’re all affected. Both grant winners and funding application losers expressed disgust on Facebook and marched to the NCCA in protest. But isn't it time we examined whether this cycle of dependence, this mode of measuring art and achievement, this route of guaranteeing production is really what we want?
I will surely be despised by many of my peers for sticking to my belief: The state has no business interfering in the arts, which are exchanges among artists and audiences. When government favors certain voices with grants of public money, that's tantamount to asking another voice to contribute taxes to the fund for government-favored voices that may actually be his competitors.
I say, why not leave the arts to the private sector and individuals; relieve the state of the headache of choosing artists to favor? Why not leave government to museums, education and social services? If it is to put a stake in the arts should that not be only for educational purposes? Art is often for education in universities; they, not commission bureaucrats, should handle the arts.
When government interferes in education, it’s cognizant of its obligation to equality. When it interferes in the people's arts, it does so ignorant of their diversity. I don’t know of friends happy to pay a cultural tax with every movie ticket, aware that it could fund the art or literature of peers whose art makes him/her puke. I may not mind contributing materials to artists already funded by government but government dictation does not make me happy. Why does it have to be regulated? I’ll visit my artist friends anytime to give them loans, but not on government say-so.
It's ironic. While Poland and the rest of Eastern Europe fought to liberate its artists from state control, here we are – a democracy where even communist-hating elements, the schooled, the financial elite ask government to put its hand deeper into the arts pot. This awards controversy is a monster everyone in the arts helped create. It will not be the last until we face the fact that it’s presently an arena for government patronage.
Why are we so into the nationalization of the arts that Lino Brocka so hated? And why are the arts alone getting this favor? Why not, say, baking? Imagine bakers rallying around a town plaza with placards saying, "Support Baking Culture!" Each one approaches the media on lack of government support for bakers and baking – not with flour price regulation but for flour-making grants or the National Baker of the Year award.
Would Dunkin Donuts enjoy watching Mister Donut bakers go home with the grant, knowing they contributed a hefty sum to the bakers’ subsidy fund? Why can't bakeshops and bakers just compete without a public option? What’s true for baking or the party events business should be true for painting, filmmaking or the writing of cute little poems!
3. Stultification
I had another discussion about this with Lila Shahani, an Oxford University doctoral candidate on postcolonial writing in English, a Facebook friend and main character in last week’s blog. She agrees that I should ask each and every artist in this artistic nation “the larger question – Should government be funding the arts and, if so, in what manner? You apparently think government shouldn't interfere, period.
"I feel it should be involved in funding indigenous/ larger ethnic and regional communities so they can produce the art more easily (venues, workshops, materials, etc). But should there be academic/cultural canon-makers? I'd have to think about that some more. It might appear at first blush that this encourages creativity, but too much of it can actually stultify the very creativity it hopes to engender."
Too much of it, not enough of it – stultify it will. The nationalization of art produces acceptable art, safe, pretty, nationalistic protest art that doth not protest against the government that feeds it. What it does not produce is art that questions the standards and clichés of authority; explores virgin forests of beauty regarded as ugly by those who approve the funding; defies the codes of the pretty, of convention and conventional rebellion; that questions long-established definitions of nationhood and good citizenry. The reason is simple: Guided art is un-free art.
Am I saying that much of the art sponsored by government has been mediocre? No. Some of them could be revolutionary. But that would be because their revolutions got approval. What about those not approved – what happens to their revolution? How many have been sponsored that turned out mediocre; how many turned out great? How many got hefty grants for forgettable performances?
Only critics in their fields of specialty can answer those questions and tell us whether government funding hath really wrought champions. How much revolutionary, or simply innovative art was disapproved? Why? And even assuming that critics agree that the CCP under Emily Abrera has been a grand phase in its history, what’s to stop it from degenerating into a less grand epoch under new management?
4. Death of the Individual
Creativity is anywhere and everywhere. Apart from artists supporting themselves though not all are well to do, how often do we see support for artists from private individuals and foundations? Lacking that, how many times have we heard the phrase "aesthetics of poverty" as creativity runs amok in lack of funds for expensive oil paint? Why should government dip its hands in the democratic exchange, like a TV station to rival private networks yet operate with those very networks' large taxes?
The nurture of achievements? Artistic achievement can neither be a property nor claim of the state. The experience of communist countries has shown us many times over: It’s futile to aim for high artistic standards by state guidance. The US National Endowment for the Arts with its more advanced guidelines for approval in communal representation or democratic accommodation is still constantly pestered by questions of too much interference by Boards
Artistic achievement is finally by the individual, and many an individual artistic genius proved to have achieved stature because of minimal interference. To say it’s worthwhile for government to spend P20 million for 12 artists in the hope that the investment will catch one genius is baloney. Artists become lesser geniuses with patrons’ interference; they even turn visceral in a falling out. Ludwig van Beethoven didn’t care much for what his patrons demanded, instead surprising them with unexpected beauty.
5. Brainwashed Art
Who will mother the arts if government opts out? This has been the classic blackmail line of those who believe that they will die if government opts out of arts funding. Even the branding they see around them can inspire such fearful dependence. Booker, Man Booker, Pulitzer, Nobel, Palanca, Ayala among others are private efforts of better patronage than their government counterparts. If you don't agree with their standards of the good and beautiful, fine. It's their money. A government arts commission would tell you to go to hell if you can’t agree with their standards yet make you pay taxes to operate.
Who will mother the arts if government opts out? Ask artists in the provinces with no access to public funding and never did. Ask urban artists who scoff at the approval demands and inane requirements of masters of the acceptable in committees lording it over artists’ themes and theses.
"France is pretty heavily centralized this way and there hasn't been as much new blood as, say, England or the US," says Shahani. That’s a critical opinion. But she gives an example of long dependence that has not adapted well to the globalized valuation of respect for the market. As in the US National Endowment for the Arts, long an arena of contention, the Philippine cycle of cliques battling for hold on the CCP or NCCA (like the French with their proclivity for subsidies), artists long alienated from popular art of the mid to late 20th-century have come to distrust the market.
They have called the market or the popular audience stupid, uneducated. And so, as if to wound the market with vengeance, these artists want to indirectly tax it for their survival and nurture, ramming their idiosyncrasies on the masses’ uncomprehending throats. "But leaving artistic recognition to the invisible hand of the market," as Ms. Shahani points out, "might not necessarily be a bad thing as long as production itself has been subsidized since it will generate competition and creativity, which is exactly what we want and need. This might in fact be more effective in the long-run than having artists wait for, and conform to, government dole-outs."
This is all understandable. Many a book has been written on art veering too far away from the popular audience. Although there still are the Juzo Itamis and Quentin Tarantinos in cinema who have found ways to address the needs of both professors and salary men, most artists still prefer to talk to fellow artists, or critics embedded in art societies, or well-heeled patrons of art.
Which is just fine, really. I do that, too. My poetry and fiction are mostly not for the masses. Not yet anyway, and perhaps never will be. But we artists shouldn't tax the people so we can forever concoct our esoteric stuff. Who will mother the arts if government opts out? No one! No one should baby artists, certainly not the state. An artist should work and fund himself.
He should see that when he begins to do that, he learns not just to work but also to think and compete. And what if our artists cannot do that? I'd say no number of Caparases and Alvarezes will ever wake us to the real problem: artists scrambling for and dependent on state subsidy and approval. Why should your art as a single artist be subsidized by a hundred of your peers and a thousand of your uncomprehending neighbors? Isn’t that itself embarrassing?
see more details here: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=502802&publicationSubCategoryId=471
Monday, October 5, 2009
Cory Aquino exhibit opens at St. Scho
You might want to checkout St. Scho's Cory exhibit.
by Tina G. Santos
MANILA, Philippines—St. Scholastica’s College in Manila opened an exhibit of memorabilia of former President Corazon Aquino on Friday, coinciding with the commemoration of the 26th death anniversary of her husband, former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.
The items are on display in a section of the St. Scholastica’s Archives-Museum on P. Ocampo Street (formerly Vito Cruz) corner Leon Guinto Street, a short walk from the campus where the former president attended grade school.
The exhibit is open to the public for free until August 26.
Among the memorabilia are Aquino’s paintings, clothes she wore during her presidency, books, a headband that a supporter wore during the Edsa People Power Revolution, and bags, pillow cases and fans with her paintings on them.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was led by Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and Aquino’s niece, Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, who represented the family.
Lim later announced that the Lambingan Bridge in Sta. Ana will be renamed after Aquino. He also said a 10-story public hospital being constructed also in Sta. Ana will be named in honor of Aquino.
“This is the least we can do to show our gratitude to President Aquino for the selfless dedication she gave to our country,” he said.
Sister Mary John Mananzan, head of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines, said the items on exhibit were gifts given by Aquino to friends.
“They just lent [them] to the museum for the weeklong exhibit,” she said.
Among the paintings on display is one titled “7 Roses and Crosses,” which Aquino gave Fr. Catalino Arevalo, her spiritual adviser.
During the Requiem Mass for Aquino at the Manila Cathedral on Aug. 5, Arevalo said Aquino had explained that the seven crosses represented the seven years and seven months that her husband was imprisoned, and the seven coup attempts that she faced as president.
Arevalo also said Aquino had written him: “Crosses and roses make my life more meaningful. I cannot complain.”
See source here http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090823-221579/Cory-Aquino-exhibit-opens-at-St-Scho
by Tina G. Santos
MANILA, Philippines—St. Scholastica’s College in Manila opened an exhibit of memorabilia of former President Corazon Aquino on Friday, coinciding with the commemoration of the 26th death anniversary of her husband, former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.
The items are on display in a section of the St. Scholastica’s Archives-Museum on P. Ocampo Street (formerly Vito Cruz) corner Leon Guinto Street, a short walk from the campus where the former president attended grade school.
The exhibit is open to the public for free until August 26.
Among the memorabilia are Aquino’s paintings, clothes she wore during her presidency, books, a headband that a supporter wore during the Edsa People Power Revolution, and bags, pillow cases and fans with her paintings on them.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was led by Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim and Aquino’s niece, Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski, who represented the family.
Lim later announced that the Lambingan Bridge in Sta. Ana will be renamed after Aquino. He also said a 10-story public hospital being constructed also in Sta. Ana will be named in honor of Aquino.
“This is the least we can do to show our gratitude to President Aquino for the selfless dedication she gave to our country,” he said.
Sister Mary John Mananzan, head of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines, said the items on exhibit were gifts given by Aquino to friends.
“They just lent [them] to the museum for the weeklong exhibit,” she said.
Among the paintings on display is one titled “7 Roses and Crosses,” which Aquino gave Fr. Catalino Arevalo, her spiritual adviser.
During the Requiem Mass for Aquino at the Manila Cathedral on Aug. 5, Arevalo said Aquino had explained that the seven crosses represented the seven years and seven months that her husband was imprisoned, and the seven coup attempts that she faced as president.
Arevalo also said Aquino had written him: “Crosses and roses make my life more meaningful. I cannot complain.”
See source here http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20090823-221579/Cory-Aquino-exhibit-opens-at-St-Scho
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Nation remembers Ninoy’s heroism
Just came across this article about Sen. Ninoy's death anniversary.
The 26th death anniversary of former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” S. Aquino Jr. was observed Friday with masses, wreath-laying, and prayer rallies.
In a mass at the St. John Bosco Parish in Makati City, the life and times of his wife, former President Corazon “Cory” C. Aquino were likewise remembered for her considerable contributions to the restoration of democracy in the country.
Responding to the praises heaped upon her parents, Pinky Aquino Abellada, the Aquinos’ second daughter, said that paying tribute to their father is tantamount to honoring their equally heroic mother, who died last August 1 after months of battling colon cancer.
“It was a little easier for us when Dad died in 1983 because Mom was there to check on us. But now that we are ‘ulilang lubos,’ we just have to help one another to ease [the pain of grieving],” Pinky said.
She was referring to her sisters Ballsy Aquino Cruz, Viel Aquino Dee, and Kris Aquino Yap, and brother Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. Kris, who was reportedly sick, was absent during the mass, while Noynoy was at De La Salle University.
Pinky said their mother brought out the best in their father during his troubled lifetime.
“When Dad was imprisoned, he was able to survive all the trials because of Mom’s strength. If Mom had not been strong and instead told him, ‘Sumuko ka na lang, Ninoy,’ talaga pong hindi tatagal ang Dad ng seven years and seven months in prison,” Pinky said, recalling Ninoy’s detention in Fort Bonifacio.
Pinky said her parents’ legacy should inspire the public to defend the country’s democracy by voting for worthy public servants.
The Aquino family thanked WBA Interim super-flyweight boxing champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire, who offered his recent boxing victory in honor of their mother.
Donaire presented to the Aquino family his yellow robe with the inscription “I. M. O. (in memory of) former President Cory Aquino” at the back.
Ballsy said Donaire’s title-winning garments, except the championship belt which Donaire kept, will be displayed at the Aquino Museum at the family-owned Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac.
In turn, Viel gave Donaire and his wife Rachel a colorful tote bag featuring one of Cory’s paintings.
Also at the mass were US Ambassador Kristie Kenney, Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, Sen. Mar Roxas and fiancée Korina Sanchez, Pangasinan Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr. and wife Gina, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and son Junjun, former Sen. Franklin Drilon, and Mrs. Aquino’s former Cabinet members.
In Parañaque City, hundreds of people wearing yellow shirts gathered at the Manila Memorial Park to attend a mass on Ninoy’s death anniversary.
After the 8 a.m. mass, LP members lit candles and offered flowers on the tombs of Ninoy and the late President Corazon “Cory” Aquino. Flowers from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, former President Joseph Estrada, and from the Liberal Party were placed beside the tomb of the couple.
Some of those who attended the mass at the Manila Memorial Park in Paranaaue were Sen. Mar Roxas, Sen. Rodofo Biazon, Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon, former Manila Mayor Mel Lopez, former Senate President Franklin Drilon, Akbayan Rep. Risa Baraquel Hontiveros, and former DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman.
Simultaneous masses were also celebrated yesterday in the Makati, Manila, and Tagaytay.
President Arroyo Friday chose to stay in Malacañang and remember the country's hero in her own little way. The President offered a mass in honor of Aquino at the Malacañang chapel Friday morning, according to Press Secretary Cerge Remonde.
On the eve of Aquino’s 26th death anniversary, the President watched a documentary on the life and martyrdom of the late senator at the Bahay Pangarap in Malacañang Park.
The President watched the film with First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, Aquino's sister Lupita Kashiwahara, and some cabinet members Thursday night.
The advanced screening of the documentary titled “A Man of Peace: Ninoy” was organized by Kashiwara, Remonde said.
Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim led wreath-laying rites at the foot of Ninoy’s statue at the corner of Roxas Blvd. and P. Burgos in Manila Friday morning. Lim led some 200 people in laying the wreath decked with while and yellow flowers.
Aquino's second daughter Aurora Corazon "Pinky" Aquino Abellada, his sister Tessie Aquino Oreta, and his brother Agapito "Butz" Aquino attended the ceremony. Also present in the wreath-laying ceremony were Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and former Senator Heherson Alvarez.
Mayor Lim said that a bridge and a hospital in Manila will be named after the late former President for Cory’s contribution in restoring democracy in the country.
He said city officials are considering changing the name of Lambingan Bridge in Sta. Ana district to President Corazon Aquino Bridge.
Lim disclosed that on Jan. 25 next year, a statue of Cory will stand beside that of the late senator. Present at the wreath-laying were Aurora Corazon “Pinky” Aquino Abellada; Maur Lichauco, sister of Ninoy; Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita; National Historical Institute Chairman Ambeth R. Ocampo; NHI Executive Director Ludovico Badoy; former Sen. Heherson Alvarez, secretary of the Ninoy Aquino Movement-SERVE; former Sen. Tessie Aquino Oreta; Christopher Carrion and Margie Juico, president and treasurer, respectively, of Spirit of EDSA.
Also in attendance were Rapa Lopa, executive director of the Benigno S. Aquino Foundation; Gemma Cruz-Araneta, vice president of historical and heritage commission; and department heads, barangay chairmen and school superintendents and students of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila and the City College of Manila (CCM) and city employees.
In Tagaytay City, officials and city residents remembered the sacrifices, courage, and patriotism of the senator and the president during the 45-minute commemoration at the Ninoy Aquino Monument Rotunda in the city’s Silang Crossing.
The commemoration was made with a reenactment of the death of Ninoy, music and citation of his and President Aquino's sacrifices and achievements for the country and the people.
Vice Mayor Celso P. de Castro led the brief and simple ceremonies in the absence of Mayor Abraham N. Tolentino who was reportedly sick. Also present were city councilors, local department heads, barangay officials, teachers and students of the City College of Tagaytay, and hundreds of residents.
"Let's follow the footsteps of Ninoy and Cory. They left a legacy that will always be remembered. Tagaytay loves Ninoy and Cory," said De Castro.
“Ninoy's courage was the courage of a true Filipino, the courage of a real hero," said Councilor Violeta C. Parra. "Ninoy awoke the slumbering spirit of patriotism 26 years ago. Today he wakes up again, but perhaps already joined by the similarly peaceful and democracy-loving spirit of his wife Cory Aquino.”
The highlights of the observance were the reenactment of Ninoy' death by students of the City College of Tagaytay, the message of Parra, wreath-laying ceremony, and the release of yellow balloons before the program ended.
Resource here: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/217033/ninoy-cory-remembered
The 26th death anniversary of former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” S. Aquino Jr. was observed Friday with masses, wreath-laying, and prayer rallies.
In a mass at the St. John Bosco Parish in Makati City, the life and times of his wife, former President Corazon “Cory” C. Aquino were likewise remembered for her considerable contributions to the restoration of democracy in the country.
Responding to the praises heaped upon her parents, Pinky Aquino Abellada, the Aquinos’ second daughter, said that paying tribute to their father is tantamount to honoring their equally heroic mother, who died last August 1 after months of battling colon cancer.
“It was a little easier for us when Dad died in 1983 because Mom was there to check on us. But now that we are ‘ulilang lubos,’ we just have to help one another to ease [the pain of grieving],” Pinky said.
She was referring to her sisters Ballsy Aquino Cruz, Viel Aquino Dee, and Kris Aquino Yap, and brother Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III. Kris, who was reportedly sick, was absent during the mass, while Noynoy was at De La Salle University.
Pinky said their mother brought out the best in their father during his troubled lifetime.
“When Dad was imprisoned, he was able to survive all the trials because of Mom’s strength. If Mom had not been strong and instead told him, ‘Sumuko ka na lang, Ninoy,’ talaga pong hindi tatagal ang Dad ng seven years and seven months in prison,” Pinky said, recalling Ninoy’s detention in Fort Bonifacio.
Pinky said her parents’ legacy should inspire the public to defend the country’s democracy by voting for worthy public servants.
The Aquino family thanked WBA Interim super-flyweight boxing champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire, who offered his recent boxing victory in honor of their mother.
Donaire presented to the Aquino family his yellow robe with the inscription “I. M. O. (in memory of) former President Cory Aquino” at the back.
Ballsy said Donaire’s title-winning garments, except the championship belt which Donaire kept, will be displayed at the Aquino Museum at the family-owned Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac.
In turn, Viel gave Donaire and his wife Rachel a colorful tote bag featuring one of Cory’s paintings.
Also at the mass were US Ambassador Kristie Kenney, Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, Sen. Mar Roxas and fiancée Korina Sanchez, Pangasinan Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr. and wife Gina, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and son Junjun, former Sen. Franklin Drilon, and Mrs. Aquino’s former Cabinet members.
In Parañaque City, hundreds of people wearing yellow shirts gathered at the Manila Memorial Park to attend a mass on Ninoy’s death anniversary.
After the 8 a.m. mass, LP members lit candles and offered flowers on the tombs of Ninoy and the late President Corazon “Cory” Aquino. Flowers from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, former President Joseph Estrada, and from the Liberal Party were placed beside the tomb of the couple.
Some of those who attended the mass at the Manila Memorial Park in Paranaaue were Sen. Mar Roxas, Sen. Rodofo Biazon, Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon, former Manila Mayor Mel Lopez, former Senate President Franklin Drilon, Akbayan Rep. Risa Baraquel Hontiveros, and former DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman.
Simultaneous masses were also celebrated yesterday in the Makati, Manila, and Tagaytay.
President Arroyo Friday chose to stay in Malacañang and remember the country's hero in her own little way. The President offered a mass in honor of Aquino at the Malacañang chapel Friday morning, according to Press Secretary Cerge Remonde.
On the eve of Aquino’s 26th death anniversary, the President watched a documentary on the life and martyrdom of the late senator at the Bahay Pangarap in Malacañang Park.
The President watched the film with First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, Aquino's sister Lupita Kashiwahara, and some cabinet members Thursday night.
The advanced screening of the documentary titled “A Man of Peace: Ninoy” was organized by Kashiwara, Remonde said.
Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim led wreath-laying rites at the foot of Ninoy’s statue at the corner of Roxas Blvd. and P. Burgos in Manila Friday morning. Lim led some 200 people in laying the wreath decked with while and yellow flowers.
Aquino's second daughter Aurora Corazon "Pinky" Aquino Abellada, his sister Tessie Aquino Oreta, and his brother Agapito "Butz" Aquino attended the ceremony. Also present in the wreath-laying ceremony were Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita and former Senator Heherson Alvarez.
Mayor Lim said that a bridge and a hospital in Manila will be named after the late former President for Cory’s contribution in restoring democracy in the country.
He said city officials are considering changing the name of Lambingan Bridge in Sta. Ana district to President Corazon Aquino Bridge.
Lim disclosed that on Jan. 25 next year, a statue of Cory will stand beside that of the late senator. Present at the wreath-laying were Aurora Corazon “Pinky” Aquino Abellada; Maur Lichauco, sister of Ninoy; Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita; National Historical Institute Chairman Ambeth R. Ocampo; NHI Executive Director Ludovico Badoy; former Sen. Heherson Alvarez, secretary of the Ninoy Aquino Movement-SERVE; former Sen. Tessie Aquino Oreta; Christopher Carrion and Margie Juico, president and treasurer, respectively, of Spirit of EDSA.
Also in attendance were Rapa Lopa, executive director of the Benigno S. Aquino Foundation; Gemma Cruz-Araneta, vice president of historical and heritage commission; and department heads, barangay chairmen and school superintendents and students of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila and the City College of Manila (CCM) and city employees.
In Tagaytay City, officials and city residents remembered the sacrifices, courage, and patriotism of the senator and the president during the 45-minute commemoration at the Ninoy Aquino Monument Rotunda in the city’s Silang Crossing.
The commemoration was made with a reenactment of the death of Ninoy, music and citation of his and President Aquino's sacrifices and achievements for the country and the people.
Vice Mayor Celso P. de Castro led the brief and simple ceremonies in the absence of Mayor Abraham N. Tolentino who was reportedly sick. Also present were city councilors, local department heads, barangay officials, teachers and students of the City College of Tagaytay, and hundreds of residents.
"Let's follow the footsteps of Ninoy and Cory. They left a legacy that will always be remembered. Tagaytay loves Ninoy and Cory," said De Castro.
“Ninoy's courage was the courage of a true Filipino, the courage of a real hero," said Councilor Violeta C. Parra. "Ninoy awoke the slumbering spirit of patriotism 26 years ago. Today he wakes up again, but perhaps already joined by the similarly peaceful and democracy-loving spirit of his wife Cory Aquino.”
The highlights of the observance were the reenactment of Ninoy' death by students of the City College of Tagaytay, the message of Parra, wreath-laying ceremony, and the release of yellow balloons before the program ended.
Resource here: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/217033/ninoy-cory-remembered
Monday, September 28, 2009
Kim Dae Jung's Lesson
Comparison on Cory and Kim Dae Jung...
By SETH LIPSKY
The life of free Korea's ex-president, Kim Dae Jung, which came to an end this week, gives new meaning to the phrase "sunshine soldier." In some respects he was like Corazon Aquino of the Philippines, who died last month, a hero of the struggle for democracy in Asia. In other respects, however, Kim had a story that was more complex and dangerous—one that stands as a cautionary tale for Mr. Obama.
I met Kim in 1979, when he was being held under house arrest at Seoul and I was the managing editor of the Asian edition of The Wall Street Journal. I'd been told that if I went to his neighborhood, Dong-gyo Don, in the western section of South Korea's capital, and telephoned him from a pay phone, I would receive instructions. They were to walk down a nearby alley and, whatever happened, to avoid stopping, or talking, when approached by government security agents.
Sure enough, the moment I ducked into the alley I was swarmed by them. When I declined to speak and kept walking briskly, they fell away. One of Kim's aides waved me on from his gate, which, as soon as I scrambled inside, closed behind me with a welcome clink. Then I was ushered into the modest bungalow of the man who once marshaled crowds of half a million Koreans and nearly toppled the presidency of the country's strongman, Park Chung Hee.
Kim had left the country after losing the 1971 election. When President Park declared martial law in 1972, Kim began criticizing him from foreign soil, and in 1973, he was kidnapped from a hotel in Tokyo and brought back to his country. He was arrested in 1976 after he signed a manifesto against the president and drew a sentence of five years. His country was then, as now, in one of the most dangerous military standoffs on the planet.
In a living room lined with hundreds of books in Korean, Japanese and English, along with busts of Lincoln and Kennedy and a painting of Jesus Christ, Kim lit a pipe and began to sketch his goal—which was for what he called a "democratic reunification" with North Korea. He made the point, over and over again, that the democratization of the South would have to precede any reunification, and that any reunification would have to be done democratically.
Government agents, including some who were once friends and admirers, set Kim down as not just naïve but vain. I tended to discount that kind of talk, for dissidents or exiles often can seem flaky. But I did find it hard to believe that there was much hope for his vision. Any visitor to the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea gets a visceral feel of how explosive and dangerous is the peninsula, where millions died during the 1950-53 war.
Kim didn't deny the extraordinary economic gains that Korea was starting to show under Park Chung Hee. He argued that the recent economic growth in non-Communist countries in Asia demonstrated "the advantage of the Free World compared to the communist countries." He also said it was no coincidence that the success was coming in Confucian countries. Yes, under Park there had been what Kim called "brilliant" economic growth. But he predicted that the more economic growth there was, the more social unrest there would be absent a democratic system.
The meeting with Kim was one of the most memorable in a long newspaper career, even though, I don't mind saying, I emerged highly doubtful that he had a future. I couldn't have been more wrong.
Only months later, Park Chung Hee was having dinner with several of his closest cronies when the chief of his intelligence service pulled out a pistol and shot him to death, an assassination that rocked the world. A new strongman, Chun Doo Hwan, eventually emerged and martial law was again declared.
This was followed by riots in the city of Kwangju, an uprising that was brutally suppressed with some 200 people, maybe more, were killed. Kim himself ended up being prosecuted, if that is the word, for his alleged role in the rebellion, even though he was in custody at the time. He was sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted and he was later exiled to the U.S. He returned to Korea in 1985. Then, in 1988, the year in which Korea hosted the Olympics, democratic elections were held—and they have been held ever since.
In 1997, Kim Dae Jung became the first opposition leader to be elected president, one of the most astounding comebacks in political history, entering office as a liberal after decades of conservative rule. He stepped into a sharp economic downturn, as well, but he got the chance to try the theories that he had expounded to me through the clouds of pipe-smoke nearly 20 years before.
Kim's "sunshine policy," as it was called—détente and economic engagement with the North—gained him a meeting with the North Korean communist dictator, Kim Jong Il. It took place in 2000, and Kim himself was promptly awarded the Nobel Prize for peace. A period of détente, replete with various economic projects, followed.
Yet eventually scandal erupted, when it turned out that Kim had apparently steered hundreds of millions of dollars to the North Korean dictator to facilitate the summit. It seems he'd attempted his "democratic reunification" with democracy in only one of the two halves of Korea. South Koreans grew sick of it, abandoning the policy as a failure and bringing in a conservative in 2007.
This is something for Barack Obama, who praised Kim after his passing as a "champion of democracy and human rights," to study—not only with respect to Pyongyang but also the other regimes with which he seeks engagement before they have had their own democratic revolutions.
see more details here http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204884404574362952261086262.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
By SETH LIPSKY
The life of free Korea's ex-president, Kim Dae Jung, which came to an end this week, gives new meaning to the phrase "sunshine soldier." In some respects he was like Corazon Aquino of the Philippines, who died last month, a hero of the struggle for democracy in Asia. In other respects, however, Kim had a story that was more complex and dangerous—one that stands as a cautionary tale for Mr. Obama.
I met Kim in 1979, when he was being held under house arrest at Seoul and I was the managing editor of the Asian edition of The Wall Street Journal. I'd been told that if I went to his neighborhood, Dong-gyo Don, in the western section of South Korea's capital, and telephoned him from a pay phone, I would receive instructions. They were to walk down a nearby alley and, whatever happened, to avoid stopping, or talking, when approached by government security agents.
Sure enough, the moment I ducked into the alley I was swarmed by them. When I declined to speak and kept walking briskly, they fell away. One of Kim's aides waved me on from his gate, which, as soon as I scrambled inside, closed behind me with a welcome clink. Then I was ushered into the modest bungalow of the man who once marshaled crowds of half a million Koreans and nearly toppled the presidency of the country's strongman, Park Chung Hee.
Kim had left the country after losing the 1971 election. When President Park declared martial law in 1972, Kim began criticizing him from foreign soil, and in 1973, he was kidnapped from a hotel in Tokyo and brought back to his country. He was arrested in 1976 after he signed a manifesto against the president and drew a sentence of five years. His country was then, as now, in one of the most dangerous military standoffs on the planet.
In a living room lined with hundreds of books in Korean, Japanese and English, along with busts of Lincoln and Kennedy and a painting of Jesus Christ, Kim lit a pipe and began to sketch his goal—which was for what he called a "democratic reunification" with North Korea. He made the point, over and over again, that the democratization of the South would have to precede any reunification, and that any reunification would have to be done democratically.
Government agents, including some who were once friends and admirers, set Kim down as not just naïve but vain. I tended to discount that kind of talk, for dissidents or exiles often can seem flaky. But I did find it hard to believe that there was much hope for his vision. Any visitor to the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea gets a visceral feel of how explosive and dangerous is the peninsula, where millions died during the 1950-53 war.
Kim didn't deny the extraordinary economic gains that Korea was starting to show under Park Chung Hee. He argued that the recent economic growth in non-Communist countries in Asia demonstrated "the advantage of the Free World compared to the communist countries." He also said it was no coincidence that the success was coming in Confucian countries. Yes, under Park there had been what Kim called "brilliant" economic growth. But he predicted that the more economic growth there was, the more social unrest there would be absent a democratic system.
The meeting with Kim was one of the most memorable in a long newspaper career, even though, I don't mind saying, I emerged highly doubtful that he had a future. I couldn't have been more wrong.
Only months later, Park Chung Hee was having dinner with several of his closest cronies when the chief of his intelligence service pulled out a pistol and shot him to death, an assassination that rocked the world. A new strongman, Chun Doo Hwan, eventually emerged and martial law was again declared.
This was followed by riots in the city of Kwangju, an uprising that was brutally suppressed with some 200 people, maybe more, were killed. Kim himself ended up being prosecuted, if that is the word, for his alleged role in the rebellion, even though he was in custody at the time. He was sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted and he was later exiled to the U.S. He returned to Korea in 1985. Then, in 1988, the year in which Korea hosted the Olympics, democratic elections were held—and they have been held ever since.
In 1997, Kim Dae Jung became the first opposition leader to be elected president, one of the most astounding comebacks in political history, entering office as a liberal after decades of conservative rule. He stepped into a sharp economic downturn, as well, but he got the chance to try the theories that he had expounded to me through the clouds of pipe-smoke nearly 20 years before.
Kim's "sunshine policy," as it was called—détente and economic engagement with the North—gained him a meeting with the North Korean communist dictator, Kim Jong Il. It took place in 2000, and Kim himself was promptly awarded the Nobel Prize for peace. A period of détente, replete with various economic projects, followed.
Yet eventually scandal erupted, when it turned out that Kim had apparently steered hundreds of millions of dollars to the North Korean dictator to facilitate the summit. It seems he'd attempted his "democratic reunification" with democracy in only one of the two halves of Korea. South Koreans grew sick of it, abandoning the policy as a failure and bringing in a conservative in 2007.
This is something for Barack Obama, who praised Kim after his passing as a "champion of democracy and human rights," to study—not only with respect to Pyongyang but also the other regimes with which he seeks engagement before they have had their own democratic revolutions.
see more details here http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204884404574362952261086262.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Stargazers and the eternal Ninoy-Cory love story
An interesting article about stargazers and the Aquinos
The stargazer is a flower commonly used to decorate caskets, but for TV personality Kris Aquino, it was a special sign used by her late father to assure the family that he was finally reunited with her mother in the afterlife.
A week before former President Corazon Aquino died last August 1, Kris said she had been informed that her aunt Tessie Aquino-Oreta had dreamt of her father, the late Sen. Benigno “Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. In the dream, Ninoy had asked Oreta to visit his cancer-stricken wife, who was then confined at the Makati Medical Center, and bring her stargazers.
Kris made the revelation in a recent interview on her television program The Buzz. She noted that her aunt and her mother were on opposite sides in 2001 when Mrs. Aquino backed the ouster of former president Joseph Estrada, whom then senator Oreta had supported. All of them have since reconciled.
In an interview with GMANews.TV, Oreta confirmed the dream but made light of it. She said she visited Mrs. Aquino “(but) I did not (bring her flowers). Cory was asthmatic."
To Kris’ surprise, the staff of Heritage Memorial Services placed stargazers on her mother’s coffin in preparation for the wake, prompting her to break down and cry.
“It is dad’s sign that mom is good and they were together. That was the time I cried there. ‘Dun nila pinaramdam na magkasama na sila," she said.
Mrs. Aquino was laid to rest beside her husband, as she had wished, last August 5. As the nation commemorates the 26th anniversary of the assassination of Ninoy Aquino Friday, friends and supporters are expected to bring more flowers to their tombs at the Manila Memorial Park.
Kris, who had personally attended to the preparations for Mrs. Aquino’s wake, said the family did not order flowers because they knew the casket would be draped with the Philippine flag. Mrs. Aquino served as the country’s first woman president from 1986 to 1992.
But when the coffin was brought to the viewing room, a staff of the Heritage told them that they would temporarily put flowers on Mrs. Aquino's coffin.
"Yung flowers na pinagawa ng Heritage na I knew nothing of, nung pinatong ... they were stargazers," she said.
Pure of heart
Stargazers are lilies that are usually associated with meanings such as “pure of heart" and “heaven in your eyes." Along with its sister – the white Casablanca lily – stargazers are often offered to convey sympathy to the recipient.
After she told her niece about the dream, Oreta asked Kris if Cory likes stargazers. Kris recalled saying, "hindi masyado. She likes looking at flowers but because of her asthma, nahihirapan matagal."
After she retired from public service in 1992, Mrs. Aquino took to painting and gave away many of her works to friends. Although she liked to paint flowers, it is not known if stargazers were one of her subjects.
Moments before Cory passed away, Kris said her mother told her she could already see Ninoy fetching her.
Eternal love story
The Ninoy and Cory love story is one of the most celebrated love stories in the country. Some online users even described it as “eternal."
In his last letter to Cory, Ninoy assured her that his love “will never be equaled." He also thanked her for supporting him during the trying times when he was incarcerated under the Marcos regime.
“All the things I want to tell you may be capsulized in one line - - I love you! ... I realize I’ve been very stingy with praise and appreciation for all your efforts — but though unsaid — you know that as far I’m concerned, you are the best. That’s why we’ve lasted this long. There will only be one thing in the world I will never accept — that you love me more than I love you — because my love for you though unarticulated will never be equaled," a portion of the letter read.
Aside from the letter, Ninoy also expressed his love for Cory through a poem entitled “I fell in love with the same woman thrice." The poem was written at Fort Bonifacio in 1973 as his gift to Cory for their 19th wedding anniversary.
“Looming from the battle/ her courage will never fade. Amidst the hardships she has remained/ undaunted and unafraid. She is calm and composed / she is God’s lovely maid," the poem read
see more from here http://www.gmanews.tv/story/170357/stargazers-and-the-eternal-ninoy-cory-love-story
The stargazer is a flower commonly used to decorate caskets, but for TV personality Kris Aquino, it was a special sign used by her late father to assure the family that he was finally reunited with her mother in the afterlife.
A week before former President Corazon Aquino died last August 1, Kris said she had been informed that her aunt Tessie Aquino-Oreta had dreamt of her father, the late Sen. Benigno “Ninoy" Aquino, Jr. In the dream, Ninoy had asked Oreta to visit his cancer-stricken wife, who was then confined at the Makati Medical Center, and bring her stargazers.
Kris made the revelation in a recent interview on her television program The Buzz. She noted that her aunt and her mother were on opposite sides in 2001 when Mrs. Aquino backed the ouster of former president Joseph Estrada, whom then senator Oreta had supported. All of them have since reconciled.
In an interview with GMANews.TV, Oreta confirmed the dream but made light of it. She said she visited Mrs. Aquino “(but) I did not (bring her flowers). Cory was asthmatic."
To Kris’ surprise, the staff of Heritage Memorial Services placed stargazers on her mother’s coffin in preparation for the wake, prompting her to break down and cry.
“It is dad’s sign that mom is good and they were together. That was the time I cried there. ‘Dun nila pinaramdam na magkasama na sila," she said.
Mrs. Aquino was laid to rest beside her husband, as she had wished, last August 5. As the nation commemorates the 26th anniversary of the assassination of Ninoy Aquino Friday, friends and supporters are expected to bring more flowers to their tombs at the Manila Memorial Park.
Kris, who had personally attended to the preparations for Mrs. Aquino’s wake, said the family did not order flowers because they knew the casket would be draped with the Philippine flag. Mrs. Aquino served as the country’s first woman president from 1986 to 1992.
But when the coffin was brought to the viewing room, a staff of the Heritage told them that they would temporarily put flowers on Mrs. Aquino's coffin.
"Yung flowers na pinagawa ng Heritage na I knew nothing of, nung pinatong ... they were stargazers," she said.
Pure of heart
Stargazers are lilies that are usually associated with meanings such as “pure of heart" and “heaven in your eyes." Along with its sister – the white Casablanca lily – stargazers are often offered to convey sympathy to the recipient.
After she told her niece about the dream, Oreta asked Kris if Cory likes stargazers. Kris recalled saying, "hindi masyado. She likes looking at flowers but because of her asthma, nahihirapan matagal."
After she retired from public service in 1992, Mrs. Aquino took to painting and gave away many of her works to friends. Although she liked to paint flowers, it is not known if stargazers were one of her subjects.
Moments before Cory passed away, Kris said her mother told her she could already see Ninoy fetching her.
Eternal love story
The Ninoy and Cory love story is one of the most celebrated love stories in the country. Some online users even described it as “eternal."
In his last letter to Cory, Ninoy assured her that his love “will never be equaled." He also thanked her for supporting him during the trying times when he was incarcerated under the Marcos regime.
“All the things I want to tell you may be capsulized in one line - - I love you! ... I realize I’ve been very stingy with praise and appreciation for all your efforts — but though unsaid — you know that as far I’m concerned, you are the best. That’s why we’ve lasted this long. There will only be one thing in the world I will never accept — that you love me more than I love you — because my love for you though unarticulated will never be equaled," a portion of the letter read.
Aside from the letter, Ninoy also expressed his love for Cory through a poem entitled “I fell in love with the same woman thrice." The poem was written at Fort Bonifacio in 1973 as his gift to Cory for their 19th wedding anniversary.
“Looming from the battle/ her courage will never fade. Amidst the hardships she has remained/ undaunted and unafraid. She is calm and composed / she is God’s lovely maid," the poem read
see more from here http://www.gmanews.tv/story/170357/stargazers-and-the-eternal-ninoy-cory-love-story
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Hidden cameras and Cory’s huge suitcase
An interesting article about photos taken during Ninoy's imprisonement...
By Ma. Ceres P. Doyo
Filed Under: Cory Aquino, Books, Prison
If you were one of those who visited Ninoy Aquino during the eight years (1972 to 1980) that he was in military prison, chances are a photograph of yourself was among the hundreds that the military studied and kept in their dossiers for whatever purpose they might have served.
And chances are your photo is now in the archives of Ninoy’s widow, former President Corazon Aquino, who passed away on Aug. 1 and had a massive send-off that could rival Ninoy’s. Hadn’t Cory sent you a copy when she was alive?
During her presidency that started after the 1986 People Power Revolt that toppled the Marcos dictatorship, President Aquino received a stack of photographs from the military. Many of the original copies the military gave her had notes on the back, she told me during an interview some years ago. She had not asked for the photos, she had never seen them before.
“There were hundreds of these photographs,” she said when I showed her an enlarged copy she had sent a nun friend some years ago. Yes, she remembered having sent it, along with a letter, a frame and medicine, and being thanked warmly for it.
Cory recalled then that every person who visited Ninoy in prison had first to be put on a list and go through a process of approval. During visits, visitors had to be thoroughly frisked, groped, if not almost undressed and, of course, photographed without their being aware of it. Ninoy’s family and friends had to endure this demeaning process. The nervous ones could not help wondering what the repercussions of the visits might be on them.
Receiving the photos from the military when she was President was a surprise for Cory, the photos having come from the institution that held Ninoy in custody and was suspected of having had something to do with her husband’s assassination upon his return from exile in 1983. But beholding the black and white images must have been also disconcerting to say the least, if not utterly painful. Among the previously unpublished photos were those of the bloodied and dead Ninoy taken by military photographers when his body arrived in the military camp. These looked utterly raw, so unlike those taken at the tarmac that, by now, most Filipinos have memorized and framed in their memories.
The military photos taken in prison show the Aquino family during regular visits with Ninoy. Friends who came had to contend with flashbulbs and telephoto lenses. And what about cameras, hidden and unhidden, and bugging devices?
Ms Aquino recalled the first time she came for a conjugal visit. Ninoy’s room was about 4 X 5 square yards. “On the first scheduled conjugal visit, I arrived in Fort Bonifacio lugging a new suitcase. Ninoy was surprised and teased me, ‘Why the big suitcase? Cory, you’re staying here only one night, not one week.’
“I said nothing and instead opened my suitcase and took out a dark blue towel and some rubber bands. I then asked Ninoy to cover the camera with the towel and secure it with the rubber bands. Then I brought out a dark blue sheet and a roll of masking tape.
“Ninoy and I then proceeded to cover the entire one-way mirror with the sheet and stuck the sheet to the wall using a lot of masking tape. We knew there were electronic bugs to record all our conversations but unfortunately neither Ninoy nor I knew anything about debugging a room.
“Heaven knows how many hundreds of cassette tapes (were) in the possession of the military, recording all the Ninoy and Cory conversations!”
Some of the photographs Cory Aquino received from the military were used in the coffee-table book “Ninoy: Ideals and Ideologies.” The book contains rare photographs complemented by Ninoy’s own words expressing “the ideals that he fought, lived and died for.”
Many of the photographs remain unpublished. But, after her term was over, Cory went over the photographs and had many of them reproduced so she could send them to friends who were in the photos.
Among these photos was that of Ninoy being greeted by Sr. Christine Tan, RGS with a buss. With her were activist Maria Feria and Amparo Castro, the wife of lawyer Dakila Castro. Cory sent a copy each to the women visitors in the photos.
Sr. Christine Tan, a Good Shepherd nun who lived among the poor and who died in 2003, was a close friend of Ninoy and Cory and stood by them during the dark days of the dictatorship. Cory appointed her as one of the drafters of the 1987 Constitution.
“I was not aware that we were being photographed,” Feria told the Inquirer.
“This was at the amphitheater,” Cory said when shown the photo, “the place where Ninoy received visitors.” How could she forget?
Neither had she forgotten the true friends who visited and stood by them. The photographs that the military had unearthed for her helped her remember.
More information can be found here http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20090820-221126/Hidden-cameras-and-Corys-huge-suitcase
By Ma. Ceres P. Doyo
Filed Under: Cory Aquino, Books, Prison
If you were one of those who visited Ninoy Aquino during the eight years (1972 to 1980) that he was in military prison, chances are a photograph of yourself was among the hundreds that the military studied and kept in their dossiers for whatever purpose they might have served.
And chances are your photo is now in the archives of Ninoy’s widow, former President Corazon Aquino, who passed away on Aug. 1 and had a massive send-off that could rival Ninoy’s. Hadn’t Cory sent you a copy when she was alive?
During her presidency that started after the 1986 People Power Revolt that toppled the Marcos dictatorship, President Aquino received a stack of photographs from the military. Many of the original copies the military gave her had notes on the back, she told me during an interview some years ago. She had not asked for the photos, she had never seen them before.
“There were hundreds of these photographs,” she said when I showed her an enlarged copy she had sent a nun friend some years ago. Yes, she remembered having sent it, along with a letter, a frame and medicine, and being thanked warmly for it.
Cory recalled then that every person who visited Ninoy in prison had first to be put on a list and go through a process of approval. During visits, visitors had to be thoroughly frisked, groped, if not almost undressed and, of course, photographed without their being aware of it. Ninoy’s family and friends had to endure this demeaning process. The nervous ones could not help wondering what the repercussions of the visits might be on them.
Receiving the photos from the military when she was President was a surprise for Cory, the photos having come from the institution that held Ninoy in custody and was suspected of having had something to do with her husband’s assassination upon his return from exile in 1983. But beholding the black and white images must have been also disconcerting to say the least, if not utterly painful. Among the previously unpublished photos were those of the bloodied and dead Ninoy taken by military photographers when his body arrived in the military camp. These looked utterly raw, so unlike those taken at the tarmac that, by now, most Filipinos have memorized and framed in their memories.
The military photos taken in prison show the Aquino family during regular visits with Ninoy. Friends who came had to contend with flashbulbs and telephoto lenses. And what about cameras, hidden and unhidden, and bugging devices?
Ms Aquino recalled the first time she came for a conjugal visit. Ninoy’s room was about 4 X 5 square yards. “On the first scheduled conjugal visit, I arrived in Fort Bonifacio lugging a new suitcase. Ninoy was surprised and teased me, ‘Why the big suitcase? Cory, you’re staying here only one night, not one week.’
“I said nothing and instead opened my suitcase and took out a dark blue towel and some rubber bands. I then asked Ninoy to cover the camera with the towel and secure it with the rubber bands. Then I brought out a dark blue sheet and a roll of masking tape.
“Ninoy and I then proceeded to cover the entire one-way mirror with the sheet and stuck the sheet to the wall using a lot of masking tape. We knew there were electronic bugs to record all our conversations but unfortunately neither Ninoy nor I knew anything about debugging a room.
“Heaven knows how many hundreds of cassette tapes (were) in the possession of the military, recording all the Ninoy and Cory conversations!”
Some of the photographs Cory Aquino received from the military were used in the coffee-table book “Ninoy: Ideals and Ideologies.” The book contains rare photographs complemented by Ninoy’s own words expressing “the ideals that he fought, lived and died for.”
Many of the photographs remain unpublished. But, after her term was over, Cory went over the photographs and had many of them reproduced so she could send them to friends who were in the photos.
Among these photos was that of Ninoy being greeted by Sr. Christine Tan, RGS with a buss. With her were activist Maria Feria and Amparo Castro, the wife of lawyer Dakila Castro. Cory sent a copy each to the women visitors in the photos.
Sr. Christine Tan, a Good Shepherd nun who lived among the poor and who died in 2003, was a close friend of Ninoy and Cory and stood by them during the dark days of the dictatorship. Cory appointed her as one of the drafters of the 1987 Constitution.
“I was not aware that we were being photographed,” Feria told the Inquirer.
“This was at the amphitheater,” Cory said when shown the photo, “the place where Ninoy received visitors.” How could she forget?
Neither had she forgotten the true friends who visited and stood by them. The photographs that the military had unearthed for her helped her remember.
More information can be found here http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20090820-221126/Hidden-cameras-and-Corys-huge-suitcase
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Of RP blue chips and art
Do you know Anthoni Salim? Read more below
by Doris C. Dumlao
Salim in Cory’s wake
UNKNOWN TO many, Indonesian tycoon Anthoni Salim, whose family is the principal stockholder of First Pacific, flew all the way from Indonesia to pay his last respects to the late Cory Aquino. But probably because he wasn’t recognized by the local media (as how he prefers it to be anyway), no pictures of him appeared among the VIPs spotted during the wake.
It is no secret that First Pacific, under MVP and Salim, is a great believer in Cory’s administration and was among the first foreign groups that started aggressively betting their chips on the Philippines after the 1986 People Power Revolution.
details here: http://business.inquirer.net/money/features/view/20090818-220939/Of-RP-blue-chips-and-art
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Cory: The ultimate power of a positive woman
All praise for president Cory on this article. Read on...
By Mylene Mendoza-Dayrit
Do you want to be a positive woman of powerful influence? Do you want to make a lasting impression on the lives of people around you? You can become a positive woman — no matter where you find yourself right now — simply by choosing to allow God’s power and strength to pour through you.” Those were the highlighted words on the back cover of the book The Power of A Positive Woman by Karol Ladd (available at National Book Store) that made me grab the book. The book was certainly inspiring, citing the intrinsic qualities of a woman that make her great.
I was in college when Ninoy Aquino offered his life for the Filipino people. I was in EDSA and most of the events thereafter just like most people I know. And just like other parents, my husband and I gathered our kids to wait with the crowds on Ayala and Osmeña for the funeral procession of the late beloved President Corazon Aquino. My kids were definitely amazed and at the same time baffled at how she had so much influence.
While explaining to them how Ninoy and Cory gave us the democracy we now enjoy, I also pointed out to them that President Cory is an inspiration to all Filipinos. For women especially, she provides hope, being proof herself that with faith and courage, the impossible can be possible.
Let me borrow the seven principles cited by Ladd to explain why indeed Cory had so much positive influence in this world (even in death and beyond it).
In the so many days of television tribute featuring friends and family of President Cory, I heard something about her painting seven crosses, possibly alluding to the coup attempts under her term. Crosses are a symbol of suffering, but they can also be a sign of invincible strength. Here are the seven reasons why Cory is so loved and revered:
A Woman Of Faith
In the homily of Fr. Joaquin Bernas, SJ given at the Ateneo-Rockwell Chapel March 27, 2008, he said, “The woman in yellow speaks to us even in her sickness. But the message I hear from her is more than just ‘Do not be afraid.’ The message she has been saying to us by the way she has lived her life and the message she is saying to us even now in her weakness is: ‘Do everything you can within the limits of your human capability; but trust even more in the God who can make all things possible.”
A Woman Of Wisdom
She dismissed herself as an unlikely candidate when Ninoy died and just led the search committee for an opposition standard bearer. They had a list of 12 who eventually all agreed that she was the best candidate. In faith, she accepted the turn of events as God’s will and that of the people.
Her then Finance Secretary Jess Estanislao quoted Nick Platt, who served as US ambassador towards the end of President Cory’s term: “She is a woman who, better than anyone else, understood that democracy demands self-restraint, and she has given an outstanding example of that.”
Estanislao continues, “Having done her homework extremely well indeed, President Cory was able to lay the groundwork for many others to build on. Only a leader with the conviction and commitment of President Cory could have done such painstaking homework as the undertaking called for a gain, for the long-term benefit of her country and her people.”
A Woman Of Prayer
In the book In the Name of Democracy and Prayer by President Cory (published by Anvil in 1995) she said, “I was asked in a small gathering of university students recently what of my life as president I would like to see continued. Without hesitation, I said the power of prayer.
By prayer, one acknowledges the weakness of the human person, no matter how high the office he or she may hold and how great the authority they wield. The higher the office, the greater the power, the more one should pray.”
In a contribution she made in 2002 for a commemorative collection in honor of Cardinal Sin she wrote, “For us who are a people of faith, Christians and Muslims alike, it is a time to return to our true faith. True faith must be rooted in prayer, in our trust of a loving father, in loving sacrifice of self for the greater good of all. The problems of peace and poverty, social justice, and good governance are concerns of everyone and everyone must do his or her share. For us Catholics, my counsel is to pray the Rosary daily for graces, for peace, that goodwill prevail over evil, in homes, in our country and in the world. Through prayer, you can discover your own role, to make a difference during these crucial times. Your faith will lead you to hope and work for a brighter future for your children, and to make your own loving sacrifice for love of country and fellowmen.”
A Woman Of Love
During her term, President Cory founded the Bigay Puso Foundation which, as she herself explained in speeches in her official website www.coryaquino.ph, was organized as a group of wives of cabinet members, generals, and businessmen tasked to take care of delivering relief goods in times of natural calamities like typhoons and earthquakes.
In the book Cory, Mercy Tuason, founding member of Bigay Puso and now ambassador to the Vatican, relates, “The poor were closest to her heart. I remember that when customs confiscated smuggled apples, Cory called on Bea Zobel and me to deliver them to Smokey Mountain. As soon as we got there, we were swarmed by the slum-dwellers, who asked if they could see Cory to personally thank her. She invited them to Malacañang not only to receive their gratitude but also to listen to their problems.”
A Woman Of Courage
In Margie Juico’s book, Cory An Intimate Portrait, Billy Esposo, then RPN 9 president and now Philippine STAR columnist, said, “The Cory C. Aquino I shall always remember with fondness is the woman with nerves of steel, unwavering character, and untypical courage. I’m sure Cory Aquino was neither born nor bred to be the heroine she is now recognized worldwide — the Asian Joan of Arc.”
Former President Fidel Ramos, who was a member of her cabinet as Secretary of Defense, said, “Not just one or two, but nine memorable experiences with President Cory define the steel core within her.”
A Woman Of Hope & Joy
In almost all the images flashed on television and featured in print, Cory was always smiling. I believe that this is a true sign of contentment. She was at peace, knowing that she was following God’s will.
Her simplicity was admirable. “Being sincere is to be simple. It is the same with sincerity in power: Be yourself completely,” Cory said in her book on democracy and prayer.
I believe that President Barack Obama summed it up well when he said in his public condolences to the Aquino family, “Her courage, determination, and moral leadership are an inspiration to us all and exemplify the best in the Filipino nation.”
More details here: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=496851&publicationSubCategoryId=80
By Mylene Mendoza-Dayrit
Do you want to be a positive woman of powerful influence? Do you want to make a lasting impression on the lives of people around you? You can become a positive woman — no matter where you find yourself right now — simply by choosing to allow God’s power and strength to pour through you.” Those were the highlighted words on the back cover of the book The Power of A Positive Woman by Karol Ladd (available at National Book Store) that made me grab the book. The book was certainly inspiring, citing the intrinsic qualities of a woman that make her great.
I was in college when Ninoy Aquino offered his life for the Filipino people. I was in EDSA and most of the events thereafter just like most people I know. And just like other parents, my husband and I gathered our kids to wait with the crowds on Ayala and Osmeña for the funeral procession of the late beloved President Corazon Aquino. My kids were definitely amazed and at the same time baffled at how she had so much influence.
While explaining to them how Ninoy and Cory gave us the democracy we now enjoy, I also pointed out to them that President Cory is an inspiration to all Filipinos. For women especially, she provides hope, being proof herself that with faith and courage, the impossible can be possible.
Let me borrow the seven principles cited by Ladd to explain why indeed Cory had so much positive influence in this world (even in death and beyond it).
In the so many days of television tribute featuring friends and family of President Cory, I heard something about her painting seven crosses, possibly alluding to the coup attempts under her term. Crosses are a symbol of suffering, but they can also be a sign of invincible strength. Here are the seven reasons why Cory is so loved and revered:
A Woman Of Faith
In the homily of Fr. Joaquin Bernas, SJ given at the Ateneo-Rockwell Chapel March 27, 2008, he said, “The woman in yellow speaks to us even in her sickness. But the message I hear from her is more than just ‘Do not be afraid.’ The message she has been saying to us by the way she has lived her life and the message she is saying to us even now in her weakness is: ‘Do everything you can within the limits of your human capability; but trust even more in the God who can make all things possible.”
A Woman Of Wisdom
She dismissed herself as an unlikely candidate when Ninoy died and just led the search committee for an opposition standard bearer. They had a list of 12 who eventually all agreed that she was the best candidate. In faith, she accepted the turn of events as God’s will and that of the people.
Her then Finance Secretary Jess Estanislao quoted Nick Platt, who served as US ambassador towards the end of President Cory’s term: “She is a woman who, better than anyone else, understood that democracy demands self-restraint, and she has given an outstanding example of that.”
Estanislao continues, “Having done her homework extremely well indeed, President Cory was able to lay the groundwork for many others to build on. Only a leader with the conviction and commitment of President Cory could have done such painstaking homework as the undertaking called for a gain, for the long-term benefit of her country and her people.”
A Woman Of Prayer
In the book In the Name of Democracy and Prayer by President Cory (published by Anvil in 1995) she said, “I was asked in a small gathering of university students recently what of my life as president I would like to see continued. Without hesitation, I said the power of prayer.
By prayer, one acknowledges the weakness of the human person, no matter how high the office he or she may hold and how great the authority they wield. The higher the office, the greater the power, the more one should pray.”
In a contribution she made in 2002 for a commemorative collection in honor of Cardinal Sin she wrote, “For us who are a people of faith, Christians and Muslims alike, it is a time to return to our true faith. True faith must be rooted in prayer, in our trust of a loving father, in loving sacrifice of self for the greater good of all. The problems of peace and poverty, social justice, and good governance are concerns of everyone and everyone must do his or her share. For us Catholics, my counsel is to pray the Rosary daily for graces, for peace, that goodwill prevail over evil, in homes, in our country and in the world. Through prayer, you can discover your own role, to make a difference during these crucial times. Your faith will lead you to hope and work for a brighter future for your children, and to make your own loving sacrifice for love of country and fellowmen.”
A Woman Of Love
During her term, President Cory founded the Bigay Puso Foundation which, as she herself explained in speeches in her official website www.coryaquino.ph, was organized as a group of wives of cabinet members, generals, and businessmen tasked to take care of delivering relief goods in times of natural calamities like typhoons and earthquakes.
In the book Cory, Mercy Tuason, founding member of Bigay Puso and now ambassador to the Vatican, relates, “The poor were closest to her heart. I remember that when customs confiscated smuggled apples, Cory called on Bea Zobel and me to deliver them to Smokey Mountain. As soon as we got there, we were swarmed by the slum-dwellers, who asked if they could see Cory to personally thank her. She invited them to Malacañang not only to receive their gratitude but also to listen to their problems.”
A Woman Of Courage
In Margie Juico’s book, Cory An Intimate Portrait, Billy Esposo, then RPN 9 president and now Philippine STAR columnist, said, “The Cory C. Aquino I shall always remember with fondness is the woman with nerves of steel, unwavering character, and untypical courage. I’m sure Cory Aquino was neither born nor bred to be the heroine she is now recognized worldwide — the Asian Joan of Arc.”
Former President Fidel Ramos, who was a member of her cabinet as Secretary of Defense, said, “Not just one or two, but nine memorable experiences with President Cory define the steel core within her.”
A Woman Of Hope & Joy
In almost all the images flashed on television and featured in print, Cory was always smiling. I believe that this is a true sign of contentment. She was at peace, knowing that she was following God’s will.
Her simplicity was admirable. “Being sincere is to be simple. It is the same with sincerity in power: Be yourself completely,” Cory said in her book on democracy and prayer.
I believe that President Barack Obama summed it up well when he said in his public condolences to the Aquino family, “Her courage, determination, and moral leadership are an inspiration to us all and exemplify the best in the Filipino nation.”
More details here: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=496851&publicationSubCategoryId=80
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Ballsy Aquino-Cruz: 'Mom took all the hurts for us'
an interview with Cory's daughter Ballsy
Why me?” Ballsy Aquino-Cruz asked when told by Margie Juico, the former appointments secretary of her mom President Cory Aquino, that we wanted to interview her.
“I’m the most boring one here. Of course, Kris (Aquino) is the most popular personality,” Ballsy adds.
“Or why not Pinky (Aquino-Abellada), she’s the funniest, so very Aquino in that sense? She’s so pamparampam, meaning she’s so entertaining. We kid her: ‘Pinky, when God was looking at the assemblyline during creation, He forgot to to give you nerves.’ She’s so hyper and driven, you know. Pinky just finished her masters. She took her BS Economics at UP during martial law.’ She’s so go-go-go that when she decides on something, she gives it her all.
“Viel and I are more alike. But once, Mom told her: ’It’ good to be simple, but not too much.’
“When Mom died, Viel said she had no trouble looking for the right mourning clothes, because most of her clothes are in black, gray and brown.
“Viel says: ‘If you need matronic stuff, go to Ballsy.’ That’s because I have always been going with our mom all these years, and all the sosyalan I’ve attended have been with our mom’s friends.”
Why indeed, Ballsy? Because while we and the rest of the bereaved nation joined Kris Aquino shedding tears on television during the necrological rites for Cory, there Ballsy was, standing solid as a rock, her composure so calm, her aura so dignified, giving us strength and comfort when we needed it.
The big revelation was that when Ballsy started talking, she talked nonstop, never for a moment faltering. And she certainly was never boring. She was a most warm subject, generous with her stories. So very Aquino.
Here are excerpts from our Q&A:
1. It’s been 15 days since your mom passed away. For sure, you all miss her. Has she ever made her presence felt by you or any of your siblings?
Not yet, not even a paramdam. In fact, I would ask her: “Mom, please appear to me, even in a dream.” But I think Dad appeared to Mom the Tuesday before her death. Kris said she saw Mom looking upward, smiling and calling Ninoy’s name. That was when Kris told Mom: “Go, go, Mom, we’ll be okay.” But then Mom was into morphine. Later, the doctor said our mom was in a state of hepatic coma or deep sleep.
2. How about your dad Ninoy? Did he ever manifest himself to you or send a message?
Pinky is the only lucky one among us who saw Dad. Pinky said she saw Dad in a dream, and Dad was talking to her. “Kamusta na kayo? Ang guwapo ni Jesus! Ang saya dito (How are you guys? Jesus is so handsome! And this is such a happy place).”
3. What would you miss most about your mom?
You know, ever since Dad died in l983, Mom has been both mom and dad to us. She just knew what to say and do in whatever situation. In fact, when Dad was alive, we would tell Mom whatever problem or news we had to tell, but never to Dad. It was Mom who would break the news to Dad. When I wanted to get married, I said, ‘Mom, bahala ka na to tell Dad. You see, our dad could never bear the thought of bringing any of his daughters to the altar. For him, no man was ever good enough for any of his daughters.
Our mom was our bridge, our glue. Even when Dad was killed, she was always there to take all the hurts for us.When we got the news, my mom was so calm, and she told us never to get hysterical. She made us all kneel and pray the rosary with her. “This is how your dad wanted to go; he wanted to be able to do something for the country,” she told us.
4. People noted that during the necrological rites for your mom, you seemed the most serene, the most poised. In fact, they say you have that aura of dignity and that you in fact, look like Cory the most.
Funny but when I was a kid, they said I looked like an Aquino with my big and bulging eyes. I had such round eyes, my dad wanted to call me One Ball, and when I was born at eight and a half pounds, I looked like one big ball. Later, he changed it to Ballsy ... I really have my dad’s eyebrows that look putol (cut short), and my ears, my nose — my “hawk nose” — they’re so Aquino, our relatives tell me.
5. Some people say you should run because you are so like Cory, you would be an inspiration too.
Me, run? Politics is not for me, that’s why I made sure I married someone who would not enter politics. To be in politics, you really have to like it ... When Noynoy was running for senator, we didn’t even want to accept funds from certain people. Viel, who is the most scrupulous among us, would say: “Ay, wag tayo tumanggap diyan, smuggler yan ... Contributions? Pwede ba, wag na? Maghahanap na lang ako. (Let’s not accept help from people like smugglers. Contributions? Can I just look for other sources?)”
Honesty and integrity have been so imbibed in us by our parents. Even our Lola Aurora would tell us: “Be careful. El cambio, el cambio, mahirap!”
6. So how do you feel about the clamor to make your brother Noynoy run for president or vice president?
You know, when we were campaigning for Noynoy for senator, we would hear Mass at the Greenbelt chapel daily, and our mom really worked hard. We were all stressed because we heard that GMA would make sure Noynoy would lose ... So now, when we heard about this move to make Noynoy run for higher office, Viel texted him with a sad emoticon: “Noynoy, huwag na, please.” We told him, “Noy, nice naman what people are saying pero wag na, baka may magka-tumor pa diyan (don’t anymore, or someone among us might have a tumor due to stress.)”
But then there are people who tell us that being president is destiny. “Your mom never dreamed of becoming president, but look what happened.”
7. It looks like Noynoy will have a first lady if ever he becomes president.
Yes, his girlfriend (Shalani Soledad) is very nice and very pretty ... Mom once said that the best head of state is someone without a wife and without parents who could be meddling in affairs of the state ... But then, a politician will always need a supportive wife.
8. What was the most touching thing that Cory did for you that made you cry?
When I had my hysterectomy three years ago, Mom was there in the hospital every day. When I was bleeding, Mom knew I never wanted to go to hospitals for checkups, and it was she who accompanied me and convinced me to go. After my operation, Mom texted me: “I already have paintings that I will be giving as gifts to your doctors.” She also gave me money for my hospital bills. “Don’t worry about anything, just think of making yourself stronger,”she said.
9. How about your most unforgettable moment when she was president?
When we met Nelson Mandela, he told me: “You really know how to choose a mother!” To which my mom said: “And I can say that I really know how to choose a daughter!”
10. Margie (Juico) says you and your siblings have been spending time lately at your family’s Times Street residence the past days, organizing your mom’s things in preparation for a renovation. What are you choosing from the mementos from your mom?
In Mom’s room I found this journal with her handwritten quotations from the Bible. We agreed that Mom’s engagement ring should go to Kris. Pinky and Viel are more concerned with things they can pass on to their daughters, and Noynoy obviously is not even looking, because he says: “Anyway, I got all of Dad’s stuff.” Yes, he has been using Dad’s things, such as his cufflinks ... But actually, we each have our share of Mom’s journals and paintings ... As for her clothes and shoes, we were thinking of giving them away so people close to us, even our household help, can make use of them, because that’s what our mom would have wanted us to do ... But then Kris said we should keep them first and have them catalogued because her ABS-CBN bosses are planning to make a movie on our mom, and they would need some of her things.
10. Do you plan to put some Cory memorabilia on display at the Ninoy Aquino Museum in Tarlac?
Part of the museum already has been devoted to Mom. The gifts she received as president are already on display there, as well as the dress she wore during her oath-taking.
11. What are in the plans for the renovation to be done on Times Street?
That house was built in 1961, so we clearly need to install new plumbing and new electrical wiring. At first we thought of just renovating, but we were advised that it would be more practical to just build a new one. Some people are saying we shouldn’t tear the house down for sentimental reasons, but our mom was a practical person, and she would agree on having a new structure built instead. When Mom got sick, she told us, her daughters, that none of us would surely be interested in Times Street (as we have our own homes already), so she said: “Give it na to Noynoy.”
Mama Kris — that’s what we like calling her now — will take care of building the new house, especially the financial aspect. It will be a two-storey house that will include two rooms for Kris and Josh, since Times Street is so near ABS-CBN, and it was automatic for Josh to stay there after classes.
You know, Kris said she would really take care of Noynoy. Nice that she takes care even of his wardrobe, because Noynoy is absolutely walang vanity. He just keeps on wearing old barongs, and he likes them as long as they’re comfortable. That’s why Kris has asked Paul Cabral, JC Buendia and Randy Ortiz to do new barongs for Noynoy.
12. Speaking of houses, does your family still maintain the house in Boston where your family lived in exile during the Marcos years?
For a time, Pinky stayed there even as we had all gone back to Manila, because she was working with IBM in Boston. Then, when it was time for her to pack up, she went through the kitchen and never reached the rest of the house because she broke into tears when she remembered the happy times with our dad in that house.
We decided to sell it, but what a group of Filipino doctors did was raise money to buy it and save the house for the Aquino Foundation’s future museum. Eventually, they couldn’t afford the cost of maintaining it, and the house had to be sold to another buyer.
We were able to revisit our house though, because the new owner graciously allowed us to enter. My mom wanted her grandchildren to see the house where their grandfather Ninoy once lived. The facade is still the same, but the house interiors look so much nicer now. You see, when we were there, we were just so focused on spending precious time with Dad who had spent years in prison since the declaration of martial law.
source here: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=496236&publicationSubCategoryId=86
Why me?” Ballsy Aquino-Cruz asked when told by Margie Juico, the former appointments secretary of her mom President Cory Aquino, that we wanted to interview her.
“I’m the most boring one here. Of course, Kris (Aquino) is the most popular personality,” Ballsy adds.
“Or why not Pinky (Aquino-Abellada), she’s the funniest, so very Aquino in that sense? She’s so pamparampam, meaning she’s so entertaining. We kid her: ‘Pinky, when God was looking at the assemblyline during creation, He forgot to to give you nerves.’ She’s so hyper and driven, you know. Pinky just finished her masters. She took her BS Economics at UP during martial law.’ She’s so go-go-go that when she decides on something, she gives it her all.
“Viel and I are more alike. But once, Mom told her: ’It’ good to be simple, but not too much.’
“When Mom died, Viel said she had no trouble looking for the right mourning clothes, because most of her clothes are in black, gray and brown.
“Viel says: ‘If you need matronic stuff, go to Ballsy.’ That’s because I have always been going with our mom all these years, and all the sosyalan I’ve attended have been with our mom’s friends.”
Why indeed, Ballsy? Because while we and the rest of the bereaved nation joined Kris Aquino shedding tears on television during the necrological rites for Cory, there Ballsy was, standing solid as a rock, her composure so calm, her aura so dignified, giving us strength and comfort when we needed it.
The big revelation was that when Ballsy started talking, she talked nonstop, never for a moment faltering. And she certainly was never boring. She was a most warm subject, generous with her stories. So very Aquino.
Here are excerpts from our Q&A:
1. It’s been 15 days since your mom passed away. For sure, you all miss her. Has she ever made her presence felt by you or any of your siblings?
Not yet, not even a paramdam. In fact, I would ask her: “Mom, please appear to me, even in a dream.” But I think Dad appeared to Mom the Tuesday before her death. Kris said she saw Mom looking upward, smiling and calling Ninoy’s name. That was when Kris told Mom: “Go, go, Mom, we’ll be okay.” But then Mom was into morphine. Later, the doctor said our mom was in a state of hepatic coma or deep sleep.
2. How about your dad Ninoy? Did he ever manifest himself to you or send a message?
Pinky is the only lucky one among us who saw Dad. Pinky said she saw Dad in a dream, and Dad was talking to her. “Kamusta na kayo? Ang guwapo ni Jesus! Ang saya dito (How are you guys? Jesus is so handsome! And this is such a happy place).”
3. What would you miss most about your mom?
You know, ever since Dad died in l983, Mom has been both mom and dad to us. She just knew what to say and do in whatever situation. In fact, when Dad was alive, we would tell Mom whatever problem or news we had to tell, but never to Dad. It was Mom who would break the news to Dad. When I wanted to get married, I said, ‘Mom, bahala ka na to tell Dad. You see, our dad could never bear the thought of bringing any of his daughters to the altar. For him, no man was ever good enough for any of his daughters.
Our mom was our bridge, our glue. Even when Dad was killed, she was always there to take all the hurts for us.When we got the news, my mom was so calm, and she told us never to get hysterical. She made us all kneel and pray the rosary with her. “This is how your dad wanted to go; he wanted to be able to do something for the country,” she told us.
4. People noted that during the necrological rites for your mom, you seemed the most serene, the most poised. In fact, they say you have that aura of dignity and that you in fact, look like Cory the most.
Funny but when I was a kid, they said I looked like an Aquino with my big and bulging eyes. I had such round eyes, my dad wanted to call me One Ball, and when I was born at eight and a half pounds, I looked like one big ball. Later, he changed it to Ballsy ... I really have my dad’s eyebrows that look putol (cut short), and my ears, my nose — my “hawk nose” — they’re so Aquino, our relatives tell me.
5. Some people say you should run because you are so like Cory, you would be an inspiration too.
Me, run? Politics is not for me, that’s why I made sure I married someone who would not enter politics. To be in politics, you really have to like it ... When Noynoy was running for senator, we didn’t even want to accept funds from certain people. Viel, who is the most scrupulous among us, would say: “Ay, wag tayo tumanggap diyan, smuggler yan ... Contributions? Pwede ba, wag na? Maghahanap na lang ako. (Let’s not accept help from people like smugglers. Contributions? Can I just look for other sources?)”
Honesty and integrity have been so imbibed in us by our parents. Even our Lola Aurora would tell us: “Be careful. El cambio, el cambio, mahirap!”
6. So how do you feel about the clamor to make your brother Noynoy run for president or vice president?
You know, when we were campaigning for Noynoy for senator, we would hear Mass at the Greenbelt chapel daily, and our mom really worked hard. We were all stressed because we heard that GMA would make sure Noynoy would lose ... So now, when we heard about this move to make Noynoy run for higher office, Viel texted him with a sad emoticon: “Noynoy, huwag na, please.” We told him, “Noy, nice naman what people are saying pero wag na, baka may magka-tumor pa diyan (don’t anymore, or someone among us might have a tumor due to stress.)”
But then there are people who tell us that being president is destiny. “Your mom never dreamed of becoming president, but look what happened.”
7. It looks like Noynoy will have a first lady if ever he becomes president.
Yes, his girlfriend (Shalani Soledad) is very nice and very pretty ... Mom once said that the best head of state is someone without a wife and without parents who could be meddling in affairs of the state ... But then, a politician will always need a supportive wife.
8. What was the most touching thing that Cory did for you that made you cry?
When I had my hysterectomy three years ago, Mom was there in the hospital every day. When I was bleeding, Mom knew I never wanted to go to hospitals for checkups, and it was she who accompanied me and convinced me to go. After my operation, Mom texted me: “I already have paintings that I will be giving as gifts to your doctors.” She also gave me money for my hospital bills. “Don’t worry about anything, just think of making yourself stronger,”she said.
9. How about your most unforgettable moment when she was president?
When we met Nelson Mandela, he told me: “You really know how to choose a mother!” To which my mom said: “And I can say that I really know how to choose a daughter!”
10. Margie (Juico) says you and your siblings have been spending time lately at your family’s Times Street residence the past days, organizing your mom’s things in preparation for a renovation. What are you choosing from the mementos from your mom?
In Mom’s room I found this journal with her handwritten quotations from the Bible. We agreed that Mom’s engagement ring should go to Kris. Pinky and Viel are more concerned with things they can pass on to their daughters, and Noynoy obviously is not even looking, because he says: “Anyway, I got all of Dad’s stuff.” Yes, he has been using Dad’s things, such as his cufflinks ... But actually, we each have our share of Mom’s journals and paintings ... As for her clothes and shoes, we were thinking of giving them away so people close to us, even our household help, can make use of them, because that’s what our mom would have wanted us to do ... But then Kris said we should keep them first and have them catalogued because her ABS-CBN bosses are planning to make a movie on our mom, and they would need some of her things.
10. Do you plan to put some Cory memorabilia on display at the Ninoy Aquino Museum in Tarlac?
Part of the museum already has been devoted to Mom. The gifts she received as president are already on display there, as well as the dress she wore during her oath-taking.
11. What are in the plans for the renovation to be done on Times Street?
That house was built in 1961, so we clearly need to install new plumbing and new electrical wiring. At first we thought of just renovating, but we were advised that it would be more practical to just build a new one. Some people are saying we shouldn’t tear the house down for sentimental reasons, but our mom was a practical person, and she would agree on having a new structure built instead. When Mom got sick, she told us, her daughters, that none of us would surely be interested in Times Street (as we have our own homes already), so she said: “Give it na to Noynoy.”
Mama Kris — that’s what we like calling her now — will take care of building the new house, especially the financial aspect. It will be a two-storey house that will include two rooms for Kris and Josh, since Times Street is so near ABS-CBN, and it was automatic for Josh to stay there after classes.
You know, Kris said she would really take care of Noynoy. Nice that she takes care even of his wardrobe, because Noynoy is absolutely walang vanity. He just keeps on wearing old barongs, and he likes them as long as they’re comfortable. That’s why Kris has asked Paul Cabral, JC Buendia and Randy Ortiz to do new barongs for Noynoy.
12. Speaking of houses, does your family still maintain the house in Boston where your family lived in exile during the Marcos years?
For a time, Pinky stayed there even as we had all gone back to Manila, because she was working with IBM in Boston. Then, when it was time for her to pack up, she went through the kitchen and never reached the rest of the house because she broke into tears when she remembered the happy times with our dad in that house.
We decided to sell it, but what a group of Filipino doctors did was raise money to buy it and save the house for the Aquino Foundation’s future museum. Eventually, they couldn’t afford the cost of maintaining it, and the house had to be sold to another buyer.
We were able to revisit our house though, because the new owner graciously allowed us to enter. My mom wanted her grandchildren to see the house where their grandfather Ninoy once lived. The facade is still the same, but the house interiors look so much nicer now. You see, when we were there, we were just so focused on spending precious time with Dad who had spent years in prison since the declaration of martial law.
source here: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=496236&publicationSubCategoryId=86
Friday, September 4, 2009
Nonie Uy: Cory’s Cebuana pal
this is about Cory's Cebuana friend.
Nonie Uy couldn’t sleep. The widow from Cebu City was just asked to be one of 19 speakers in the necrological rites for former president Corazon Aquino on Aug. 4, a day before Aquino’s burial at the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City.
It was an honor but Nonie was daunted by the task: how could she express in a three-minute speech how she loved and would miss the woman, an icon of democracy, whose simplicity and sincerity touched her life?
Their relationship started with their husbands, former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino and Cebu businessman Victor Uy in the 1960s.
In his bachelor days, Victor would drive Ninoy around Cebu whenever the senator was in town. Ninoy later stood as godfather in baptism to the Uy couple’s son.
The couple was later introduced to Cory by Nancy Cuenco, wife of now Cebu City South Dist. Rep. Antonio Cuenco, during the opening of a Ninoy Aquino memorabilia exhibit held in a university in Cebu.
Nancy was close to Cory as both were considered “congressional wives” of husbands who used to be members of the old Batasang Pambansa.
Victor asked Cory if she could be the godmother in the confirmation of their eldest son.
However, fate had other plans and anti-government protests intensified, leading to a bloodless people power revolt in 1986 that ousted president Ferdinand Marcos and installed Cory as the first female president of the Philippines.
When Victor repeated the family’s request through Nancy, the late president did something the couple did not expect.
She asked them to hold the confirmation, a Catholic sacrament for those who are baptized and have reached the age of reason, in the church near the Palace and to hold the reception in Malacañang.
The couple felt honored. “It was a very big thing for us,” said Nonie.
When Victor died in 1993 Cory, who was on her way to Rome, dropped by the wake in Cebu City to pay her respects.
“(It was) the turning point of my eternal gratitude for her. I was hers for life. I told her and everyone, it was like a 21-gun salute for a very simple albeit good man, my husband Victor,” she added.
When Cory received the Ramon Magsaysay award, Nonie was the only non-family member invited to the ceremony in Manila.
“When we were together, we did girl talk…more on chika. No politics, no hidden agenda. I never asked for anything. What we had was just friendship,” said Nonie.
Cory liked shopping for small, inexpensive trinkets - “butingting,” “borloloys”. Nonie once took her to a Japanese store that sold items for P50 and below.
Cory’s favorite dishes here were Cebu lechon (roast pig) and danggit (smoked fish).
Nonie would bring her lechon each time she visited Cory in her house on Times Street in Quezon City.
She said Cory tried to persuade her to try her new pastime, painting. When that didn’t prosper, Cory sent her paintings set in canvas, fans, bags and scarves which are all displayed in Uy’s modest home in barangay Mabolo, Cebu City.
She read in the newspapers that Cory was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer last year.
When she learned later that Cory had started to eat, she called her up and asked if she wanted lechon.
“She didn’t say no. Sometimes she would say ‘wag na wag na’ but this time, she didn’t say anything. So I brought her lechon. She prepared lunch for us in the house of Ballsy (Aquino Cruz, Cory’s eldest daughter),” Nonie said.
The former president was in a house dress when she welcomed Nonie.
“How do I look? How does your friend look?” Cory asked with a smile. Although she lost a lot of weight, she didn’t look weak, remembers Nonie.
Then Cory ‘s condition worsened and she fell into a coma.
Nonie said she visited Cory at the Makati Medical Center and held her frail hand to tell her she loved her.
Still, Nonie hoped for a a miracle especially after a text message announcing Aquino’s death turned out to be a false alarm.
Last Aug. 1, Nonie was at the Edsa Shangri-La when she received a text from the daughter of a friend who worked at Makati Medical Center that Cory had died.
It didn’t sink in immediately. She said she only cried when she saw Cory’s pictures and realized her friend was gone.
The next day, a Sunday, Nonie said she was shocked to receive a call from TV celebrity Boy Abunda who said the Aquino family had asked her to be one of the 19 close friends of Cory who would give a eulogy.
She was told to keep the speech within three minutes, to submit a draft at 4 p.m. on Monday and show up at the Manila Hotel coffee shop at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, two hours before the memorial service at the Manila Cathedral where Cory lay in state.
Nonie was able to finish her seven-paragraph speech near the deadline.
The 19 eulogy speakers met at the coffee shop where they were briefed. They had to bow first to the altar, go to the podium to speak and then return to their seat.
In her tribute, Nonie promised that Cory’s “children and grandchildren will always have a home and a family in Cebu.”
After her speech, Nonie said she could not help but speak privately to her departed friend.
more here: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/news/view/20090816-220567/Nonie-Uy-Corys-Cebuana-pal
Nonie Uy couldn’t sleep. The widow from Cebu City was just asked to be one of 19 speakers in the necrological rites for former president Corazon Aquino on Aug. 4, a day before Aquino’s burial at the Manila Memorial Park in Parañaque City.
It was an honor but Nonie was daunted by the task: how could she express in a three-minute speech how she loved and would miss the woman, an icon of democracy, whose simplicity and sincerity touched her life?
Their relationship started with their husbands, former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino and Cebu businessman Victor Uy in the 1960s.
In his bachelor days, Victor would drive Ninoy around Cebu whenever the senator was in town. Ninoy later stood as godfather in baptism to the Uy couple’s son.
The couple was later introduced to Cory by Nancy Cuenco, wife of now Cebu City South Dist. Rep. Antonio Cuenco, during the opening of a Ninoy Aquino memorabilia exhibit held in a university in Cebu.
Nancy was close to Cory as both were considered “congressional wives” of husbands who used to be members of the old Batasang Pambansa.
Victor asked Cory if she could be the godmother in the confirmation of their eldest son.
However, fate had other plans and anti-government protests intensified, leading to a bloodless people power revolt in 1986 that ousted president Ferdinand Marcos and installed Cory as the first female president of the Philippines.
When Victor repeated the family’s request through Nancy, the late president did something the couple did not expect.
She asked them to hold the confirmation, a Catholic sacrament for those who are baptized and have reached the age of reason, in the church near the Palace and to hold the reception in Malacañang.
The couple felt honored. “It was a very big thing for us,” said Nonie.
When Victor died in 1993 Cory, who was on her way to Rome, dropped by the wake in Cebu City to pay her respects.
“(It was) the turning point of my eternal gratitude for her. I was hers for life. I told her and everyone, it was like a 21-gun salute for a very simple albeit good man, my husband Victor,” she added.
When Cory received the Ramon Magsaysay award, Nonie was the only non-family member invited to the ceremony in Manila.
“When we were together, we did girl talk…more on chika. No politics, no hidden agenda. I never asked for anything. What we had was just friendship,” said Nonie.
Cory liked shopping for small, inexpensive trinkets - “butingting,” “borloloys”. Nonie once took her to a Japanese store that sold items for P50 and below.
Cory’s favorite dishes here were Cebu lechon (roast pig) and danggit (smoked fish).
Nonie would bring her lechon each time she visited Cory in her house on Times Street in Quezon City.
She said Cory tried to persuade her to try her new pastime, painting. When that didn’t prosper, Cory sent her paintings set in canvas, fans, bags and scarves which are all displayed in Uy’s modest home in barangay Mabolo, Cebu City.
She read in the newspapers that Cory was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer last year.
When she learned later that Cory had started to eat, she called her up and asked if she wanted lechon.
“She didn’t say no. Sometimes she would say ‘wag na wag na’ but this time, she didn’t say anything. So I brought her lechon. She prepared lunch for us in the house of Ballsy (Aquino Cruz, Cory’s eldest daughter),” Nonie said.
The former president was in a house dress when she welcomed Nonie.
“How do I look? How does your friend look?” Cory asked with a smile. Although she lost a lot of weight, she didn’t look weak, remembers Nonie.
Then Cory ‘s condition worsened and she fell into a coma.
Nonie said she visited Cory at the Makati Medical Center and held her frail hand to tell her she loved her.
Still, Nonie hoped for a a miracle especially after a text message announcing Aquino’s death turned out to be a false alarm.
Last Aug. 1, Nonie was at the Edsa Shangri-La when she received a text from the daughter of a friend who worked at Makati Medical Center that Cory had died.
It didn’t sink in immediately. She said she only cried when she saw Cory’s pictures and realized her friend was gone.
The next day, a Sunday, Nonie said she was shocked to receive a call from TV celebrity Boy Abunda who said the Aquino family had asked her to be one of the 19 close friends of Cory who would give a eulogy.
She was told to keep the speech within three minutes, to submit a draft at 4 p.m. on Monday and show up at the Manila Hotel coffee shop at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, two hours before the memorial service at the Manila Cathedral where Cory lay in state.
Nonie was able to finish her seven-paragraph speech near the deadline.
The 19 eulogy speakers met at the coffee shop where they were briefed. They had to bow first to the altar, go to the podium to speak and then return to their seat.
In her tribute, Nonie promised that Cory’s “children and grandchildren will always have a home and a family in Cebu.”
After her speech, Nonie said she could not help but speak privately to her departed friend.
more here: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/news/view/20090816-220567/Nonie-Uy-Corys-Cebuana-pal
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
God with us
a wonderful reflection by Fr. Randy Figuracion
It was my first time to see the original “Hapag ng Pag-asa” displayed in an exhibit at the Arts Center in SM Cebu. Joey Velasco, the artist behind this now famous painting, allowed it to be brought here along with several of his other obras for public viewing. Since he created it in 2005, Joey has drawn national attention with this art work depicting Jesus breaking bread with impoverished street children in a makeshift table in place of his apostles. The concept itself is unique. He says he did it for his children to remind them to count their blessings. Noticing that his children were wasting food and they were choosy in their meals, he wanted to give them a visual reminder that other children have little or nothing to eat at all. Such imagery in a 48 x 96-inch oil in canvas has become a real masterpiece in religious art. What started as a personal project has received national acclaim and more.
In some of his conferences, he shared that he did not receive formal art schooling but picked up his craft from many mentors as well as observing great painters like Amorsolo, Rembrandt or Juan Luna. It all started when he was stricken with a kidney ailment that led him to experience depression and darkness. He even prayed that God would throw him a rope; instead the Lord reached out through a paintbrush. Painting brought about his catharsis, leading him back to himself to see the light. Now he claims to have found new life and with it a new mission of putting his faith in canvas. He doesn’t call himself an artist but a “heartist” — an artist with a heart for the poor. In fact, he considers himself just a paintbrush being used by the Divine Artist to share in the power to create and bring about changes in society for the better. Many more paintings came thereafter including a book to explain the children of the “Hapag” entitled “They have Jesus.”
I learned two things from Joey’s paintings. First, I realize each person can make a difference. Every man or woman has the capacity to affect change whether one is a priest, a lay man, a sister, a housewife, an artist or an artisan. What is important is that one has the heart to do it. I watched with deep admiration the televised burial of former president Corazon C. Aquino last week. It was a historical funeral that merits the record as one of the longest and most attended in recent memory. Many compared it with that of her husband Ninoy in 1983 but with a poignant difference. While Ninoy’s internment was characterized by rage; Cory’s was an expression of love and gratitude. Listening to the praises and accolades heaped on her by those who knew her in life, I could only sigh and say that indeed honors simply fade away. Only the good that one did in one’s lifetime will ever remain. People stood under the rain to bid goodbye to Cory for making a difference in their lives.
In his own way, Joey’s painting have touched people’s lives. He makes use of the gift that God has given him to depict a haunting reality in our society. He is like a prophet conscienticizing us to become a Jesus for others. One of his recent paintings I saw is a Jesus seated on a bench while a poor boy washes his feet. And as one looks at the boy closer, his other leg is missing. The point is clear: even those who have less can serve and make a difference. Those who open themselves to help others always end up getting more than what they shared. They serve Jesus.
The second lesson I learned is to have hope always. The reason for this hope is because God is with us. In almost all of Joey’s paintings Jesus is always present. He is with street children, with farmers, with old men or those afflicted with down syndrome. Joey finds God in ordinary life experiences and sees God in people. These become for him a sacred encounter with the divine which he captures in his palette. One touching story he narrated was about a 2nd year college student who said she was an atheist. She was visiting his exhibit at the UST Fine Art Department and pointing to the “Hapag” she revealed “if that is what God is all about, then it has awakened a part of me.” Several months later, Joey got a note from her disclosing that she has already been baptized.
I am inspired by Joey’s art which he uses as a medium to teach and to challenge. As it teaches me to look at my life from the point of view of the Divine Artist to appreciate all the bright colors of my life, it also challenges me not to despair over my shadows. Everyone can find God in the most unexpected places in their lives and find hope. We know we are never truly alone. God is with us.
source here: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/opinion/view/20090816-220591/God-with-us
It was my first time to see the original “Hapag ng Pag-asa” displayed in an exhibit at the Arts Center in SM Cebu. Joey Velasco, the artist behind this now famous painting, allowed it to be brought here along with several of his other obras for public viewing. Since he created it in 2005, Joey has drawn national attention with this art work depicting Jesus breaking bread with impoverished street children in a makeshift table in place of his apostles. The concept itself is unique. He says he did it for his children to remind them to count their blessings. Noticing that his children were wasting food and they were choosy in their meals, he wanted to give them a visual reminder that other children have little or nothing to eat at all. Such imagery in a 48 x 96-inch oil in canvas has become a real masterpiece in religious art. What started as a personal project has received national acclaim and more.
In some of his conferences, he shared that he did not receive formal art schooling but picked up his craft from many mentors as well as observing great painters like Amorsolo, Rembrandt or Juan Luna. It all started when he was stricken with a kidney ailment that led him to experience depression and darkness. He even prayed that God would throw him a rope; instead the Lord reached out through a paintbrush. Painting brought about his catharsis, leading him back to himself to see the light. Now he claims to have found new life and with it a new mission of putting his faith in canvas. He doesn’t call himself an artist but a “heartist” — an artist with a heart for the poor. In fact, he considers himself just a paintbrush being used by the Divine Artist to share in the power to create and bring about changes in society for the better. Many more paintings came thereafter including a book to explain the children of the “Hapag” entitled “They have Jesus.”
I learned two things from Joey’s paintings. First, I realize each person can make a difference. Every man or woman has the capacity to affect change whether one is a priest, a lay man, a sister, a housewife, an artist or an artisan. What is important is that one has the heart to do it. I watched with deep admiration the televised burial of former president Corazon C. Aquino last week. It was a historical funeral that merits the record as one of the longest and most attended in recent memory. Many compared it with that of her husband Ninoy in 1983 but with a poignant difference. While Ninoy’s internment was characterized by rage; Cory’s was an expression of love and gratitude. Listening to the praises and accolades heaped on her by those who knew her in life, I could only sigh and say that indeed honors simply fade away. Only the good that one did in one’s lifetime will ever remain. People stood under the rain to bid goodbye to Cory for making a difference in their lives.
In his own way, Joey’s painting have touched people’s lives. He makes use of the gift that God has given him to depict a haunting reality in our society. He is like a prophet conscienticizing us to become a Jesus for others. One of his recent paintings I saw is a Jesus seated on a bench while a poor boy washes his feet. And as one looks at the boy closer, his other leg is missing. The point is clear: even those who have less can serve and make a difference. Those who open themselves to help others always end up getting more than what they shared. They serve Jesus.
The second lesson I learned is to have hope always. The reason for this hope is because God is with us. In almost all of Joey’s paintings Jesus is always present. He is with street children, with farmers, with old men or those afflicted with down syndrome. Joey finds God in ordinary life experiences and sees God in people. These become for him a sacred encounter with the divine which he captures in his palette. One touching story he narrated was about a 2nd year college student who said she was an atheist. She was visiting his exhibit at the UST Fine Art Department and pointing to the “Hapag” she revealed “if that is what God is all about, then it has awakened a part of me.” Several months later, Joey got a note from her disclosing that she has already been baptized.
I am inspired by Joey’s art which he uses as a medium to teach and to challenge. As it teaches me to look at my life from the point of view of the Divine Artist to appreciate all the bright colors of my life, it also challenges me not to despair over my shadows. Everyone can find God in the most unexpected places in their lives and find hope. We know we are never truly alone. God is with us.
source here: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/opinion/view/20090816-220591/God-with-us
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