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
Saturday, October 31, 2009
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
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