Archive - Arts & Culture

Video by LUCILLE SODIPE, Unlimited Productions, Inc. BLIND voter and party-list candidate Michael Barredo got a taste of the obstacles that persons with disability (PWDs) had to overcome just to be able to cast their votes last May 13. Despite a resolution by the Commission on Elections to make PWD voting centers accessible, Barredo, guided

  By NORMAN SISON IT was not your usual errand. Several days ago, the head of the security force tasked with protecting President Aquino, toured a small three-storey plant in a Manila suburb that manufactures M4 assault rifles, the standard battle rifle of the US Army. In April, United Defense Manufacturing Corporation sent a letter

By PABLO A. TARIMAN BATTERED by typhoons, ruled by two generations of politicians and largely influenced by the Church which has lured  many a young islander to take up priesthood for many decades, Catanduanes – the 12th largest island in the country — now wears a proud face with its sons and daughters making their

  By ELIZABETH LOLARGA Photos courtesy of AZE ONG SHE is not that traditional craftswoman doing crochet while on a rocking chair with the television set on. She does not follow a pattern from a catalogue. Free-spirited Aze Ong is moved by the light that falls on colors and makes them vibrate. From there she

  By PABLO A. TARIMAN CHAMBER music enthusiasts will have another special treat when Singapore-based Filipino pianist Albert Tiu teams up with Belgian clarinetist  Marcel Luxen Saturday, June 1 at the Ayala Museum courtesy of the MCO Foundation. A highlight of the recital is the performance of Brahms sonata Op. 120 for  clarinet and piano,

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL                                                                                          PERHAPS for breaking a world record, she has already found the answer to every jigsaw puzzle ever made. But Georgina Gil-Lacuna has one more left unresolved: the puzzle of time. And she likes it that way. Sharp enough to be the world’s fastest jigsaw puzzle maker, the 61-year-old retired businesswoman

(Photos sourced from Carlos Celdran) By MATTHEW REYSIO-CRUZ THE whole nation wondered who he was. Sporting a black overcoat and top hat, performer and tourist guide Carlos Celdran stood before a group of bishops at the Manila Cathedral in September 2010 holding up a sign with one simple, familiar word: Damaso. It was a reference

By LEAN CARLO MACOTO LIKE the vast majority of Filipino men, Raymund Nanos is a huge basketball fan. His favorite sport is basketball. His favorite pastime is watching basketball. Those who don’t know him would probably think he plays ball at the court around the corner. In his purple shirt, walking shorts and flip-flops, he

  Text and photos by ELIZABETH LOLARGA IT is apropos that a café founded by artists, writers and other individuals who operate outside society’s margins should mark its 25th year as a now respected Baguio institution with music, poetry and a satirical monologue aimed at the foibles of the city’s bigwigs. Capping a week of

  By PABLO A. TARIMAN BICOL composer Potenciano Gregorio– who penned the famous Bicol love song, “Sarung Banggi”–  turns 133 on Saturday (May 18) with a festival carrying the name of his composition. But his famous love song has two birth dates: one placed at 1897 when Gregorio was just 17. But in a research

  By LEILANIE G. ADRIANO AT the warehouse of  farmer Ricardo Tolentino in Laoag, Ilocos Norte are the  sweetest and juiciest mangoes, courtesy of a hot water treatment developed at  the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU). The technology  was the  answer to the problem of mango growers in the Northern Philippines who have been have

  BY PABLO A. TARIMAN THE First Lady of Philippine Theater, Daisy Hontiveros-Avellana, made her last true-to-life stage exit on a Mother’s Day, May 12. She was 96. Those who missed her prime as a stage actress should turn to her autobiography, “The Drama of It: A Life on Film and Theater.” The book reveals

Editorial cartoon by JB URIETA Text by LUZ RIMBAN The May 2013 Election Circus has left town but failed to bring its garbage with it. Mornings after E-day, the Metro Manila Development Authority in the capital, and policemen, soldiers and ordinary citizens elsewhere, scraped walls and billboards, cleaning up what MMDA chair Francis Tolentino called

  By PABLO A. TARIMAN CHANNEL 7 was running its landmark teleserye, “Bayan Ko” on the day of the elections. With reports of rampant vote-buying and the  proliferation of political dynasties being aired in almost all the media outlets, “Bayan Ko” is indeed —  as the news cliché goes —  as timely as today’s headlines.

By MYLENE LISONDRA CEBU City— Disability is not a hindrance. That has been Arleigh Sitoy’s mantra for the past five years. He proved that once again after winning a fresh term as member of the provincial board of Cebu’s 6th district in Monday’s elections. Sitoy is a person with disability (PWD). Because of a stroke

By ELIZABETH LOLARGA FAR from being “a chromosome accident,” a child with Down syndrome is not Nature’s mistake. And it is likewise futile for a parent to wallow in guilt and endless self-blame or ask “What did I do wrong?” Malu Tiongson-Ortiz, author of Embracing God’s Purpose for My Special Child (OMF Literature Inc.) drew

By PABLO A. TARIMAN Mall photos by ELOISA VISTAN WHEN Cecile Licad agreed to perform in a Makati shopping mall last Friday in her bid to reach out to new audiences, the first concern was how to get the best piano available. The first offered to her was a reconditioned white Steinway grand but the

By ELIZABETH LOLARGA SHE was everybody’s “Ayi”, a Chinese word for “aunt” that stuck to her at the height of the anti-Marcos dictatorship years when she was considered a rallying symbol. She was a vocal champion of human rights, especially those of political prisoners, children, women and other vulnerable sectors. One of her grandchildren, Machel,

Text by MELISSA LUZ LOPEZ Audio slideshow by DANIEL ABUNALES AND MELISSA LUZ LOPEZ IT wasn’t just another concert. Aimed at increasing the participation of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Monday’s elections, the Rock for a Fully Abled Nation concert held May 6 at the Eastwood City featured PWD performers and was accompanied by a

By DARLENE CAY EVER wondered about the artists responsible for such popular animés as Dragonball, Sailormoon and Slam Dunk? Filipinos would be surprised to know that those artists are not only their countrymen but persons with disabilities (PWDs) at that. Filipino PWDs are taking Asia by storm at Take One Animation Studio, which prefers to

By EIMOR SANTOS BALIUAG, Bulacan—Frederico “Debong” Palines, was one of thousands who swarmed the Labor Day job fair at the SM Mall in Baliuag recently. But he was not there to look for a job. He went to see his work displayed during the job fair, which was made more colorful by his paintings. Forty-eight

  By PABLO A. TARIMAN CELEBRATED pianist Cecile Licad turns a year older on May 11 coping with varied recital and orchestral program that give her very little time to relax and  reflect on both her personal and musical life. She will observe her special day with her family in Manila while glued on the

  By PATRICK KING PASCUAL THERE is no lack of enlightened politicians who support the cause of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT). But not many dare to come out in the open about it. For most politicians, supporting the cause of LGBT could spell suicide for their political career.  “When other politicians learn

  By PABLO A. TARIMAN FILIPINO tenor Arthur Espiritu – last heard as Cassio in a recent Modena production of Otello – triumphed anew as Prince Ramiro in Rossini’s Le Cenerentola mounted by Pittsburgh Opera last week of April to early May this year. A Pittsburgh critic’s verdict:” Tenor Arthur Espiritu was superb as Don

  JOY, 59 By ALEX MAGNO,The Philippine Star I first ran into Joy de los Reyes over four decades ago, when barricades rose and the streets were on fire. We were combatants, members of what were called “composite teams,” militants expected to hold the line against police charges to protect the main formation of demonstrators.

By HAZEL P. VILLA WHEN high school teacher Mary Rose Adelle Pacificar left Iloilo City in the Philippines in June last year to be a foreign language assistant in a university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, she never imagined herself becoming a watercolor artist as well. While working as the first Foreign Language Teaching

By PABLO A. TARIMAN IN this intimate concert at the UP Abelardo Hall, the audience was still in a trance after listening to baritone Noel Azcona’s interpretation of  Ibert’s art songs. When flutist John Raymond Sarreal came in for Chaminade’s Concertino, Op. 107, there was another hush in the audience as a refreshing melody all

By DARLENE CAY and MELISSA LUZ LOPEZ Photos by MARIO IGNACIO IV UNLIKE most kids his age, Fers Roma has long since outgrown his fear of needles and doctors. “Alam na niya. Sanay na siya. Hindi na siya naiiyak (He understands it. He is already used to it. He doesn’t even cry anymore),” said Aling

By VINCE NONATO Photos by DANIEL ABUNALES She’s been housekeeper for 23 years, but for the first time this year Gigi Sacare might just be receiving benefits on top of her pay. Sacare, 35, migrated from Davao to Metro Manila and has been working as a domestic helper since she was 12. Today, May 1,

Text and videos by DANIEL ABUNALES CAGAYAN DE ORO City – Come April, blackboards are clean, desks are well-arranged, classrooms are left empty. But not in a school in Balulang, a village some 7 kms away that is still reeling from a terrible tragedy. For five full days in April, the sound of drumbeats and