Archive - Arts & Culture

By PABLO A. TARIMAN INDEED, Tondo has many faces but what you see in media and past film releases will probably discourage anyone not to visit the place. For one, it is the birthplace of the country’s foremost revolutionary, Andres Bonifacio, National Artist for Theater Rolando Tinio, the King of Comedy Dolphy and Filipino writer

By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS                        WHEN God blessed the earth, he must have been standing near and facing Palawan because the province is so rich in natural resources and possesses spectacular sceneries – on the ground, underground, on the water, underwater. In the northern part of Palawan is El Nido, a municipality of almost 40,000

  By ELIZABETH LOLARGA Photos courtesy of JAYSON FAJARDA, PAOLO GONZALES and ROUELLE UMALI The people behind the non-profit organization Sinag are not altruistic millionaires. They work hard like any Juan but still passionately pursue their goal of providing a beam of hope to financially struggling students who are pursuing their dream of finishing college.

  By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS Photos and video by MARIO IGNACIO IV and MARIO I. ESPINOSA THE amazing thing about yoga is that you are empowering yourself without being conscious that that is what you are doing. Yoga instructor Jasper Colina, who just opened OM Yoga Studio in Parañaque (he also teaches yoga at Fitness

  Text and photos by ELIZABETH LOLARGA MUSEUMS can no longer just be glorified warehouses or store rooms of musty artifacts, art and historical fragments. Nor must they just be tourist and education field trip destinations anymore. Like artists and poets, they seek a more engaged connection with the public. Lopez Museum and Library is

  By KIMMY BARAOIDAN Photos by CHRIS QUINTANA and KIMMY BARAOIDAN A boy scribbled on a bench while volunteer parents clean the school surroundings. Clad in blue and armed with hoes and broomsticks, parents together with students , teachers, school officials, parents, and other volunteers gathered at the Nicolas L. Galvez Memorial National High School

  By PABLO A. TARIMAN SOME untold stories of filmmaker Lino Brocka before he became National Artist for Film are indeed the stuff of legend. He was virtually in all protest rallies. His house was almost always full of hungry peasants from Samar to the consternation of his mother. He fought endless battles with shameless

   Text and photos by ELIZABETH LOLARGA CORAZON Gaufo Patarata could have risen to the rank of ambassador extraordinary or retired with a similar magisterial title in recognition of her skills, hard work, sacrifice, her having imbibed what true public service meant. She retired at age 49 in 2006 as minister counsellor, the second highest

 By DIANA G. MENDOZA    DOLZURA. Esther. Kathy. Sarah Jane. The country’s first reported case of AIDS in 1984 was an unidentified male, but by this list of names alone, it was the females who gave a public face to HIV and AIDS in the Philippines. The first wave of HIV infections recorded in the

  By COOPER RESABAL MARIBOJOC, Bohol – A community-based tourism program has become a rehabilitation alternative for a village that was severely damaged by the October 15, 2013 earthquake in the tourist island of Bohol in the central Philippines. Barely six months after the 7.2 intensity tremor that damaged many structures, including houses and century-old

  Text and photos by CHERRY JOY VENILES RAINS  have started to come, signaling the end of summer, but that didn’t stop the holding of the Santacruzans as culminating event of Flores de Mayo. Sagat, in the working class district of Paco, Manila, was vibrant last Sunday with the holding of the annual Santacruzan. Flores

    By PATRICK KING PASCUAL AS of May this year, 966 Filipinos have already died of AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) since 1984. To remember those who had passed on because of the AIDS pandemic, members of the people living with human immunodeficiency virus (PLHIV) community and support groups, organizations and foundations held a candlelight

    By KIMMY BARAOIDAN Photos by CHRIS QUINTANA and KIMMY BARAOIDAN FAITH and mysticism are deeply embedded in the daily life in Dolores, Quezon, a quaint village at the foot of Mt. Banahaw. Where the concrete road ends is a flea market where, aside from farm produce, one finds fascinating items: stones and tree

  By ELIZABETH LOLARGA PIANIST Albert Tiu had a lot of practicing to do at the time of this interview, and yet he still managed to send his detailed words on his life. It is a full, hectic life where he can be called on to be at any given time a solo performer, chamber

 TEXT AND PHOTOS BY REYNARD MAGTOTO “WITHOUT this, maybe it will be too hard for me to provide food for my family since I don’t have any better job,” Delma Loveres said as she took the two pinurons  alternately inserted in the threads in the wooden handloom to demonstrate how to weave an exquisite placemat. She

      By NORMAN SISON FIRST and foremost, the museum exhibit is about the corporate history of a Spanish cigar company that brought Philippine cigars to the world. But the exhibit about Compañia General de Tabacos de Filipinas can also be seen as a reminiscing into the glory days when Philippine cigars rivaled Cuban

  By PABLO A. TARIMAN THE recently-concluded international tourism convention in Albay has once more spotlighted the need for disaster-prone countries to draw up alternative ways of promoting tourism even as they are constantly threatened by effects of climate change. It could not have been held in a more appropriate venue. Albay bore the brunt

By PATRICK KING PASCUAL A different kind of santacruzan was held recently in Quezon City. It was different not only because the participants were transgenders from different organizations from all over the country but also because it had the full support of the local government. Called the trans-santacruzan (transgender santacruzan), the May 18 event was

  By PABLO A. TARIMAN LOVE teams in Philippine movies mean a lot to producers and audiences. For the producers, a good love team can translate into box office hits. A successful pair can translate into more following and for the stars, it means more commercial endorsements. According to movie chronicler Mario Bautista, love teams

  By MELISSA LUZ LOPEZ Photos by MARIO IGNACIO IV IN 2008, athlete Marilou Deniega competed in the ASEAN Paralympic Games held in Thailand. She played boccia, a ball sport designed for persons with cerebral palsy. Deniega, a first timer in the Para Games, failed to bring home a medal, having trained for only a

    By KIMMY BARAOIDAN Photos by CHRIS QUINTANA and KIMMY BARAOIDAN THE quiet town of Sariaya in the province Quezon becomes chaotic every 15th of May, when everybody becomes children again scrambling for Heaven’s bounty laid out all over the place. Aptly called Agawan (from the word agaw which means grab) festival, the annual

  By ELIZABETH LOLARGA THE lessons that nonagenarian Jean McGarvin de Vera preaches to this day from her kitchen in Baguio City are simple: ·       Cooking is quotidian, use your common sense. ·       Cooking is nurturing, more than just feeding. ·       Cooking is compassion. ·       Cooking is an art. This lady’s precious, colorful life is

  By MITCH MEÑEZ Photos by LITTLE WING LUNA The lights were dim. The bluish white hue of incandescent bulbs cast a bluesy feel to the place. The Bar1951 in M. Adriatico St. in Malate, Manila on a Friday night usually brings in a lot of teenagers and expats looking for a different night out.

  Text and photos by ELIZABETH LOLARGA SOMETHING about painter Kelly Ramos’s story about her return to painting after years of suburban housewifery reminds one of the lyrics from Swing Out Sister’s hit “Breakout”: “Tomorrow looks unsure / Don’t leave your destiny to chance / What are you waiting for? / The time has come

  By PABLO A. TARIMAN THE ongoing Sarung Banggi Festival Festival in Sto. Domingo, Albay features song and dance offerings, culinary treats focusing on the different uses of malunggay, band concerts and the inevitable bikini competition that has become a hallmark of festivities this side of Albay. But the focus remains the same and that

By MARIAH NICOLE SANTUICO WHILE children his age were busy watching television, this 7-year-old would instead be tuned into the radio. There was no TV set in his home in Bataan.  So he killed time listening intently to the range of voices, especially of radio news broadcasters and drama talents, coming out of the small box.

PABLO A. TARIMAN On her birthday (May 11),  Cecile Licad was working  for her recital in Portland on May 16, where she has prepared a unique and adventurous program. The celebrated pianist’s vast interpretative power will see her perform 19th and early 20th century works by American and European composers Mason, Gottschalk, MacDowell, Ornstein, Busoni

By DARLENE CAY FOR persons with disabilities (PWDs) and their parents, 67-year-old Jean Gonzales is one mother whose dedication not only to her son but also other children with disabilities is unsurpassed. Gonzales has without fail been helping families cope with disabilities for more than a decade through the Philippine Association of Citizens with Developmental

  By PABLO A. TARIMAN THE fate of historic El Hogar Building in Binondo, the few remaining months of Philamlife Theater, the nomination of Cagsawa Ruins in the UNESCO heritage list are just some of heritage subjects that come to mind as the country observes National Heritage Month with assorted programs all over the country.

  By PABLO A. TARIMAN THERE will be renewed interest on President Obama’s persona when he sets foot in Philippine soil for the first time today. Manila is Obama’s last stop in this Asian trip which also covered Japan, South Korea, and Malaysia. In 2010, Obama visited India, Indonesia (where he spent the first four