Endaya notes that nothing has really changed: The situation repeats itself…While technology has changed from prerecorded messages in cassette tapes to today’s instantaneous text messages and video calls through smartphones, the materialism continues. OFWs shower their children with expensive goods like Nike shoes to make up for their absence; the children have lost affection and nurturance.

Retaining its Filipino spirit, Philippine Art Deco is characterized with “an eclectic and hybrid interpretation” of traditional motifs integrated with the international style of Art Deco. Using stylized tropical flora such as bamboo, coconut tree, mangoes, bananas, sampaguita, as well as Mindanao’s okir designs, capiz shells, and indigenous textile patterns provided a rich overlay of forms and textures.

MSO Executive Director Jeffrey Solares hopes that in the coming years the government will finally lend its support to the orchestra. “The letters are in their archives,” he said, referring to the MSO’s unanswered messages to the government asking for help and sent as far back as the 1950s.