Matigsalugs embrace digital way of learning, keep traditions alive

Press release

[28  September 2018] Members of Davao City’s Matigsalug tribe now have a smart and innovative way of preserving their culture and enhancing their next generation’s literacy—the Matigsalug app.

A first of its kind in the Philippines, the recently launched mobile application that promotes basic literacy in the Matigsalug language is a project of PLDT wireless unit Smart Communications.

The mobile app has interactive features that teach users to read, write and recite the tribal alphabet. It also teaches word association and how to count in Matigsalug. Moreover, it lets users sing along to Matigsalug songs for children.

It also features tribal dances and chants. The app is now available for free download on Android devices.

Datu Robert Siawan of the Matigsalug tribe in Sitio Contract expressed gratitude to the people behind the project as it helps in addressing their problem of keeping their culture and traditions alive.

“We are more than thankful that we are chosen as the tribe beneficiary of this project. It is also a way of enhancing learning and promoting our tribe’s culture to the rest of the world,” he said in vernacular during the app’s launching at Datu Salumay, Marilog District, Davao City.

Traditionally, elders write down their history and traditions in a logbook, and then let their young tribe members read it. Siawan shared that the app is an effective way of capturing today’s generation’s attention to learning, as the traditional way is becoming less appealing to the youth.

“There is really a need to put extra effort in promoting our culture so that it can be passed on to the next generation. This app can be very helpful to our tribe members, especially to the youth, to appreciate their heritage. People who want to learn our culture can also use this app,” Siawan added.

To provide access to the newly launched app, Smart also donated tablets for use of the community.

Among the Matigsalugs who tested the app is Peter A. Gulam, a grade six pupil at the Pamulaan Center for Indigenous People’s (IP) Education.

Peter sees the app as a more fun yet informative way of learning.

“Nalingaw ko sa app, daghan koy matun-an didto, naenjoy nako ang mga videos labi na tong gapakita sa among tribu (The app is fun. I can learn a lot from it. I enjoyed most those videos featuring our tribe),” the young Matigsalug shared.

“Importante na mismo makabalo ta sa atongkultura og mugamit ta sa atong pinulungan, para bisan asa ka maabot dili nimo malimtan imong gigikanan, dapat imong ipasigarbo bisan asa ka muadto (As a Matigsalug, it is important that we understand our culture and we speak our language. By knowing and practicing your own culture, you can always remember your roots and be proud of it, no matter where fate will take you),” he added.

Studies show that children learn better when they are taught using their mother tongue, and when they are given access to digital learning tools and content. It is for this reason that Smart has partnered with local communities, government units, schools, advocacy and developers to create literacy apps that aid in the improvement of literacy and interest in learning.

For the Matigsalug app, Smart partnered with members of the Matigsalug tribe in Sitio Contract in Davao City, as well as with the Pamulaan Center for IP Education for the provision of content. ACLC College of General Santos City and Davao City and Skeptron Business Solutions helped with the animation and digitization of content.

“Finally, after over a year we already launched this project. It really takes a community to raise a child and we want to express our gratitude to all our partners for making this possible.  After this, we will be launching similar apps for the B’laan, Tagakaolo, and T’boli tribes,” said Smart public affairs head for community partnerships Darwin Flores.

ACLC Gensan and Davao president Maya Cartojano, for her part, said they are fully committed to expand the reach of the project.  Apart from helping the beneficiaries, she said, it also helps boost the animation industry in the country.

Smart has already launched literacy apps in Cebuano and Arabic, and is currently working on a similar app for Ilokano, Kapampangan, Waray, Chavacano, and the B’laan, T’boli, and Tagakaulo IP languages.

PETA LAUNCHES “STAGE OF THE NATION” CAMPAIGN

Press release

QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES – After celebrating its golden anniversary and the milestone of receiving a Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2017, the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) welcomes its 51^st theater season with another breakthrough.

From September 2018-June 2019, PETA devotes all aspects of its artistic and teaching practice to “Stage of the Nation”, a creative campaign that hopes to utilize the arts and engage artists to contribute to the discourses that concern our nation.

PETA has always harnessed the power of the arts to capture the imagination, shape opinion and provoke feelings that could transform and affect change. “The arts, specially theater, can tell stories, make us understand history and our past. It can communicate and educate, bring people together, inspire and heal,” shares PETA executive director, Beng Cabangon in an interview. 

Given the political, economic and social challenges that have divided the country, PETA has dedicated all its performances, programs, activities and workshops to break barriers between creed, colors, labels and stereotypes, and to move audiences to reflect, think, speak.

PETA artistic director, Maribel Legarda, known for creating plays like “Rak of Aegis” which are not only wildly entertaining but also thought provoking, believes that art can be a platform for meaningful conversations and discussions. “That is why, all our shows this year will be followed by debriefings. Some of them have also been designed to be coupled with workshops that can happen in the schools and communities,” she says.

PETA’s 51^st theater season line up is composed of three returning shows and one new musical that aims to tackle pressing social and political issues in typical PETA fashion. “A lot of the chosen productions will talk about the themes of truth, historical revisionism, human rights and EJK, martial law, the elections and people’s participation,” says Legarda.

From September 28 to October 7, PETA brings back “Ang Buhay ni Galileo” which serves as a clear and powerful interrogation of truth and power, followed by a short run and a mobile tour of “A Game of Trolls” in October, a musical piece for millennials about fake news, martial law and EJK. By November, PETA presents another installment of the PETA Laboratory featuring new and original works devised by its members. It also welcomes the return of its enchanting musical for young audiences “Tagu-taguan Nasaan ang Buwan?” a play that illustrates how storytelling can enrich a child’s understanding of the world. In the early half of 2019, PETA premieres a new production “Charot”, a political satire about the future of our country under a new chapter.

PETA will also host special performances and events like Jon Santos’ political spoof “Trumperte”, Dulaang UP’s “The Kundiman Party”, Third World Improv Theater’s “Manila Improv Festival 2019”, the 5^th year anniversary show of Words Anonymous, the popular spoken word group, and a “Human Rights Film Festival” in March, which will surely liven up the conversations with the audiences even more.

Also part of the line up is the reunion concert and album launch of the band Buklod, composed of members Noel Cabangon, Rom Dongeto, and Rene Boncocan, who were known in the 80’s for songs like “Tatsulok”, “Kanlungan”, “Pagbabagong Nagbabago”, songs which were inspired by the lives, struggles, and aspirations of Filipinos.

Despite its busy show calendar, PETA will still offer its year-round workshops. This includes the Workshop Weekends from January to March 2019, which allows creative break for young professionals, and its annual Summer Workshop for children, teens, and adults from April to June 2019. Apart from learning about theater, the participants are encouraged to tackle the issues and themes that are in line with the “Stage of the Nation” campaign.

 Transformative Art

PETA will also launch two new programs that will work directly with schools and communities: Rehearsing Democracy & Resiliency as well as Arts Ed Matters. 

“For Arts Ed, we are working with 6-8 universities all over the country, helping develop their theater groups towards coming up with original productions that are relevant to young people,” Cabangon shares.

For its Rehearsing Democracy & Resiliency program, PETA will be working with some of the most vulnerable communities affected by the War on Drugs, such as urban poor communities in Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas and Manila. Cabangon adds, “The main purpose of this program is to use the arts as a means of psychosocial processing. We are there to assist the families and communities that have been left behind, to help them process what they have been through, and help them regain their strength as a community”.

Apart from these two new programs, PETA’s Arts Zone Program which focuses on children’s rights, safety and participation will continue to promote positive discipline as an alternative to corporal punishment through its partnerships with schools and communities in Metro Manila.

According to Artistic Director Maribel Legarda, “Stage of the Nation” aims to bring two of the things that PETA does really well, which is teaching and performing. “We are going to bring those two experiences together, in the hopes that this interaction with the arts can make a more powerful experience for our audiences and participants,” she says. 

Legarda likens theater to reality, “It’s like what Shakespeare said, ‘the world is a stage’, and in that stage, all kinds of stories can happen. As actors, we are lucky because we get the chance to perform many characters and be different things. We have a chance to learn, to change, to look at the world in different ways, to perform it and interpret it for others.”

PETA calls all artists, young people and the public to join the campaign. Everyone is invited to enter the stage, to take a role, and to make a better history for our nation!

For more information about PETA’s “Stage of the Nation”, contact PETA at (02) 726-6244 or email petafr@petatheater.com, petatheater@gmail.com. Follow PETA on social media: www.facebook.com/PETATHEATER, @petatheater on Twitter and Instagram.

CCP restages show on Filipino poet Jose Corazon de Jesus

Press release

CCP restages show on Filipino poet Jose Corazon de Jesus

THE Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) restages the production of “Ang Pagbabalik-Tanaw sa Unang Hari ng Balagtasan” on September 21, 22, and 23, 2018 at the Tanghalang Huseng Batute following the success of the first show in May 2018 and to celebrate the Center’s 49^th anniversary in September.

“Ang Pagbabalik-Tanaw sa Unang Hari ng Balagtasan” celebrates the life and works of Jose Corazon de Jesus. Huseng Batute is one of his many pen names. The CCP named its studio theater Tanghalang Huseng Batute after the great Filipino writer. He was born on November 22, 1894 and passed on on May 26, 1932. He was married to Asuncion Lacdan and had three children: Teresa, Rogelio, and Jose Corazon de Jesus, Jr.

“By honoring the past, the show shines a light on the beginnings of the popular Original Pilipino Music (OPM) love songs and rap battles – the kundiman and the Balagtasan. The show is also reminiscent of the sarsuwela where contemporary issues that deal with the political and personal are presented,” Arsenio J. Lizaso, president of the CCP, said.

“Ang Pagbabalik-Tanaw sa Unang Hari ng Balagtasan” features the songs and poems of De Jesus performed by the Philippine Opera Company (POC), the Tanghalang Pilipino Actors Company, the Lipa Actors Company (LAC) led by founder Luisito Nario, and ventriloquist Ony Carcamo. Vim Nadera is one of the hosts of the show. The production is directed by Ian Lomongo.

De Jesus was a consummate artist. As a writer, he wrote more than 4,000 columns for the Taliba newspaper written in verse form in a span of 10 years. He used the pen name Huseng Batute for his Buhay-Maynila column in Taliba. He has six (6) published books, namely, Mga Dahong Ginto, Gloria, Mga Itinapon ng Kapalaran, Sa Dakong Silangan,Ilaw sa Kapitbahay, and Maruming Basahan.

De Jesus, who studied music under the Opera Italyana director Enrico Renieri, was a lyricist and collaborated with many composers of his time such as Francisco Santiago, Leon Ignacio, and Constancio de Guzman. One of the more famous songs he penned from De Guzman’s composition was the translation of “Nuestra Patria” to “Bayan Ko”. “Bayan Ko” is considered as the second (unofficial) national anthem of the country.

De Jesus stood out as a performer. He held the undefeated title of “Hari ng Balagtasan” until his death in 1932, beating his closest contender Florentino Collantes. The Balagtasan is a Filipino literary form of debate where opposing participants use unrehearsed rhymed verses to prove their respective viewpoints. The rap battles of today trace their roots to the Balagtasan.

His immense popularity in the Balagtasan led to a movie invitation in Oriental Blood where he acted with Atang dela Rama, Carmen Rosales, and his son Jose Corazon de Jesus, Jr. 

The September 21 show of the “Ang Pagbabalik-Tanaw sa Unang Hari ng Balagtasan” starts at 7:00 p.m. and ends at 8:30 p.m. The September 22 and September 23 shows run from 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tanghalang Huseng Batute is the venue for the three (3) shows. Tickets are at P1,000 and P800 with a 50% discount for students, Persons with Disabilities (PWD), Senior Citizens, and government personnel. For ticket information, please call the CCP Box Office at 832-3706 or log on to ticketworld.com.ph.

DHL Express teams up with M Lhuillier to offer greater accessibility and convenience

Press release

Manila, Philippines, Sept.7, 2018: DHL Express, the world’s leading international express services provider teams up with M Lhuillier Financial Services Inc., the country’s leading money remittance service to further strengthen the connection between the local and global markets.

(From left) Leovir Solomon (Division Manager, M Lhuillier), Michael Lhuillier (President and CEO, M Lhuillier), Nurhayati Abdullah (Country Manager, DHL Express Philippines), Emil Dabuet (Retail Manager, DHL Express Philippines)    

Starting from September 15, 2018, 172 selected M Lhuillier branches around the country will offer DHL Express services. This is in addition to the existing 207 DHL Express retail branches in the Philippines.

“We are excited about the possibilities with this new partnership,” said Nurhayati Abdullah, Country Manager of DHL Express Philippines. “The vast retail network of M Lhuillier will allow DHL Express to extend our reach to untapped areas in the Philippines. This will help micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) based in rural provinces gain access to the international market and provide convenience to Filipinos connecting with family members working abroad.”

In line with DHL’s aim to connect people and improve lives and M Lhuillier’s slogan of “Tulay ng paMLyang Pilipino,” the partnership aims to strengthen both organizations’ commitment to enable Filipinos, especially overseas Filipino workers, to stay connected to their families anywhere in the world.

At M Lhuillier we are eager to find services and solutions that help our customers get ahead in life. A strategic alliance with DHL Express, will now add logistics services to our extensive branch network, as we strive to link our Kababayans with the rest of the world.” said Michael Lhuillier, President and CEO of M Lhuillier.

Ballet Philippines Opens Its 49th Season With A Full House For Alice Reyes’ Carmina Burana

Press release

Friday night traffic didn’t stop patrons of dance and budding lovers of the performance arts from heading to the Cultural Center of The Philippines to catch the opening of Ballet Philippines’Carmina Burana. Choreographed by the company’s artistic director and National Artist for Dance Alice Reyes to the music of Carl Orff, the performance returned to the CCP stage that night after 15 long years.

 

Photo by Trixie Dauz

With several iterations and tweaks from the original piece, this year’s Carmina Burana proved a powerful performance that set the tone for an equally impactful 49^th season for the country’s premiere dance company. The gala saw a full house that was in for an enhanced dance experience that only Ballet Philippines could bring to its audiences.

 

Decision makers of the business sector, dignitaries, philanthropists, patrons of the arts and the city’s well-heeled gathered at the lounge pre-show to enjoy fine wines and delectable canapes from Bizu. There were also new faces among audiences whose developing interest and appreciation for dance was sparked by news that Carmina Burana would be an experience not to be missed. For this young hipster set, Friday night at the ballet revealed itself to be ta fitting prelude to a weekend well spent.

 

Of all the faces in the crowd, it was the large group of officers from the Philippine Air Force that turned heads. Men in uniform accompanied by their wives and children took the time out from their schedules to enjoy an evening of exceptional dance. If anything, the audience that Ballet Philippines drew over the weekend was indication that Philippines dance (not just ballet) is alive—and thriving!

Ballet Philippines Chairman Antonio O. Cojuangco welcomed guests before the curtains went up. In his opening remarks he said, “For a piece of such monumental and epic proportions to be produced, it takes vast resources, experience and a company of such caliber as Ballet Philippines. It also demands the genius of a National Artist for Dance like Alice Reyes to choreograph something as powerful and riveting.”

 

From the time the lights dimmed at around 8PM till the last phrases of Carmina Burana’s O Fortunawere sang, audiences were captivated. They were immersed in a full sensorial explosion, as live music by the ABS CBN Philharmonic Orchestra and The Philippine Madrigal Singers surrounded them. The visual delight of bodies dancing in perfect unison against a backdrop of moving rock formations designed by National Artist Salvador Bernal kept everyone’s eyes glued to the stage.

 

As the curtains rolled down, audiences stood and cheered for the performers whose hard work made the momentous evening possible. The applause was also thunderous as beloved maestro Gerard Salonga and the woman-of-the-hour Alice Reyes took their bows. Capping off the night with a sweet ending, audiences were also treated to rich chocolates from as they poured back into the lobby.

It was late by the time the crowd fully dispersed outside the main theater. Crowds waited at the lobby to greet the company as they descended the grand stairs of the CCP. Photos were snapped, some by them by beautiful floral arrangement by Love Garden. Others with their favorite beacons of the arts—Maestro Ryan Cayabyab, National Artist for Literature and Ramon Magsaysay Awardee Bienvenido Lumbera, to name a few. And as the enhanced ballet experience came to an end, plans were made to catch the next grand performance from Ballet Philippines:  Carmen and Other Dances.

For more information, images or video, please email us at our Publicity Team. We would be delighted to hear from you! Thank you again for your continued support and we look forward to seeing you in October!