October 16 - 31, 2018
OPINION
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY
Rey Fortaleza - Publisher
Carlito Pablo - Editorial Consultant
Rosette Correa - Senior Editor
Jun Cordero - Associate Editor
Writers - Crisanta Sampang ; Columnists - Geoff Meggs, Ben Berto, Editha Corrales, Mon
Datol, Fr. Jerry Orbos SVD, DeeDee Sytangco, Alan Samuel, Erie Maestro, Sandee M.
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Breaking
Point
By Rosette Correa
When a group of people come
together with one purpose and one
vision, it is the most beautiful thing.
We live in a world where division
seems to be the order of the day,
and individualism is a mark of every
politically correct statement made to
deny people’s rights to be heard and
to be considered by the so-called
“popular voice”. In the background,
though, there are people who are
actually making a difference in
this world, for people both here in
Canada, and thousands of kilometers
away in the arid plains of Burundi, or
the poverty-stricken slums of Calcutta
and Manila, even while they are in
Vancouver, simply with the gift of
song.
Right Here Write Now! The
Musical, is an original musical play
penned in 2012 by then fifteen year-
old Mikey Jose and his nineteen year-
old sister, Tricia, with the prodding of
their parents Liza and RJ, to replace
the originally selected Magsimula Ka!
because of the challenging task of
finding performers from Vancouver
who could speak and sing fluently
in Tagalog. The objective was to
raise money for an Answering the
Cry of the Poor (ANCOP) village in
the Philippines, and to send money
to the White Fathers of Africa, who
care for HIV/AIDS stricken children,
abandoned by their parents. The
result was a beautiful selection of
songs written by the duo within the
Bulong
Pulungan
By Deedee Siytangco
Reprinted from Manila Bulletin
OP-ED
ANGELTHOUGHTS
A lie doesn’t become truth, wrong
doesn’t become right, and evil doesn’t
become good just because it’s
accepted by a majority.
—Booker T. Washington
Today we start our remembrances
of our dearly beloved departed. Many
of us will go home to our provinces
to pay our respects there, and just as
many will visit the memorial parks in
the Metro area.
The tradition of visiting our
departed loved ones’ places of rest is
dear to us, and according to a recent
Facebook post, we are second to
Mexico in this “Undas” rites. Halloween
has crept up to us via modern media,
movies, and exposure to Western
culture and practices. We also go
trick-or-treating if we live in gated
subdivisions or in condominiums with
Exit Stage Left
course of a year in 2012, and
with the script written in by
Mom and Dad. The songs were
developed in between exams and
homework in school, and Sunday
afternoon rehearsals at Our Lady
of Good Counsel in Surrey. Every
Sunday that year, volunteers ranging
from the ages of 6 to 50, came
devotedly to learn sheets and sheets
of music churned out by the Joses,
constantly encouraging each other
with laughter and friendship, and
bags of pandesal and trays of pancit
or pasta, lovingly prepared by the cast
members themselves. There was one
goal - to serve God in a musical no
one thought was viable enough to
make it to mainstream stage. After
all, gathered to play the roles were
a group of unknowns from different
parishes, and no one except a handful
who had any real theatre experience;
so pitted against parish dinner and
dances, and concerts of Jose Marie
Chan, who would actually watch these
amateurs?
But God had other plans for this
band of misfits. Their dedication to
the work that had to be done was to
make sure every child in Burundi has
food on his or her plate, and at least a
family in the slums of Manila had a roof
over their heads. One of the audition
questions the Joses asked those who
braved the test was, “Why did you
want to join this musical?” and there
was only one right answer. Every single
cast member who made it answered
the same thing - they wanted to serve
God and His people.
They all had the heart for it.
No egos. No diva dreams. Just a
heart. That’s all the Joses asked
for.
Theirs wasn’t an objective to
make it to Hollywood or to win
an Obie. The cast members just
wanted to make a difference from
where they stood, and with what
they had. God did the rest.
No one in the cast, ever
counted the hours they spent
every Sunday since 2012 because
it was immaterial, irrelevant even.
This was a cause, a worthwhile cause,
and they wanted to do it. They wanted
to share “a story so beautiful, to live
today, no longer ignored.” They had
a chance to tell a story, and they did
so for two shows in 2013; four in
2014; two in 2015, two in 2017, with
one show in Oakland, California; an
opening for Cardinal Tagle’s visit, to
which His Excellency marvelled at the
professionalism of the presentation,
and the last two this year in North
Vancouver. The show raised more than
$250,000 for parishes and for ANCOP
and the White Fathers. Thousands of
Vancouverites were able to see the
story unfold, and the cast members
became a family throughout the years,
celebrating special events, birthdays,
weddings and everything in between.
RHWN brought people together in
the most profound ways that no
one will be able to explain, whether
it is the haunting lower notes of the
“Valedictory” and finale numbers, or
the upbeat and danceable tune of
“Change Your Groove”; the songs
kept the audiences glued to each
note written in each piece. A true
labour of love. A true testament to
what becomes a masterpiece when
the Author of Life puts His fingerprint
on it.
This is not goodbye, but simply a
bid of “Adieu!” to the years RHWN has
brought together thousands of souls
for the purpose of being nourished
by songs meant for the joyful of heart
and for those who hope. To the lives it
has touched, RHWN will forever be the
pleasant surprise of a musical it has
been for the last six years. For those
who denied themselves the chance to
see it, it is unfortunate that they have
passed on the beauty of song, dance
and performance by people who do
it because they want to serve others,
and not because of fame. For those
who have, it’s time to “write a story
worth telling, a story so compelling.”
Right here, right now.
GOOD NEWS, LADIES:
BREAST CANCER IS CURABLE!
relatives in them, or in malls,
country clubs, and similar venues
that hope to attract more people to
spend, spend, spend. Well, it is fun
for little children who get to dress up
in costumes. But folks, watch their
sugar intake!
Anyway, let us not forget to pray
for our dearly beloved departed
especially these days leading to Nov.
2 and to the saints whom we honor
on Nov. 1, All Saints’ Day. And please,
let’s not litter in the memorials parks,
public cemeteries, columbariums,
or anywhere we might be this long
vacation weekend.
**********************
Today’s breast cancer statistics are
alarming, especially in the Philippines,
where the highest incidence has been
recorded in all of Asia. Why are we
focusing on breast cancer? Well, it’s
still Breast Cancer Month and this
disease has struck four out of every
10 women, and I am sure many of us
have had a spouse, a mom, a sister,
best friend, a daughter, a beloved
niece who have battled with breast
cancer. That is why the early detection,
treatment, and prevention of breast
cancer is in our minds.
The Department of Health
and the Philippine Cancer Society
confirm that breast cancer is the
most prevalent type of cancer in the
Philippines, taking 16 percent of the
50,000 diagnosed cancer cases. Also,
one out of every four women in the
Philippines will develop breast cancer
in their lifetime. Half of them will die
of the disease. Happy Halloween!
Kidding aside, we had a “scary”
pre-Halloween session at our Bulong
Pulungan media forum last week.
Thanks to Dr. Norman San Agustin,
a fellow of the American College of
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
Surgeons
a n d
founder
a n d
president
o
f
Morristown Surgical Associates at the
Morristown Medical Center in New
Jersey. He has dedicated his successful
medical practice to helping women—
and men, would you believe?—who
have breast cancer.
He was chairman of the
Comprehensive Cancer Care Program
and the Breast Cancer Program at
Saint Clare’s Hospital, the Memorial
Sloan Kettering Cancer Center affiliate
satellite in New Jersey for about 10
years. He adds that, for every minute,
one incidence of breast cancer
develops and one breast
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