BUT IT ’ S ONLY FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE
May 2017 THE CANBERRA REPORTER | 3
ATING WIKA
Sa araw ng ating mga ina
Ulat ni ARNEL BASAS
Kinalakihan na natin ang paggugunita ng Araw ng mga Ina tuwing ikalawang Linggo ng Mayo .
Ito ang natatanging araw na kung saan ang lahat ay nagpupugay at nagpapasalamat sa mga kadakilaan ng kanikanilang ina .
Kasabay nito ang pagbibigay ng regalo , bulaklak , tsokolate o mamahaling kagamitan .
Dahil sa gumagarbong pagdaraos nanatili pa rin ba ang tunay na diwa ng araw na ito ?
Marami tayong makikitang palabas o naririnig na mga ulat na may temang pamilya at pagmamahal ng ina habang palapit ang buwan ng Mayo .
Mga nakakabagbag damdamin na mensahe na kalimitan ay may
UNIVERSITY EXPATS halong pagbenta . Ito ba ay uso o pagsasamantala sa kahinaan ng iba ?
Gayunpaman , marami pa rin ang nahihikayat bumili ng kung anuano at nakiki-uso para lamang maipakita sa ibang tao na espesyal at mahal nila ang kanilang ina .
Ang pagpapadala ay malimit na gawain ng mga may pamilyang naiwan pa sa Pilipinas
Sinasabayan din ito ng tawag para maka-usap at mapasaya ang uugod-ugod at nangungulilang ina .
Ngunit alam naman ng lahat na makausap lamang ang anak kasama ang mga apo ay lubos na ang kaligayahan nila .
Dapat ba itong gawin tuwing sasapit lamang ang buwan ng Mayo o dapat ipadama ang pagmamahal sa ina sa araw-araw habang may pagkakataon pa ?
Maligayang Araw ng mga Ina sa inyong lahat . •
COVER STORY
Bakbakan is the name of the game
BUT IT ’ S ONLY FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE
By MARILIE BOMEDIANO
THE man ’ s day job is in information technology working for the Australian Taxation Office in Canberra ; his passion is Filipino martial arts , in particular the practice of Bakbakan Kali Ilustrisimo .
Monash ’ s Rey Galang , 71 , who was introduced to martial arts at 11 years of age in the streets of Manila ’ s Chinatown in the Philippines , has never looked back since .
He learned other fighting styles along the way ~ jiu-jitsu , judo , karate , aikido , and taekwondo ~ eventually developing his own fighting style , Bakbakan Kali , and forming the Bakbakan International organisation with Christopher ‘ Topher ’ Rickets .
Today , he passes on street-fighting skills to young and old men and women , but only to those whom he regards as responsible citizens .
Galang will not take under his tutorship just any person ; they would have to be referred to him by a member of Bakbakan International for acceptance to the organisation .
Bakbakan , in short , is not a business , he says
Galang was born in Manila , Philippines . He became fatherless at an early age , and his uncles became influential in the boy ’ s developing an interest in the martial arts . The Galang family had a military and law enforcement background .
• Above : REY GALANG in a caricature drawn by the late Sydney Morning Herald cartoonist Edd Aragon .
Arriving in Sydney in 1975 , as an ITqualified migrant , Galang pursued a computer career in the CBD .
He moved to the USA in 1987 and stayed till late 2006 . “ Canberra was just an offshoot of my return to Australia in 2006 when I got into an IT contract with Accenture and the Australian Taxation Office ( ATO ) and ended up in ACT ,” Galang said .
Among the first to join Bakbakan International in NSW was the late Sydney Morning Herald editorial caricaturist Edd Aragon .
Aragon was instrumental in early efforts to document Bakbakan ’ s drills and techniques . The first videos of Bakbakan ’ s Sagasa fighting system was documented and photographed by Aragon .
Galang became so fascinated by the art and mind of Aragon that he became publisher for the cartoonist ’ s collection of newspaper a strip Jep : And Pinoy sa Australia which appeared in Australia ’ s first Filipino-Australian monthly newspaper , Philippine Balita .
Later , Galang published his own books on martial arts : Complete Sinawali in 2000 , Classic Arnis : The Legacy of Placido Yambao in 2004 , Warrior Arts of the Philippines in 2005 , and Masters of the Blade in 2005 .
“ My particular facet of the Bakbakan organization is not and never has been a commercial endeavour , and therefore we are very strict with our requirements , Bakbakan martial artist Rey Galang said . •
THEY BLED FOR AUSTRALIANS : Three Filipino students from the Univesity of Canberra show evidence of shedding blood at the Red Cross blood unit .
Filipinas bleed for Oz
FILIPINO students enrolled at the University of Canberra stepped out one April day to “ bleed ’ for Australia .
Ten members of the University of Canberra Filipino Society ( UCFS ) trooped to Canberra ’ s city centre where a Red Cross blood unit was stationed to donate life-sustaining blood to the community .
“ By donating blood you ’ ll be saving up to three human lives each time ,” said one Filipina , Bianco Montiel . “ Studies show that regular blood donations help reduces the risk of heart disease , reduces the risk of cancer , and burns 650 Kcal in a single blood donation .”
UCFS is a community of Filipino students who aim to develop friendship and promote a sense of community between Filipino students and other students at the university .
The group provides informed advice to fellow Filipino students and safeguards the welfare of every student while providing substantial Filipino-Australian networks outside the university . •
ANUFA launches ASEAN series
FILIPINO students at the Australian National University ( ANU ), kicked off its ANU Filipino Association ASEAN Series early April 2017 .
It featured a talk by former Philippine Ambassador Luis Cruz to Korea sharing his experience as the former Assistant Secretary of the Office of ASEAN Affairs of the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs ( DFA ). •
THE PRESS
PinOz journos do not forget victims ’ families
MEMBERS of the Filipino press groups of Canberra and Sydney continued their support for families of 32 Filipino journalists murdered in a politically-related 2011 massacre in Ampatuan , Mindanao .
Proceeds from their annual Filipino Media Golf challenge were handed over to the Australian Journalists Union in Sydney for the Media Safety and Solidarity Fund ( MSSF )
The Grace Hotel in Sydney is the main sponsor of the golf challenge .
The MSSF provides financial support to children of the slain journalists for education costs .
In the 2015-16 school year
ABOVE : Media Alliance director Katelin McInerney , left , receives Filipino press group funds from Michelle Baltazar , Grace Hotel general manager Philip Pratley , and Marilie Bomediano at the Alliance office .
AT RIGHT : Some families of Ampatuan massacre victims with two delegates from the journalists solidarity fund in Ampatuan ,
Mindanao .
alone , the MSSF program supported 65 students , including 24 sons and daughters of journalists murdered in the Massacre .
The children supported by MSSF receive financial support for their tuition and a small stipend for education costs .
Funds cover students from primary to college . •