MALUNGON, Sarangani – Pupils get ready to welcome visitors at the school entrance with a bamboo-made man bridge. Local officials, education and language experts led the launching of Lamlifew Elementary School as pilot mother tongue- based multi-lingual education (MTB-MLE) of the province Friday (February 4). | Photograph by Cocoy Sexcion / SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE
The annual, roving arts festival dubbed as the Maharlika Sunrise Festival is now on its 7th incarnation, known as "YlocoSining, Hidden Treasures of the North" – this year’s festival will be held in the Sunshine City of Laoag, Ilocos Norte on November 24 to 28, 2010.
The Sunrise Festival is a celebration of arts for service and blessedness held annually in the different regions of Maharlika (Philippines). This socio-cultural festivity is a collaborative effort among professional and upcoming artists in the country, it is a national event spearheaded by the Maharlika Artists and Writers Federation (MAWF). The festival is a continuing national cultural movement to develop a high value and a total integration of all aspects of arts in the country: music, theatre, literary, dance, senses, emotions and intuition and spirit.
The festival is a roaming event participated by artists with the sole purpose of uplifting humanity through arts. The event discusses and shares how artists and art communities contribute into medium of social and cultural transformation.
Sunrise Festival artist-participants advocate the improvement of local culture and the uplifting of the human spirit. If you are interested to participate and wish to donate some of your time and energy in making this festival a success, please contact the person below and state your contribution (perform, exhibit, speak at workshop, share poetry, sell crafts).
The Contact Person:
DEO PALMA
angkasama[at]yahoo[dot]com
Facebook Profile: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=570792458
SHERMON CRUZ
cruzshermon[at]gmail[dot]com
Facebook Profile: http://www.facebook.com/cruzshermon
Join us in this Facebook Page and receive updates on the MAWF's preparations for YlocoSining. Expect some announcements on arts-related events like workshops, exhibits and shows to be held prior to the Sunrise Festival. Learn more about the history of the arts and culture of the Ilocos region by following our wall posts and notes.
The Sunrise Festival is a celebration of arts for service and blessedness held annually in the different regions of Maharlika (Philippines). This socio-cultural festivity is a collaborative effort among professional and upcoming artists in the country, it is a national event spearheaded by the Maharlika Artists and Writers Federation (MAWF). The festival is a continuing national cultural movement to develop a high value and a total integration of all aspects of arts in the country: music, theatre, literary, dance, senses, emotions and intuition and spirit.
The festival is a roaming event participated by artists with the sole purpose of uplifting humanity through arts. The event discusses and shares how artists and art communities contribute into medium of social and cultural transformation.
Sunrise Festival artist-participants advocate the improvement of local culture and the uplifting of the human spirit. If you are interested to participate and wish to donate some of your time and energy in making this festival a success, please contact the person below and state your contribution (perform, exhibit, speak at workshop, share poetry, sell crafts).
The Contact Person:
DEO PALMA
angkasama[at]yahoo[dot]com
Facebook Profile: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=570792458
SHERMON CRUZ
cruzshermon[at]gmail[dot]com
Facebook Profile: http://www.facebook.com/cruzshermon
Join us in this Facebook Page and receive updates on the MAWF's preparations for YlocoSining. Expect some announcements on arts-related events like workshops, exhibits and shows to be held prior to the Sunrise Festival. Learn more about the history of the arts and culture of the Ilocos region by following our wall posts and notes.
Director: Ferdinand Dimadura | Genre: Drama | Produced In: 2005
Synopsis: This film is about the hunger and poverty brought about by Globalization. There are 10,000 people dying everyday due to hunger and malnutrition. This short film shows a forgotten portion of the society. The people who live on the refuse of men to survive. What is inspiring is the hope and spirituality that never left this people.
Synopsis: This film is about the hunger and poverty brought about by Globalization. There are 10,000 people dying everyday due to hunger and malnutrition. This short film shows a forgotten portion of the society. The people who live on the refuse of men to survive. What is inspiring is the hope and spirituality that never left this people.
article by Josefina Pedroza
photo by Marili Fernandez-Ilagan
“WE did not expect it to be a huge production,” said Nikki Torrres of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Performing Arts Department who spoke in the forum following the 45-minute production of “Uyayi sa Digmaan” by Don Pagusara at the Tanghalang Huseng Batute on December 4, 2008.
And huge it appeared indeed. There was the 18-member troupe that played Moro music on the palabunyibunyian, providing an ominous introduction to a somber unraveling of the Moro war, circa 2008. Recently formed out of a foundation that goes by the uncanny name Serve the Children and Older Persons, its members looked like authentic Moro, which they were not. Fact is, the play itself, written by a non-Moro, was mounted by non-Moros.
In any case, “Uyayi sa Digmaan” at the CCP presented before a limited audience a human dimension of a war that has raged in Mindanao for ages. The war has been there for so long that it no longer offers excitement to newsreaders, except when the body count rises to hundreds and whole villages are plundered.
"Uyayi sa Digmaan," as “play within a play,” is an interchange of the scenes of the drama Norhaina, which Teatro Pagariya rehearses, and the off-scene moments between Raizza and Kurt who are the lead actors in the play. The dramatic and real life, as it were, dialectics on stage is what provides momentum in the action and development of "Uyayi sa Digmaan."
Norhaina, the play within, depicts the long trek of the Moro evacuees of mostly women and children in the wake of the war that breaks out at the Liguasan Marsh between the government troops and the Moro rebels. Raizza, a young Moro member of Pagariya, plays the central character Norhaina. Kurt, a Christian, plays Norhaina’s rebel- leader husband Hassan. Kuya Margo directs the play.
The rendition of the story of Norhaina offers a kind of heroic relief against a backdrop of war. Her heroism is marked from the moment she assumes leadership of the women and the barrio folk of Siarip-Agwak as they all flee across the waters of the Liguasan marsh until they reach the distant banks of Pagalungan. This she does as she carries her infant child. Her will and an abiding faith in Allah and the cause of the Bangsamoro struggle sustain her through the endless nights of their exodus, even as her heart sings constantly the uyayi.
In between the scenes of the Norhaina play, Raizza and Kurt have their own scenes of entanglement. Raizza has staked her personal honor and the pride of her people in her portrayal of Norhaina. But she is confronted with a kind of disquiet gnawing at her heart during the whole season of the rehearsal. Yet, she is enlivened excited by her relationship with Kurt, which, she realizes, has no future. She is a Muslim and Kurt is a Christian.
Norhaina’s ordeal and the trial of a relationship between Raizza and Kurt rise as the play’s songs and music culminates in the premiere of Teatro Pagariya’s production.
The play’s CCP outing was made possible by the Tag-ani Performing Arts Society, in cooperation with the CCP, as part of its Waiting in the Wings program. The program features plays that are “works in progress,” meaning unfinished. Nikki Torres noted that oftentimes, the performances were simply dramatic readings sans a directorial concept or production design. But Tag-ani did excerpts of “Uyayi” with lights and sound and all that. Choreographer-Director Marili Fernandez-Ilagan, a UP student finishing her masters in theatre arts, even made sure that the playwright’s lyrics were set to music and arranged for the CCP performance, and by noted artists such as Cynthia Alexander and Malu Matute. The cast and crew, composed of students from Miriam College, the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and the University of the Philippines, were admirable.
Perhaps, the sentiment that “Uyayi” created among the audience could be captured by the two foreigners who came in earlier than the Pinoys (so what else is new). They said they did not know the language but they nevertheless understood. And that they were touched.
And touch the audience a play ought to do.
photo by Marili Fernandez-Ilagan
“WE did not expect it to be a huge production,” said Nikki Torrres of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Performing Arts Department who spoke in the forum following the 45-minute production of “Uyayi sa Digmaan” by Don Pagusara at the Tanghalang Huseng Batute on December 4, 2008.
And huge it appeared indeed. There was the 18-member troupe that played Moro music on the palabunyibunyian, providing an ominous introduction to a somber unraveling of the Moro war, circa 2008. Recently formed out of a foundation that goes by the uncanny name Serve the Children and Older Persons, its members looked like authentic Moro, which they were not. Fact is, the play itself, written by a non-Moro, was mounted by non-Moros.
In any case, “Uyayi sa Digmaan” at the CCP presented before a limited audience a human dimension of a war that has raged in Mindanao for ages. The war has been there for so long that it no longer offers excitement to newsreaders, except when the body count rises to hundreds and whole villages are plundered.
"Uyayi sa Digmaan," as “play within a play,” is an interchange of the scenes of the drama Norhaina, which Teatro Pagariya rehearses, and the off-scene moments between Raizza and Kurt who are the lead actors in the play. The dramatic and real life, as it were, dialectics on stage is what provides momentum in the action and development of "Uyayi sa Digmaan."
Norhaina, the play within, depicts the long trek of the Moro evacuees of mostly women and children in the wake of the war that breaks out at the Liguasan Marsh between the government troops and the Moro rebels. Raizza, a young Moro member of Pagariya, plays the central character Norhaina. Kurt, a Christian, plays Norhaina’s rebel- leader husband Hassan. Kuya Margo directs the play.
The rendition of the story of Norhaina offers a kind of heroic relief against a backdrop of war. Her heroism is marked from the moment she assumes leadership of the women and the barrio folk of Siarip-Agwak as they all flee across the waters of the Liguasan marsh until they reach the distant banks of Pagalungan. This she does as she carries her infant child. Her will and an abiding faith in Allah and the cause of the Bangsamoro struggle sustain her through the endless nights of their exodus, even as her heart sings constantly the uyayi.
In between the scenes of the Norhaina play, Raizza and Kurt have their own scenes of entanglement. Raizza has staked her personal honor and the pride of her people in her portrayal of Norhaina. But she is confronted with a kind of disquiet gnawing at her heart during the whole season of the rehearsal. Yet, she is enlivened excited by her relationship with Kurt, which, she realizes, has no future. She is a Muslim and Kurt is a Christian.
Norhaina’s ordeal and the trial of a relationship between Raizza and Kurt rise as the play’s songs and music culminates in the premiere of Teatro Pagariya’s production.
The play’s CCP outing was made possible by the Tag-ani Performing Arts Society, in cooperation with the CCP, as part of its Waiting in the Wings program. The program features plays that are “works in progress,” meaning unfinished. Nikki Torres noted that oftentimes, the performances were simply dramatic readings sans a directorial concept or production design. But Tag-ani did excerpts of “Uyayi” with lights and sound and all that. Choreographer-Director Marili Fernandez-Ilagan, a UP student finishing her masters in theatre arts, even made sure that the playwright’s lyrics were set to music and arranged for the CCP performance, and by noted artists such as Cynthia Alexander and Malu Matute. The cast and crew, composed of students from Miriam College, the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and the University of the Philippines, were admirable.
Perhaps, the sentiment that “Uyayi” created among the audience could be captured by the two foreigners who came in earlier than the Pinoys (so what else is new). They said they did not know the language but they nevertheless understood. And that they were touched.
And touch the audience a play ought to do.
By Eddie U. Ilarde
Even more hostile was the accusation that the bill was drawn-up by President Ferdinand Marcos himself, "Maharlika" having been associated with him during the war when he named his guerrilla unit to fight the Japanese invaders “Maharlika.” If true, the bill would have passed without question in that “rubber stamp congress.” But the measure did not even merit a committee hearing. The consoling thought however is, the bill was ahead of its time in a country long indoctrinated to accept blindly historical inaccuracies and Western hegemony and culture—the people made averse to resisting a deeply rooted conservative status quo as a consequence.
“The times are changing” is an affirmation of present circumstances. Today we see encouraging developments in favor of our proposal, but only after 27 years. Opposition has started to give way to an open mind by the same people who yesterday sneered at it.
Recently we have been receiving letters mostly from Filipinos abroad asking if our proposal to rename the country is still alive, realizing the relevance today. This country’s image in the eyes of the world today is at its worst, tarnished by such epithets as “the most corrupt country in the world,” a nation of cheats and thieves,” “a country of slums and hungry children,” “the dirtiest country in the world,” and other negative exaggerations. Heir common complaint: “We are constantly humiliated as “Filipinos’ in our host countries with insults like ‘the Philippines is a country of prostitutes, maids, thieves,’ and other indignitaries we cannot swallow any longer.” The shared optimism is “if we become Maharlikans this Filipino identity shall be erased forever and the world shall take notice and stop insulting our country as we create a new image and rebuild our reputation.
Great thinkers and visionaries have some time derived their thoughts and judgment from the common people. We must take our cue from this urgent call. If we don’ move this country shall be left behind by then winds of progress. In this country the wheels of change are heavy and slow. Our people are averse to change and are easily disinclined to anything outside the scope of easy comprehension. It is time to find the psychological why and wherefore and from there we must find the catharsis to expel this negative nature. Simple experiment al applications of new ways to improve existing conditions are always met with contempt, which lead to protracted squabbling and to miscarriage of good intentions. “Let us keep what we have; the known evil is best,” describes us best.
Our people's character of easily accepting “what is there and what is given” is so ingrained; what were imposed upon us in 1543 have coarsely acquired lasting currency through the centuries. The “ferment of change” addressed by other counties in Asia, Africa, Europe, and in other regions, we have ignored. Formosa, Siam, Dutch East Indies, French Indochina, Malaya, Ceylon, Burma, Khmer/Kampuchea, Persia, Bombay, Calcutta, to name only a few have all changed their names. We have remained as is even as we behold the phenomenal economic growth of these neighbors brought about by a compulsion for change back to the reassured ethos of their past which served as the touchstone for their quest for progress and prosperity.
Our penchant for change is so trivial, proven by changing only the names of streets and other minor things and places. Dewey Blvd. is changed to Roxas Blvd. because Dewey was American; Azcarraga to Recto because Azcarraga was Spaniard, etc. The country is named after King Philip II of Spain. Have we ever asked ourselves what kind of a man we were named after?
Philip was only ¼ Spaniard, his father Charles V was Hapsburg and did not even speak a word in Spanish when he became a king. Philip was as some historians call “a monster of bigotry, ambition, lust and cruelty.” His own official court historian described him as a man whose “smile and dagger were very close.” He was the son of fist cousins. His grandmother Juana died of insanity. Even today she is known in Spain as “Juana la loca.” His “auto-da-fe” after being sworn in as king was the burning in the stake alive of thousands of Muslims in Spain. Protestants in Europe, then under Spain were beheaded as heretics. He was ex-communicated as a Catholic by the pope for looting Rome. He died of what historians evasively described as a very communicable social disease (syphilis) that had affected his mind. Before he died thousands of insects festered his whole body which was covered with ulcers dripping with puss and reeking with unbearable smell. His name is better forgotten whose unpleasant memory we still honor today by identifying ourselves as Filipinos, carrying his name with pride.
Maharlika is our ancient heritage and has been with us long before Western colonialists set foot on our shoes. Maha is Sanskrit for noble, great, as in Taj Mahal. Mahatma (a great soul); the moon that supports all the planets and celestial bodies,” “The food that nourishes vital forces in everyone, “chanting Maha is to be one with the Lord,” “Maha is God Himself.” The inflectional ending of Maharlika, Likha is our own word for create, make, cause, design, breed, conceived, Maharlika therefore means “nobly created,” “God’s creation,” “the self personified,” etc. The great philosopher-philologist-spiritual master P.R. Sarkar said, “Maharlika means a small container (country) containing great things (people).” Maharlika is a spiritual mantra, a divine name.
The name “Filipino” has obscenely outlasted is purpose and has become malapropos. We only need it as much as we need a tragic memory. Our people must hear from our leaders in government, business, the academe, and from our opinion makers. Maharlika shall be the precursor of the great transformation of this country; it shall inspire a romantic tale, nay, a great national epic which is absent in our present annals. Maharlika shall discover our true identity, then beginning of our renaissance, our rebirth to greatness.
[Eddie Ilarde is a former councilor, congressman, senator, and assemblyman. He is a Lifetime Achievement Awardee for radio and television having pioneered many programs of lasting value to the country. He is the founder of Maharlika Foundation for National Transformation and Golden Eagles Society International, a movement to benefit the older people of the world. Kuya Eddie, as he is fondly called is semi-retired author and free-lance writer and spends his time in his small arm in the province].
Astonishment and wonder were the unfavorable reactions of our peers in the Interim Batasang Pambansa when we filed Parliamentary Bill 195 on August 14, 1978 seeking to change the name Philippines to Maharlika. It was as if to say “some members have lost their marbles to even contemplate such a thing”, as if they didn’t know that Article XVI, Section 2 of the constitution says that “The Congress, may by law, adopt a new name for the country x x x x which shall be truly reflective and symbolic of the ideals, history, and traditions of the people x x x such law shall take effect only upon ratification by the people min a national referendum.”
Even more hostile was the accusation that the bill was drawn-up by President Ferdinand Marcos himself, "Maharlika" having been associated with him during the war when he named his guerrilla unit to fight the Japanese invaders “Maharlika.” If true, the bill would have passed without question in that “rubber stamp congress.” But the measure did not even merit a committee hearing. The consoling thought however is, the bill was ahead of its time in a country long indoctrinated to accept blindly historical inaccuracies and Western hegemony and culture—the people made averse to resisting a deeply rooted conservative status quo as a consequence.
“The times are changing” is an affirmation of present circumstances. Today we see encouraging developments in favor of our proposal, but only after 27 years. Opposition has started to give way to an open mind by the same people who yesterday sneered at it.
Recently we have been receiving letters mostly from Filipinos abroad asking if our proposal to rename the country is still alive, realizing the relevance today. This country’s image in the eyes of the world today is at its worst, tarnished by such epithets as “the most corrupt country in the world,” a nation of cheats and thieves,” “a country of slums and hungry children,” “the dirtiest country in the world,” and other negative exaggerations. Heir common complaint: “We are constantly humiliated as “Filipinos’ in our host countries with insults like ‘the Philippines is a country of prostitutes, maids, thieves,’ and other indignitaries we cannot swallow any longer.” The shared optimism is “if we become Maharlikans this Filipino identity shall be erased forever and the world shall take notice and stop insulting our country as we create a new image and rebuild our reputation.
Great thinkers and visionaries have some time derived their thoughts and judgment from the common people. We must take our cue from this urgent call. If we don’ move this country shall be left behind by then winds of progress. In this country the wheels of change are heavy and slow. Our people are averse to change and are easily disinclined to anything outside the scope of easy comprehension. It is time to find the psychological why and wherefore and from there we must find the catharsis to expel this negative nature. Simple experiment al applications of new ways to improve existing conditions are always met with contempt, which lead to protracted squabbling and to miscarriage of good intentions. “Let us keep what we have; the known evil is best,” describes us best.
Our people's character of easily accepting “what is there and what is given” is so ingrained; what were imposed upon us in 1543 have coarsely acquired lasting currency through the centuries. The “ferment of change” addressed by other counties in Asia, Africa, Europe, and in other regions, we have ignored. Formosa, Siam, Dutch East Indies, French Indochina, Malaya, Ceylon, Burma, Khmer/Kampuchea, Persia, Bombay, Calcutta, to name only a few have all changed their names. We have remained as is even as we behold the phenomenal economic growth of these neighbors brought about by a compulsion for change back to the reassured ethos of their past which served as the touchstone for their quest for progress and prosperity.
Our penchant for change is so trivial, proven by changing only the names of streets and other minor things and places. Dewey Blvd. is changed to Roxas Blvd. because Dewey was American; Azcarraga to Recto because Azcarraga was Spaniard, etc. The country is named after King Philip II of Spain. Have we ever asked ourselves what kind of a man we were named after?
Philip was only ¼ Spaniard, his father Charles V was Hapsburg and did not even speak a word in Spanish when he became a king. Philip was as some historians call “a monster of bigotry, ambition, lust and cruelty.” His own official court historian described him as a man whose “smile and dagger were very close.” He was the son of fist cousins. His grandmother Juana died of insanity. Even today she is known in Spain as “Juana la loca.” His “auto-da-fe” after being sworn in as king was the burning in the stake alive of thousands of Muslims in Spain. Protestants in Europe, then under Spain were beheaded as heretics. He was ex-communicated as a Catholic by the pope for looting Rome. He died of what historians evasively described as a very communicable social disease (syphilis) that had affected his mind. Before he died thousands of insects festered his whole body which was covered with ulcers dripping with puss and reeking with unbearable smell. His name is better forgotten whose unpleasant memory we still honor today by identifying ourselves as Filipinos, carrying his name with pride.Maharlika is our ancient heritage and has been with us long before Western colonialists set foot on our shoes. Maha is Sanskrit for noble, great, as in Taj Mahal. Mahatma (a great soul); the moon that supports all the planets and celestial bodies,” “The food that nourishes vital forces in everyone, “chanting Maha is to be one with the Lord,” “Maha is God Himself.” The inflectional ending of Maharlika, Likha is our own word for create, make, cause, design, breed, conceived, Maharlika therefore means “nobly created,” “God’s creation,” “the self personified,” etc. The great philosopher-philologist-spiritual master P.R. Sarkar said, “Maharlika means a small container (country) containing great things (people).” Maharlika is a spiritual mantra, a divine name.
The name “Filipino” has obscenely outlasted is purpose and has become malapropos. We only need it as much as we need a tragic memory. Our people must hear from our leaders in government, business, the academe, and from our opinion makers. Maharlika shall be the precursor of the great transformation of this country; it shall inspire a romantic tale, nay, a great national epic which is absent in our present annals. Maharlika shall discover our true identity, then beginning of our renaissance, our rebirth to greatness.
[Eddie Ilarde is a former councilor, congressman, senator, and assemblyman. He is a Lifetime Achievement Awardee for radio and television having pioneered many programs of lasting value to the country. He is the founder of Maharlika Foundation for National Transformation and Golden Eagles Society International, a movement to benefit the older people of the world. Kuya Eddie, as he is fondly called is semi-retired author and free-lance writer and spends his time in his small arm in the province].
The National Museum of the Philippines
The Provincial Government of Sarangani
TAOINC and The Lamlifew Tribal Women's Association
cordially invite you to an evening gathering on the occasion of the launch of the
Lamlifew Village Museum. The first village museum initiated by a Philippine indigenous community
The B'laan of Sarangani
The Lamlifew Village Museum takes for its topic the numerous varieties of upland rice, which the many villages in the upper reaches of Sarangani continue to propagate. Ten varieties of upland rice, of various colors, will be sold by B'laan women from Lamlifew, Malungon, Sarangani, during this occasion. Examples of upland rice-based foods will be served. The B'laan women will also present traditional songs and instrumental music.
6 in the evening
Monday, 3 December 2007
Ground level, Museum of the Filipino People
National Museum of the Philippines
(Former) Finance Building, Agrifina Circle, Manila
RSVP (0917) 970-0052 Marlene Po
or 816-3736 Kristy Lacambra
The sunrise festival is a celebration of arts held annually in the different regions of Maharlika (Philippines).
This socio-cultural festivity is a collaborative effort among professional and upcoming artists in the country, it is now the 4th national event organized by the Maharlika Artists and Writers Federation (MAWF).
The festival is a continuing national cultural movement to develop a high value and a total integration of all aspects of arts: music, theatre, literary, dance, senses, emotions and intuition and spirit.
This socio-cultural festivity is a collaborative effort among professional and upcoming artists in the country, it is now the 4th national event organized by the Maharlika Artists and Writers Federation (MAWF).
The festival is a continuing national cultural movement to develop a high value and a total integration of all aspects of arts: music, theatre, literary, dance, senses, emotions and intuition and spirit.
Kindly visit the web site: http://maharlikasunrisefest.com
