Filipino values in Capiz, white Christmas in Antique
In keeping with the Christmas season, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) recently launched activities that promote Filipino values, the bounty from the sea, and “Puso ng Pasko,” a special dance presentation. This was done in coordination with the Capiz provincial government, headed by Gov. Fredenil H. Castro.
The main activities were “Balay Pinoy,” a school caravan at the Aglalana Integrated School in Dumarao, Capiz, and the dance concert of the Alice Reyes Dance Philippines in Culasi, Antique, with National Artist Alice Reyes in attendance.
The trip started at Roxas City, capital of Capiz and known for its seafood. Amid warnings of an approaching supertyphoon, the weather did not prevent the media team from dining at the popular seaside Naman Café, where we feasted on fresh talaba, daing na bangus, fried pusit, and, just for a little variety, succulent pochero.
There was an unscheduled meeting with Mayor Ronnie Dadivas and his wife, who had worked at ABS-CBN for 20 years.
Mercifully, the supertyphoon did not materialize.
Performances
From Roxas City, we headed to the Aglalalana Integrated School in Dumarao, where hundreds of students from Grade 1 to 7 were assembled.
To make the program lively, organizers included a “Fill-in-the-Blanks” type of game, with the winning students given a colorful “Balay Pinoy” tote bag. Some examples translated into English were: “In life there is… (hope).” “Who is the light of the home … (the mother).” “With God is the compassion, with man is … (the doing).”
There were performances by local dance groups, and cavorting with Heneral Tuna, the NCCA mascot. A puppet master/ventriloquist had the kids in stitches with his expertise in putting on the mask of a pet dog on the fingers of his right hand, and creating an amusing exchange between him and the sassy (alleged) dog.
Those who attended or participated in the program included Dumarao Mayor Mateo Hachuela, NCCA commissioner Arvin Manuel Villalon, school superintendent Florencio Fariñas, and provincial tourism officer Alphonsus Tesoro.
Freedom Park event
The next day saw our assigned van on a fast drive through the mountains of Aklan with its good roads and succession of zigzags and blind curves. It was a three-hour journey to Culasi, Antique, where the “Puso ng Pasko” dance concert was staged. It was a festive occasion at the town’s Freedom Park.
Veteran actor-singer Audie Gemora starred as the grandfather, now a resident of New Jersey, USA, whose memories of past Christmases in Filipinas triggered off a 90-minute, nonstop dancing show by the soloists and corps de ballet of Alice Reyes Dance Philippines, with music arranged by National Artist Ryan Cayabyab.
The production design was appropriately nostalgic and Filipino, with a neoclassical Catholic church and a bahay na bato, a traditional ancestral home, in the foreground. Production number followed production number, the costumes ranging from formal to casual (bell bottoms!). Familiar, dear old Christmas carols by National Artists Felipe P. de Leon (“Ang Pasko ay Sumapit”), Lucio D. San Pedro (“Campana ng Simbahan”), and Cayabyab himself (“Kumukutikutitap”) also followed one after the other.
The whole show was imbued with the spirit and stamina of youth. It was a big event in Culasi, attended by what seemed to be thousands in and outside the park. And it had the trappings of a political rally, with Sen. Loren Legarda on the big screen listing down her accomplishments and her younger brother Rep. AA Legarda as one of the speakers, along with outgoing Mayor Jose Jeffrey Lomugdang.
