Tag: July 18, 2014

WORK for a cause, not for applause.

This was the principle that architect Daniel Lichauco followed when he designed a project for LoveYourself Anglo Community Center, an HIV/AIDS testing center that opened last June 22 in Shaw Boulevard.

Together with his associates in the Archion Architects firm, Lichauco sought to create a comfort zone for HIV/AIDS patients where they can share each other’s thoughts and experience.

“The design of the place is to provide them a place where they can be tested and talk to somebody,” he said.

The clinic has both public and private space where processes of the HIV screening can be done. Six counseling rooms and a doctor’s exam room are also open in the center.

A DESIGN for a storm-proof house has won for a Thomasian architecture graduate the top prize in a competition organized in response to the devastating effects of climate change.

Lara Therese Cruz bagged the award, which came with a P150,000 cash prize, during the Build Forward architectural design competition last May 28. Her entry was a design for a climate-adaptive house.

The recent typhoon Yolanda that clobbered the Philippines left parts of the Visayas region in ruins and called the attention of many organizations to lend a hand.

Many charitable institutions emerged but the Department of Science and Technology, together with the Ortigas & Company and Habitat for Humanity, found another way of helping to the Yolanda victims.

CORO TOMASINO, and various local choirs and singers, sang for a cause in “Rise! Rebuilding from the Ruins” at the Manila Cathedral-Basilica last June 11.

The concert was staged for the benefit of Caritas Manila’s Damayan sa Haiyan rehabilitation program for the Yolanda-stricken areas in the Visayas region.

Under the musical direction of renowned composer Ryan Cayabyab, who wrote the hit OPM songs “Limang Dipang Tao” and “Kay Ganda ng Ating Musika,” Rise! aimed to raise at least 20 million pesos for the reconstruction of 20 churches and chapels across Samar and Leyte including the 400-year-old Palo Metropolitan Church.

Cayabyab said music is a powerful tool towards reformation.

A FACULTY of Arts and Letters alumna’s tender drama that was a barely disguised tribute to her deceased grandmother became one of the “untried, untested, and unpublished” one-act plays that were mounted during the 10th Virgin Labfest (VLF) at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, June 25 to July 6.

Joanna Katanyag, a Journalism graduate and former artistic director of Artistang Artlets, said her play, Betang, was based on her own grandmother’s experiences. The title character is named in fact after her grandma.

The story revolves around an old woman gracefully waiting for her death in a garage during the ungodly hours of the morning.

PINANGUNAHAN ng Departamento ng Filipino at Panitikan ng Pilipinas (DFPP) ang pagdaos ng “Bantay Wikang Filipino: Ang Pagtuturo ng Filipino sa Kolehiyo” noong ika-23 ng Hunyo sa Bulwagang Rizal ng Kolehiyo ng Arte at Literatura, University of the Philippines-Diliman bilang pagtutol sa Memorandum Order No. 20 Series of 2013 ng Commission on Higher Education (CHEd).

Ayon sa memorandum na ipinalabas ng CHEd, tatanggalin ang siyam na yunit ng Filipino sa General Education Curriculum (GEC) at sa halip ay pahihintulutan ang pagtuturo ng mga aralin sa Ingles o Filipino depende sa kagustuhan ng paaralan.

LAYUNIN ng Unibersidad na pangalagaan ang kapakanan ng bawat Tomasino upang siguruhin ang lubos na kalinangan ng kanilang isipan at kakayahan.

Gayunpaman, hindi naging madali para sa Unibersidad at mga mag-aaral ang pagtupad sa layuning ito sa pagaanunsiyo ng polo y servicios sa bansa noong panahon ng pananakop ng Espanya.

Ayon sa batas ng polo y servicios, sapilitang mabibilang sa mga manggagawa ng mga kalsada, tulay, pagtatayo ng mga estruktura tulad ng simbahan, paaralan at gusaling pampamahalaan ang mga kalalakihang Pilipino at Tsino na nasa edad 16 hanggang 40 taong gulang bilang paghahandog sa hari ng Espanya at Simbahang Katoliko.