Tag: July 31, 2010

MANY people migrate to other countries to seek greener pastures. But for one particular person, spreading His word has become a goal.

Fr. Narciso Estrella, O.P. is one of the few Filipino Dominican priests who ventured into foreign lands, evangelizing in a non-Catholic country like Taiwan.

Occupying only 1.3 percent of Taiwan’s population, the pea-size fraction of Catholics is overshadowed by the rest of the country’s population of over 20 million, consisting mainly of people practicing Buddhism and Taoism. The lack of vocation and minimal number of people wanting to enter the Dominican order in Taiwan, prompted Estrella to be ordained, and settle there.

IN RECOGNITION of St. Dominic de Guzman’s apostolic deeds, the Campus Ministry Chapel at the Tan Yan Kee Student Center will be officially named after the founder of the Order of Preachers to commemorate his feast on August 8.

The Center for Campus Ministry (CCM) will lead the rededication rites of the chapel at the third floor of the Student Center on August 5, starting with a Mass to be celebrated by the Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy Rev. Fr. Norberto Castillo, O.P.

“We find it right and proper to name the chapel after him because there is yet no place in UST named after him,” Richard Pazcoguin, Campus Ministry assistant director, said.

Pazcoguin said St. Dominic de Guzman, is a model for his undying passion for learning.

CHURCH groups and art aficionados alike have been left bereaved over the death of religious painter Joey Velasco after a five-year struggle with kidney cancer.

The businessman-painter succumbed to heart attack and seizures due to his kidney ailment at the age of 43 last July 20.

Velasco, best known for his religious and humanitarian paintings, made the famous “Hapag ng Pag-asa”, which recreates the Last Supper by depicting Christ breaking the bread with street children. He painted children suffering from poverty, elderly who have been abandoned, and people suffering from Down syndrome and cancer.

Marie Puno-Sunga, widow of Velasco, remembered Velasco as a painter who gave his heart and soul to his paintings.

THE COUNTRY’S youngest archbishop received the “pallium” from Pope Benedict XVI along with 37 others at the Vatican last June 29.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, 49, was the only Filipino conferred with the pallium during a concelebrated mass at the St. Peter’s Basilica.

The pallium, a white, narrow, circular band worn around the neck and shoulders, is given to a new archbishop, symbolizing his authority in guiding the faithful at his archdiocese. It is bestowed annually to new metropolitan archbishops and principal bishops during the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul.

VETERAN directors went indie in the 2010 Cinemalaya. For its sixth year, the annual festival of independent films introduced another competitive category, the Directors’ Showcase, featuring established directors. As in the New Breed, finalists in the Directors’ Showcase were given P500,000 to start of their movie projects, which should not exceed the three-million-peso ceiling for all Cinemalaya full-length productions. The result was indie cinema with sleek looks and glossy marketing.

Vision from the veterans

“Two Funerals” follows the tale of a mother journeying to recover the remains of her daughter who dies in a terrible accident.

TOWARD the last months of his life, the actor Juan Marasigan Feleo, popularly known as “Johnny Delgado,” turned to painting to satisfy his craving for self-expression. The visual arts also offered him a form of therapy in his struggle with cancer of the lymph node.

The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), with Pixel Grain, held an exhibit to pay tribute to the actor-visual artist.

“Maskarang Totoo: the Works of Juan Feleo” was displayed July 10 to 20 at the CCP’s Pasilyo Guillermo Tolentino Hallway. The event was on the sidelights of the recently concluded Cinemalaya Festival, where the actor was a member of the screening committee.

THOMASIAN directorial flare was all over the 2010 Cinemalaya as veteran filmmaker Gil M. Portes and relative newbie Rommel “Milo” Tolentino were named best directors in the Director’s Showcase and Short Film category, respectively.

Portes won for his film “Two Funerals” which also got the runner-up Special Jury Prize.

ALAS tres. Nakapapaso ang init ng araw. Madalang ang pag-ihip ng hangin kung kaya’t damang-dama ang alinsangan ng panahon. Mula sa aking kinatatayuan ay tanaw na tanaw ko ang batang naglalako ng diyaryo. Tumatagaktak ang pawis nito habang bitbit ang mga paninda nitong sa tingin ko’y kaunti pa lamang ang nababawas.

“Psst! Boy! Halika rito!”, sigaw ko.

Dali-daling lumapit ang pawisang bata na sa aking palagay ay wala pang sampung taong gulang.

“Bigyan mo nga ako ng isa.”

“Alin po rito?”

“Kahit ano, pare-parehas lang naman laman niyan,” tugon ko sabay abot ng sampung piso.

ISANG sinaunang epiko ng mga Hindu na sa pagkakataong ito ay nabigyan ng tatak Filipino nang salaminin nito ang pagkakabuklod-buklod ng mag-anak.

Ito ang mahihinuha ng sino mang babasa ng Sibago (UST Publishing House, 2009) ni Abdon Balde Jr., isang inhinyero at kilalang Bikolanong manunulat. Ang Sibago ang ikawalo at pinakabagong aklat na isinulat ni Balde.

Ang nobela ay umiikot sa karakter ni Janu, tsuper ng isang commuter van na kaniyang nabili mula sa paghahanapbuhay sa ibang bansa. Nang maging pasahero niya ang magkasintahang sina Kumar na isang Nepali, at ang Filipinang si Liza, dito na nagsimula ang paglalakbay ng tatlo sa kanilang mala-Ramayanang tadhana.

BILANG pagkilala sa mga natatanging kontribusyon ng media sa lipunan, ang Unibersidad ay nagkaroon noon ng scholarship grants para sa mga mamamahayag.

Layunin ng programang ito na mapalawak ang kaalaman ng mga mamamahayag bilang mga “mata” ng lipunan, at isa sa mga tagapaghubog ng nasyonalismo ng mga mamamayan.

Taong 1956 nang makipag-ugnayan ang dating dekano ng Civil Law na si Ramon Oben kay Jose Aspiras na noo’y pangulo ng National Press Club (NPC) sa posibilidad ng pagkakaloob ng grants sa Unibersidad para sa mga mamamahayag.

Agad namang sinang-ayunan ng noo’y Rektor P. Jesus Castañon, O.P., ang programa na maaaring matamasa ng mga mamamahayag at ng kanilang mga asawa’t anak.