Tag: Vol. LXXXIII

YOUTH-DOMINATED ensembles comprised the fourth musical concert by Filfest Cultural Foundation titled “Allchestra,” which was staged at the Insular Life Corporate Center Auditorium in Alabang last May 21.

The University of Santo Tomas’ (UST) Symphony Orchestra associate conductor Jeffrey Solares led the Philippine Youth Symphonic Band and the Philippine Research for Developing Instrumental Soloists (PREDIS) Chamber Orchestra as they co-performed with New York Times-acclaimed cellist Wilfredo Pasamba.

Solares commended the ensembles for playing at a professional level despite their age. “Although we only had four days of practice, they (the ensemble) showed an exemplary performance,” said Solares.

MEN IN azure uniforms and flintlock rifles marched exactly like how their Spanish puppeteer would want them to. The fresh air teamed around their rotten souls. They were breathing yet decaying.

Death had consumed them a long time ago. Since then, they were mere occupants of spaces—cold and dismal spaces, gasping for lives they would never have.

Between the soldiers alignment was a man sported in a three-piece black suit with a bowler hat. Although his wrists were tied with rope behind him, he walked placidly as if nothing tragic was about to happen.

***

HAVING been thrown in fine grain land,

I found a way to make a stand.

Mocking misdeeds to turn them right,

exposing evil starts a fight.

For home is not a place I’d hope,

to feel the deepest sense of mope.

I’m missing all those home-grown stars,

I pray that they are not on bars.

Expounding knowledge, pass it on,

for wits can topple brainless brawn.

We live in a congenial earth,

as we wait for a new world’s birth.

So soon I leave it all away,

to see again my love some day.

Another tear it lay upon,

Dapitan’s shore, stay strong, hang-on.

PROUD faces graze eager palms,

while a smile glimmers as one receives.

Behind these paper and metal symbols,

adorned stories of such great triumphs,

mark legends and icons that endow hope

to the country’s next generation.

And although such great tales

seem to be forgotten,

its worth knows no bounds

to someone who yearns wealth.

For the heads in a man’s pocket

reveal his past, present and future.

GINTONG medalya para sa mga ginintuang ambag ng isang natatanging Tomasinong pambansang bayani.

Bilang paggunita sa ika-150 taong anibersaryo ng kapanganakan ni Jose Rizal, maglalabas ng gintong commemorative medal sa Hunyo 19 ang Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Ang disenyo ng medalya ay hango sa konsepto nina Emerson Abraham ng BSP at graphic designer na si Marilen Jacinto, apo ng kaisa-isang kapatid na lalaki ni Rizal na si Paciano. Matatagpuan sa harap ng medalya ang imahe at pangalan ni Rizal at mga petsa ng kaniyang kapanganakan at kamatayan. Sa likod naman ay makikita ang lagda ni Rizal at ang mga katagang “Adios Patria Adorada” na hango sa tula niyang “Mi Ultimo Adios.”

PANGKARANIWAN mang maituturing ang isang bagay, mayroon at mayroon pa rin itong makabuluhang epektong maidudulot sa atin.

Dito nakasentro ang antolohiyang Baha-bahagdang Karupukan ni Jim Pascual Agustin (UST Publishing House, 2011), isang makatang kasalukuyang naka-base sa bansang Aprika, kung saan niya isinulat ang ilan sa mga tula sa aklat. Ang Baha-bahagdang Karupukan ay isang koleksiyon ng mga tulang nakatuon sa mga bagay at pangyayaring mistulang nalilimutan nang pahalagahan ng mga tao dahil sa pagiging abala sa kanilang pang-araw-araw na gawain.

ANG PAMBANSANG bayani at Tomasinong si Jose Rizal ay hindi lamang kilala sa Unibersidad dahil sa kaniyang mga ambag sa lipunan ngunit dahil na rin sa kaniyang matataas na antas.

Sa edad na 16, umani si Rizal ng maraming sobresaliente, isang markang iginagawad sa mga mag-aaral na nagpakita ng pambihirang kakayanan sa pag-aaral ng asignatura.

WITH four hundred years to be proud of, it is no surprise that the University of Santo Tomas is home to portraits of National Hero and Thomasian Jose Rizal rendered by no less than masters.

One of the masterpieces was painted by father of modern art and College of Architecture and Fine Arts founder (now separated into two colleges, College of Architecture and College of Fine Arts and Design) Victorio C. Edades while another portrait was by Severino C. Fabie, who donated both pieces to the Museum of Arts and Sciences decades ago.

“Interpreting what they see conforms with how they feel,” said Museum of Arts and Sciences Collection Management and Documentation Assistant, Maita Buensuceso-Oebanda.