President Aquino lauds Iskwelahand Pilipino
Rondalla for sharing the country’s rich cultural traditions with fellow
Filipino-Americans
President Benigno S. Aquino III lauded on
Wednesday the Iskwelahang Pilipino (IP) Rondalla for sharing with fellow
Filipino-Americans in the United States the rich cultural traditions of the
country.
The Chief Executive, likewise, gifted the IP
Rondalla with travelling bags and organizers with the presidential seal and one
P500 bill for souvenir during a courtesy call at the Malacanang’s Heroes Hall.
The IP Rondalla performed Isang Dugo/Kay Ganda
Ng Ating Musika medley, Pobreng Alindahaw, Palladio and Maria Cristina before
President Aquino and other government officials in the audience. After the
performance, the IP Rondalla gifted the Chief Executive with a T-shirt.
President Aquino thanked the Iskwelahang
Pilipino for developing in Filipino-American children a strong positive ethnic
identity and instill pride in the students' cultural heritage.
During the event, the President recalled his
experiences in Boston during the early 1980s after his father Senator Benigno
"Ninoy" Aquino Jr. was exiled to the US.
He also shared with the IP Rondalla that he was
busy meeting with concerned government officials about the government housing
project for the families affected by typhoon Pablo.
He told the musicians that he enjoyed their
performance and thanked them for sharing the Filipino culture and traditions
with the mainstream society in the US.
In 1976, a group of parents led by Cristina
Castro founded the Iskwelahang Pilipino in Newton, Massachusetts in a bid to
create a school where their children can develop a strong positive ethnic
identity and have the chance to learn about their Filipino heritage.
At present, IP holds classes on four major
programs namely music, folk dance, language and culture, and arts and craft at
the Bedford Center in Massachusetts.
In 1986, the Iskwelahang Pilipino Rondalla was
established. Composed of talented student musicians, the IP Rondalla's varied
repertoire is drawn from the rich folk music heritage, contemporary
arrangements of traditional folk songs and original compositions reflecting the
influence of Filipino-American cultural identity.
The IP Rondalla has performed in important
state-sponsored cultural events and international festivals such as the New
England Folk Festival, Newton Asian Festival, Asian American Heritage Month,
Philippine Festival Week, and the Rondalla International Festival.
The IP Rondalla July 1990 tour of the
Philippines was highlighted by a special performance before then-President
Corazon Aquino at Malacañang Palace.
In April 1993, the group gave a special tribute
performance in honor of Nitoy Gonzales, the beloved Filipino rondalla maestro,
composer, and songwriter. In November that same year, the group took part in a
special performance at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York in honor of the
visiting Philippine President Fidel V. Ramos.
The following year, the IP Rondalla was again
invited to perform for President Ramos at the Westin Hotel in Boston. In 1994,
the IP Rondalla went on a three-week European concert tour of Belgium, Germany,
The Netherlands, Austria and England.
Their first full length CD, Crossing Over, was
recorded and released in 1995. In celebration of the Centennial of the
Philippine Republic in 1998, the group completed a 3-week/18-performance tour
of the Philippines highlighted by a performance at the Cultural Center of the
Philippines.
Also in attendance at Malacanang Palace were
Cabinet Secretary Jose Rene Almendras, Social Welfare and Development Secretary
Corazon Soliman, Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, and Iskwelahang
Pilipino officials Violane Rodriguez Bailey, Cristina Castro, Maria Celia
Rodis-Sipin and Lilibeth Aristorenas. PND (js)
Aquino: Agencies should work together and charge
'sex-for-flight' perpetrators
President Benigno S. Aquino III instructed the
Department of Labor and Employment to coordinate with the Department of Justice
and the Office of the Executive Secretary once it has sufficient evidence to
charge anyone behind the alleged sex-for-flight scheme in the Middle East that
victimized distressed overseas Filipino workers.
The President met with Labor Secretary Rosalinda
Baldoz on Tuesday who informed him about the ongoing investigation and the
measures taken by the department in the aftermath of the revelations about the
controversy.
“Secretary Baldoz assured the President that no
one in DOLE will be spared if the investigation yields any wrongdoing on their
part,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said in a message to
Palace reporters.
The justice department said the Department of
Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) are
investigating different cases of OFWs who fell victim to the scheme.
Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello had earlier revealed
the alleged sex-for-flight scheme at the Philippine embassies in Saudi Arabia,
Syria and Kuwait and other parts of the Middle East. Bello initially was
seeking the help of the National Bureau of Investigation in finding the truth
about the reported abuses.
President Aquino said the NBI may be tapped to
help in the investigation to stop the sex-for-flight scheme victimizing OFWs in
the Middle East.
The President also ordered the DFA and DOLE
personnel abroad to look after the welfare of some 10 million OFWs abroad. PND
(as)
Filipino drug courier execution must serve as a
lesson to Filipinos, says Palace
Malacanang once again warned the people not to
allow themselves to be victimized by drug syndicates fooling unsuspecting
Filipinos to ship illegal drugs outside the country following the execution of
a female drug courier in China Wednesday morning.
In a message, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson
Abigail Valte told reporters that the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed
Wednesday that the Filipina drug mule has been executed.
“We extend our sympathies and condolences to the
family. We appeal to the media to allow the family their privacy at this
difficult time. However unfortunate, we hope that this will serve as a
continuing lesson to our citizens not to allow themselves to be victimized and
to fall prey to these syndicates,” Valte said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said the
Filipino drug courier was executed in China Wednesday morning, a day after
meeting her family in Shanghai.
The Philippine Consulate in Shanghai is
currently working for the repatriation of her remains to the country.
In a last ditch effort last week, President
Benigno Aquino III tried to send Vice President Jejomar Binay to China to
appeal to the Chinese government not to execute the Filipino and instead
commute her sentence to life imprisonment.
But the Chinese government discouraged Binay’s
trip saying the move was not timely at that time. PND (as)
