When I came to know her exemplary kindness, I thought she should have been the nun and I should have been in the working world. Well. you must already know that Manang Rose was an unassuming and prayerful person but also had strong values, especially kindness that exemplified a sincere Christ like attitude.
Sister Jolisa Lazaro, S.N.D, June 2, 2016
It’s during the worst storms of your life that you will get to see the true colors of the people who say they care for you.
Anonymous
Have you done a rigorous inventory of your life’s grace? Grace in the sense that God showered you with unintended blessings or that God mercifully did not punish you for something you should have been. I wanted to reflect on that, as this word came upon me, “mirrflect,” a combination of holding a mirror and reflection on one’s life, while attending a dear friend’s mom’s wake.
Two years ago, 2016, I lost two valuable members of my family, Asuncion, my mother, to complications of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder) at age 88 on March 18 (day after St. Patrick’s Day) and my sister, Rosalinda, at age 67 on May 17, 2016, sixty days apart. Why did I lose my mother and my eldest sister in a span of sixty days? Simply, no answer suffices, but just to recognize that God harvested His angels in His own time.
During that week, I observed strange things. Aside from cabinets opening and closing on their own, I usually stayed in our library, with sunlight peering from the windows on the south side in the early afternoon. I watched the sun’s rays and a strange silhouette of a young woman appeared wearing a laced dress. I took a photo of that image, as I could not make sense of it. Whose image was that, I asked? It turns out an old photo of my younger mother resembled that silhouette.
Since these double traumas, friends have surfaced for me. Would you believe my granddaughter, barely three years old now?
It is the beautiful soul in her
I still remember when, as an infant, barely months old, when I was holding her to feed her milk. I kept sobbing as I held the bottle to her mouth (Princess for this essay). I could not stop sobbing, but I still had to nurture this baby, as both of her parents are at work. This beautiful soulful infant held on to my pinky with her inch – long fingers barely able to grab my pinky. Her reaching out to me, though barely awake, and feeding from her bottle, touched me so much.
During my mother’s funeral mass, Princess was held by her dad, Sergio and her mom, Corina, taking their turns, as the mass progressed. The church was full and musicians from the community came to pay their respects and even sing for my mother, primarily the David family (Mon, Nicole and Carlo). Even her grandfather, Enrique, held out his arms to hold Princess.
But, she refused them all, all of these primary caretakers, to hold her. When I offered my outstretched hands to hold her, she moved her body towards me and I got to hold her during mass. I keep that memory in my heart and in my mind as a special bond between Princess and myself.
Asuncion’s enduring friendship and who kept me company
Sion, my younger sister, kept me company. We went to all the Filipino movies we could see together, even if I had to drive a 50 mile- round trip each time. At times, it was a test of my endurance as the heat and traffic became unbearable during the summer. Yet, once reunited, it became something we look forward to, where we can simply let our souls bare, but also how easy conversations were. We went to our favorite “hole in the wall” for lunch and it got us through our difficult years. Just a few days ago, I complimented her in making everyone laugh that we met, giving much of her in story telling and jokes.
Our texts were long at times, wherein we wrote down what we see about life, and as we wrote them all out, we gained clarity that the two back to back deaths were God’s blessings and to see how much we are blessed, beyond our expectations. I hanged out with her family, and I got to know more of my niece, Jennifer and my favorite nephew, Brian, a tender soul who has been nursing her mother, back to her healthier self. They all were encouraging about my first book project.
Editor/ friends who contributed positively
I requested my editor, Christina, to write the foreword on my book, Even the Rainbow Has a Body. She too was going through tough times, as she had just lost a dear uncle in December, when the foreword was due. Yet, she braced herself, I am not even sure how she did it, and wrote the most touching foreword to my first book. I knew then, with that foreword written, I would get the book published.
I also asked my former editor, Nickee, to edit my essays and to help me with the book. It was a “rosy” relationship, forged with thorns and rose petals. With her candid feedback and my fragile feelings then, I could not take sometimes her objective criticisms. But, when we persisted, instead of resisting the differences in our perspectives, while modifying each other’s contributions, the project was finished; I shed a tear that finally a book is worthy of memorializing the legacies of my mother and my sister.
But it took generous souls, the likes of Hydee Ursolino who orchestrated how I should break up the book chapters with solo photos of my subjects, even a group photo of the choral groups that I featured. I cannot thank her enough for reaching out to me that this would be possible, in the middle of the holiday preparations during Thanksgiving.
I am also indebted to Fritz Friedman, Michael Gonzalez, Ph.D., Prof. Carol Ojeda – Kimbrough and Cynthia Bonta who wrote reviews on the book cover. They too, after writing their reviews helped me get out of my trauma.
But it was Grace Ysabel Simon, a senior in high school, who captured the essence of my book, even before reading the book chapters. How she did it is a mystery of the blessings of the Holy Spirit who is hand-picking all the folks who helped in giving birth to this book.
It took a very caring and professional printer, Monty Rili of Squid Ink Printing, to bring out the aesthetics and quality that I needed for the book.
And with the book launch, supported by tender loving souls, like Cora Oriel, Ted Benito, Asuncion Abarquez Ferrer, and Lem Balagot in Los Angeles, the book became symbolic of a ‘phoenix rising out of the ashes.’
My husband, Enrique and children, Corina and Carlo and my granddaughter, Princess became my early supporters for this book and with their support, I rise out of these traumas and reclaim my life of writing.
Two years after, more book launches have been organized by many earth angels, all stepping up to do it: Cynthia Bonta, East Wind Bookstore, Angge Lahoz, Korkie Paz, Emmellee Coronel, Ester Tagud, Philippine Expressions Bookshop, and even its latest poster ad, designed by Tina Salonga-Buchland.
Thank you to all of you, dear community folks, named and some unnamed, who are my true friends, with Christ-like attitudes and kindness, as I weathered the worst storms of my life!
“Everyone is born with a rainbow of talents. However, as immigrants, we are often faced with challenges – the need to assimilate and the ardent desire to make it in our adoptive country, no matter the cost. Often, the need to survive mutes the colors of our rainbow of talents. Sacrifices and compromises have to be made, and we set aside our passions and our need to create. We are fully aware that our existence has two bookends: the day that we were born and the day that we leave this earth to join our Creator. In between those two bookends, our lives take on a ‘body of creative work’ an a ‘body of existence.’ – Prosy Delacruz
But that is the way God gives. His gifts are never quite what we expect, but always something better than we hoped for. We can only dream of things too good to be true; God has a habit of giving things too true to be false. That is why our faith is a faith of the unexpected, a religion of surprise. Now, more than ever, living in times so troubled, facing a future so uncertain, we need such faith. We need it for ourselves, and we need to give it to others. We must remind the world that if Christmas comes in the depths of winter, it is that there may be an Easter in the spring.
Fr. Horacio de la Costa, Ph.D, a Jesuit
In going over 52 Rhizomes articles for 2017, these are some of the reflections I gathered from different subjects, which could be teaching moments and lessons that we can all learn from, to empower us in 2018.
A. Give all of yourself to your art, your mission at hand, at that given moment of creative self-expressions. Say no to all that will distract you from creating and achieving.
“Picture this, the singers now have our hearts in their hands, as they alternately do solos, ensemble, and then, together: ‘And the world will be better for this/That one man, scorned and covered with scars/Still strove with his last ounce of courage/To reach the unreachable star,’ while Celine Fabie sang verses of Ang Bayan Ko, ‘Pilipinas kong minumutya/Pugad ng luha at dalita/Aking adhika/Makita kang Sakdal Laya.’ Her soprano voice lingered, as if a dream unfulfilled and a love unrequited.
“What happens next? The last verse Makita Kang Sakdal Laya (To Witness your True Freedom) converged with To Reach the Unreachable Star, in a haunting soprano voice, which extracted a primal longing, a feeling for our birth country to be truly free, from all vestiges of bondage, to misguided measures of success, to incorrect principles of governance, from an unreachable space of creativity and musicality in music, to now genius manifested, and the crowd leaped to standing ovation, literally, shouting bravos.”
I wrote above on Dec. 19, 2016. Yet, by Dec. 27, 2017, their masterful pianist, conductor and composer, Ryan Cayabyab, endearingly referred to as Mr. C, was recognized with the Best Musical Score, as part of Larawan, a Movie Musical’s 6 wins at the 2017 Metro Manila Film Festival, including Best Picture and Best Actress.
The adage goes that it takes a master to extract masterful performances from other artists and that is true for Mr. C, as with his Ryan Cayabyab Singers, which performed in two nationwide tours in 2017, throughout the US.
B. As much as we are part of tree of life, we are also part of the tree of rise. We must embrace the responsibility of going through the seeming chaos of our personal challenges, in order to resolve the issue offered by these challenges and consequently, achieve a zone of peace.
Why – in going through that narrow gate, we are blessed with the innate wisdom on what we need to form within ourselves to elevate our character and thereby, a much closer connection with the Divine.
Recall the film Human Figures and even reading the book? Recall what Margot Lee Shetterly wrote – “My investigation became more like an obsession; I would walk any trail if it meant finding a trace of one of the computers at its end. I was determined to prove their existence and their talent in a way that meant they would never be lost to history. As the photos and memos and equations and family stories became real people, as the women became my companions and returned to youth or returned to life, I started to want something more for them than just putting them on the record. What I wanted was for them to have the grand, sweeping narrative that they deserved, the kind of American history that belongs to the Wright Brothers and the astronauts, to Alexander Hamilton and Martin Luther King Jr. Not told as a separate history, bust as part of the story we all know. Not at the margins, but at the very center, the protagonists of the drama. And not just because they are black, or because they are women, but because they are part of the American epic.”
The author found through her archival research how these women embraced discrimination and inequality challenges during their time, and used those challenges as opportunities to improve themselves and thereby, their chances of getting their much-deserved promotions in NASA.
C. To be citizens of America means we have a duty to be guardians of its democracy. We must insist on standards of truth, fairness, evidence gathering and justice. Justice cannot be achieved by fantasy or fiction.
In the United Kingdom, the police were bribed to look the other way, to not enforce the laws, while hacking was in progress (starting with an audacious bid of News of the World by Rupert Murdoch in 1981) and gag monies provided to those who complained. This dark culture of wrongdoings took years to be stopped and perpetrators brought to justice decades later with Rebekah Brooks arrested by British police on July 17, 2011 for hacking violations.
Free speech has boundaries; that is, speech must not do any harm. We cannot allow a president to make policies and executive orders based on zero evidence. With no evidence that terrorists came from these 7 countries (Muslim-dominated countries of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia) that he identified, his executive order is highly prejudicial, capricious and unsound. As such, the judge reasonably blocked this order.
In turn, we, the citizens of this republic, must take a stand that we believe in our norms. As Benjamin Wittes, a Brookings Institution expert on legal affairs, told The Atlantic’s Jonathan Rauch, “The first thing you’re going to blow through is not the laws, it’s the norms.” By “norms,” he means such political and social customs as respecting the law, accepting the legitimacy of your political opponents, tolerating speech you disagree with, performing civic duties like voting and staying informed, treating public office with dignity, and not lying. Fervently and frequently, the Founders warned that the Constitution would stand or fall on the public’s commitment to high standards of behavior—what they called republican virtue. James Madison said “parchment barriers” could not withstand the corruption of democratic norms.”
D. To practice good health and wellness, we must first be healthy, whether as ordinary citizens, professionals, acupuncturists, nurses or doctors. We gain credibility while involved in a professionally organized medical mission, only if we ourselves practice what we preach.
Part of the habit of ‘fortifying the immune system’ includes cooking meals with mostly organic produce or preparing salads from homegrown, pesticide-free, organic lettuce and tomatoes. I discovered that drinking organic milk no longer creates lactose intolerance, unlike regular milk.
Studies show that 80 percent of the immune system lines the gastrointestinal tract. This means, if you control the gut, you control the health of your body. Christine Gonzalez, N.D., Ph.D. introduced the role of healthy nutrition in preventing diseases and cancers. In her book, “Yes You Can Prevent & Control Cancer,” she stresses that the “wrong food is the most important factor in the promotion of disease.” She wrote about some of the anti-cancer superfoods, the right foods one must have as part of healthy living and preventing diseases.
Vegetables — Research has shown that “cruciferous vegetables provide protection against certain cancers, such as broccoli, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, and cauliflower. These vegetables stimulate the production of enzymes that detoxify carcinogens.”
She cites the research studies done at John Hopkins University where laboratory animals were fed cruciferous vegetables and exposed to a dangerous carcinogen, aflatoxin, a type of mold found in peanuts. These animals had 90 percent reduction in their cancer rate.
Why? The vegetables increase these animals’ productions of glutathione peroxidase, one of the most important protective enzyme systems in the body.
Dr. Maria Araceli De Guzman (a volunteer of Philippine Medical Association – Northern California) is married to Joe De Guzman, and both were part of the medical mission in Dumaguete in Jan. 2017. Dr Joe obtained his bachelor of science in chemistry at UCLA, masters in arts and dance at SF State, masters in Kinesiology, and a Ph.D. in applied physiology at Columbia University and a post-doctorate in the biochemistry of muscle metabolism in UC Berkeley. He works as an exercise physiologist, trainer, and consultant in the fitness industry. He taught wellness classes as part of the medical mission.
He described how the Filipino diet has excess salt (i.e. bagoong, patis), which can cause hypertension; the kakanin (rice cakes, pastillas, biko, suman) that has excessive sugar and our dishes that have excessive fat (like lechon).
Yet, he laments that the Philippines has the most nutritious fruits and vegetables with plenty of antioxidants (cabbage, ampalaya, sweet potato, malunggay and more) and those do not need additional butter and fat. He stressed the need to drink coconut water, instead of Coke with nine teaspoons of added sugar.
“I feel sorry for the people’s nutrition and lack of good physical activity. We are designed to move. We must move. We are all [descended] from Africa and we are designed to do hard, physical work. There are enough good things in the Philippines to have a good life,“ he said.
E.“The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions. – Oliver Wendell Holme
Gero was Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in the play, “The Originalist.” The civil discourses between Justice Scalia and Cat, the law clerk, showed high levels of respect, that it was much more than a display of theatrics.
When the play was first shown on the East Coast in 2015, the New York Times and the Washington Post gave high marks to “The Originalist,” a generous interpretation of Justice Scalia, the character. Bethesda Magazine wrote that 19,000 folks saw the play. The rapt audience listened to every word, hoping to “read the tea leaves,” and to gain an insight into the Supreme Court’s upcoming judgment.
That year, 2015, Washington was into any conversation about politics, as it was a year before the presidential elections. The play was performed to a “hot room temperature” audience.
Gero refers to this “high art” play as “one that is not purely entertainment, but has a teaching moment, an invitation to reconsider what is true, an invitation for transformation, to suspend our own, to perhaps go outside our own box, to listen. The court is a great Socratic classroom, the best synthesis of arguments on both sides, let me consider this argument, then a counter-argument, and with the thesis and the anti-thesis, the synthesis, resulting in not a “No, but,” instead, “Yes, and. We are more than our belief systems,” Gero emphasized. Gero prepared for this play for a year, reading federalist papers, and listened to the oral arguments of Obergefell vs. Hodges during the day. He attended lunch at Scalia’s chambers that day, and after their meal, he encountered a fortune cookie message, which read: “The mind, once stretched by a new idea, never returns to its original dimensions.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes.
My three year old granddaughter, Princess likes to say: “I did it! I did it!” and after, she claps her hands. Can we perhaps have more moments to cheer creative self-expressions? Of involvement? Of participation? Of responsible citizenship? And maybe declare a Happy New Year with a faith that expects daily miracles to happen?
“The greatest gift that our founders gave to us is the freedom to chase our individual dreams through our sweat and toil and imagination, and the imperative to strive together, as well, to achieve a common good, a greater good. For 240 years, our nation’s call to citizenship has given work and purpose to each new generation. It’s what led patriots to choose republic over tyranny, pioneers to trek west, slaves to brave that makeshift railroad to freedom. It’s what pulled immigrants and refugees across oceans and the Rio Grande. It’s what pushed women to reach for the ballot. It’s what powered workers to organize. It’s why GIs gave their lives at Omaha Beach and Iwo Jima, Iraq and Afghanistan. And why men and women from Selma to Stonewall were prepared to give theirs, as well. So that’s what we mean when we say America is exceptional—not that our nation has been flawless from the start, but that we have shown the capacity to change and make life better for those who follow. Yes, our progress has been uneven. The work of democracy has always been hard. It’s always been contentious. Sometimes it’s been bloody. For every two steps forward, it often feels we take one step back. But the long sweep of America has been defined by forward motion, a constant widening of our founding creed to embrace all and not just some.” – Pres. Barack Obama’s farewell speech excerpt.
Headlines of October 31, 2017, Halloween, read: ”Former Trump aides charged as prosecutors reveal new campaign ties with Russia”(New York Times), “Ex-Trump adviser pleads guilty to making false statement”(CNN), “In Russia probe, Mueller’s first charges a show of force” (US News World & Report), “Trump finds Russia investigation ‘very distracting’, says John Kelly (The Guardian), “Forget Paul Manafort – these are the men who are cooperating with the FBI who Trump should be really afraid of.”
Three days later, the headlines were: “Paul Manafort has three passports, is a ‘serious’ flight risk, Robert Mueller says,” (Independent), “Ex-Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort, deputy indicted on 12 charges in Russia probe” (Chicago channel 5).
Further, Chicago Channel 5 reported that Manafort and Gates pleaded not guilty in federal court in Washington Monday to accusations.
Both men funneled more than $75 million in payments through foreign companies and bank accounts, with Manafort laundering more than $18 million and Gates transferring more than $3 million from the accounts to ones he controlled. “Manafort used his hidden overseas wealth to enjoy a lavish lifestyle in the United States, without paying taxes on that income,” Mueller alleges in the indictment. These are serious charges, which were reviewed by a grand jury panel, and the charges were affirmed.
Paul Manafort was granted bail at $10 million. Readers, would you happen to have ten homes to your name, worth $1 million each, or two mansions worth $5 million each? There lies the inequality gap, as this alleged defendant would enjoy the comfort of his own home, while someone from the working class, if similarly situated, will be in jail. Just imagine what it took to have $10 million to afford this privilege of a house arrest?
To pro-Trump supporters, they dismissed it as fake news and called on their fellow colleagues to read Rush Limbaugh and deflect the blame to Hillary Clinton. Except, she did not run Trump’s campaign, nor was she elected President, and was disfavored by the hackers in Russia.
Trump’s foreign policy adviser, George Papadopoulos, secretly pleaded guilty. His settlement was unsealed, charging him with lying to the FBI about his contacts with the Russian, during the 2016 presidential campaign, as reported by Vox’s Ella Nilsen on October 30, 2017.
Mueller’s team unsealed the documents. It remained sealed for about three weeks, as there was a concern that Papadopoulos who agreed to be a “proactive cooperator” meaning, wired in his conversations, might be hampered.
Nada Bakos, a former CIA analyst interviewed on CNN, whose former assignment was to cultivate targets, informed the television audience about her agency’s practice of identifying targets, with traits of malleability. She said that Manafort is a perfect target, given his contacts, so was Papadopoulos, who was malleable.
According to the prosecutor’s statement of facts, Papadopoulos met with a Kremlin-linked professor in London and introduced him to a woman possibly close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He continued to meet with Russian operatives and Papadopoulos aggressively sought meetings for Kremlin with the Trump administration, including an admonition from Manafort that Donald Trump be spared from the meeting, so as not to create “signals.” Papadopoulos’ supervisor supposedly complimented him in his efforts. News sources are now reporting that Papadopoulos’ supervisor is Jeff Sessions, the current US Attorney General, who recused himself from the investigation.
Steve Hall, a CNN’s panelist, offered a likely cover response from the Trump’s circle, to provide deniability: perhaps to downplay the indictments, and to categorize George Papadopoulos as a volunteer campaign staffer.
Predictably, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Press Secretary of the White House, described Papadopoulos as an unpaid volunteer to the campaign. News sources disputed her claim by showing a photo of a March meeting attended by Jeff Sessions, George Papadopoulos, and Donald Trump.
As these events unfold, Gallup presidential approval poll, based on interviews with 1,500 individuals, registered the disapproval rating of President Donald Trump from 47% on January 9, 2017, to now at 60%, after 282 days in office. Other news sources put it at 65%, since the indictments were announced.
Comparatively, Richard Nixon had a 5% disapproval rating on January 23, 1969 and 66% on August 2, 1974, when he resigned from the presidency. Trump’s disapproval rating is inching towards Nixon’s at the time of his resignation.
And as to Barack Obama, whose quotes I cited above, his disapproval rating was at 13% on January 19, 2009 and after the end of his term of 8 years, it was at 37% on January 16, 2017.
As to how this process will fare out, it will now be up to our American justice system and its process of enforcement.
This justice system, I believe, is currently staffed by enforcement and judicial professionals who swore to uphold the US constitution and who serve the public, cognizant of the rule of law and the need to establish what is true, what is fair, using credible evidence. They, I believe, will ultimately be the guardians of US democracy.
The last time America self-corrected its democracy, which was tainted by the White House’s Watergate activities, Pres. Richard Nixon resigned from his office.
When the truth of the 2016 Presidential elections is fully revealed, we will move two steps forward, even if our nation had been taken several steps backwards, with these indictments of the Presidents’ men, and with fake news from Russian sources, affecting 120 million people according to Facebook, close to half of America’s population.
May our Congress and Senate have the political will to right what’s wrong, including convening another Presidential Elections if need be, to reflect the genuine will of the American voters. This, I believe, will constitute another form of guardianship over America’s democracy. May God bless America and may this be the beginning of a new chapter based on truth, justice and righteousness!
“Art is the house of the spirit,” as one author wrote. I have come to know that art is our direct line and link to God.
Read about 31 artists, 27 of whom are Filipino, Filipino-Americans, with 4 Italian-Americans, all of whom nourished their creative spirits to compose music, to arrange music, to paint, to write books, to produce plays and concerts, to write about Hollywood celebrities, to design artistic buildings, to cook with artistic flair and vision and all the while, they are keeping God alive in their lives.
Like the phenomenal solar eclipse that I witnessed on August 21, 2017, from 927 am to 1021 am for its totality path in Madras, Oregon, I too witnessed the blossoming of these artists’ creativities, respecting their passion, their creative instincts and their audience.
Read about them in my book, Even the Rainbow Has a Body, on sale at East Wind Bookstore in Berkeley, LA Rose Cafe in East Hollywood, and even Lee’s Beauty Salon in Vermont Avenue or directly from me.
I am not in awe of people per se, because we are all pilgrims, we are given everything. Why am I here? I am medium when it comes to talent. Supernatural talent comes from the Higher Being – bigger than all of us. I surrender my fate to Him, as He alone owns all of these. I am a human being still learning in life — how to be loving and how to be caring for others. It is important for me to teach as much as I can—it is up to you to spread it around.
Maestro Ryan Cayabyab, Asian Journal MDWK Magazine, October 2016
When Geneva Cruz sang “Kailan” (kailan)/Kailan mo ba mapapansin ang aking lihim/Kahit ano’ng aking gawin/di mo pinapansin (When? When will you discover my secret? Whatever I do you are not paying attention),” you could sense that she wants to live up to the highest quality of musicality that the audience has experienced from Maestro Ryan Cayabyab and the Ryan Cayabyab Singers (RCS), those who had performed before her, the likes of Becca Godinez, Annie Nepomuceno and Miguel Vera.
At sound check, as the opening bars of “Kailan” played out, Yong Chavez of ABS-CBN whispered, “Asan si Geneva Cruz (Where is Geneva Cruz)?”
Much like prescience, Cruz — dressed in her long blue gown with a ruffled bordered slit, á la Angelina Jolie — appeared, to the surprise of Maestro Ryan, and sang “Kailan.”
“I was nervous, because Tito Ryan was my mentor. He discovered me when I was twelve,” Cruz told the audience at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, California, after hugging the Maestro twice.
“In both concerts, I saw with the Maestro and the RCS, a defining character of the show is it will make you feel proud you are a Filipino. His [Ryan]’s own narrations made me understood his genius, his compositions helped me appreciate more of the treasure trove we have as a nation and having all these sang, and performed on stage by singers nurtured by him and to achieve this kind of excellence [is] one for the books. Truly, The Maestro. And yes the RCS are awesome. Though I would have loved more the stage, if the digital works were clearer. But then the intensity of the group was outstanding. I told my friend [to] never miss a Ryan Cayabyab and RCS concert for it never fails to set a benchmark of excellence. It was totally pure music, incredible singing prowess, very good repertoire and Geneva Cruz was a so pleasant surprise. Now you know a good show and The Maestro never ceases to amaze. Thank you Annie Nepomuceno! And why I was proud to be a Filipino? It is because Ryan made it so clear that we have our own world in the music universe, unparalleled,” Ed Rame wrote in his Facebook post.
Cruz then sang “Paraiso,” a song written by Maestro Ryan, which won the grand prize at the 1993 Tokyo Music Festival.
“I live in this land called paraiso/ In a house made of cardboard floors and walls/ I learned to be free in paraiso/Free to claim anything I see. Matching rags for my clothes/Plastic bags for the cold/And if empty cans were all I have/ what a joy/ I never fight to take someone else’s coins and live with fear like the rest of the boys/Paraiso, help me make a stand/Paraiso, take me by the hand/Paraiso, make the world understand that if I could see a single bird, what a joy/This tired and hungry land could expect/Some truth and hope and respect/From the rest of the world.”
Her soulful rendition spoke volumes and the audience heard every word she sang, which touched many hearts, to call out bravos.
After the concert, Maestro Ryan told this writer that local popular artists’ involvement is what made this concert much better than their last. Indeed, the local artists amazed the audience, as they too, “leveled up their performances,” accompanied by the Maestro on the piano.
The Harana Men’s Chorus’ rendition of Annie Nepomuceno’s new arrangement of “Sa May Bintana,” an original composition of Maestro Ryan, was an audience hit.
Each holding a microphone, the tenors — Jake Labado, Michael Zuniga, Don Sagarbarria, Kenneth Laurente, Dennis Jardiel and Erwin Andaya — gave their best vocal sounds.
Even more impressive was their rendition of “Ikaw ang Mahal Ko.”
The opening bars quieted the audience which was so focused and hung onto every lyric sung by this group, giving the group a superior performance.
But “Iniibig Kita” made us fall in love again, when these were sung: “Malaman mo lang, Wala ng Iba, Mas Hihigit Pa, Sa Pagibig Ko sa Iyo.”
It was as if they all read what the Maestro told the Asian Journal’s MDWK Magazine in his 2016 interview, “We can’t turn out good musicians unless they have played with the literature of orchestra. They must have played with symphonic works, they study pieces and do solo pieces. They must have had a chance to sit at the end of the orchestra, for immersion.”
No wonder Maestro Ryan introduced them as the premier male choral group in the world and the crowd went wild with applauses and hollers.
First songwriter and her first gold award
But, truly, another gem that evening was Becca Godinez. She recalled how Ryan appeared on “Happiness Is,” her first television show at the age of 12.
She then composed a song in English, Sam, which her producer said would be a hit, if translated in Tagalog. George Canseco translated it and “Bakit ba ganyan ang pag-ibig? (Why is Love that Way?) became her first hit song, as predicted, and she bagged her first gold award.
Godinez was the pioneering female songwriter and composer of pop music in the Philippines, preceding Odette Quesada, who was in the audience that night.
Just like the multi-awarded Godinez, Maestro Ryan got an Awit Award for the Best Novelty Recording of his original, “Da Coconut Nut.”
Giselle Tongi-Walters — also known as G — dressed in a luminous yellow dress, sang “Da Coconut Nut,” with a troop of children from the Kayamanan ng Lahi Philippine Folk Arts, wearing bright colors of kimona. Right beside her was her daughter, Sakura, who sang and danced. She seemed to be as comfortable onstage as her mom.
Much to the audience’s delight, G sang quite well with lightness and joyful energies, as the children accompanied her while dancing.
G posted on her Instagram, “We are all the colors of the rainbow, performing with children of KNLfolkarts and Sakura on stage was so much fun! I love my knlfolkarts family sooooooo much!”
As much as she enjoyed herself, the audience mirrored that joy as well.
El Filibusterismo, Ramahari, Spoliarium excerpts
All three were musicals written by Maestro Ryan, 11 in total.
El Filibusterismo’s song, “Awit ni Isagani” was sung by Miguel Vera. It was a beautiful, heartfelt rendition evoking such tenderness, with a visual collage of Eliseo Art Silva’s commissioned painting for the Rizal Day celebrations in Philadelphia. It features Inang Bayan hovering above the birthplace of Rizal in Silva’s hometown of Calamba, Laguna. On the right of Rizal’s portrait are the main characters of his novel “Noli Me Tangere”: Maria Clara with Crisostomo Ibarra.
Had the projector fully illuminated these digital images, it would have had a more visual impact.
Annie Nepomuceno sang “Iduyan mo,” a tribute to Basil Valdez, as if swinging the hammock, back and forth, and with such slowing down and pacing of her lyrics.
“Iduyan mo ang duyan ko/unti-unti itulak mo. It did the trick for the audience. The “Rama Hari” song, “Magbalik Ka Na, Mahal,” was a hit as well.
The audience’s favorites
A retrospective journey to the 1950s, skip 60’s, to the 70’s, skip ‘80s, to the ‘90s created a stir. At some point, they were humming and joining in vocalizing the lyrics.
The Ryan Cayabyab Singers (RCS) could not have been better. The “Galawgaw” song created a tease, but when “Waray Waray” was sung and danced to as well, the audience was primed for the picking.
Then the sounds of “No money, no honey” accompanied by adept tap dancing wowed the crowds.
And of course, the song, “O Ang Babae, pag iyong ini wan, hahabol-habol (Oh, a woman, when you leave her, she chases after),” and “Rock Baby Rock,” complete with twirls delighted the audience so much.
By the time it was the tribute to Francis Magalona, RCS sang: “Mga kababayan ko, kaya mo, kaya ko, kaya natin,” our hearts and souls were ripe for picking.
Then, the clincher songs “Sirena”, and “Sabihin Mo Ikaw ay Pilipino” resonated.
During these two songs, no one was talking in the audience, no one was moving, and everyone was hooked to the lyrics of “Sirena,” a rap song composed by Glock-9, about a gay son who lived with a hostile, harsh father. He is talking about his struggles, his sufferings and how all the siblings had left home.
When the father was on his deathbed, he summoned his gay son to apologize for treating him so badly and said, “You gays are more men than men.” It touched us and made some folks cry.
Since that weekend was about LGBT pride, the song was quite relevant those sectors of the audience, some of whom were quite vocal in expressing their appreciation for Maestro Ryan and the RCS.
When the cast sang their final song, “Sabihin Mo Ikaw ay Pilipino,” you would think folks would be tired, as it was close to three hours by then, yet most stayed until the finale.
These lyrics resonated with this writer, as much with the audience as it spoke to our collective truth: “Sabihin mo ikaw ay pilipino Kahit saang bansa ikaw ay mag punta Sabihin mo ikaw ay Pilipino Pilipino ka, yan ang totoo (Tell them you are Pilipino/Whatever nation you go/Tell them you are Pilipino/That is the truth).”
Asuncion Ferrer, a retiree, had this to say, “It was good to know that [Ryan’s] students [Annie Nepomuceno, Ed Nepomuceno] are now the ones teaching musicality to the new generation of musicians. Ryan is a genius of our lifetime and contributed much to the OPM (Original Pilipino Music) we are now enjoying. Sana ibalik ang “Musikahan” to introduce our next generation to Filipino music.”
Next generation of musicians
“Ryan Ryan Musikahan” was Maestro Ryan’s television show for years. It garnered 14 awards from various award-giving bodies, such as Best Television Musical Show and Best Show Host for him.
As Ryan narrated, the LA version of Smokey Mountain has been discovered: Edsel Sotiangco, Michael Keith, Louisa Tampi and Josie Gonzalez. Sotiangco had his modern style of singing “Street People,” backed by a Kulintang ensemble, while Gonzalez so tenderly sang “Can this be love I am feeling right now?”
Tampi sang with such a hopeful, sensual style that it was so credible to hear the lyrics from her: “Together we will find a hideaway/where we can stay from day to day.”
Michael Keith confided how nervous he was and that he was shaking coming onstage, yet, did not reveal those while he competently sang “Mama” and these lyrics: “Mom you were gone since I was five” got seared in our hearts, as any listener would. He sang with such abandonment that the crowd just quieted down on their own especially when he sang the list of jobs that distant moms do: governess, nurse and more.
Bravo to these next generation singers who are strong academically but also, in musicality, ranging in age from 12 to 19 years old.
Now, we all have been shown the light by Maestro Ryan and to the next generation of students, it is up to you to spread your wings and be the light, using your musicality!
Annie Nepomuceno, you produced with superior results, the venue had the best sound projection and acoustics. Not only did you excel as a producer, arranger, you did it too as a singer and inspirer-in-action!
What a seamless, impeccable show! This recent concert was phenomenal and if you were there, you would have witnessed history — our history — of quality, collective expressions of musicality, performance arts and mentoring. This writer is, in fact, coming back to see another show in San Diego just to relive these beautiful, joyful moments!
Ryan Cayabyab is more than a musical genius. He elevates other singers, younger generations to exceed his musicality. This is the best of our Filipino-Americans in the U.S., mentoring one another to perform at their soaring level best.
