ON April 25 the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) board of directors and senior officials went to Davao City to join the personnel of the agency’s Mindanao branch offices in celebrating PCSO’s 80th anniversary.
With me were Directors Betty B. Nantes, Mabel V. Mamba, Francisco G. Joaquin III and Bem Noel. We were joined by the agency’s recently appointed Chairman Erineo S. Maliksi. He delivered a rousing address to the assembled officials and employees who were excited to meet the new chairman, the board, and other Manila-based personnel.
The day before the anniversary celebration, we turned over two ambulances: one to Mayor Rodrigo Duterte for the city of Davao, and the other to Mayor Jenny de Asis for the municipality of San Francisco, Agusan del Sur. Under its ambulance-donation program, the PCSO gives ambulances to fourth-class to sixth-class municipalities for free and to first-class to third-class municipalities under a 60/40 cost-sharing scheme.
Duterte thanked PCSO for the ambulance, saying that it would make Davao City more prepared to meet an Ebola virus crisis should such arise. Duterte added that the city will look into purchasing protective gear and other related equipment as part of a standby plan.
Davao is a delightful place and we noted the city’s cleanliness and strictly enforced no-public-smoking policy. We were impressed by how bustling and vibrant the city is, even on a weekend. Fresh food is abundant—seafood and pomelo may be had anywhere for a reasonable price, and durian flavors a myriad of dishes from candy to coffee. One restaurant even serves durian wonton and durian rolls.
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THANK you to all who supported and attending the opening of Art for a Cause, a benefit art show by the Saturday Group to raise funds for liver-transplant patients at The Medical City (TMC).
The exhibit opened on May 2 at LRI Design Plaza in Bel-Air II, Makati City, and stays there until closing time today, May 4. Then it moves to the TMC lobby from May 8 to 22.
The Saturday Group, comprising established and upcoming artists, often holds fund-raising activities for charity causes and this year’s beneficiaries are indigent pedia-tric patients who will undergo liver transplants at the TMC, under a team of surgeons headed by Dr. Vanessa de Villa.
De Villa spearheaded a groundbreaking effort to accomplish the first successful liver transplant in the Philippines in January 2011 with an all-Filipino team of doctors and nurses. Now, liver transplant patients no longer need to travel abroad as before for the life-saving procedure.
The Art for a Cause show features some 50 paintings and sculptures donated by Saturday Group artists. Those participating are Lydia Velasco, Migs Villanueva, Anna de Leon, Buds Convocar, Buddy Ching, Hermes Alegre, Roel Obemio, Omi Reyes, Aner Sebastian, Francis Nacion, Jaime Gubaton, Gerrico Blanco, Norlie Meimban, Carlo Magno, Ross Capili, Jonathan Dangue, Herbert Pajarito and myself.
Photographer Mandy Navasero will be presenting her portfolio of Batanes images. Since 2006, her regular photo sessions in that province have helped transform it into a major destination.
The show delights as an anthology of diverse styles and methods. Velasco’s portrayal of everyday
women brings out their inner strengths. Villanueva’s naïf art is refreshing, while de Leon’s surreal works in mixed media fascinate.
Convocar and Ching are known for their leadership in mixed media abstractions; Alegre sets Filipinas in tropical surroundings. Obemio’s work evokes that of Botero, featuring rotund personages in fantasy settings.
Reyes’s steampunk series rivet attention, while Sebastian’s works blaze with color and texture. Nacion depicts stylized folktales in a light manner, Gubaton’s Cityscape series are a commentary on social inequality, while Blanco’s Safari Series animals are realistic and masterfully rendered.
Meimban combines digital art and media to suggest visual movement; Magno is an abstractionist; Ross Capili’s Imagined Landscape series evokes other worlds.
Dangue and Pajarito are both winners of the Metrobank Art and Design Excellence award. Dangue contributed freeform brass
sculptures while Pajarito is an abstract painter.
My own works feature tribal-themed designs and digital art.
We encourage art aficionados to visit the show and acquire some of these artworks for their own; in doing so, they can help save lives.
Lawyer Jose Ferdinand M. Rojas II is the vice chairman and general manager of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.