Tulabut: Good Start, Good Year (2)

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

LAST WEEK I wrote something about starting the year right and how some things could steer this year into something more wonderful. Here is a continuation. 300 YEARS. Yes, Mabalacat is celebrating its tercentenary this year (1512-1712). It will be a grand celebration of its people, culture, art, history and many more.

And just how grand could it be when Mayor Marino Morales has placed his top renaissance man June Magbalot as the event’s primary director? Magbalot, once called as “culturati and gemologist” by mentor and colleague Bong Lacson in his column article, will again assemble, organize, manage a year-long celebration.

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I could imagine the grandiosity of stage productions, parades, floats and other showcases that have been made known because of him. Caragan Festival and the annual Miss and Mr. Mabalacat are but a few of the unheralded but highly successful events.

With help from event co-chair Deng Pangilinan, fellow Mabalaqueños Robbie Tantingco and PESO head Benjie Pangan, Mabalacat Tourism head Guy Hilbero, committee members like the district supervisors, school principals and registrars, this once-in-a-lifetime (who could live for a 100, much more 300 years?) event promises to be historic and meaningful not only to the town residents but also to those who value culture and arts.

Magbalot has tapped the best in the industry like songwriter, composer par excellance Andy Alviz who is in the final stages of putting up an album for the occasion. In Andy’s own words, this is the “very first time that a town will be producing a compilation” of original compositions, anthems, hymns for a municipality. Andy, to his recollection, does not remember if the provincial government has even done that too. Unprecedented!

The tercentenary will come even more meaningful as it would most likely coincide with the declaration of Mabalacat as a city towards the middle part of this year. Part of the celebrations will be grand gala night, parade of floats that depict significant milestones (pre and post colonial, American era, industrialization, etc), homecoming and ball for balikbayans, sporting events, book launching, art and photo exhibit and a whole lot more.

CHINESE LESSONS. Watching TV while relaxing over the weekend, I chanced upon a news item on national network about the benefits of having a Confucius Institute (CI) at the Angeles University Foundation (AUF).

While AUF-CI celebrated its second anniversary with traditional song and dance numbers with no less than Chinese Embassy Charges D’Affaires Bai Tian and Fujian Normal University Vice President Prof. Xu Ming, my attention was caught too on the program to have our immigration and customs officers undergo basic Chinese lessons.

This is one welcome event as our port officials deal a lot with Chinese visitors and tourists who find it hard to speak in foreign tongues like English. Chinese is one of the world’s major languages. At the United Nations, for example, an applicant for any organic position must know a secondary language (aside from English) like Chinese, Spanish and French. This is one reason probably why my application at UN’s Public Information Department for a communications post few years ago did not prosper. Now, I see the need to learn secondary language – even just to speak it even for my mere annual media coverage of the UN General Assembly.

CI has also signed a contract with DepEd that facilitated the inclusion of Mandarin among five foreign languages taught in selected high schools nationwide under DepEd’s Special Program in Foreign Language. Other authorized languages include German, Japanese, French and Spanish.

CI-AUF is on a pilot run of the program together with its partner public high schools namely: Paoay Lake National High School, Ilocos Norte (Luzon), Mabalo National High School, Cebu City (Visayas), and Zamboanga City National High School-West (Mindanao). It is also in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs – Foreign Service Institute, the National Library and even private institutions like the National Grid Corporation.

Anyways, I would like to congratulate AUF President Atty. Joseph Angeles for this terrific endeavor, along with other undertakings and innovations he has introduced at the world-class university. No wonder why AUF-CI was conferred recognition by CI headquarters in Beijing as one of the 30 most outstanding Confucius Institutes in the world. Not bad as there are 322 CIs on the planet.

As part of its Spring Festival, CI-AUF is slated to formally open the Experience China Exhibit at SM City Clark today, January 18, 2012 where Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan and his wife, Mrs. Herminia Pamintuan have been invited to lead the ceremonial cutting of the ribbon. The weeklong exhibit will showcase China Experience, an interactive way of learning China’s culture; Peking Opera photo-me
section with the Peking Opera as backdrop; displays which contain literature and graphics on China’s history, language, art, culture and people; on-the-spot Chinese calligraphy; and on-the-spot traditional tea-making.

The AUF Performing Arts, meanwhile, will stage the Chinese New Year Cultural Extravaganza with a complete repertoire of Chinese traditional songs and dances on January 21, 2012, 5:00 pm at the SM City Clark Events Centre.