Mula nang kita’y makilala
Ang buhay ko ay nag-iba
Wala nang lungkot sa gabi
Ligaya’y bawat sandali
Palagi akong may ngiti
Kapag kita’y naiisip
Makita lamang kita
Wala nang hahanapin pa
That excerpt from Hulog Ka Ng Langit, one of the 17 selections comprising Regine Velasquez’s new CD (same title) released by Universal Records, could be interpreted as referring to her husband Ogie Alcasid. But sorry, Ogie, those lines dripping with motherly affection and devotion are Regine’s paean to their son Nate who turned two on Nov. 8, the day Typhoon Yolanda vented its fury on Eastern Visayas, with Tacloban City as the hardest hit.
Although her relatives in Leyte were not as badly hit as those in other parts of the province, Regine is devastated by the tragedy. It was in Leyte where, as a teenager, Regine was trained by her father Mang Gerry by submerging her in the sea and that’s how she developed her powerful vocal cords strengthened by her screams that punctuated every submersion.
At yesterday’s presscon at Livestock restaurant (Scout Esguerra, Quezon City), Regine announced that proceeds from the album’s sales will be donated to the Red Cross for the benefit of the Yolanda victims. She’s also thinking of donating sales from Nate’s clothes which Regine has been posting on her Instagram way back and Nate’s toys (including those she could collect from her fans and friends) for the kiddie victims.
Most of the 17 songs on the Hulog album are dedicated to Nate. The rest are love songs.
To kick off the presscon, Regine sang Tomorrow (also on the album) with so much feeling that it will certainly provide a ray of sunshiny hope for Yolanda victims.
Incidentally, Universal Records EVP Ramon Chuaying requested Funfare to announce that students of Leyte Progressive High School (LPHS) of Tacloban City, who evacuated to Manila, can now enroll in various Chinese schools in Metro Manila, namely:
 Chiang Kai Shek College (offering free tuition fee, free school uniforms and free dormitory);
 Hope Christian High School (free tuition fee, free school uniforms and free dormitory);
 St. Stephen High School (free tuition fee and free school uniforms);
 Xavier School (free tuition fee); and
 Sampaloc Chong Hua School (free tuition fee with P500 rewards for students getting high grades at the end of the semester).
According to Ramon, the effort is supported by LPHS Alumni Association Manila Chapter. (For inquiries, call Letty Uykim at 0917-3061291.)
In New York, former beauty queens and models held a fund-raising event called Hope Floats for Yolanda victims, reported Funfare’s “beauty expert†Felix Manuel. Anthea Robles, Lucia Santiago, Maricor Lustre, May Joy de Leon and Dindi Gallardo were able to raise $10,000.
In L.A., US-based hairstylist Monet Lu spearheaded a fund-raising event during the Beautiful Life Celebration 2013: An Evening of Pride and Recognition honoring distinguished Filipinos both in the US and in the Philippines.
“My high school classmate Felipe Tan Jr. spotted Gabby Concepcion in Honolulu also raising money for Yolanda victims,†said Funfare’s “other beauty expert†Celso de Guzman Caparas.
Mabuhay ka rin,
Anderson Cooper!
I can’t end today’s piece without quoting Anderson Cooper’s praises-to-high-heavens for the unwavering Filipino spirit in the face of tragedy in his Anderson 360 show on CNN before he left the Philippines last Saturday after doing an extensive coverage of the Yolanda devastation in Eastern Visayas with his fellow CNN guys:
When everything else is taken away, broken and battered, soaked raw, stripped bare, you see things. You see people as they really are. This week in Tacloban, Samar and Cebu, amidst the hunger and thirst, the chaos and confusion, we’ve seen the best in the Filipino people. Their strength, their courage, I can’t get it out of my mind. Imagine the strength it takes for a mother to search alone for her missing kids, the strength to sleep on the street near the body of your child.
We’ve seen people with every reason to despair, every right to be angry, instead find ways to laugh, and to love, to stand up, to move forward.
A storm breaks wood and bone, brings hurt and heartbreaks. In the end, the wind, the water, the horror it brings is not the end of the story.
With aid and assistance, compassion and care, this place, these people…they will make it through. They already survived the worst. They’re bowed, perhaps tried and traumatized, but they are not broken.
Mabuhay Philippines! Maraming salamat for what you’ve shown us. Maraming salamat for showing us all how to live.
(E-mail reactions at entphilstar@yahoo.com. You may also send your questions to askrickylo@gmail.com. For more updates, photos and videos visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on www.twitter/therealrickylo.)