Light in darkness
What a joy it was to read about the millions of people around the world marking Earth Hour by turning off electric lights at home and on icon landmarks from 8:30 to 9:30 Saturday evening. This paper’s front page yesterday showed women wearing luminous shorts and accessories as they danced the zumba at the Quezon City Memorial Circle.
One hour lights-out activities took place in many parts of the country as a response to the call of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) for widespread participation in global climate change awareness efforts. The WWF said the ninth edition of Earth Hour crossed 24 rims to unify the world around the climate change issue.
Now the real work begins, Earth Hour Philippines national director lawyer Gia Ibay was quoted. EHP now highlights its Gift of Light project, which funds the deployment of hundreds of portable solar lamps for off-grid communities in Beton, Northern Palawan. I wish all households would have such lamps, if not led lighting.
Unable to go dancing with the Quezon Memorial celebrants in glow-in-the-dark costumes, my family and I decided to spend Earth Hour in our garden, with Christmas candles flickering in the dark as we sipped Merlot wine and frolic over pizza. Our neighbors Caloy and Cely Alfaro spent the hour reminiscing over bygone goodness days, about President Noy, the Mamasapano tragedy, our children, and the prospects for peace. It was a good time for sharing things in semi-darkness, and hearing cheers as 9:30 came rolling in and lights were turned on.
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Radyo Balintataw on DZRH has been given the Gadtimpala award by the interagency Gender Equality Media Committee chaired by Communications Secretary Sonny Coloma as the “Most Gender Fair Radio Program.” The awarding was part of the observance of women’s month initiated by the Philippine Commission on Women. In partnership with the President Commission Office, the Movie, Television Review and Classification Board, Film Academy of the Philippines, and the National Commission on Arts and Culture.
Balintataw in its regular programming in DZRH six days a week is a public service initiative of a uniquely consistent dynamic application of an entertainment educational approach mainstreaming gender equality and inclusivity of marginalized sectors of society in content while portraying gender fair language in Filipino with input of various mother tongues for the past 23 years.
It is not surprising because the creator-producer-host of the radio series that withstood the test of time is an outstanding woman leader in the field of culture, arts and media – Cecile Guidote-Alvarez – founder of the Philippine Educational Theatre (PETA) in 1967 and the animateur of the Earthsavers Academy Ensemble which has been honored twice by UNESCO as Artist for Peace and recognized as the sixth in the world as a UNESCO DREAM Center for its vision of development, rehabilitation and education through arts, media and science.
The selection of Balintataw is based on a rare dramatic festival offering for the observance of October as United Nations Month in 2013. The collection of original plays born out of research and interviews of real life stories about the bravery of contemporary heroines, battling physical infirmities, prejudice, poverty and disease, environmental degradation demonstrating the triumph of the spirit over adversity to champion their causes for the affirmation of human rights. The inspiring panoramas of their incredible achievements are demonstrated in five episodes comprising “Babaeng Bayani sa Kasalukuyang Panahon.”
These episodes featured Analyn D. Soday, an indigenous teacher; Melanie Dirain, who was posthumously recognized; Father Neri Satur, awardee for environmental heroism; Concepcion G. Reano, a soldier defending democracy; Jessica Magbanua, OSG lawyer with disability (PWD), and Kara Magsanoc Alikpala, cancer-survivor journalist and founder of I Can Serve Foundation.
The awarding ceremony was held March 26 at the GSIS Theater.
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Radyo Balintataw is a joint presentation of the Philippine Center of the International Theatre Institute (ITI) chaired by former Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF) head, Jose Laderas Santos and the Earthsavers founded by former Senator and Isabela Congressman now Climate Change Commissioner Heherson Alvarez with MBC/DZRH station manager Atty. Rudolph Jularbal.
According to Cecile Guidote-Alvarez, Balintataw provides “a perspective of tradition while addressing complex issues related to health, environment, political questions, labor, corruption, repression while empowering the most vulnerable, women, children and the elderly, those with disabilities, the indigenous and others in difficult circumstances including refugees of war and climate change catastrophes.”
The theater’s wide variety of story-telling through drama, music and poetry is aired Monday to Friday at 11:30 p.m. It has a complement interview dialogue (Sundays from 6-7p.m.) on burning issues of the time serving like a living newspaper on the air, projecting faith and perseverance, caring and sharing to resolve the poverty issues and the other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) including popularizing scientific data on global warming and disaster risk reduction in cultural symbols people understand by always giving the good news of hope and faith generating resilience and unity to overcome difficulties.
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Recently, for the global observance of UNESCO World Radio Day, Balintataw host Cecile Guidote-Alvarez was selected as the ASEAN representative in an anthology of messages from different continents led by UNESCO Director General Dr. Irina Bokova.
Radyo Balintataw, says Guidote-Alvarez, has collaborated with the National Commission on Women for promoting the CEDAW Campaign and with NCCA in stressing the importance of the GAD objectives and worked with the UNDP, in the serialization of the UN Millennium Development Goals. Internationally, Cable News Network has singled out and modeled the interweaving 13 episodes of TV Radyo Balintataw with comics version on responsible parenthood, maternal and child care, AIDS impact on pregnant women, and environmental protection as a Soap Opera for Social Change introduced by Jane Fonda and produced by Barbara Pyle premiered at the Beijing Women’s Conference in 1995.
Nationally, Radyo Balintataw has reaped awards both from the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) and the Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA) for Best Drama, Best Educational program, Best Documentary and Best Culture and Arts program. Guidote-Alvarez says proudly. “It is only fitting that the invaluable contribution of Radyo Balintataw in frontlining gender equity and women’s rights with a nationwide reach and global webcast to Filipino overseas is acknowledged with the GadTimpala Award. Balintataw is a virtual creative classroom expanding awareness on the capacity of women as leaders for transformational learning through media arts.”
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