REPERTORY PHILIPPINES PRODUCTION

 

Thru the kindness of Mindy Perez-Rubio, President and CEO of REP, Sariaya Leanring Centre for Development (SLCD), Teatro Sariaya, was able to bring kids and adults to watch REP's production of "The Quest for Adarna" in Greenbelt 1 on Sat, 25 Jan 2020. All enjoyed the show very much. What a learning experience for them!

United Nations Exhibit

 

The UN Exhibit on the Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs) was held 15 to 29 December 2017. During the launch, special quest, Teresa Debuque, UN National Information Officer UNIC, Manila gave a presentation on the SDGs and how the local community could help in achieving these goals. There was Q&A after the presentation. Invitation and pictures are enclosed. There were a total og 197 visitors during the entire period of the exhibit.

Sariaya Learning Centre (SLCD) has been approved for association with the United Nations Department of Public Information.

 

The committee on Non-Governmental Organizations of the Department of Public Information (DPI) met on 23 June 2017 and approved the application of SLCD to be associated effective immediately. The association constitutes a commitment of SLCD to disseminate information and raise public awareness about the purposes and activities of the United Nations and issues of global concern. Click here to read more about it: Committee Approves 15 Non-Governmental Organizations for Association with United Nations Department of Public Information

Sariaya Learning Centre for Development (SLCD)/ TEATRO SARIAYA featured in the SAGISAG KULTURA TV ,  NCAA last February 2018

Sariaya Learning Centre featured in the September 2016 issue of NGO Reporter - "A Unique NGO Delegate Perspective"

Summer Class Programme ( 11 April to 13 May 2015)

Summer Class Programme ( 7 April to 12 May 2014)

UNIC (15 May 2014)

Computer Training of Basic Microsoft Word 2010 and Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 ( 22 - 23 November 2014)

Folk Dance

Christmass Party ( 7 December 2014)

UN Singers' Philippine Visit (February 2014)

The United Nations Staff Recreation Singers or UN Singers visited the Philippines from 22 February to 4 March 2014 on a “Journey of Hope” not only to be unofficial ambassadors of peace for the United Nations and be part of the National Arts month but also to help the St. Scholastica’s College Mission Hospital in Pambujan North Samar and contribute to the Divine Word Hospital in Tacloban, Leyte which was devastated by the super typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan. During the last concert in the Glorietta Activity Center in Makati, the funds collected from donations during the Sariaya and Development Academy of the Philippine concerts as well as from friends and family were given to Mother Prioress Adelaida Yrugbay of St. Scholastica’s College Manila for the hospital in Tacloban, In separate occasion, a donation from the tickets sales was handed to Sr. Mary John Mananzan, who is the one spearheading the fundraising for the hospital in Samar.

The hectic ten-day visit started with a tour of Malacañang. A courtesy call to the President was also planned but PNoy had to go to Davao on that day. There were concerts in several malls – SM Megamall, SM Aura, EDSA Shangrila and the Glorietta Activity Center. The Singers were VIPs during their visit to Sariaya, Quezon with a motorcycle escort after SLEX to the town. They were also greeted with a band and a recreation of the Agawan Festival. In Tagaytay, the Singers performed in the Development Academy of the Philippines and visited the Puzzle Museum and a treat at the Taal Vista Hotel. There were also visits to the Ramon Magsaysay High School and De La Salle Zobel. The choirs and musical numbers in both schools impressed the Singers. The Q & A in the schools was a teaching moment for both the students and the singers. The Gala Concert in St. Cecilia’s Hall, St. Scholastica’s College, Manila where the Philippine Madrigal Singers also performed, was attended by Mr. Klaus Beck, Country Representative, UNFPA CO Philippines who took the place of Luiza Carvalho, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, UN in the Philippines. She was in Tacloban on the day of the gala concert. The Argentinian Ambassador and other members of the diplomatic community also attended the concert. The Singers were also treated to a city tour of Manila. A highlight of the visit was a mini concert at the Philippine General Hospital for the cancer patients.

The Planning Committee was composed of representatives from UNIC Manila, DepEd, DOT, AFICS and former members of the UN Singers. DOT welcomed the singers in the airport, handled their tour in Tagatay , the city tour and meals in Taal Vista Hotel and Barbara’s in Intramuros.

“Residents of this town (Sariaya, Quezon) literally had goosebumps when the UN Singers sang “Tanging Yaman” in a distinct and powerful blending of voices…” Manila Times 28 Feb 2014.It was not only in Sariaya but in all the concerts that the Singers performed where you could feel the joy of the audience when listening to the songs especially the Filipino ones. The Singers in return felt the same joy as they sang. They were overwhelmed by the hospitality, the warmth and smiling faces of all the people they met. They also enjoyed the food especially lechon, halo-halo and some even tried the balut, ginebra and lambanog. Some singers stayed on and went to Boracay for a few days.

This trip of the UN Singers to the Philippines will be memorable for the Singers,the Planning Committee and the Filipino audiences touched by this event.

Isang Pamaskong Awit (A Christmas Carol) (6 - 9 December 2012)

Teatro Sariaya's goal is to use theatre as an educational tool for the community to learn the value of time, to be able to express oneself better, to value the dignity of ones work and ideas.

(Please see Sol Oca's detailed account on a separate file about the making of Isang Pamaskong Awit, Also visit our photo gallery.)

The later part of 2012 was exhausting but finally I fulfilled another dream of producing and directing a full length play for Teatro Sariaya. It started in July when I requested Jun Tullao, a friend, to translate the original novel by Charles Dickens of "A Christmas Carol" to Tagalog. I had to transform it into a script and change the names of the characters. Then the script went to Eric Dedace, a Sariaya historian, who finally adapted it into Sariaya speak. In August 2012, a group of people from the Sariaya Street Theatre that had been presenting the "Sinakulo" for seven years now, met to start reading the script. There were additions and deletions. Auditions started on 18 September until 21 September. The first reading of the cast was on 24 September. In October rehearsals were in full swing. There were some workshops in between as well as production meetings.

Fortunately, we found a wonderful lead in Arnel Tinamisan who played Pastor Espinosa (Scrooge). He is a professor and is pursuing his doctorate in Educational Management in the Southern Luzon State University. He was the Judas character in the annual "Sinakulo". The rest of the cast were also members of the Street Theatre and some never had any experience in theatre.

As the rehearsal process continued there were dropouts until the very end and we had to be very creative in putting up the show.

In October, after writing to family and friends for sponsorship and ads for the souvenir programme, I had a surprise phone call from Darlene Leviste-Mangubat, Group Marketing Manager, Shopping Center Management Group, SM City Batangas, Lipa, Lucena and Naga. After she received my letter forwarded to her by Annie Garcia, President of all the SM Malls, she decided to invite Teatro Sariaya to present excerpts of the play at the Event Center in SM Lucena, which we did on 30 November. It was a wonderful experience for the cast and crew. We did a mall show!

I am very proud of our souvenir programme "playbill", patterned after Broadway's playbill only in Tagalog. Besides ads in the "playbill" and ticket sales, another revenue producing activity was the sale of a show to an organization. Tuklas, an association by Sariayahins based in Manila and Sariaya, which aims to restore pride in Sariaya and create a town rooted in the past, bought the last night's show and gave the tickets to students from the Manuel Quezon Elementary School.

During the lessons learned get-together on 12 January 2013, I am so pleased to report that most of the cast and crew said that they did learn time management. Goal achieved!

Teatro Sariaya needs to have professional lighting, a sound system and a projector. Maybe next year.

Agawan Festival (15 May 2012)

The Agawan Festival is an annual agricultural festival held in Sariaya, Quezon, Philippines every 15th of May, Feast of San Isidro Labrador, the patron saint of farmers.

Houses were decorated with colourful pahiyas including the Centre. Because the San Isidro procession passed by the Centre, it was also decorated with colourful pahiyas – a nipa hut full of goodies, a horse-driven karitela with a man and woman dressed for the festival, a carabao, San Isidro bread, mangoes, bananas, young coconuts, etc. The crowd accompanying the procession had their pick of all the edible decorations.

Click to play

– video created by Mary Alexis M. Salinas

Art Exhibit by Two Local Artists (12 May to 19 May 2012)

and the Rotary Club of Sariaya presented

"The Emergent", an art exhibit of Sariaya's homegrown visual artists featuring Girlie Alcala and Marissa Tan.

The exhibit was scheduled during the week of the Agawan Festival, 15 May 2012, to seize the opportunity of many local and foreign tourists visiting the town. Invited guests for the ribbon-cutting were Rowena Masilang, wife of the Mayor of Sariaya; Toti Valle, President of the Rotary Club of Sariaya (RCS); Paeng Tantuco, Former Rotary International District Governor (1999-2000), District 3820.

There were over 160 visitors at the exhibit. Some comments from attendees:
“It is so wonderful to know that there is a venue for our Filipino artists to showcase their talent”
“I love the watercolors, colored ballpen (!!!) poster paintings, especially SOLITUDE, Bantigue and portraits of women. Great work! Mabuhay ang Pilipina”.

Janet Salazar's Blog

http://janetcsalazar.com/

Of New Life and Passion

October 1, 2010 marked the beginning of a new life for a dear friend, Isolda “sol” Oca. After 29 years of dedicating her life working at the United Nations Headquarters in New York — she finally welcomed the big letter R! Yes, R is for retirement.

Knowing Sol, she definitely did not waste any time! Twenty days after her retirement, she held a wonderful dinner reception for the launching of her new NGO, her “baby” — the Sariaya Learning Centre for Development (SLCD). SLCD is based in Sariaya, Quezon, Philippines, and was formally established by Sol in 2007. Sol’s inspiration to put up her own NGO came from Carol Lubin and Virginia Hazzard, both stalwarts in the NGO community at the United Nations.

Sariaya Learning Centre for Development envisions to help alleviate extreme poverty in the Philippines through education for out-of-school youth. SLCD also hopes to provide a facility for women’s economic and social empowerment, establish a highly professional community theater organization, and provide a community library for Sariaya.

The October 20 launching of SLCD which also served as Sol’s retirement party for her colleagues at the UN and the NGO community was truly a night to remember!

Sol Oca performs with the UN Singers!

Traditional Filipino food was served — and everybody savored what the Philippine cuisine is most famous for — “lechon”! (a whole roasted pig cooked over charcoal). I wasn’t surprised to turn and see that lechon was almost gone by the time it was my turn to partake of such mouth-watering dish. I was just thankful that they still left me with some of my favorite part — the crispy skin! (did I hear somebody whisper, cholesterol? I can’t hear you…) I remember growing up in the Philippines and as a child having to wrestle with dozen other cousins for that crispy lechon skin, yum.

And how could I forget — the United Nations Singers! They graced the night with their spectacular voices , Sol being one of them. Everybody was delighted and entertained. Constance made sure that our two special guests, Vicky Baul and Nancy Silva enjoyed the party. The night was even made special and memorable with dear friends I had the chance to enjoy the night with — the energetic and always beautiful Judy Lerner, Chuck Hitchcock of Peace Action, the famous Dr. Judy Kuriansky http://www.drjudy.com, Joan Levy of ECPAT, Estelle Perry and Ademola Olugbefola of the Executive Committee, and Dr. Sherill Kazan. Maria Luisa Chaves, Chief of NGO Relations of UN DPI, also made sure she was there for her former colleague.

I salute you, Sol, for your vision of helping others have a better chance at life. I wish you all the best in this new phase of your life which I’m sure you are embracing with eagerness and enthusiasm, with high hopes and fresh perspectives. May the fire of your passion for a better life for others continue to burn in your heart. Mabuhay ka, Sol!

Say cheese! L-R Jeffery Huffines, Ademola Olugbefola, Sherill Kazan, Paul Hoeffel, Sol Oca, Janet Salazar and Constance Peak

NGO Reporter

• DEAR MEMBERS OF THE DPI NGO COMMUNITY
• IN MELBOURNE, WE ARE ALL CONNECTED
• THE MELBOURNE CONFERENCE
• DPI/NGO RELATIONS
• YOUTH SECTION: MDGs YOUTH VILLAGE EXHIBITION
• NIGERIAN YOUTH COMMENT
• THE 8th ANNUAL YOUTH ASSEMBLY AT THE U.N.
• THE MELBOURNE CONFERENCE: A REGIONAL REP VIEW
• THE MELBOURNE CONFERENCE: A SECOND REGIONAL REP VIEW
• A SALUTE TO SOL OCA: 29 YEARS OF UN SERVICE

A Salute to Sol Oca: 29 YEARS OF UN SERVICE

Levi Bautista, CoNGO Executive Director, accepting Sol Oca as a new member: moving from UN to NGO in 29 Years!

THE NGO REPORTER SALUTES SOL OCA FOR HER 29 YEARS OF UN SERVICE AND CONGRATULATES HER FOR FOUNDING THE SARIAYA LEARNING CENTRE FOR DEVELOPMENT (SLCD)

New York, October 2010: Over 100 guests, including a large contingent of NGO representatives, attended the launch of the Sariaya Learning Centre for Development (SLCD) at the Church Center for the United Nations. SLCD is an initiative of Isolda Oca, who retired after twenty-nine years at the UN. Her last assignment was in the Department of Public Information (DPI)/NGO Relations office.

Ms. Oca was inspired to start an NGO by Carol Lubin and Virginia Hazzard, two stalwarts in the NGO community who have now passed on. SLCD's primary objective is the alleviation of extreme poverty through education for the residents of Sariaya, Quezon and surrounding towns, in the context of achieving some of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The facility that will house SLCD was formed from the ruins of an ancestral home and is planned to use solar power and collect rainwater. It will be the first green facility in the area.

Following her PowerPoint introduction of SLCD, Ms. Oca invited the audience to visit the Philippines and participate in the work of the Sariaya Learning Centre for Development.

To view the complete NGO/DPI Reporter click here.