Dabakan

The Dabakan is a Philippine drum that is primarily used as a supportive instrument in the
kulintang ensemble, among the main kulintang instruments it is the only non-gong element of
the Maguindanao ensemble. The carved patterns show exquisite culture of the people in
Mindanao, as seen we can see how detailed each pattern is. The Drum head being used can
either be goat skin, carabao skin, deer rawhide or snake, which makes the peace even more
traditional since the materials being used is all raw and is very close to nature. One of the things
that make it stand out is its shape, being compared to others its hour glass shape makes it look
more interesting. The sound the dabakan makes has a very bass sound that is well suited for
accompanying the kulintang. Overall this instrument is very much interesting because of its
qualities and uniqueness from other non-gong elements.
 Benedicto Cabera
“Sabel”
Oil on canvas
Sabel, one of BenCab’s most

recurring and iconic subjects throughout his career, was inspired by a real-life woman, who
travels places and begs for food, that he pictured and sketched in

1965. She has been the artist’s

medium for the expression of moods which are intensely emotional. It portrays the life of a
beggar which is a common scene in MetroManila. What is seen in the painting is a portrayal of
a woman that is wrapped in a fabric-like material that is almost abstract. With the combination
of grays, which is often seen as an unemotional color of depression, indecisiveness, detachment
and humility, is accented by yellows, blues, and orange that indicate the intense wild
assortment of emotions felt by Sabel; but is overall, dominated by silence and depression. The
background is blocked in a plethora of vivid scarlet red which asserts the treatment of the
society towards her as a beggar which conveys ruthless violence and brutality. Even though she
is oppressed by the outside world, she still maintains a solemn face, but her emotion deep
within is expressed by the wrapping cloth. The material, that wraps Sabel, is contoured by
rough and sharp organic curves with intense brush strokes, which communicates a strong sense
of emotional distress and violence
 Surtido de Cebuano

Surtido Cebuano is another kind of folk dance that was inspired by the Spanish. It is a Visayan

Folk dance particularly in the province of Bantayan, Cebu. Surtido Cebuano is a square dance

that has Spanish, Mexican and French influence. The dance is composed of dancers in pair. The

head pair is called the cabeceras while the other pair of dancers is called the costados. Surtido

Cebuano folk dance is being accompanied by Visayan folk songs. Surtido Cebuano is just one of

the many dances in Cebu and like the other dances; Surtido Cebuano also represents the rich

culture of the Cebuanos and also shows the influence of the race in Cebu.
ACT MNL, a theater group composed of independent artists, will be staging
Danielle Hill’s PULA at the Power Mac Spotlight Center of Circuit Makati as part of
Fringe Manila. The story is set in January 26, 1970. Inside Malacanang Palace,
moderate student leaders are having an audience with then-President Ferdinand
Marcos, trying to talk him out of running for a third term and into addressing the
issues raised by the citizenry. Meanwhile, radicalized civilians are outside,
protesting and preparing to storm the palace. They are not interested in dialogue
anymore. Nobody knows who threw the first Molotov cocktail. But somebody did,
and it would cause the meeting inside to be cut short, giving way to a full-on
confrontation that history would call The Battle of Malacanang, the battle that
heralded the violent First Quarter Storm.
 Heneral luna
Heneral Luna is a historical film about one of the Philippines’ greatest generals. He was the most
intelligent in the Philippine military, the wisest man who ever ruled the Philippine system in
fighting using brilliant tactics instead of technology. “Hindi natin sila matatalo sa teknolohiya,
pero tatalunin natin sila sa taktika” This was one of the lines that caught my attention proving
that his decisions are different when it comes to winning wars. Emilio Aguinaldo even stated that
Heneral Luna was one of his best war general under him and he never regret anything during his
time simply because Luna was at his right side. Heneral Luna doesn’t fear anything or anyone
except his mom. He would even go after corrupt officials and even the president, Emilio
Aguinaldo if he thinks that Aguinaldo was up to something bad but still some people are stupid,
idiotic, pea-brains, and they would go after Luna without thinking that they could eat a “knuckle
sandwich” after their confrontation. I still don’t get why they killed our bravest general . People
were consumed by their infinite greed and vanity. People got angry at him for being so short-
tempered, he was not a smooth-talker, smart, and being the president’s favorite general. Even
Gen. Douglas McArthur said that they could have been best friends by any circumstances but
the people before were demonic enough to kill the Philippines’ only hope for liberation against
the Americans.
He is uneducated when it comes to English nevertheless, he was a great doctor. Even if
he belonged to a wealthy family, he still chose to live a hard troubled life in order for him to
accomplish his mission in gaining Philippine independence. His patriotism can’t be measured and
it is boundless as the ocean, as high as Mt. Everest and as strong as a tree bowing its branches
up to God. He might be arrogant sometimes, hot-tempered but he had respect and basically not
everybody possesses that trait. Overall the movie is well made and well portrayed by the actors
on the movie.
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