Pleasurable Entertainment in the 18th Deaf Festival Cultural Show

The well-known School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies (SDEAS) department has made a wonderful celebration of the famous annual week-long Deaf Festival inside the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) Taft Campus, Manila  with its exceptional theme “18th Deaf Festival: Creativity Beyond Limits”  last November 19-24, 2012. It was a successful event that created more fun and enjoyment.

Ma. Isabel Cabbab, a new Benildean Press Corps (BPC) Deaf writer, was the 18th Deaf Festival chairperson, and Mr. Michael Vea, the current president of Philippines Sports Federation of the Deaf (PSFD) and an SDEAS English faculty, was the festival adviser. The festival's head committees were Roejen Fernandez (Vice-chairperson), Lan Kimura (Secretary), Armhel Joice Ganotice (Marketing), Ira Ortiz (Bazaar), Angelo Maniago (Finance), Mark Daniel Laygo (Promotion), Melvin Orevillo (Exhibit), Paul Bryan Gaveria (Entertainment Program), Grace Pico (Activity), Gladys Bisnar (Logistics), Yobbo Garcia (Documentation), and Mark Gil Punzal (Registration).

The opening program started with a Holy Mass arranged by SDEAS which was held in Augusto Rosario Gonzalez Theater 5th floor, Mutien Marie Hall inside DLS-CSB Taft Campus at 9:30 am-10:30am last November 19, and was attended by numerous BAPDST and DLPC students, SDEAS faculties and administrators, and other visitors and participants. The Holy Eucharist was a peaceful, satisfying and beautiful one because of the wonderful performance by the Deaf performers for the opening and blessing of the Deaf Festival. The exhibit, which was filled of different photos of the past Deaf Festival events, was opened shortly after the mass. The traditional ribbon cutting was made by Ms. Agnes Canayon, Director of Center for Deaf Esteem and Formation (C-DEAF) and Mr. Leonides D. Sulse, Chairperson of Center for Academics (C-Acads). The Deaf Benildean community and SDEAS faculties applauded and were filled of joy.

The week-long event was filled with many different activities such as seminars including “How House Bill Becomes a Law” (HB 6079) prepared by Mr. Mackie Calbay, “Making Your Money Grow” prepared by Center for Partnership and Development, and “Healthy Living Session” which promoted information and awareness on food health and nutritional care, workshops including “Let’s Learn Filipino Sign Language,” “Photography,” and “Cooking with Chef Enriquez," the Deaf Got Talent, Deaf Master Chef, Sports fest on Volleyball and Basketball, Deaf Quiz Bee, Taekwondo Lesson, and selected Deaf fun games including puzzle race, Deaf Whiz Quiz game, and many more.

One of the highlights and best Deaf Festival activities was the closing program entitled “Deaf Festival Cultural Show”  which started at 6:00pm until 9:00pm. The cultural presentation started with the singing of the “Lupang Hinirang” accompanied by a Filipino folk dance by the Silent Steps while the audience stood as a respect to the Philippine national anthem. The opening remarks and inspirational message was given by the C-Acads Chairperson Mr. Leo Sulse. In his speech, he thanked the audience for coming to watch the cultural show. He also praised and congratulated the Deaf Festival head committees for making this big event in triumph through their hard work as a team. “Being hardworking and creative is a pleasing and good characteristic as a team. The theme 'Creativity Beyond Limits' denotes the unlimited skills and creativity of the Deaf, particularly those who are involved in accomplishing and making this cultural show successful. Every Deaf has a hidden talent and we should know the deepest meaning of the theme. I’m hoping that it is not only during the Deaf Festival event that we are always creative but you should use it in many ways at any time to achieve your dreams and goals."

There were many great and beautiful dance presentations that the Silent Steps had performed such as hip hop and Filipino native dance. They did it admirably while they wore different dance costumes. One of these was the Father and Son’s very inspiring performance. Rastaman Landero and his hearing father made the crowd feel overwhelmed with their song number as the father sang and played the guitar while Rastaman interpreted it through singing and using Filipino sign language. The two hosts Ms. Jessel Arriola and Roejen Fernandez asked Rastaman on how he performed concurrently with his father’s tone using FSL despite of being Deaf. He answered, “My father always supports me in achieving what I want to be. He knows I am Deaf and I cannot hear his voice and guitar, but I can feel it and he helped me to work it out until I succeeded in doing it.”

There was also a dance number from a different deaf school that performed a Filipino folk dance (tune of the farm) and the quasi-bird or birdie was dancing. The second was remarkable and eye-catching as they played excellently and expressively. Moreover, the winners of the games and Deaf contests were announced and have been given prizes.

The appearance of the three very amusing and artistic hosts Nathaniel Macariola, Kenneth “Ken” Yadan and Jimmy Cacut tickled the Deaf and hearing viewers and made them burst into laughter with their jokes even up until the last part of the program. It was really one of the most enjoyable entertainments. The three were well suited to each other and they were naturally humorous. They were even being compared to the comedians and hosts of Eat Bulaga Tito Vic and Joey when it comes to making the audience laugh and giggle. However, Nathaniel Macariola, the most humorous, made a remarkable performance on telling  two funny stories, the “Cut Tongue Becomes Deaf Aswang” and “Cop Leo Shoots Zombie." The final program was done by Mr. Mackie Calbay who encouraged the crowd to help him campaign and pursue the House Bill 6079. He explained that if the bill will be passed into law, the Deaf community will receive good benefits from the government and will get equal opportunities. At the end of the show, the video displayed the works and activities of the week-long Deaf Festival and the existence of its adviser, chairperson, vice-chairperson, and head committees.  The hosts were Lan Kimura, Richard Ibazebo, Roejen Fernandez, Nathaniel Macariola, Kenneth Yadan, Jimmy Cacut, Justine Camille Javier,  Ms. Jessel Arriola, and Ms. Diana Pria Banas.

The Deaf Festival is a genuine part of the Deaf culture and will always be a part of the lives of the Deaf community. It symbolizes the unity and harmony among the Deaf Filipinos in all over the Philippines and among the hearing community as well as their hearing parents, friends, and loved ones who strongly support  the Deaf community. I believe that the Deaf Festival is not only for the Deaf people to participate, but also open for the hearing Benildeans and outsiders who want to take a glimpse of the Deaf culture and community. Every person has the right to interact to one another and not to live in marginalization. Deaf Festival is truly an amazing legendary that has remained through the years. The Deaf people love it knowing that it shows their creativity, skills, and cleverness in their own ways. It does prove their self identities as Deaf in capital “D”.  Long Live Deaf Festival! Till we meet again next year.

by: Ma. Jesusa Charisma Nofies

Edited by: Marina Viktoria De Los Reyes

BDA Celebrated Its Five Years of Aspirations in Deaf Leaderships

In line with its five years of serving the Deaf Benildean students and deaf community inside and outside the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde school, the Benildean Deaf Association (BDA) celebrated a four-day anniversary with the theme “BDA 5th Anniversary: Our Aspirations as Deaf Benildeans” last November 7-10, 2012 under the supervision of  Ma. Jesusa Charisma Nofies.

The opening ceremony started with a Holy Mass at the CSB Chapel of the Resurrection, followed by the ribbon cutting headed by the BDA President, Abigail Ablaza, and the BDA Adviser, Ms. Diana Pria Banas, then the showcase of the BDA exhibit, and finally the start of the opening program.

BDA hosted a number of seminars which include "Filipino Sign Language House Bill 6079 Forum" led by Mr. Mark Joseph Calbay, "Deaf Linguistics: Natural Sign Language Forum," which were both held at the CSB Cafeteria Function A & B, and "Deaf K-12-Forum UNCRPD seminar" with guest speaker Yvette Apurado held at the Amphi Theater 12 Floor SDA Campus. They also had other activities such as the BDA Quiz Bee and the Basic Adobe Flash Part 1 & 2 workshop prepared for the BAPDST students of Multimedia Arts. The Deaf Film Festival, which aimed to give entertainment and Deaf awareness to the Benildean community, included the movies “The Hammer” and “See what I’m Saying” with ORDEV A & B accredited.

One of the highlights of the BDA anniversary celebration was the BDA reunion party held in the Amphi Theater 12th Floor in SDA Campus as the start of the closing program. The event was attended by more than 50 participants including the BDA alumni, BDA Officers and members from first batch to present, SDEAS faculties, and some BAPDST students. Some names on the list of attendees were Mr. Raphy Domingo, former BDA Vice-President of First and second batch, the former presidents Ma. Anaditha Angcay (2nd batch), Rodolfo Iligan Jr. (3rd batch), and Justine Camille Javier (4th batch), SDEAS Faculties Ms. Diana Pria Banas, Mr. Ferdinand Vizmanos, Ms. Rowella Tanjusay, Mr. Alvin Llanares, Ms. Mary Joy Reyes, and Ms. Maricris Galang, and the BDA alumni & current officers and members Anna Salvador, Marl Kelvin Marcial, John Alexis Abad, Beverly Sapno, Roejen Fernandez, Gladys Bisnar, Abigail Ablaza, Morly Canta, Michael Lopez, Nicolaus Alferez, Zaneta Franada, Nathaniel Macariola, Chiellsea Manimbo, Angelica Abayan, Rastaman Landero, Mark Gil Punzal, Melvin Sibay, Maria Elena Lozada, Jon Reuel Santos, and more.

Ana Kristina Arce, the first BDA president, is currently studying World Leadership Training in Gallaudet University in the United States of America. Even though she was not around, she sent an inspirational message video for the said event. She encouraged, commended, and saluted the BDA efforts for continuing to serve and work hard for the common good of every Deaf Benildean and Deaf community.  

by: Ma. Jesusa Charisma Nofies

Edited by: Marina Viktoria De Los Reyes

Benildeans Watch Senate Decision on CJ Impeachment

Since January 16, 2011, the Center of Partnership and Development (CPD) under the School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies of De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde is setting up two TVs, a big one and a small one, outside the CPD office every Mondays to Thursdays at two in the afternoon inside the Taft Campus.  Many Benildean administrative officers, faculty, staff, and students are passing by the PEN-MLC hall to watch the ANC TV with interpreting insets for five months.

Until now, not only Benildeans but also several people outside the CSB and the Deaf Filipino community nationwide sit around the PEN-MLC hall area to watch Studio 23 with Sign Language Interpreter insets, Mr. John Xandre Balisa and Ms. Catherine Joy "Joi" Villareal.

Last May 29, 2012, everyone gathered around to watch the end of the Corona impeachment with the verdict of guilty, and the speeches of the senate judges telling their decisions of whether acquit or convict to the Chief Justice, giving the final result of 20 senate judges who convicted and 3 senate judges who acquitted the Chief Justice. Finally, Renato Corona is proven guilty of the statements and violations against the law and is no longer the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. 

Benildeans are finally happy that this has already passed and they would like to thank the Sign Language Interpreters who are always willing to work and serve at ANC TV and also the ABS-CBN for the opportunity of opening the interpreting inset in ANC TV and during the Chief Justice trial in Studio 23.

by Mackie Calbay

edited by Marina Viktoria De Los Reyes

A Christmas present from GMA Online News

Dean Nicky receives the Flip camera from James Timothy Dimacali 

Giselle Montero explains the news gathering process of SDEAS to Pia Faustino.

  Pictures are used to relay stories. 

GMA team watches stills from the interpreted SONA. 

SDEAS team and the Deaf are extremely thankful to GMA News Online for unexpected blessings. The  Flip camera will primarily be used to gather news and create Deaf news.

4th Asian Pacific Deaf Bowling Championship

The 4^th Asian Pacific Deaf championship ran from December 1 to 5 (Singles, Doubles, Trios, Team of 5, and Masters Finals) at the Paeng's Midtown Bowl, Robinsons Place Manila. Hosted by the Philippine Sports Federation of the Deaf, countries that competed included Chinese Taipei, Korea, Pakistan and Philippines.  

The Philippine Deaf Bowling Team

Ana Kristina Macasaet Arce's Graduation speech

Brother President Victor Franco FSC, Vice Chancellors, Assistant Vice Chancellors, Deans, Administrators, Faculty, Parents, Sign Language Interpreters, Guests, fellow graduates, and the Benildean Community, Good Morning.

Let me begin my speech with this passage from the Holy Scriptures, found in Jeremiah 18, and I quote …”And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it”. In pottery, the potter places a mold of clay on a table and the potter turns it around carefully. Using his hands, the potter will repeat the process several times until he gets the perfect shape. As hands are important to a potter, hands are also important to us, Deaf persons. Our main source of communication is through the use of our hands, we talk and express ourselves through them. And just like the potter whose hands make the perfect creation, we also hope to get the best if not the perfect performance for ourselves using our hands. With our hands, we can go places, change lives and make a difference.

I was born Deaf, and when my parents discovered this, like most hearing parents of Deaf children, they felt that the only way for me to survive was if I learned to speak and so they enrolled me in different oral schools where I had to wear hearing aids and learn how to lip read. I was enrolled in four different oral schools and we tried to find something workable that would fit. I tried my best in these schools but still it wasn’t easy for me to adjust. And then my parents thought of trying it out in a school for the Deaf and they enrolled me at the Philippine School for the Deaf where sign language is used as the medium of communication. I quickly adjusted and started doing well in my academics, and received several awards in grade school and I was also the class valedictorian of my batch. I was also an achiever all throughout high school and even if I transferred to a Deaf private school during my senior year I still managed to finish with academic honors.

And then came College, during my first year I was enrolled in another college where Deaf and hearing college students were together in class. I found the experience to be more saddening than exciting. I often cried because my hearing classmates would exclude me in meetings and group projects, maybe because they thought I will not be able to understand them and communicate with them. I struggled to adjust and tried to show my hearing peers what I can do but they never gave me a chance to prove myself to them. Do you want to feel useless? I’m sure you don’t and neither do I or any other Deaf person for that matter. I tried to think that maybe my classmates were doing this because they have big hearts and are trying to understand me and make things easier for me, but I ended up frustrated and I was the one left trying to understand them. Before the end of the first semester, I had set my mind to move to another school, this time, one that offers a program for Deaf students.

And so it was through the efforts of my mother that we found DLS-CSB’s School of Deaf Education and Applied Studies. At DLS-CSB, SDEAS especially, not only did I find an academic institution, but I also found an environment where teachers and other members of the community welcomed us. I felt loved and cared for, and I felt that the school was like a family. I learned that I am a Deaf person; the word, Deaf, being spelled with a capital D, which means that I am identified, not merely as a person who cannot hear, but as someone who is part of the Deaf community, partaking in its unique culture and natural sign language. And with that, I believe that one of the best fruits of education is our ability to understand and change people’s attitude about the Deaf and other Persons with Disabilities, and that is what SDEAS’s education has given me. Our Benildean education has developed us Deaf persons into persons of dignity, integrity, and with a deep sense of spirituality, and we are now being given the chance to become productive members of society.

If you go around the different high schools for the Deaf I am sure that all of the students there will say that they all wish to go to college. However, very few schools offer quality education and those that do, are expensive schools, and most of the Deaf cannot afford to pay the high cost of tuition and fees. And aside from that most people, sad to say even some parents of Deaf students, assume that because we are Deaf we cannot succeed in college so better not send us to school. For students like us, going to school is no walk in the park. We often need to rely on kind-hearted teachers and interpreters to understand the lessons. Getting an education is a big challenge for us.

And so I am thankful to DLS-CSB for opening its doors and welcoming the Deaf regardless of our disability. We have learned so much from this school and we can now proudly say that we are complete Deaf persons and we now embody the teachings of Saint Benilde Romançon.

I especially wish to thank Br. Vic for his utmost concern for the Deaf and his big heart by increasing the number of slots for Deaf scholars from 30 to 60 students starting the school year of 2008-2009. My sincere thanks and appreciation to all of you hearing students for your willingness to interact with us and for making us feel that we are not an isolated group and that we can also be active participants in school activities and be a useful bunch of interesting students. That we, the Deaf students, are your peers…your equals.

At this point, allow me to make an appeal to all the hearing students and guests of this occasion. We may be Deaf persons but we can also do anything you can do, except hear. Communicating with our hands should not make a difference. We live in one country, one world. That means we also long for respect, inclusion in accessibility, and acceptance with dignity. We are not a different breed because of our disability. We also want to live in a society where people will not stare or frown at us or treat us differently. We are also human beings and we are similar regardless of our disability. Please allow us to show you what we can do; please, believe in us too. Let us prove to you that yes, the DEAF CAN. Dear fellow graduates, I hope that when you have established yourselves in the companies you are working for, or if you have successfully put up your own business, please remember the Deaf Benildeans who may need your help in advocating our skills and capabilities, remember us and other Deaf graduates who may have the talents and potentials to be a part of your companies and contribute to its growth.

To all our teachers, you are part of this achievement we are reaping today. You painstakingly taught us all the tools we would need to make us productive individuals and showed us the way towards academic independence. You instilled in us the core values of upright citizens and we will forever treasure our years with you in our hearts. To our parents, thank you for your patience and perseverance, for your selfless understanding of our endless needs, and your unconditional love and care that carried us through our countless years of struggle to get the degree that we received today. My utmost gratitude go to my own parents, Ramon and Vilma Arce, who loved, cared, and gave me all the support that enables me to stand before all of you today. We, the Deaf students, also wish to offer our sincerest thanks to all our interpreters with generous hearts, who are willing to serve the Deaf in assisting us in our communication needs.

I would like to enjoin my fellow graduates, especially my hearing batchmates, to always keep the Benildean Core Values in our hearts. Guided by these values, we can definitely scale to great heights. Let us never forget the people who made our presence here possible. Let us always remember the values of sharing and selflessness so that when we look back, we can proudly say that we lived a meaningful life and we made a difference in the lives of other people.

Graduation is not the end. It’s only the beginning of another journey towards a higher level of learning. Don’t be afraid to dream, for it can be the first step to achieving our goals. Always remember that with patience and hard work, success will be within our reach. The biggest challenge for all of us is to overcome our fears and uncertainty.

For those of you who still have doubts about your potentials, let me and my Deaf batchmates be the living testament of what we can all become despite our limitations. In previous years, only a handful of Deaf students would graduate every year. Today, 25 of my Deaf batchmates received our diploma, the biggest number so far, and this is a testament of our four years of struggle to attain our academic degree. I am probably the first Deaf Filipino Magna Cum Laude graduate, and I am not saying this to brag about my achievement. I am humbly sharing this with you to thank God, my potter, for molding me, His clay, into a wonderful human being. I believe we can reach our maximum potentials no matter what challenges we face in life, because God is our potter and we are his clay.

To all my fellow graduates, Congratulations and Good Luck! Remember to always be Proud To Be Benildeans and to always live Jesus in our hearts.

Thank you and good day.

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Ana would appreciate your comments.

Congratulations to the Graduates SY 2009-10 1st Term