Josephine's Wish for the Ati

Written by Melissa Chia

Photographs by Melissa Chia

 As I walked into the Immaculate Heart of Mary School, I realized that I am very privileged and fortunate to have a proper and most importantly, comfortable environment for my education. The headmistress, Sister Gia, warmly welcomed us with love in the same way she welcomes her own students.

Sister Gia 

The Ati Community of Jordan, Guimaras in Pictures

Written and photographed by Jonathan Lim

 Considered as one of the earliest inhabitants of the Philippines, the Ati community has a population of about three hundred people. We spent the afternoon with them learning about their history, traditions and way of life. While I should have been in session - I played with the children, met the old folks and familiarized myself with the place.

Everything about the village was beautiful.

A Snapshot of Boracay

Written by Mindy

Photographs by Mindy

     There are certain expectations when going on beach holidays - blue skies, clear waters, and a bonus when getting tanned in the right parts.

     During the four days spent in Boracay, the White Beach had promising weather as forecasted. If my feet could taste, burying them in the fine sands was like taking mouthfuls of powdered icing.

Daily Diary: Day Three

Written by Gwyneth Liew

Photographs by Melissa Chia, tumblr.com

     Our day started with a feast kindly provided by Prof. Rosalie Hall, our host at the University of the Philippines Visayas. The feast consisted of a serving of rice cakes referred to as ibus as well as juicy mangoes, a favorite among locals. Ibus is a rice cake which is similar to the Malaysian's nasi pulut (starchy rice). During the feast, some of us learned from our female student guides that there was a special way to open the ibus from its leafy packaging. One would first have to push down the ribbon and outer layers before using a fork to slice it halfway down. It felt like a peculiar way of peeling bananas.

Video Diary: Day 3

Video Diary Day 3 from ISOiloilo on Vimeo.

Session 2.1: Visayan Culture and Practices

Written by: Joyce Ng
Photographs by: Jonathan Lim, Orthofill.com, 123rf.com

Speech given by Professor Melanie 

(Picture taken by Jonathan) 

  

     On the third day of our study trip, Professor Melanie Padilla, a lecturer in history and culture from the University of Philippines Visayas spoke about the nation’s history and culture to the travelers. Professor Padilla broke her session into two parts, one focusing mainly on the history of Iloilo, and the other focusing on the culture of Iloilo. This article will feature Iloilo’s culture.

Session 2.2: A brief history of Iloilo

Written by Emily Choong 
Photographs by Jonathan Lim

Professor Melanie 

     The 'In Search of Iloilo' team along with their respective student guides attended a lecture regarding the history and culture of Iloilo presented by Professor Melanie J. Padilla, the Director for the Centre for Visayan Studies at the University of Philippines, Visayas.

Session 3: Catholicism and Social Action

Written by Esther Ho

Photographs by Melissa Chia and Sarah Chong

     We spent the afternoon with Monsignor Oso discussing the role his parish plays in impacting the Filipino laypeople.

Monsignor Meliton Oso

     In Iloilo, the Archdiocese of Jaro is pioneering numerous efforts to better the lives of 27 million Filipinos living in poverty. Monsignor Meliton Oso, a priest for 27 years and Associate Director of the Archdiocese for 20 years, presented the nation’s problems and his five-fold project to address them. Monsignor Oso began with an overview of Christian Monsod’s critical presentation entitled “The National Situationer”. Monsod’s presentation was presented at the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP-NASSA) in 2011.

One With The Tribe: Part 1

Written by Chrishandra Sebastiampillai

Photographs by Jonathan Lim, Sarah Chong and Melissa Chia

One with the Tribe: Part 2 >>

     When I first found out that our trip to the Philippines was to see a street festival, the immediate thought I had was food, dancing and music. When I found out that the street festival was in honour of Señor Santo Niño, I found myself struggling to insert the child Jesus into the mix. As a born Catholic raised in a conservative family, attending a conservative church, I had to wonder how Jesus would go with body paint, tribal drums, war cries and San Miguel’s. This three-part story chronicles my journey from polite disbelief to absolute acceptance- in the Philippines, Jesus does come with the works.

The Freedom Grandstand Children

Written by Sheril A. Bustaman

Photographs by Melissa Chia

*Names in this article have been changed to protect identities of minors. 

     The atmosphere was loud. The humid night sky loomed above everyone present in the Freedom Grandstand. As people attempted to secure the best seats, in ran eight little boys. Skinny yet full of life, these boys ran around the grand stand, weaving their way through throngs of people and causing a kind of ruckus only young boys could cause. Out of the blue, one of these young boys decided to sit in the small space I had left vacant for a friend of mine. Petite in a NYC cap too big for his head and shades (despite it being eight o clock at night) the boy sat silently. The other boys then came up to him, tugging at his arm screaming what I assumed were invitations for him to join them, but he just shook his head, indicating he did not want to move. With the help of Aisa (one of the student guides), I decided to attempt to have a conversation with him, hence unearthing the story of the Freedom Grandstand Children.