Multi-Awarded Tausug Holds 5th Solo Art Exhibit in Zamboanga City

Multi-awarded Muslim painter Rameer Tawasil gestures as he leads guests to his 5th Solo Art Exhibit at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University’s Gallery of the Peninsula and the Archipelago in Zamboanga City, Wednesday, February 24, 2010. Dubbed as “Tawasil: In retrospect. Celebrating 20 years in Visual arts, Architecture and Design,” the exhibit also coincided with the celebration of the National Arts Month and the 3rd anniversary of the Gallery of the Peninsula and the Archipelago. Tawasil and Fr Antonio Moreno, the president of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University, led the opening of the exhibit. (Jung Francisco - Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 24, 2010) – Muslim Tausug painter Rameer Amilasan Tawasil opened Wednesday his 5th Solo Art Exhibit at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University in the southern Filipino port city of Zamboanga.

Tawasil, who is famous for his many paintings depicting Islam and Peace, displayed his many works, some date back in the 1980s, at the Gallery of the Peninsula and the Archipelago.

Dubbed as “Tawasil: In retrospect. Celebrating 20 years in Visual arts, Architecture and Design,” the exhibit also coincided with the celebration of the National Arts Month and the 3rd anniversary of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University’s Gallery of the Peninsula and the Archipelago.

Tawasil and Fr. Antonio Moreno, the president of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University, led dozens of guests in the opening of the exhibit late Wednesday. It will run until March 27.

“This is an event that every must see. The works of Rameer Tawasil really will inspire us all,” Moreno said.

Tawasil for his part thanked the Ateneo de Zamboanga University for the holding of his art exhibit. “All these works are special to me and I wanted everybody to see the exhibit and I just hope that these works will inspire more people to love arts and spread peace through pieces of arts they make,” he said.

Tawasil was born in the village of Karungdung in the town of Kalinggalan Caluang in Sulu province. He obtained his Bachelor of Science in Architecture at the Western Mindanao State University.

According to the website muslimmindanao.ph which is maintained by the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication and initially funded by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the multi-awarded Tawasil is best known for using bright, strong, and bold colors in his paintings.

It said the foundation of his art is "okkil” (in Tausug; “okir” in Maranao), a design form indigenous to the Muslim groups in Mindanao as seen in their woodcarvings, brassware, and textiles, among others.

His masterpieces adorn galleries in London and Kuching, Malaysia and private collections in Germany, Korea, the United States and the Philippines.

Tawasil has been involved in more than 30 art group shows in abroad and the Philippines and his local exhibitions have been held at the main gallery of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Vargas Museum in the University of the Philippines, National Commission for Culture and the Arts Gallery, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, and various private galleries, it said.

He has had three past solo exhibits since 2003 in Zamboanga City and the fourth was in Davao City which was sponsored by the Canadian International Development Agency.

A recipient of Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs Award, Tawasil also received the Zamboanga Hermosa Recognition Award, Culture and the Arts Category in 2003. In 2006 he was given the Peace Citation Award by the Peace Advocates Zamboanga for his rendition of the "peace dove" logo which has become a peace campaign symbol locally and globally and has been included in the international collection of peace doves.

Tawasil also organizes art shows and directs musical concerts on his advocacy on peace and the environment. He also conducts art workshops on recycled and environmental art.

He sits as a member of the Zamboanga City Government's Committee on Visual Arts, Council for the Culture and Arts and History. (Jung Francisco contributed to this report.)

Ateneo de Zamboanga Fireworks

Fireworks resembling a nebula lit up the night sky in Zamboanga City on Sunday, January 31, 2010 during the Ateneo de Zamboanga High School Family Day. Ateneo de Zamboanga University President, Father Antonio Moreno, led the family day attended by hundreds of students and parents. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

Zamboanga reports first Influenza A (H1N1) case

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 2, 2009) – Philippine health authorities on Thursday confirmed another case of Influenza A (H1N1) in Zamboanga City in Mindanao.

Authorities said a nine-year old student from Ateneo de Zamboanga was positively tested for the virus. The boy, a Grade 3 student, was infected with the deadly virus after contacts with a woman who came to Zamboanga from Manila on June 12.

Officials did not say whether the woman was the boy’s relative or not.

They said the woman was apparently unaware that she was infected with the virus and learned about it when she returned to Manila and has been tested positive from Influenza A (H1N1).

She phoned the boy’s family in Zamboanga and told them to bring the child to the hospital for medical test. The boy is the first confirmed case of Influenza A (H1N1) in Zamboanga.

Fr Antonio Moreno, president of the Ateneo de Zamboanga, has confirmed the case and said they are assessing the situation and would be meeting with health officials whether to suspend the class where the boy belongs.

“We will be meeting also with all the parents of the students in that particular class to determine if there is a need to temporarily suspend the whole class or not. There are some cases of flu and colds in that class, but we still don’t know whether it is Influenza A or not and we have already sent swab samples to Manila to determine if they are Influenza A,” he said.

Several suspected infections were also reported in other government elementary schools in Zamboanga, but laboratory tests are still on going. It was not immediately known how many suspected cases were reported in those schools. But health officials said there are at least 12 suspected cases of the virus in Zamboanga City; 2 in Isabela City in nearby Basilan province and two in Zamboanga del Norte and 2 more in Zamboanga del Sur provinces.

The Influenza A (H1N1) virus is spread from person-to-person. It is transmitted as easily as the normal seasonal flu and can be passed to other people by exposure to infected droplets expelled by coughing or sneezing that can be inhaled, or that can contaminate hands or surfaces.

The signs of influenza A (H1N1) are flu-like, including fever, cough, headache, muscle and joint pain, sore throat and runny nose, and sometimes vomiting and diarrhea.

Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III reported that the Department of Health (DOH) is further bolstering its mitigation efforts against Influenza A (H1N1) in light of the anticipated rise of cases in the country.

“As we anticipate more cases in the coming months, we must institute effective mitigation measures to save lives and prevent deaths and to reduce the impact of the pandemic to our nation and the economy,” Duque said.

Duque said that 1,709 confirmed A (H1N1) cases have been reported to the DOH from the May to June. He said 1,485 of these cases have already recovered, while the rest are still under treatment.

“All cases exhibited mild symptoms with the most common as fever (86%), cough (81%), and nasal congestion (49%),” Duque said, noting however, that there was one reported death in Manila – a 49-year old woman who was an employee of the House of Representatives.

Duque disclosed that of the 1,709 reported cases, 1,568 were Filipinos; the rest were American (17), Japanese (8), Chine (4), Korean (3), German (2), and one each from Australia, Canada, India, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Sweden, Thailand, and Turkey. (Mindanao Examiner)

Award-winning film director holds seminar, workshop in Zamboanga

Award-winning film and television director William Mayo gestures as he explains the intricacies involved in filmmaking during a seminar in Zamboanga City. The seminar was sponsored by the National Commission on Culture and the Arts and partnership with Zamboanga City Representative Maria Isabelle Salazar and City Councilor Gerky Valesco and Ateneo de Zamboanga University President Fr Antonio Moreno.

(Mindanao Examiner Photo / Jung Francisco)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 26, 2009) – Some 30 participants finished a seminar and workshop on filmmaking in Zamboanga City in the southern Philippines.

William Mayo, an award-winning film and television director, conducted the three-day workshop held at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University. Mayo, whose films included the epic Lapu-Lapu, discussed the various stages involved in producing a 35-mm movie and digital filmmaking.

“If you have the passion, just do it. Don’t be afraid, be imaginative and pursue your goal and produce a movie. Zamboanga is a beautiful place and it is rich in culture and history and these are very good materials for your film,” said Mayo, who is also the president of the Kapisanan ng mga Direktor ng Pelikulang Pilipino and the Philippine Motion Picture Directors Association, Inc.
Many of the participants were film students and digital filmmakers.

The National Commission on Culture and the Arts and the Film Academy of the Philippines sponsored the workshop in partnership with Zamboanga City Rep. Maria Isabelle Salazar and City Councilor Gerky Valesco and the Ateneo de Zamboanga University.

Fr Antonio Moreno, president of the Ateneo de Zamboanga, also took a brief time and visited the seminar and inspired the participants.

Valesco, himself a television director, who was responsible for organizing the workshop, said a second seminar on advance filmmaking and cinematography is now being planned, including the possible holding of the first Chavacano Film Festival in Zamboanga City later this year.

“We are opening the door to opportunities for our local talents to be known in the field of filmmaking and hopefully to include Zamboanga City among the many cities in the Philippines where filmmaking is striving,” Valesco said.

Salazar, a television documentarist, urged those who finished the workshop to pursue filmmaking here and promote not only Zamboanga, but show that local talents can also be world class. (Jung Francisco)

Ateneo de Zamboanga University Job Fair kicks off in Mindanao

Fr Antonio Moreno, president of the Atendeo de Zamboanga University, addresses a crowd during the opening Thursday, February 12, 2009 of the Job Fair 2009 in Zamboanga City in Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner Photo / Jung Francisco)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Feb. 11, 2009) - More than 50 Filipino companies and government agencies participated in the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Job Fair 2009 which began Thursday in Zamboanga City.

Among the companies participating in the two-day event were Globe Telecom, TESDA, Phil Health, DOLE, SSS, Commission on Human Rights, Shopper’s Central, San Miguel Brewery, National Statistics Office, Water District, Metro bank, Band of the Philippine Islands and the Mindanao Examiner.

Fr Antonio Moreno, president of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University, led the opening ceremony. He gave “words of wisdom” to graduating students and urged them to prepare for the future and work hard.

Moreno also stressed that potential employers should also give feedback to the university so that Ateneo can work on their students’ strengths and weaknesses.

Pedro Rufo Soliven, alumni president of the Ateneo de Zamboanga University, who was a keynote speaker, encouraged those seeking for jobs to also venture into entrepreneurship, saying, it promises a lot of opportunities to young individuals.

Soliven also said that being an Ateneo graduate plays an advantage in landing a job. Soliven together with Moreno led the ribbon cutting.

Estesa Xaris Legaspi, director of the College Guidance and Counseling Office, expressed optimism about the outcome of the event. She said that with the job fair, students will learn the basics of how to apply for a job, how to go about the interviews, among others. (Amilbahar S. Mawallil)