पम्पाङ्गी

2 NEWSBRIEFS POETS’ SOCIETY The Aguman Buklud Kapampangan celebrated its 15 th anniversary last November 28 by holding a cultural show at Holy Angel University. Dhong Turla, Phol Batac, Felix Garcia, Jaspe Dula, Totoy Bato, Renie Salor and other officers and members of the organization took turns reciting poems and singing traditional Kapampangan songs. Highlight of the show was the crowning of laurel leaves on two new poets laureate, Amado Gigante of Angeles City and Francisco Guinto of Macabebe. Angeles City Councilor Vicky Vega Cabigting, faculty and students attended the affair. PIESTANG TUGAK The City of San Fernando recently held at the Hilaga (former Paskuhan Village) the first-of-its-kind frog festival celebrating Kapampangans’ penchant for amphibian cuisine. The activity was organized by city tourism officer Ivan Anthony Henares. The Center participated by giving a lecture on Kapampangan culture and history and lending cultural performers like rondalla, choir and marching band. UNDAS EXHIBIT A photo exhibit entitled Kematen was the featured attraction at the Center for Kapampangan Studies gallery for the month of November. Museum curator Alex Castro explained that early Kapampangans had their wakes, funeral processions and burials photographed to record their departed loved ones’ final moments with them. These pictures, in turn, reveal a lot about our ancestors’ way of life and belief systems. MALAYA LOLAS DOCU The Center for Kapampangan Studies, the women’s organization KAISA-KA, and Infomax Cable TV will co-sponsor the production of a video documentary on the plight of the Malaya Lolas of Mapaniqui, Candaba, victims of mass rape during World War II. The project is being supervised by Sonia Soto, KAISA-KA president, based on a project proposal by Tonette Orejas of Infomax. The Malaya Lolas were abducted and then raped by Japanese soldiers after witnessing the massacre of their menfolk. With only 70 members remaining, they are asking the Japanese Government for a public apology. VIRGEN DE LOS REMEDIOS POSTAL COVER A first-of-its-kind commemorative cover featuring the Baliti image of Virgen de los Remedios, Patroness of Pampanga, was recently launched in cancellation ceremonies held at the Center for Kapampangan Studies. Archbishop Paciano B. Aniceto, DD, Asst. Postmaster-General Diomedio Villanueva, PhilPost Region III Director Amelia Cunanan graced the affair. The project is a brainchild of Jorge Henson Cuyugan, President of the Philippine Stamp Collectors Society. Kapampangan poet Amado Gigante (seated) gets his gold laurel crown as the latest poet laureate of Pampanga; Dhong Turla (right), president of the Aguman Buklud Kapampangan delivers his exhortation to fellow poets 4 THE Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), through its Permanent Committee for the Cultural Heritage of the Church, called on the faithful to protect their old churches against burglars, antique smugglers and destruction by natural and manmade causes. At the recent Third Biennial National Convention of Church Cultural Heritage Workers hosted by the Archdiocese of San Fernando, Pampanga and held at Holy Angel University in Angeles City, Bishop Leopoldo S. Tumulak, DD of Tagbilaran, who chairs the said CBCP committee, appealed to more than 100 delegates from the country’s 70 archdioceses and dioceses to be the guardians of the Church’s cultural patrimony. The convention tackled issues such as church renovations, antique trafficking, role of clergy and laity in managing church property, and the perennial debate of apostolate versus aesthetics. The speakers urged dioceses and parishes all over the country to set up their own museums, libraries and archives not only as haven for church artifacts but as instruments of evangelization. National Convention of Church Heritage Workers Among the speakers were Architect Augusto Villalon, Prof. Regalado Trota Jose, Dom. Bernardo Ma. Perez, OSB, Atty. Rose Angeles and Faustino Ramos of the PN