BEN&BEN, CALISTA and John Mark Saga Headline ALON Benefit Concert for Seafarers and their Families

In this day and age, people in the Philippines often do not get work in places across the country. To find a better life for them and their families, Filipinos venture out at sea and become seafarers. It's not easy to be away from family and remain in the deep blue ocean for weeks, months, some even years. Some fall prey to unscrupulous individuals who wouldn't bat an eyelash to not give them what's due them especially if they need government help, or lawyers to protect their rights (maritime or others) even if they are not in the country.

They need help, and this is where GOLD Foundation and maritime organizations come in. They just announced a concert for a cause called ALON Pagibig, Pangarap at Pagasa, slated this June 28th 6pm at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila. This is headlined by one of the most popular bands in the country BEN&BEN, talented singer John Mark Saga and lovely female PPOP Group CALISTA. 

Seafarer Cecilia Giron tells us about her experience at work and says "This is a very humbling type of work, I was a bit hesitant at first, but I was able to perform the job. When I went home, I was so thin and didn't encourage me to go back . 13 years in a cruise ship, and a few years more, fooled by our love story, but I didn't want to end my dream. I had to work for my daughter, and later asked to do the same work now. It only took 5 months to finish it."

Jebsen Gamido an awareness advocate in the maritime sector told us about those experiencing not just abuse, but even mental health concerns for those who are working on ships. There are tons of seafarers who are in the same shoes and hopefully it will also be highlighted at the ALON concert.

Cadet Jerimy Orquiza shared how he didn't want to become a seafarer, but since he worked in a maritime school, he was inspired about their stories and got interested with their lives, even if it means being away from their families so they could provide for their loved ones. 

Marville Espagob of ISWAN shared how he had a great career, but it was hard for him mentally. The ALON concert is intended to help folks like him, and he will have a chance to talk about it in the show. They provide free helplines to understand them and their stories."

Ms. Lala Tolentino of The Mission to Seafarers adds "There has been no event that is like this to remind ourselves of love, welfare and hope. We support the family and seafarers around the world, no matter what the nationality, race or trust. We are recognizing them, they carry 90 percent of what you are wearing today. They are hidden workers, unseen, and this will make them be on the spotlight. Because they want to help their families, they set aside personal happiness because no matter what it seems, they deserve our recognition. The benefit concert will go to fund the mission for the seafarers and their families."

Gelo Ruiz who's directing the concert says "ALON will be a tribute born out of love. There are about 3 Million out there, and this is very personal for me because I am a son of a seafarer. This will be about their Stories, their Advocacies, and how we have better lives with their sacrifice. We are making ways to inspire people, and our program contains Ben&Ben, Kelvin Miranda, Calista, and John Mark Saga who will sing for one night. Every artist have their own story, it gives people hope. Calista will also showcase women empowerment with their numbers, and John Mark has real seafarer family members. We hope you get to support us on June 28th!"

Expecting a whopping 7000 attendees, they are still looking for partners, you may reach them on their social channels and email too. Tickets available at ticket2me.net and it will be held at the Ninoy Aquino stadium in Manila. Make sure you bring along your seafarer family members, friends and everyone.

John Mark Saga is a seafarer's son and says even the poster tells a lot about growing up without his father on his side. He got to pursue his dreams because of his father's sacrifice which he wasn't able to do in the past.

Calista says "It's an honor to be part of this big movement about seafarers and their families, it's a responsibility to represent the women and we have been advocating empowerment even those who are on board. With ALON, and our music, we hope it touches hearts for those who work in the industry. We will support them, and their dreams as seafarers too."

Calista had their concert years back to help frontliners and medical professionals, this time they're doing it for seafarers which is a very noble thing to do.

It's an important advocacy, for the seafarers and their families. If you want to do the same, go support them in the concert. Tickets will surely sell out fast because concerts like this cost more on a normal day. They plan to give the proceeds to organizations that help seafarers with legal, medical and mental needs. Get tickets via Ticket2Me.net and watch the event at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium because it's going to be one fun night!

LGBT Themed Piece "CHOOSING" Gets 2nd Run at Doreen Blackbox Theater at Ateneo This PRIDE MONTH

To be openly out and gay may be quite an easy feat for some, but not for everyone. With a non redeeming society, mostly tolerating folks, r@cists and obvious big0ts around, it's super hard to even exist. It messes up your psyche, less time to understand the situation, yourself, proving how crazy this world we live in, when all they want is the same rights as you do, LOVE, and understanding.

During Pride Month last year, real life couple Liza Dino and Ice Seguerra took chance on a queer theater production of CHOOSING. It's a play about the intricacies of love, relationships, pronouns and queerness. This is under the direction of Dr. Anton Juan. It was unusual, but easy to digest, relatable in so many ways especially for those who lived in the 90's and generations after that. They're having their second run this coming June at the ARETE Doreen Blackbox Theater at the Ateneo De Manila University grounds. We were given a preview of it a couple days ago, and they've done changes to the script and story mostly on Act 3.

A very emotionally charged preview of CHOOSING

Dr. Anton Juan told us "I asked them to ask questions about themselves, I gave them direction of thought. This time it's built on that, and the moment, it's almost like characters start in the middle of their lives and I gave them the ability to gather themselves. This is where the play is being directed and built. It's continuous, and I allowed actors to do that. Theater becomes not just for the stage but for people who watch it. I think the straight sectors would learn the most. It's the freedom of love, it's about choice that makes us free. This is the reason we want it titled CHOOSING. In the world there are so many pronouns. I asked them to bare themselves, we started to talk, the concept of who I am or if I am a goat, abuse, many things that are common to everyone. I like to resurrect the memories, with music, it's beautiful and is like a portal, it becomes vast and bigger. You must be careful in what doors to open and close. Did you notice plays today are choreographed? I look at lines as language and space, how to move, approach, ways to say you love or hate a person. I was trying to distill their lives and what they've gone through."

Ice says "The song is actually a monologue but Liza and Direk Anton felt like we needed it. That was about hypothetical love, we edited it to a song with Vince de Jesus, and it's called 'Lost in Time'. When we came out, there were a lot of people who approached her and just told their stories without even doing it. More than the topics being shown here, is that we always go through these crossroads, we need to talk and get to the bottom of this. Liza and I have been together for a long time, but we are still the same because we talk about it. There is commonality and we could move forward to say what we want to say and stop there without listening to the other party. We talk about it even if it hurts. If you remove labels, the story of Mitch and Stella is universal."

Liza adds "That's exactly how it played out when it happened, that it was not synonymous with cheating. That's whe I realized that Ice was a man. The way they talked about it was just like watching a series. He didn't know where I am coming from, it went to a point that I had to watch it to understand. There's also a lot shared with us by a support group, their discoveries, on how they realize the dysphoria. There's a huge part of this play that I had to re-write especially on the third act, Ice and I are still going through that. We are confused for the most part, but when the opportunity comes we ask where we are and where we need to support each other. It was a blessing that I was the one who wrote it, I couldn't make it concretely talk about transformation. I researched about it so much that I saw how we could no longer be part of that future. You see how emotional we are when we do this. A big issue here also is the voice, it's a huge change and what people go through in situations like these. I hope people see what we struggle about, and the conscious decision to still choose each other despite the trials. I hope this can inspire, see themselves in us, you can't do this alone. This is about choosing to love."

Here's our interview with them after that very emotional preview:

Liza adds "Transitioning needs an entire shift of mindset to become the support system. Sometimes people don't think about that person, because they are also going through something. It's a very complex decision, hence the discussion between Stella and Mitch."

Ice ended the talk saying "I chose her, and she is the only one I wanted to choose. She's the only one who can give me the happiness, the excitement, and safety that I'd want to have. I don't want to share that with anybody else. Anytime we have a discussion, we always go back to asking how we can by happy again, because this is not us right now. That's been our anchor ever since."

Choosing to talk about the feelings we have may be shallow for some, but we all need to talk about it. To resolve conflict in relationships, choosing to talk about the hard things will resolve a LOT. If you want to get tickets to the show, you can get it via the Ticket2Me app or the official website ticket2me.net. Shows will be on June 6th-8th, 13th-15th which are weekends. The Doreen Blackbox Theater is a very intimate venue. Go bring your friends and family along and talk about it after the show. Can't wait to see the changes on the show.

MRLD Showcases Creative Depth in 7th Sense Concert

While folks were excited at the thought of MRLD (Meriel de Jesus) performing at SM SKYDOME last Sunday, she was a bit nervous, but that didn't really show on stage. It was a time to showcase what she's got to the public. So when it started, MRLD showcased how different she could do her music. The released tracks felt fresh and new with the different arrangement when she sang it on stage.

The show opened with Healy After Dark, with the band dishing out several romantic songs, quite severely popular on Spotify. MRLD also did several collabs with singer songwriter Ryannah Julia (they had super smooth delivery, felt young and hip to hear, loved her). Guest girl group G22 showed powerful pipes, you would wish to have them for your birthday. And as needed, MRLD also did songs with super cool artist Adie (a surprise for the crowd) who came in and sang "IKAW PA RIN". Gawd the fans went crazy with it. That combination is stuff for legends. MRLD did it relaxed while Adie's rifts was just crazy, it begged to have them immortalized on a single (please make one soon!).

 

Fans had so much fun, I was actually surprised how she really put things to heart and even danced on stage. I'm a new fan, this shows her range and depth as an artist and songwriter. I saw her perform with great gusto, eager to give her all for her adoring fans. It just shows her range, and I'm so glad to have witnessed it. Here's a clip of the finale, make sure you'll be there when she does another concert soon!

Congratulations MRLD and to OC RECORDS! You're amazing! You've barely scratched the surface of your potential and I can't wait to see how you'll turn out to be soon. "Sandali" is is certainly my current favorite. So happy to see you having fun out there!