June finds the Fil Am community gearing up for graduations, weddings, Father’s Day, vacation plans and the ubiquitous Grand Independence Day Ball—five of them, within almost a fortnight.
At the root of every Independence Day Ball, the moral seems clear. True accomplishment is achieved through balanced practical judgment from its steering committees. An Independence Day Ball is like no other on this part of God’s green earth. Nobody is there to have a good time. Everyone is there to roam the room and get around.
It is easy to forget that the last Independence Day Ball is like all the poignant Independence Days that we had previously observed: with great patriotic fervor for the memory of our heroes, their gallantry and nobility in their martyrdom, for freedom and right to govern ourselves. These instilled almost unlimited strength and ability to rise above the crises, earning a worldwide esteem and recognition for our people.
This year’s celebrations for the Independence Day Ball kick off with the first Independence Ball — which is looking for “Lakambini ng Kalayaan 117” — on June 5 that commences at 7 pm at the Cast Away Restaurant in Burbank.
This year’s tribute and recognition to women
It is not just the celebrity allure. It is being a cut above the rest, seduced by an obsessive pursuit of recognition, public acclaim, attention and of course, the limelight. Philanthropy, business, art, entertainment, civic work and professional excellence plus peer acknowledgment are regarded as the basis for the fulfillment of the deepest human desires.
For Ms. Bernie Targa-Ganon, President of Fil Am International, LLC and a former beauty queen herself, “Lakambini Kalayaan” is a unique tribute to women.
“It is time to reflect about the women of our genre, her intellectual curiosity, her talent, her independence of spiriit. For all our vaunted modernity, still not enough people believe that a woman’s time is sacred. A man at his desk in a room with closed door is a man at work. A woman at a desk in any room is available. This is a wrong notion. It is an outrage,” said Ganon with her certain smile.
It was a glorious afternoon at the Manila Terrace on a Sunday afternoon. There was an earnest conclave of women inspiring other women and to inspire change.
Newsman Art Garcia who lived and penned it all seemed to not only want to write, but to tell us cleverly why he wants to write. Does writing assuage our grief and lace our pain? He did not just nod and smile or exchange some salutations. He paid a gentle homage to these women of substance that excelled in their area of competence, as he clicked his unblinking camera.
What will make the Lakambini attributed by our poet Francisco Balagtas as the woman “best and the best” paragon of beauty, diligence, strength, courage and comparison—the very criteria of the whole pageantry? It is more than just a cultural endeavor. Its mission statement is unique, if not appropriate at a time, when goals and intention circle on aesthetics. These are the daughters of dramatic journeys and fantastic tales, their stories carved out like treasures, as they lay down a shadow of stunning proportions. They are shaped by the dramatic journey of the past and the sparkle of the moment. Artists, educators, humanitarians, nurses the business women are signposts and headlands of the their Filipino past. A poignant history unfolds in their stories, beneath the success of their individual careers, a long invisible thread holds to the ancient lands of family.
This year’s prestigious Lakambini Award goes to Dr. Erlinda Grey, Mrs. Fernandico Q. Gonong, Minda Valdecantos-Chin and ace photojournalist, Romeo Balboa.
The fun-filled afternoon with women involved also had pleasant surprises—expressed in dance interpretations, prayers, songs from a colatura soprano named Chato Bueda. The meet and greet was perhaps a little unusual in its girlish focus through an approach to sensitize us to their human conditions.
The Lakambini search is a life affirming celebration about dignity, respect, caring, growing old NOT gracefully. Whatever suits, let it be for the Golden Agers.
At twilight, we offered here and there our goodbyes (startling conspiracies of people in deep conversation) leaving an assemblage that yielded to an early dinner not for the penitent.
For the afternoon revelers, it was prelude to the Independence Day Ball that pays tribute and celebrates women on June 5.
