Artists coming together for a good cause is no longer an alien concept.
Case in point, Band Aid — the British initiative led by Bod Geldolf gave us the holiday ditty “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” — used the single’s proceeds to address the famine situation in Ethiopia.
“We Are the World,” on the other hand, gathered the mightiest American Top 40 superstars to curb world hunger and bring food, water, and health care to the poorest of the poor in the continent of Africa and beyond.
Other fine examples are “Voices That Care” and the Dione Warwick song initiative, “That’s What Friends Are For” the earnings were for HIV and AIDS awareness, research and care for the afflicted.
This united as one ingenuity of artists showing compassion and concern has reached the Philippine shores in so many forms and many ways. In fact, this holiday season, Lani Misalucha and Ice Seguerra headline such a laudable undertaking billed as Handog at Pasalalamat: Benefit E-Concert presented by A Teacher Party-list.
The online streaming concert is slated Dec. 11, Saturday at 6:00 p.m. and can be viewed for free on the official Facebook page of the A Teacher Party-List and on YouTube, Sessionslive, and Kumu.
Joining Misalucha and Seguerra in this coming together of OPM Artists are Pinopela, a group of young musicians brought together by the members’ shared love and talent for a cappella music; “Tawag ng Tanghalang” Season 2 grand finalist Sofronio Vazquez III; alternative band Love Commercial; and the youth chorale group Saint Vincent Ferrer Parish Church Angelico Voce Chorale with Mary Elaine as conductor.
“We took careful thought of the songs we have curated and the artists who will perform them. From gratefulness, hopefulness, to empowering people to get back up, and become the change they desire to see in the world, each song in the concert has meaning and conveys different messages we want to send across. It’s both a night of entertainment and empowerment,” says A Teacher Party List VP for Luzon Ryan Taclan on what makes this a special pre-Christmas concert offering.
Apart from the inspirational songs, Taclan shares:” There will be special videos that shows the activities, accomplishments and beneficiaries of the A Teacher Party-List We want everyone to know what we have done, what are capable of doing, and what are the other things we look forward to realize for the benefit of the education sector that we serve.”
“I chose to be part of the E-Concert because I know that proceeds of it will go directly to the needs of the youth and the teachers,”says Lani Misalucha.
“I hope that the people gets to support and watch it dahil matutulugan po natin ang napakaraming bata na nangangailangan ng mga kagamitan para po sa eskwela. I am here, not just as the so called Asia’s Nightingale but as a Filipino who is making lambing to my kapwa Filipinos, reaching out to you, kinakatok ang inyong mga puso, let us help and support the causes of A Teacher Partylist.”
“For the teachers who are only guides or mentors of the young, they have become second parents to all us, siempre full support at kasali talaga ako in this e-concert,”declares Ice Seguerra. “It feels great to perform in this concert because I know kung gaano ka-dedicated ang A Teacher Party-List in their mission of giving the best possible opportunities to our educators. They do their jobs and they do it well.”
And from the alternative rock band Love Commercial, “We’ll gladly jam for A Teacher Party-List because teachers are the coolest.”
A-Teacher Party List is the the voice of education in Congress. Honorable Juliet R. Cortuna who also happens to the Chairperson and its former Representative, with Coach Ryan Taclan, a 3-termer Chief-Of-Staff and Vice-President of the Luzon chapter, are the main spokespersons in a Zoom Conference that happened recently where they highlighted the achievements of the party-list.
They represent the sectors of teachers, students, and other non-teaching personnel, on issues affecting their professional and personal welfare & growth. Likewise, A Teacher underscores the role of transformative education as a vehicle for national development and progress.
Some of its most important legislative accomplishments, to enumerate a few are: RA 10647 Ladderized Education Act of 2014, RA10533 Enhanced Basic Education Act K-12 and RA 10687 Unified Student Financial Assistance System For Tertiary Education Act.
“The concert has many beneficiaries,” says VP Taclan. “Naisip naming ang concert na ito dahil sobrang hirap ng sacrifices ng mga teachers at parents, including the students as well, upang makapagturo’t makapag-aral sa panibagong E-Learning or Blended Learning set-up ngayong panahon ng pandemya. Konting tulong ito sa kanila para mabigyan sila ng mga basic na technological needs and supply nila lalo na sa mga public schools.”
For more information about the concert and the A-Teacher Party List, please visit www.facebook.com/ateacherpartylist I,https://youtube.com/c/ATeacherPartylistPH and https://instagram.com/ateacherpartylistph