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By Nel Benjamin Magdaleno As part of its 406th founding anniversary celebration, the Municipality of Los Baños held the 20th Bañamos Festival led by the Los Baños Tourism Office (LBTO) on September 13-17, 2021, with the theme Ikaw, Ako, Sama-Sama … Continue reading
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by: Andrea Jo O. Coladilla Forty Thirty is a musical collective of Elbi-based young artists aiming to produce new songs and genres that could be referred to as Elbi’s pride while making a name in the Filipino music industry— aspiring … Continue reading
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Ulat ni: Rosemarie A. De Castro Bagaman hindi na muna makakasama ni Shameera Jaafar ang kanyang mga kaibigan at kapatid na Muslim sa pagtatapos ng Ramadan (Eid al-Fitr) dahil sa kasalukuyang Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine o MECQ sa Los Baños, … Continue reading
ulat ni Elijah Jesse Pine
MUSIKA SA DAPITHAPON. Hawak ang bote ng barya sa isang kamay at silindro sa kabila, madalas pumuwesto si Artemio “Tem” Ortega sa tapat ng Jollibee Junction upang tumugtog. Tila sinasalungat ng musika niya ang bulyaw ng mga tao at busina sa kalsada tuwing dapithapon. (kuha ni Ruth Veluz)
Pumanaw na noong Martes, Abril 12 ang bulag na street musician na si Artemio Ortega, mas kilala bilang Kuya Tem o Mang Alexander. Siya ay 47 taong gulang.
Maaalala si Kuya Tem sa madalas niyang pagtugtog sa Jollibee Junction ng mga awiting gaya ng Top of the World gamit ang kanyang silindro. Sa gitna ng halu-halong init, usok, at ingay sa kalsada, nagbigay ginhawa ang musika ni Kuya Tem sa bawat pasahero at drayber na nakarinig sa masigasig niyang pagtugtog.
Ayon kay Mehida Mildred Estrella, pamangkin ni Kuya Tem, pumanaw siya noong Abril 12 bunsod ng acute respiratory failure.
Ipinanganak na bulag si Kuya Tem. Noong siya ay labing-anim na taong gulang, nakapag-aral siya ng self-mobility matapos maipadala ng DSWD sa National Vocational Rehabilitation Center (NVRC) sa Maynila. Sa naturang center nagsimula ang pagkahilig ni Kuya Tem sa pagtugtog, matapos kumuha ng isang klase sa musika. Bukod sa silindro, tumutugtog rin siya ng organ.
Naging daan ang pagkahilig ni Kuya Tem sa musika upang makabisita at makatugtog siya hindi lamang sa Los Baños, ngunit maging sa San Pablo, Mindoro, at Marinduque.
Noong 2017, na-feature ang kwentong musika ni Kuya Tem sa isang special episode ng Dito Sa Laguna. Kasabay ng Linggo ng Musikang Pilipino ang pagpapalabas sa nasabing episode.
Maaari itong mapanood sa http://bit.ly/2Qw1So8.
Sa taon ring iyon, isinagawa ng UP Silakbo, isang music organization sa UPLB, ang Areglo, isang benefit gig para kay Kuya Tem. Naging bahagi ng naturang gig ang mga bandang kagaya ng Jensen and the Flips at Ang Bandang Shirley. Nagkaroon din ng pagkakataong tumugtog sa entablado si Kuya Tem sa selebrasyong ito.
HARANA. Gamit ang organ at silindro, hinarana ni Kuya Tem ang mga dumalo sa Areglo, ang benefit gig na inorganisa ng UP Silakbo para sa kanya noong 2017. (mula sa UP Silakbo Facebook Page)
“Bilang anak, si Tem ay mapagmahal, responsable, may sariling disposisyon sa buhay, at higit sa lahat maka-Diyos,” ani Gng. Mehida Ortega, ina ni Kuya Tem.
Mula naman kay Ruth Veluz, isa sa mga organizers ng Areglo at miyembro ng UP Silakbo, “Maraming salamat, Mang Alexander sa araw-araw at gabi-gabi na pamamahagi mo ng iyong talento sa mga taga-Los Banos. Masuwerte kami at pinaunlakan mo ang imbitasyon namin na mapakinggan ng mas maraming tao ang musika mo.”
Sa mga nais magpaabot ng tulong sa pamilya ni Kuya Tem, maaaring magpadala sa GCash account na nasa ibaba:
MEHIDA MILDRED ESTRELLA – 09502514454
For the victims of natural calamities in Los Banos, there’s good news.
The Municipal Office of Los Baños, under the supervision of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), is offering a free housing project: the Core Shelter Assistance Program.
Priority beneficiaries, to be selected by LGUs, are people living in areas near danger zones (such as shores and uplands).
The Municipal Office and DSWD aim to build 500 houses by the end of 2013. As of now, 48 houses have been constructed in Lalakay and 66 in Maahas. A total of 70 more houses are expected to be built this year.
by Mizzi Alihan
This year marks one decade of the Bañamos Festival in honor of the town’s patroness Nuestra Señora de Aguas Santas (Virgin of the Holy Waters). Bañamos, meaning ‘to bathe,’ carries the theme “Papuri’t Pasasalamat Nuestra Señora de Aguas Santas: Viva Bañamos sa Bagong Los Baños” and which also coincides with the town’s 396th founding year as a municipality.
Mayor Anthony Genuino said “Bañamos is a way to thank God for the blessings in Los Baños and for keeping our collective spirits alive in our efforts to promote science, environmental preservation and economic progress.”
For almost four centuries, it is believed that people who dip in water that emanates from the hot springs near the mystical Mt. Makiling of Los Baños are cured from ailments.
(Photo courtesy of the Los Baños Public Information Unit)
The tenth Bañamos Festival officially kicks-off on September 14 with a showcase of assorted local products such as the world-famous buko pie and other delicacies, handicrafts, organic health products, and construction materials made from recycled plastic. Los Baños is a pioneering local government unit in the country that bans the use of plastic bags in public markets and grocery stores.
The Immaculate Conception Parish Church in Los Baños will hold the the Takbo Para Kay Maria, a 2K and 5K fund-raising fun run, which starts dawn on September 10 at the Baker Hall of the University of the Philippines Los Baños and at the Olivarez Plaza. Proceeds of the event will go to various church projects of the parish.
The Dia Aguas Santas (Day of the Holy Waters) is set on September 17 where a symbolic public bathing will be held in a hot spring pool blessed with holy water near the Immaculate Conception Parish Church.
A procession called elejer, highlighted by spiritual street-dancing, will also be held where some 5,000 devotees are expected to join. Once gathered near the lakeshore of Baybayin, the devotees will accompany the statue of the patroness as it is mounted to join a fleet of balsa or wide motorized fishermen’s boat in a fluvial parade that will traverse a portion of the lakeshore of Los Baños.
In the early 17th century the town was referred to as Los Baños or ‘public baths’ by a Franciscan priest named Pedro Bautista because of the locality’s abundant hot springs. Public baths were then built by Spaniards after discovering the healing powers of the hot springs.
The Franciscan friars also constructed the Hospital de Nuestra Señora de las Aguas Santas de Mainit in honor of the patroness who is considered, even in modern times, as the spiritual icon of Roman Catholics in this town. Los Baños became an independent municipality in the year 1615.
Mayor Genuino added that Bañamos also aims to further boost the town’s tourism potential with other attractions such as Mt. Makiling, Dampalit Falls, Old Pantalan, Tadlac (Alligator) Lake, Mud Spring, Magnetic Hill, along with prominent institutions like the Boy Scouts Jamboree Camp, the International Rice Research Institute, and the UP Los Baños.
Other highlights of the Bañamos Festival include the national dance competition called Bailamos along with street dancing showdown, waterball adventure at the lakeshore, battle of pop and traditional bands, bikathon-for-a-cause, hot spring spa and wellness showcase, town sale or cedera, a beauty pageant, and fireworks display by the lake near the expansive Paciano Rizal Park.
Aside from its prominence in academics, science and research, Los Baños is a well-known tourist weekend or summer getaway because of the town’s proximity to Metro Manila and its hot spring resorts and assorted native delicacies.
On August 7, 2000, Los Baños was declared as a “Special Science and Nature City of the Philippines” through Presidential Proclamation No. 349 in recognition as a center for science and technology in the development of agriculture and preservation of the environment.
A press release from the Los Baños Public Information Unit. For inquiries, contact [email protected].