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| A Songbird sees the real
world Source: The Manila Bulletin Online Author: Jojo P. Panaligan Date: June 3, 2002 When you live in a perfect world, what do you feel when you step into the real one? Asia’s Songbird Regine Velasquez told us when she spent two days with the street children of Payatas and Kanlungan as part of her obligations for the “Speak Your Mind” campaign of UNICEF, MTV and Levi’s. For the superstar, what was supposed to be just a task, turned out to be an eye-opener. In a press con held at the Pan Pacific Hotel, a teary-eyed Regine spoke her mind out on her experiences through the voice of her heart. “I never realized so many people in our country are suffering especially kids. Before, when I would see street children from inside my car, I had my opinions on them. But these changed when I actually spent time with them,” she said. Regine admitted that she was initially surprised when MTV and UNICEF asked her to do the rounds; more surprised still, when she found out that little can actually mean more. “I thought, ‘Would singing a couple of songs to them make a difference?’ I felt that holding benefit concerts would be of more help. But MTV explained to me that my presence means a big deal to these people—that it gives them hope. Now, I know there’s definitely more to just raising money for people to make them feel others care,” Regine introspected. The diva was in Payatas and Canlungan from 9 a.m. to 4 in the afternoon. She sang “Ama Namin” in a morning mass before proceeding to the depressed vicinities. There, Regine related that kids mobbed her; touching her clothes and holding hands with her. “I was not depressed while I was there. It was only when I got home while bathing that it hit me that for me, I will just wash myself for an hour and it’s all over. For the people there, tomorrow will be just like today and the day before,” she said. One of the more touching stories Regine shared with the press took place in Escolta. “I was shocked to meet ten to 12 families living beside abandoned buildings with no shanties. And their kids—they have no clothes, no slippers, no nothing! I asked a little girl, ‘Ano ginagawa mo dito?’ and she just said, ‘I was born here.’ I mean, what do you say to that?” she said. In Payatas, Regine also met kids who said things that moved her deeply. “They told me that they wanted to be just like me. I look around me and I realized that they were living in one big trash. Still, I told them that if they practice everyday and work hard they will be. That if they can dream it, they can achieve it,” she said. The experience bore a lot of questions in the Songbird’s heart, needless to say. “How can they think that living within a dumpsite community is normal? Or that to work at their age is okay? That life in the streets is their destiny? It angers me to think about it though I don’t know who or what to blame.” In the end, Regine gained more from the experience than what she had given. “Seeing their condition, I know now that I have no reason to complain. Compared to them, I am living a blessed life. The good thing about this is that I am in the position to instill dreams in others because people listen to me.” The “Speak Your Mind” Campaign encouraged young people in Asia to voice their concerns on issues of society. As in other participating countries as China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand, the Philippines received a lot of entries (22,000 in all) from all over that told of the lives, hopes, frustrations and dreams the youth share and have. All entries and views expressed on air through MTV Asia were consolidated in the creation of an “Asian Youth Charter.” Philippine representative, Michelle Pakingan (an 18 year-old AB Com Arts student from U.S.T.) was then sent by UNICEF, Levi’s, and MTV to the United Nations Headquarters in New York to present the “Asian Youth Charter” before the UN Special Session on Children last May. Regine Velasquez is just one of the local spokes person of the campaign. |
