Lea Salonga sings to thousands in Bacolod, GK benefit concert
By CARLA GOMEZ, Philippine Inquirer Visayas Bureau Date Posted: Feb 15, 2008
BACOLOD CITY, Philippines -- Internationally acclaimed singer Lea Salonga has done her share of helping Gawad Kalinga build homes for the poor by singing to thousands at a benefit concert here.
"There are people who are more blessed, so sharing blessings is never ever a bad thing with those who don't have that much," Salonga said on Saturday, when she sang to a jam-packed crowd of more than 7,000 at the University of St. La Salle Coliseum.
Funds to be raised from the concert would be used to build houses for the poor in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental in 2008, said GK provincial director Bobby Magalona.
Gawad Kalinga has been all about "building homes, building dreams," said Salonga, who traces her roots to Pulupandan, Negros Occidental. She said her mother, Ligaya Alcantara Imutan, was the daughter of Leo Imutan, a vice mayor of Pulupandan town who briefly took over as mayor. And the statue of a woman carrying a "bilao (basket)" on her head in the Pulupandan town plaza is that of her grandmother, Carmen Alcantara Imutan, according to Salonga.
At her concert, Salonga said it was a special night for her to perform in Bacolod because it was like a family reunion with a lot of her relatives from Pulupandan in the audience.
Salonga said she was told there was an Imutan Street in Pulupandan and she would appreciate it if someone would send her a photo of it.
She was accompanied by mother and brother Gerard Salonga, who conducted the orchestra at her concert.
Since GK began in Negros Occidental in 2001, it has built 1,300 houses in 33 sites all over the province, according to Magalona. Gawad Kalinga was set to build 1,000 more houses in the province this year, he said. Four-hundred of these 1,000 houses would be built at a proposed GK village in Purok Riverside, Banago in Bacolod City, a joint effort of Catholic and Protestant groups, Magalona said.
The multi-awarded Salonga, who won several awards for her role as Kim in the musical Miss Saigon at Broadway in New York and London's West End, wowed the audience with her songs that ranged from Tagalog favorites to musical theater numbers, and the Ilonggo song "Ay Ay Kalisod."
Also performing with her was Ilonggo singer Jed Madela who drew a rousing applause for his rendition from Phantom of the Opera.
Salonga and husband Robert Charles Chien are in the Philippines with daughter, Beverly Nicole, born on May 16, 2006 and named after Salonga's late mother-in-law, Beverly Chien.
Salonga, who just finished playing Fantine in the musical Les Misérables on Broadway, said she would have a lead role in Broadway Asia Entertainment' s Asian tour of Rodgers and Hammerstein' s Cinderella that was set to kick off in Manila on July 29.
***Note: The photos shown in this article were taken during the Australian GK Youth Great Adventure Tour Visayas Group visit to Lea Salonga's rehearsal for the concert.***
Funds to be raised from the concert would be used to build houses for the poor in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental in 2008, said GK provincial director Bobby Magalona.
The multi-awarded Salonga, who won several awards for her role as Kim in the musical Miss Saigon at Broadway in New York and London's West End, wowed the audience with her songs that ranged from Tagalog favorites to musical theater numbers, and the Ilonggo song "Ay Ay Kalisod."
