The members of El Gamma Penumbra (which means “The rays of light which produce shadow”) conquered the hearts not just of the illustrious judges of the first Asia’s Got Talent show but of their growing legions of fans, this columnist included. I never even knew this group existed until Facebook messages about them from fellow advocates made me curious. I decided to look them up.
Watching each performance, I can only say “thank you” to EL Gamma Penumbra for the tremendous surge of pride they instill in each of us. You can understand what I mean when viewing the outstanding performances of this Filipino shadow play dance group of thirteen from Tanauan, Batangas. One cannot seem to have enough of their immeasurable talent and artistry. How they pull off superbly the fast paced dance sequence and the perfect blending of their pooled acts to create the changing images is mind-boggling, but definitely magical.
The compelling messages the team members wanted to convey zeroed in on the need to protect our degraded life support systems and coping with the painful havocs of natural and man-made calamities. We easily identify with the pain, and the tremendous losses and destruction which cannot but pierce the most hardened of hearts. The recurring themes of hope and stakeholder collaboration are not lost at all, which makes the performance all the more meaningful.
It was not surprising that the beautiful Anggun Cipta Sasmi of Asia’s Got Talent was emotional, as we all were. Anggun expressed her sentiment well. She said,”What really made me fall in love with your performance was the possibility of messages that you can put is endless.” (https://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/05/15/15/palace-lauds-el-gamma-penumbra)
We can imagine the long hours and endless days and nights of practice and the sacrifices made to relay their message of justice and caring for the environment, now under tremendous pressures. El Gamma Penumbra emerged the winner because they have managed to relay successfully their rallying point that each of us citizens should do our share to protect the environment and the rights of people.
I remember them executing their dance with intensity and mindfulness to the tune of “Colors of the Wind” from the film “Pocahontas.” I was half hoping that political authorities and members of our business community would be watching as well.
Perhaps the significance of the message El Gamma Penumbra brings would be deeply embedded in their hearts and aid them in facing the reality and taking on the sustainable path to development, which should take into account the social and environmental impacts of policies and projects.
It would be superb for us to know more of our new heroes and reformists for a better world, the El Gamma Penumbra. We want to know not just how they formed this amazing group but what made them craft this innovative and sterling tool of a shadow play group as a way of calling for reforms and changes in our lifestyle and guiding philosophies.
Being an advocate, one is always faced with dilemmas on how issues are best relayed to our people for them to be more aware and more informed, and most important, how they can best be convinced to be more participatory and engaged in decision-making.
Our tendency to be passive, or to care too much about what others might think about certain actions, are cultural barriers to the exercise of a fundamental right which the Constitution guarantees not to be curtailed. Such is the right to effective and reasonable participation in decision-making at all levels of governance, whether social, economic, or political. One might be knowledgeable of his rights, but if he fails to assert them, then such right becomes empty.
As El Gamma Penumbra members have shown distinctly, there are various forms of participation. Their manner of relaying the message across to the decision-makers, through their compelling performance, is a very effective contribution in pushing for reforms.
Certainly, we need more people like them in this vastly challenged world we are in.
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Congratulations to Cebu Daily News and Ms. Eileen Mangubat, publisher and acting editor-in-chief, for reaping another award, the Best in Photojournalism plum, in the 2014 Civic Journalism Community Press Awards of the Philippine Press Institute. CDN won for being able “to maintain a high quality of visual reporting at par with national and international standards while still maintaining a local cultural stamp.”
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