World understanding
through the Rondalla

I was driving to my office yesterday afternoon when I saw a Singaporean participant to the 2nd International Rondalla Festival walking in the early afternoon sun waiting for a ride back to his hotel. I had seen and talked to him during the last two days so I called out his name. "Larry, let me drive you to where you're going!" Dr. Larry Hilarian looked at me and lightened up. He was so elated when I told him I would drive him back to his hotel. For him, my humble gesture of driving him to his hotel, even if it meant going out of my way, was very unique--something he has not seen in many other parts of the world. And definitely, I would hasten to add, not in his native Singapore where people are ever so busy.

"You know, I am so touched by the warmth of the people in your country," Larry told me. Larry, who now works in England, told me that in the many European countries that he's been to, he's been cheated by many people many times almost every day. "People can be so cold. Probably it's also because of the weather," he opined. But in the Philippines, his experience has been totally different. "I am a beneficiary of countless acts of kindness by Filipinos. It's simply remarkable," Larry remarked.

Larry said that he finds the Filipino so friendly, fun-loving and so outgoing. It's only in the Philippines that he has met people who went out of their way to show him acts of kindness, he said.

And, relating his experience with the International Rondalla Festival, Larry said that he finds it most fitting that this festival is being held in Dumaguete. "The music of the Rondalla matches the warmth and friendliness of the people of Dumaguete," he said.

"Or perhaps," I said, "the rondalla music mirrors the culture of Dumaguete and Filipinos."

"Exactly!" Larry said.

I hope the participants from other countries are having a pleasant stay in Dumaguete. Part of their tasks while here is to go on outreach concerts to as far as Bayawan City and La Libertad town, where they would play to the ordinary people who have no means of watching them play at the beautiful and newly-inaugurated convention center.

And what better sight could there be for people coming from different backgrounds. Different nationalities. All united in their love for music. For their love of the rondalla. One touching scene during the festival was when I saw an Iranian shaking hands with Israelis.

A story behind the fastfood giant MacDonalds says that there hasn't been any war between countries which have MacDonalds outlets. Well, I'd venture to say that if only more people loved music, there might not be as many wars in this world.*

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