Blind bring vision of Pasyon to life
Ted Ponferrada’s thumbs slowly caress the raised dots on a thick white sheet of paper as his lilting voice gives life to each of the stanzas which narrate Jesus Christ’s last hours on Earth.
If not for the black sunglasses which hide his sightless eyes, he can pass himself off as one who regularly recites the Pasyong Mahal every year as his “panata” (vow).
“We want to raise awareness that blind people like us can [also] join the Lenten observance and sing the Pasyon as well as the dilat (sighted) can,” he said, nodding his head for emphasis.
On Wednesday, Ponferrada, the vice president of Tanglaw Blind Association of Masseurs and Musicians, will lead a pabasa in Pasay City.
One big difference
What sets it apart from the others is that the participants will be reciting each stanza of the Pasyon—measuring five lines, eight syllables each—from their own copies which are printed in Braille on thermal paper.
But make no mistake about it, this reading of the epic poem about the Lord’s life, death and resurrection will be spearheaded by the blind while those who can see can only watch from the sidelines.
To find out if the stanzas being sung are precise and on the dot, the curious can consult a traditional printed version of the Pasyon.
“They can check if we are really reading it correctly because some might think that we memorized the whole Pasyon. But really, memorizing it is harder!” Marilou Mendiola, the group’s president, said with a laugh.
The pabasa will be open to all, particularly the blind who want to hear the Gospel account of Christ’s Passion being spoken and sung by sightless people just like them.
“The Pasyon we will be reading is an exact translation of the standard print version,” Ponferrada said.
Now aged 53, he lost his eyesight at the age of 11 when a grandmother used herbal medicine to relieve his sore eyes. On the other hand, Mendiola, 51, was afflicted with measles at the age of five and has been blind in the left eye ever since.
The ‘blind Pasyon’ is sponsored by George del Rosario, a Pasay City businessman who is shouldering the printing costs for the participants’ Braille copies, food and allowances.
Photographer Nestor Rivera introduced Del Rosario to Ponferrada who was excited about his vision for a group of blind people reading the Pasyon.
16 participants
Sixteen people, including Ponferrada and Mendiola, will take part in the 24-hour reading of the Pasyon at the Barangay 183 multi-purpose hall near the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City from 3 p.m. on Wednesday until 3 p.m. the following day.
A five-man rondalla band composed of blind musicians will provide the accompaniment.
Ponferrada said people gifted with sight are welcome although they would not be allowed to read or sing along with them.
“But they can join in partaking of the food!” he added in jest.
All the participants are members of the Tanglaw Blind Association and graduates of the Philippine National School for the Blind in Pasay City.
All of them had to audition for a spot in the final lineup of readers, all of whom must be proficient in reading Braille.
Mendiola herself will be reading the Pasyon for the first time on Wednesday while Ponferrada previously organized a pabasa for the blind in 2010 in Bicol region although on a smaller scale.
Performance jitters
When interviewed by the Inquirer, both were coaxed into reading several stanzas which they did a bit self-consciously.
“I’m a little shy now but on Wednesday, I’ll be more than ready!” Mendiola said with a hearty chuckle.
She and Ponferrada both chose a stanza on page seven of their Braille printouts which went: “Ano nga’y nang mapanood, nitong maawaing Diyos, alipala’y pinanaog, ginawa ng Poong Diyos, si Adan ay pinatulog.”
His copy gripped in his left hand, Ponferrada used his thumb to skim the dots while Mendiola used both of her hands to find the embossed dots representing the letters.
At one point, both of them stumbled over a word on page 3.
This led Ponferrada to comment: “This one’s slightly damaged,” referring to the embossed dots.
The exercise was similar to the one they asked interested participants to do as part of the audition.
Curiously, some of those who tried out were from another religion.
“There were those who were not Catholic who wanted to read. They can observe us. Because this is an advocacy, it will be like an ecumenical activity,” Ponferrada said in Filipino.
He is confident that other blind people will flock to their version of the Pasyon on Wednesday, saying they will want to witness how the Tanglaw Blind Association will do it.
“Catholic or not, we only have one Savior in the world, and that is Jesus Christ. This Lent, we want to do our part as well,” Ponferrada said.
