MANILA, Philippines—A lawmaker, an actress, two beauty queens, a movie director, a book author and a university professor took time out from their busy schedules yesterday to make history as they joined the simultaneous launching of the Inquirer Read-Along in Baguio, Naga, Talisay and Davao cities.

They read stories on the Mindanao war, children saving the environment and Cordillera ethnic war heroes. There were also tales of an Ifugao boy who dreamed of touching the sky and a grandmother who got sick, punched a hole in the sky and became a star.

They touched the hearts and minds of 250 young children in four cities, reading stories in various settings: A fairy-tale like gingerbread house (Talisay), an alternative library and repository of rare books (Davao), a historic amphitheater that was a gift from the Americans (Baguio) and a children’s library named after a late senator who loved reading (Naga).

It was the first time the Inquirer Read-Along sessions were conducted outside Metro Manila. Launched in May 2007, the Read-Along project received an award for excellence this year from the Philippine Quill, the country’s most prestigious award-giving body for business communicators, for spreading the passion for reading to more than 4,000 children.

Intense

In Talisay, Metos Lachica arrived at the Carmel Cottage School looking every inch a girl stricken with cancer—pale and still exhausted from the effects of chemotherapy.

A few minutes later, her face lighted up as she listened intensely to a story told to her and 45 other children, almost half of whom were gravely ill like Metos.

The story was read by movie director Peque Gallaga, celebrity reader for the launching of the Inquirer Read-Along in the Visayas. He read the story “Windows in the Sky” written by Maria Milagros Garcia and illustrated by Negrense Fran Ng.

Gallaga’s eyes grew big, his voice rose and dropped and his arms waved as he told the story of a grandmother who got sick and became a star.

The director’s engaging performance was followed by professional storyteller Rich Rodriguez, a member of the Alitaptap Foundation, who also kept the children enthralled with stories of courage and hope.

War makes me sad, too

In Davao City, Gabriela Rep. Luzviminda Ilagan read to 30 children from a poor rural community of Mahayahay in Tugbok District the story, “Malungkot Ako Kapag May Digmaan” (War Makes me Sad).

Written by Mary Ann Floresta, a child educator based in Kidapawan City in North Cotabato, the story is based on the author’s personal experience as a child in a war-ravaged Mindanao.

Miss Earth Philippines-EcoTourism Maria Venus Raj kept 70 children spellbound in Naga City as she related the story of “Emang Engkantada at ang Tatlong Haragan (Emang the Fairy and the Three Rowdy Brats).”

Kristian Sendon Cordero, a Palanca awardee and Bicol fictionist, poet, book author, read the story about the journey of a tiny raindrop from the clouds to the land, rivers and dams—an allegory of the importance of water to the living.

Upland culture

In Baguio City, actress Angel Aquino, who played the role of an Ifugao woman in the 1996 movie “Mumbaki,” reconnected with upland culture when she read to 78 children the story of Ifugao warriors in the Read-Along session at the Bell Amphitheater in Camp John Hay.

“I have always wanted to read something that speaks about our culture and Ifugaos have a very rich culture,” Aquino told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

She read the Ifugao war epic, “Aliguyon at Pumbakhayon: Mga Bayaning Mandirigma ng Ifugao (Aliguyon and Pumbakhayon: The Warrior Heroes of Ifugao),” a story retold by Eugene Evasco. The book was illustrated by Ferdinand Doctolero.

Reviving the habit

Aquino, a graduate of the University of the Philippines Baguio, wore a tapis (Cordillera wraparound skirt) as she read to students of the University of Baguio Laboratory Elementary School and the Baguio Central School.

A mother of two girls, Iana, 15, and Thea, 13, Aquino said she has always enjoyed reading stories to children because she finds the activity enriching to both the children and the reader.

“I like reading to kids because of their attentiveness. If there were more elderly people who could be encouraged to read along with the kids, then we could bring back the habit of reading,” she said.

Cecilia Fe Abalos, a Speech Communication professor at UP Baguio, read Iris Gem Li’s “The Boy Who Touched Heaven” after Aquino’s interaction with the children.

The book was a winner of the Elias Dakila storywriting competition on environment and culture and was published by Canvas and Adarna House. It was illustrated by Sergio Bumatay III.

Abalos, mother of 6-year-old Francesca, said story-reading sessions help promote the habit of reading among children amid the distractions of computers. It also helps strengthen the bond between parent and child, she said.

More meaningful

Rep. Ilagan’s experience as educator for 41 years made the Davao session more meaningful, because her audience felt what the child in the story was feeling—pain, suffering and fear of living in a war-torn area.

Emotions rose when the child in the story narrated how she did not have food to eat and water to drink.

When Ilagan asked the audience how they felt when the story was being read, a child quipped: “Natakot po (We were scared).”

Asked what they should do to help the children of war, another child said: “Magbigay po ng noodles (We must give them noodles).”

Another reader, Miss Earth Philippines-Air Marie Razel Eguia of Dipolog City, read “Eco-Defenders: Ang Tagapagtanggol ng Kalikasan,” a story about children who become superheroes by saving electricity, conserving water and practicing the 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle).

“When they save the environment, children can become superheroes without having the ability to fly,” Eguia told the Inquirer.

The children from Mahayahay were also treated to a puppet show presented by the students of a private school in downtown Davao called Values School.

Interactive

In the Naga session, students, mostly from Concepcion Paqueña Elementary School, enjoyed the one-hour interactive storytelling held at the children’s section of the Raul S. Roco Library in the City Hall compound.

Abel, a Grade 6 pupil, said he enjoyed the activity because it was challenging and tested his ability to comprehend during the question-and-answer portion after each story.

Keiziah Casiquin, 10, a Grade 4 pupil at Baguio Central School, said reading is still the best way to sharpen one’s thinking.

“We learn a lot when we read. We learn history, facts and information we need to help us in our education,” she said. The Baguio session was cosponsored by the John Hay Management Corp.

A Davaoeña, Ilagan said the Read-Along was “both educational and creative in widening the children’s view of the world—outside the world that they already know.”

“These children already know what is happening around them. More or less, they are already aware of the realities but this activity allows them to experience reality in a different way. This is where their values are formed,” Ilagan said. Reports from Desiree Caluza, Charlene Cayabyab and Nicolai Chiong, Inquirer Northern Luzon; Juan Escandor Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon; Carla Gomez, Inquirer Visayas; and Jeffrey Tupas, Inquirer Mindanao