MANILA, Philippines—Becoming a Jose Rizal starts with love of reading.

Children learned this about the national hero and became acquainted with two of his famous works during a special Inquirer Read-Along session held on Saturday at the Ortigas Foundation Library in Pasig City.

Featured readers were actor Cesar Montano and seasoned storytellers Dyali Justo of Adarna and Alitaptap president Rich Rodriguez.

Montano read “Si Pagong at si Matsing,” Rizal’s favorite tale told to him by his mother, Teodora Alonzo, when he was a little boy. This time around, the story is retold by Danilo Consumido and published by Adarna House.

Justo read Adarna’s “Dalawang Bayani ng Bansa” by Rene Villanueva, recounting the lives of Rizal and Andres Bonifacio.

Rodriguez capped the session with Rizal’s “Noli Me Tangere,” a lively retelling by Villanueva and published by Lampara Publishing House.

Montano, who played Jose Rizal in the 1998 movie of the same title, came to the session with his three daughters, 7-year-old Angelina Isabel, 4-year-old Angeline Samantha and 3-year-old Angel Franchesca.

“I read illustrated Bible stories to my kids,” he said. “I read and act out the stories. I stand up, I make them laugh.”

Montano, host of the TV game show “The Singing Bee,” said he planned to start a similar activity for the foundation he put up, the Panaghoy Children Foundation Inc., whose aim is to help underprivileged kids in Bohol through education.

Free books

“These days, children are into computers; they hardly read. That’s why I’m encouraging my fellow actors to read to kids—to join activities like this, to help children get into reading,” Montano said.

The nearly 100 children in the audience, mostly Grades 3 and 4 pupils from Nagpayong Elementary School in Pasig City and children of the Ortigas Foundation’s employees, were given free copies of Adarna’s “Dalawang Bayani ng Bansa” that was launched during the read-along on Saturday.

“This year, we decided to give books to each of the kids so they can really read along,” said Ergoe Tinio, a junior marketing associate for Adarna House.

Every month, the Inquirer Read-Along will feature a Kuwentong Adarna segment, where 100 books will be distributed to children in the audience and an Adarna storyteller will lead the storytelling.

Successful

Carol Kapauan, special collections librarian for the Ortigas Foundation Library, said she was surprised that the read-along drew a lot of kids, adding that she came to the session with daughter Hannah and niece Ivy.

Aileen Matic, cultural programs coordinator of the foundation, said Saturday’s read-along was part of “Book Matters,” a two-month-long event launched on May 9.

Focusing on the value of books and reading, the event is organized by the Ortigas Foundation Library, Lopez Memorial Museum and Library and Robinsons’ Children’s Library.

Ocean Park read-along

On June 20, some 50 street children and public school students were also treated to a special read-along session at the Manila Ocean Park, featuring television personality Ginger Conejero, child actor Angelique Velez, TV host Kian Kazemi and Inquirer storyteller Grig Montegrande.

The session marked Hands On Manila’s Breakfast Club’s eighth year anniversary.

Conejero read “Eco-Defenders: Mga Batang Superhero ng Kalikasan,” a story by the Sustainable Energy Development Program (SEDP) of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Department of Energy.

She was joined by Velez and other kids from the “Pinoy Green Academy” of USAID-SEDP volunteers for the environment, who acted out the story.

Kazemi read Matt Buckingham’s “The Bravest Fish,” published by Scholastic. Montegrande read “Urashima Taro,” adapted by Ichiro Wakabayashi and translated by Donna Tamaki.

The latter is a “Kamishibai” story (using big beautifully illustrated pictures) about a boy who spends three days under the sea to save a turtle. When he returns to the village, he finds out that 300 years have passed.

After the session, the children were treated to a free tour of Ocean Park.

Sponsors

Saturday’s session, hosted by Junior Inquirer writer Ruth Navarra, was held in cooperation with the Ortigas Foundation Library, Lopez Memorial Museum and Library, Robinson’s Children’s Library, Singing Bee executive producer Carla Burwell, Montano’s manager Norma Japitana, Kane Choa of ABS-CBN Corporate Affairs, Adarna House, Digna Aquino of Library Hub of the Division of Pasig City, Krispy Kreme and Nutri-C juice of TriDharma Marketing Corp.

The Ocean Park session, hosted by Inquirer Libre editor in chief Chito de la Vega, was done in cooperation with Manila Ocean Park, TriDharma Marketing Corp., Krispy Kreme, Hands On Manila, Digna Aquino of Library Hub of the Division of Pasig and the USAID-SEDP.

The Inquirer Read-Along, launched in May 2007 by Inquirer Research, Library and Junior Inquirer, aims to promote the love of reading among children through storytelling sessions with celebrities and volunteer readers.

The next regular read-along session at the Inquirer office in Makati City will be on July 11 at 10 a.m., featuring “Umagang Kay Ganda” hosts Pinky Webb, Winnie Cordero and Anthony Taberna, as well as Ann Abacan and Sophia School teachers.

Interested participants may contact Ellen Caparros at 8978808 loc. 329 for reservations. Slots are on a first-come, first-served basis. With a report from Schatzi Quodala, Inquirer Research