MANILA, Philippines — A music student left stranded in Clark, Pampanga is using his talent to bring some comfort as the country is embattled with the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis.
Orlando Ladia Jr., 19, played “People Need the Lord” by Steve Green outside The Mansion Hotel, where travelers unable to leave are staying for free amid the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
Ladia was supposed to go home to General Santos City in South Cotabato but was one of those affected by travel bans during the lockdown. He is a scholar at St. Scholastica’s College School of Music.
“Dedicated iyon sa lahat ng tao; siyempre sa panahon ngayon, people need the Lord kasi maraming namamatay, maraming sorrowful dahil nawalan ng mahal sa buhay at may sakit,” he said of the piece in a statement from The Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) group Thursday.
(This is dedicated to all people; especially in this time, people need the Lord because many are dying, many are sorrowful because they have lost their loved ones to the illness.)
The hotel has been housing almost 200 guests for free since March 19. President Rodrigo Duterte declared the ECQ on March 16 amid growing cases of the coronavirus pandemic.
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/MUF