Cash Donations Update!

Cash Fund as of December 17: PhP 23,389.00
Add:December 22, 2008:
Donation by Tarcela Santander PhP 1,500.00

Total Funds as of December 27: PhP 24,889.00

Weekend Report!

Cash UpDate Report:

Cash Fund as of December 16: PhP 21,389.00
ADD: December 17: Anvil Publishing: P2,000
Total Funds as of December 17: PhP 23,389.00

Please note that the funds are now used for Joylin's anti-scoliosis brace, her dental needs and to construct a private space for Joylin and her mother in the compound where they are presently staying.


Other Special Helpers for Joylin:


Special thanks to Dr. Margarita Regudo of St. Luke's Hospital who is performing major work on Joylin's teeth and trained Joylin's mother on Joylin's teeth care. Dr. Regudo generously waived her professional fees for Joylin.


Special thanks to the Spirit Questors for their healing energies. Below is Olive Hernandez doing some natural healing techniques on Joylin taken last Sunday (December 14):

























Special thanks to Dr. Jen Tan and Mr. Jude Barrias who are helping with the anti-scoliosis brace of Joylin.


In the pictures at left and below, they are shown checking on Joylin and discussing a better brace design for her.






Hopefully, by next week, we can see Joylin with her brace!!!

























Joylin with her special gifts from special animals!!!

Last Sunday, the HoundsInHeaven pack (a family of dogs) and their friends at the DogsWithBlogs community who are praying for Joylin, sent a gift package of toys and food for Joylin and her nephews!

Cash Donations!

Cash Donations as of December 10: PhP 18,389.00

ADD:
December 15: The Polar Bears P3,000
December 16: The Cheshire Cat P1,000
SubTotal: P4,000

Cash Donations as of December 16: PhP 21,389.00

Cash Donations Update!

Funds Balance as of December 8, 2008: PhP 16,889.00

ADD: Donations:
December 10: Farrah Orosco - P 500.00
December 12: Marvin Laddaran - P 1,000
SubTotal: PhP 1,500

Fund Balance as of December 10: PhP 18,389.00

We now need only PhP 1,611.00 to be able to get the Anti-Scoliosis brace of Joylin which cost P20,000. Thank you for all your donations!!!

Book of Joylin: Looking Back . . .

Thursday, October 23, 2008:

My son Nelson's 36th birthday, had he not passed away after a second heart attack in 1998. I light the paraffin oil lamps and a rose-scented joss stick on our family altar, and say a prayer.

I ask my daughter-in-law, Ivy, to buy flowers today. For some reason, since his demise in 1998, we have always bought him red roses.

I kiss my granddaughter Angelique goodbye in the family room and call out goodbye to my granddaughter Aubrey, who is still taking a shower.

Cubao MRT Station. 6:00 AM train. I take a jeepney to Arquiza. I arrive at work 7:15 AM.

Martha Buckley, our Cultural Affairs Officer, and John McGuire, the Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer in charge of the U.S. Election Watch program, approve my decor concept and design for the lobby of Mall of Asia.

My co-worker Jomar Ascano gives me a pack of Marlboro Gold Lights this morning.

Lunch at Emerald Garden with Gwenn Galvez and Joyce Bersales of the Marketing Department of Anvil Publishing, Inc. and a feature writer of "Bulletin Today". The writer interviews me for an article she will write to promote my Halloween book-signing at Powerbooks Trinoma.

1:30 PM U.S. Election Watch staff meeting in the office Multipurpose Room.

After work, I ride with Agnes to the GMA Kamuning MRT Station. I take the 5:35 PM train.

I am anxious. My heart pounds within my chest. I search for the sick beggar girl whom I'd seen before on the staircase leading to Pinatubo Street. She is not there. I wend my way through the crowds of commuters and visit the other staircases.

She is not there.

I take a tricycle home. My son Chito has already gone for work. He is now on the evening shift as a licensed mortician at Sanctuarium.

I place the flowers that Ivy bought on the family altar. I light another rose-scented joss stick and say a prayer.

I kiss Aubrey good night in the family room; Angelique, in the computer room.

Ivy buys me a pack of Fortune cigarettes.

Lee Reyes, scriptwriter of "Trip Na Trip", text-messaged me, confirming our schedule to do a remote scanning of flashdrive photos on a LCD screen in Bayan Productions' conference room on Saturday morning. I text message a few Spirit Questors. Only Gerard Paul Elvina is available on Saturday morning. I decide to take him along and use him as a psychic battery.

Lara Sen, an executive producer of Bayan Productions, is leaving for India to visit relatives at the end of the month. I text-message her and request that she buy me a bronze statue of Kali.

I sleep 10:15 PM - 4:05 AM.

I can't recall my dreams, but I have vague images of one in which I was either in a house or traveling. My psyche makes it possible for me to not recall my dreams whenever I am mentally overstressed.

A cool dawn.



Friday, October 24, 2008

I kiss Angelique goodbye in the telephone room. She is all dressed up for school. I call outy goodbye to Aubrey, who is still taking a shower.

Cubao MRT Station. 5:47 AM train.

I take a jeepney to Arquiza. I am on the front seat with a female co-passenger. The jeepney driver tells us a depressing story about their neighbor, a PLDT (Philippine Long Distance Telephone company) security guard who jumped off the 15th floor of the Makati PLDT building because he had been steeped in too many debts and because his wife is severely afflicted with cancer.

Linda Castro, the office jeweler, brings me four sterling-silver dip-pen ferrules today.

Fidel of Anvil Publishing text-messages me that I am Powerbooks Author of The Month.

2:30 PM - 4:00 PM U.S. Election watch meeting and walk-through with staff members at Mall of Asia.

I take a bus that drops me off on Taft/EDSA.

I take the 4:45 PM train at the Taft MRT Station.

I arrive at the Cubao MRT Station 5:15 PM.

The sick beggar is there. This time I approach her. I converse briefly with her mother, who holds her in her arms. The mother tells me that she has a son. Her husband abandoned them for eight years then came back to them, after which their little girl was born and was afflicted with high fever at the age of two. She was taken, too late, to a public hospital, because her elder brother was at work at the time. She was diagnosed as having cerebral palsy. This was followed by the onset of polio and epilepsy. The husband/father abandoned them again.

The little girl cannot speak and can only swallow soft foods and drink.

I kneel on the floor and touch the little girl's forehead with my right palm. I give her healing, first with my right hand and then with the all-purpose wand that I keep in my courier bag all the time. My right hand aches. I feel that I have taken off some of the little girl's negative energy. I push all of it into the concrete wall and metal railing.

I take a tricycle home.

I fit bird feathers and nibs into the sterling-silver ferrules.

Chito, Ivy, and the granddaughters tell me that they saw the "Trip Na Trip" teaser on TV, during the news program Channel 2's "TV Patrol".

I text-message Tina Lebron, a crystal healer, and invite her to "look like a fool with me" to heal the little beggar girl on the Cubao MRT staircase.

I text-message the same to Sam Tan, a Spirit Questor and pranic healer.

I text-message the same to Ramona Singian, a Spirit Questor.

I text-message the same to Riza P. Regis, a crystal healer.

Only Ramona and Riza respond. They are willing to do what I asked for.

I sleep 10:00 PM - 8:14 AM.

Lee Reyes sends out a text-message flyer promoting tonight's "Trip Na Trip" episode close to 11:00 PM.

"Trip Na Trip" airs after midnight. Only Ivy and my sister Alice are able to stay up and watch me and the Spirit Questors on TV.

Mau Alcazar, an old friend, text-messages me at 1:24:04: "I'm watching you on TV right now."

My dreams are of everyday situations, about things I have to do. I cannot recall the details, but the underlying motifs are responsibility and taking responsibility.

Donations: UpDate Report

As posted earlier, we are trying to raise funds for the Anti-Scoliosis brace needed by Joylin in the amount of PhP20,000 (Twenty Thousand Pesos or more than $400. Note: P48-P49:$1)

The funds raised per donations posted on the right (please click on link on donations for details) as of November 25 is PhP 10,389.00.

Today we received cash donations from the following:

Mr. Ryan Barrera P2,000
Dr. Benilda Santos P4,000
Ms. Ramona Singian P 500

If we add the total amount of PhP 6,500 received today to the funds of November 25 (PhP10,389) we have raised a total amount of PhP16,889!!! We still need PhP3,111!!! Thank you for helping us raise the funds for Joylin's brace. More updates in the next post . . .

Book of Joylin: Looking Back

Monday, October 20, 2008

5:52 AM train, Cubao MRT Station. I arrive at work 6:48 AM. No one mentions having seen me on Trip Na Trip last Friday; this is a good thing because it conserves my private life outside my workplace.

I file annual leave for October 30 and 31.

I leave work at 4:30 PM with Agnes Caballa, who swings me by an antique dealer’s house in Quezon City before dropping me off at GMA/Kamuning MRT Station.

I take the 5:50 PM and then a tricycle. Everyone is home: My son Chito, who works as a licensed mortician at Sanctuarium; my daughter-in-law Ivy; and their two children Angelique Pearl, 13, and Aubrey Rose, 9, who are grade-schoolers at Saint Paul Pasig. Aubrey attended a gift course earlier this afternoon and proudly tells me that she chose Dance.

At 7:00 PM, someone from Sanctuarium calls up Chito and asks him to come back to his office. It’s Sanctuarium’s second anniversary and the entire staff are celebrating. I send a text greeting to Eugene Cheng, Sanctuarium’s Vice-President for Operations.

I sleep from 9:35 PM - 4:00 AM, but I recall waking up briefly at 3:30 AM.

Nonon Padilla sends me a text message informing me that he has not yet cast my full-length play “Saan Ba Tayo Ihahatid Ng Disyembre?” which PETA is world-premiering in February 2009.

Ona Lara Unico of Bayan Productions’ “Trip na Trip” sends me a text message confirming our digital shoot on Saturday, when Gerard Elvina and I are scheduled to do a remote scanning of the Umalis’ ancestral house in Tiaong, Quezon via flashdrive photographs on their studio LCD.

I have a dream:

“A Gathering”

I am in a restaurant in Rome . I meet a Jesuit priest and two female classmates from the time I was enrolled in an M.A. degree course in Clinical Psychology. We order food and eat. There is not enough rice for me, and so I order more. Afterwards there is much discussion about how much each one of us must pay, including the tip for the waitress. My companions leave me. I move to the far end of the long table where two friends from another past episode in my life are seated. They, too, eventually leave me. I feel rejected.

I look at a trash can that has the word “TAZA” written on it. It stands in front of a tall fence beyond which there is a house. A crude sign reads: “NO TRESPASSING”. It is possible, I surmise, that tourists often attempt to climb over this fence.

A waitress brings me an ashtray and matches. I light up a cigarette. I think of Jessica Zafra and the manuscript of her novel set in Italy . She must have taken down voluminous notes to record all of her observations. I suddenly wonder if, were I a young boy, I would survive working here, perhaps as a grocer’s boy. Then I wonder whether I would also be unhappy.

Later, for some reason, I meet with my Psychology circle again. Everyone is distant except for Pat Fermin who tells me, “I defended you.” She then asks me about Halloween rituals. One of the female professors becomes interested and joins our conversation. I tell Pat, “Face the window that looks out to the east and light yellow incense the minute you see the sun rising.” I comment on how the October 17-18 debacle that someone predicted never actually happened and how disappointing that was.

Next, I am all alone again, walking through a forest on soft, damp grass. I begin dreaming lucidly. I am enjoying astrally traveling in Rome . I activate my shamanic senses. I pick up handfuls of grass and try to take in their scent. I can actually feel the grass in my hands, but I can’t smell it.

There are other people ahead of me, and two big, black men behind me. It is night time now, so that I cannot make out their faces. It occurs to me that they are stalking me and planning to mug me, but I am not afraid. I don’t feel threatened at all.

Commentary:

This is a precognitive, warning dream. My companions at the start of the dream personify both the many facets of my personality and the Spirit Questors. The main message of the dream is “NO TRESPASSING”. Elementals are involved here: the people people walking ahead of me in the forest and the two big, black men behind me.

The dream offers a resolution: “Face the window that looks out to the east and light yellow incense the minute you see the sun rising.”



Tuesday, October 21, 2008:

A cool dawn. Chito’s day off from work at Sanctuarium. After breakfast, I kiss my granddaughters goodbye.

5:50 AM train, Cubao MRT Station. Jeepney to Arquiza, where I drop by an antique dealer’s shop to check out a wooden-frame Chinese lantern that the owner, an old friend, has pledged to give me as a gift. Some of the hand-painted glass panes need to be replaced. The lantern has a red tassel. It is beautiful!

Arrive work 6:55 AM. Later in the morning some co-workers and I visit Mall of Asia, the venue for our upcoming U.S. Election Watch program. During lunch break in the staff room Chuck Loyola of HR tells me that he saw me on TV Sunday night at 10:00 PM—probably the Spirit Questors’ pre-Halloween episode on “Trip Na Trip” replayed on The Filipino Channel for global viewing.

I leave work at 4:30 PM with Agnes Caballa, who drops me off at GMA Kamuning MRT Station. I take the 5:50 PM. I halt at the staircase leading to the tricycle queue on Pinatubo Street. I am mortified.

Amidst the melee of commuters trudging up and down the staircase, my eyes zoom in on a little girl with emaciated limbs. She is lying down on a blanket on the lower landing of the staircase. She seems incapable of movement, but her brain and her eyes are very much alive. Her eyes follow with delight, a group of college students passing by, as though she is happy to see them and expects them to stop and talk to her. Only afterwards do I notice that the girl is lying on the lap of a woman. Another, elder, woman, stands beside them with a bag.

Something is wrong with this picture. The girl and the two women are modestly dressed and are impeccably clean. The first thought that crosses my mind is that a syndicate is using this disabled girl to solicit money from people. A plastic cup (TAZA) is on the concrete landing at the first woman’s knees. It gradually fills up with coins. Two or three charitable people hand the seated woman paper bills. I know that I must stop and do something, but I cannot. I am momentarily riveted, mostly out of denial. The girl looks exactly like my 13-year-old granddaughter Angelique, when she was younger. I tell myself, “Oh my God, it’s Angelique!” This is how she would have looked like had she been disabled in any way. I run away in denial and take a tricycle home.

Before bedtime I tell Chito, Ivy, Angelique, and Aubrey about the little girl on the staircase. No one believes me.

In bed, before sleeping, I pray to Father Fernando Suarez of Canada to heal the little girl . I telepathically reach out to him. I pray for her healing also to the orishas who are represented on the Santeria altar inside my bedroom.

I sleep 9:45 PM – 4:13 AM.

I have a dream:

“Medicine”:

I am naked inside my bedroom and start getting dressed for work. My youngest sister, Sylvia, saunters into the room and asks me for medicine, but I don’t have what she needs. She then places a bottle of healing balm and some other medicinal items inside my medicine cabinet. Sylvia then transforms into Angelique.

Moments later, my younger brother (I don’t have one in real life) also saunters into the room. He, too, asks for medicine. He sees Angelique eating up the last few pieces of a chocolate bar she has been nibbling on, and says that he wishes he had some too. I assure him that everything is all right; I bought chocolates for everyone.

Commentary:

In this dream, Sylvia is my anima. My Higher Self is clearly asking me to assist that little girl to heal, impossible as it may have seemed by her appearance that afternoon; I thought that she was dying. The little boy in my dream represents my Selfish Self—because, instead of stopping and giving alms, I ran away. My Selfish Self is need not only of healing but of affection (chocolate).



Wednesday, October 22, 2008

5:50 AM train, Cubao MRT Station. I take a jeepney to Arquiza. Arrive at work 7:23 AM.

I text the Spirit Questors about the girl on the Cubao MRT Station. I ask them to check her out. No one responds.

I call Joscephine Gomez this morning. She invites me to be one of the guests on her interview show "Creative Solutions" for her November 1 (All Saints Day) episode.

12:15 NN - 1:00 PM, I give a brown-bag presentation titled "Models of the Psyche and the Creative Writing Process" to six American Language Training officers, mostly from the Consular Section. I invite them to attend the National Book Awards, now sponsored by Manila Critics Circle and the National Book Development Board (and henceforth to be held in November, National Book Month, rather than during the September International Book Fair as it used to be). The Awards will be held at Yuchengco Museum 6:00 PM November 15. I know that Volume 4 of my "The Collected Works of Tony Perez", "Tatlong Paglalakbay: Bombita, Biyaheng Timog, Sa North Diversion Road)" is a finalist for the Drama Category.

I arrive home 6:15 PM and reset the microwave clock in the kitchen. There must have been a brownout some time today.

Ivy tells me that she walked through the MRT Cubao Station from Farmers Market but found no such girl as the one I described on any of the staircases.

I kiss my granddaughters good night: Angelique in the family room, Aubrey in the kitchen.

I am in bed by 7:27 PM.

I sleep 9:40 PM - 4:15 AM.


I have a dream:

"Antique Furniture"

My workplace has been transported to or merged with my house. I have lots of antique furniture around me. A Chinese coromandel screen topples over and smashes; I will have to have it repaired later. Bruce Armstrong, both the former Cultural Affairs Officer and my former supervisor, comments on the amount of antique pieces I have managed to amass over the years, the most recent an armoire with many compartments.

The Ambassador's room is adjacent to mine. She is scolding one of her aides, a man whose name is Mark, and my co-workers and I dive off my bed to hide from her. Bruce laughs at us and informs us that someone was able to tip off that Mark is a communist Party member.

Later Bruce transforms into Rosie, a former locally-engaged Cultural Affairs Office secretary. She has her daughter, Leah, who is seven years old and wearing a gown in this dream, in tow. I approach her and ask her why she is wearing glasses, but I get no reply. I marvel at how time flies, at the fact that Leah used to be a baby and is now seven years old. I look inside another antique armoire and discover some candy that I stashed away last Christmas.

Commentary:

The armoire represents my Unconscious. The Ambassador is a female elemental of authority; Mark, a minion who has committed a grievous offense.

The motif of the little girl is present in this dream: Leah, Angelique, the sick girl on the staircase.

Once again there is candy, a craving for affection.

A Weekend Visit to Joylin . . .

Since the Spirit Questors adopted Joylin, she is not seen begging at the MRT Cubao stairs with her mother Rodita anymore. Some of her needs are provided by the Spirit Questors. Last Saturday, November 22, the Spirit Questors went to visit Joylin in her shanty, where her mother, Aling Dita, her brother, Bernard, Bernard's wife, Rosalie, and Bernard and Rosalie's three little boys live.



The Spirit Questors on the way to Joylin's house . . .














The gateway to the Abendans' shanty. They're ready for Christmas!











The Spirit Questors inside the small house. The group is trying to look for ways to help the family improve their living conditions, noting the roof and walls that badly need repair.








Inside the small house with Aling Dita and Tony Perez.










A heartwarming sight of Joylin attempting to speak . . . .


. . . and laugh!!!! A true personification of joy!








And in the garden surrounding that small house, something wonderful is growing, much like the faith that Aling Rodita is nurturing in her heart. This beautiful flower is nurtured by Joylin's brother Bernard in a small garden outside their house!




Bernard, a Machine Shop vocational graduate at Don Bosco Tondo, has a green thumb and would make a great landscaper's assistant!






Bernard also arranged stone figures and ornaments to decorate their small garden.







Art, even at its most trying time, can indeed nurture the creative spirit. In this creative display of beautifying their surroundings, Bernard and his family have shown us that faith and hope live in their hearts even as they try to barely survive their day-to-day existence.


Some day, when we return to visit again, their world will be brighter and their hopes will always assure them that it was worth, after all, to have faith.



Their faith nurtures us as well . . .


. . . as we trek back to the city, and its noisy lights and sounds . . .




The photographs on this page were taken by Gerard Paul Elvina.

Joylin's Angels

Special thanks to KatKat de Castro, Lara Sen, Ronald Ona Lara Unico, and Lee Reyes for including excerpts from Joylin’s video in “The Trippers Meet The Questors” October 31, 2008 episode of Bayan Productions’ “Trip Na Trip,” ABS-CBN Channel 2.

Special thanks to Dr. Joven Cuanang of Saint Luke’s Hospital for referring us to Dr. Joe Robles of Philippine Children’s Medical Hospital, Quezon Circle. Dr. Robles is now the official neurologist of Joylin P. Abendan. He has scheduled Joylin for free check-ups every three months.

Special thanks to Physical Therapist Richard So of the Philippine Rehabilitation Institute for conducting physical therapy on Joylin at my house and for training Joylin’s family members to do the same.

Special thanks to crystal therapist Riza P. Regis for regularly providing Coco Nectar for Joylin. She takes four tablespoons in the morning and four in the evening. Dr. Joe Robles has approved this.

Special thanks also to Gerard Paul Jalandoni Elvina for picking up the Coco Nectar bottles and delivering them to my house.

Special thanks to Kay Malilong-Isberto for driving all of us from my house to Philippine Children’s Medical Center and back on November 11, 2008.

Special thanks to Olive Hernandez, my former student in Creative Writing at De La Salle University, for conducting Reiki and Chios healing on Joylin on the MRT Cubao stairs. Olive now conducts these healing sessions with Joylin at my house at 2:00PM every Sunday.

We are all pleased to inform you that Joylin will no longer be found begging for alms on the MRT Cubao stairs or elsewhere.

Special thanks to Chi de Jesus for designing Joylin P. Abendan’s Thank-You Card for Donors.

This card is for every donor who graciously gives P5,000 or above; it serves as a receipt with my signature on the back. In addition, each of these donors receives an autographed complimentary copy of one of my volumes in the my series “The Collected Works of Tony Perez” produced by The Publishing House, University of Santo Tomas.

Special thanks to Dr. Mike Luy for giving Joylin a bottle of Saint Philomena’s oil and an accompanying prayer sheet.

An accounting for all donations will be posted here. If you’ve donated and you don’t see your name on the donor's list on the right, please send me an e-mail message at studioantenor@yahoo.com.

Lest it be said that I have done no contributions on my part, allow me to state that I cover all expenses for Joylin and her family members’ roundtrip public transportation (FXs, taxis, jeepneys, buses) for all medical and healing appointments, occasional meals and snacks, and all of her maintenance medication. My daughter-in-law Ivy Miranda has also included Cerelac and red headbands (we’ve bought five so far) in her regular grocery/shopping lists.

The Spirit Questors have three IMMEDIATE objectives, which is why we have decided to skip applications for assistance from such institutions as the PCSO (where, predictably, there is too much paperwork and the lines are horribly long):

1) to have an antiscoliosis brace fitted for Joylin by Dr. Jen Santos of Saint Luke’s Hospital and have an ortho construct it (they are adjustable and are to be worn only in the daytime and taken off at night, when Joylin is asleep);

2) to seek employment for Joylin’s 29-year-old brother (a Machine Shop vocational graduate of Don Bosco Tondo), since he is at present the family’s sole breadwinner and works as an irregular construction worker because he was laid off two years ago when the factory he was working in shut down; and

3) to temporarily improve the Abendans’ shanty in their squatter area, such as building a separate room for Joylin, reinforcing their roof and walls, and screening their doors and windows.

The Donors

The following have made financial donations for Joylin P. Abendan:

November 11, 2008

Mr. Eugene Cheng,
Vice-President for Operations of Sanctuarium PhP1,000

Ms. Kay Malilong-Isberto PhP 500

Ms. Olive Hernandez PhP 789


November 15, 2008

Mrs. Lourdes Floro of Sydney, Australia PhP 1,000

Ms. Alicia de la Cruz PhP 1,000


November 18, 2008

Ms. Baby Vergara PhP 300
(Special blessings to this woman—she is one of our compound tenants
and can barely manage her own budget, but she happened to watch
Joylin’s portion on “Trip Na Trip.”)

Ms. Viring Yamat
Metro Aide Supervisor, Makati PhP 800
(Special blessings to this woman too!)

Mr. Constantine Ong PhP 2,000

Mr. Edgar Lee PhP 2,000


November 25, 2008

Ms. Joy Aldaba PhP 1,000


TOTAL Donations PhP 10,389


Antiscoliosis brace: PhP 20,000
Less: Donations PhP 10,389


Amount still needed as of November 25, 2008: PhP 9,611


NOTE: Amounts are in Philippine Peso. PhP48:$1

Tony Perez . . .

TONY PEREZ is a creative writer, playwright, poet, lyricist, psychic journalist, painter, and fiber artist. He is one of the 100 Filipino recipients of the 1898-1998 Centennial Artists Award of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. His other awards include the 13 Artists of the Philippines , four National Book Awards from Manila Critics Circle and the National Book Development Board, and the Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas from the Writers Union of the Philippines .

While some of his works in Filipino have been translated into English, Tony Perez has had works written and published in English, as in Naomi Shihab Nye’s "This Same Sky." He was also featured in "Asian Enigma: Psychic Detectives" on National Geographic’s Discovery Channel, and in "The Chronicle of Higher Education." Among his works performed abroad are "Trip to The South" Off-Broadway in New York and in Singapore; "On The North Diversion Road" in Melbourne, Australia, and in Singapore; and a dramatic reading of his short story “Paskil,” translated by Matthew Cunningham as “The Poster” from the French translation “L’Annonce” by Heloise Magannon, during the "Documenta 12 Magazines Lectures" bienalle in Documenta Halle, Kassel, Germany on August 30, 2007.

His mentors in literature and drama were Onofre Pagsanghan, Rolando Tinio, Bienvenido Lumbera, Nicanor Tiongson, Virgilio Almario, Cecille Guidote, Nestor Torre, and Randy Ford. His plays for radio, television, and film were directed by Sonia Roco, Lino Brocka, Lupita Concio, Mitos Villareal, Nick Lizaso, Joey Gosiengfiao, Gil Portes, Maryo de los Reyes, Frank Rivera, and Anton Juan.

Tony Perez’s published books include "Albert N.: A Case Study" and the five volumes in the Cubao Series titled "Cubao 1980 at Iba Pang Mga Katha"; "Cubao Pagkagat Ng Dilim"; "Cubao Midnight Express"; "Eros, Thanatos, Cubao"; and "Cubao-Kalaw Kalaw-Cubao" by Cacho Publishing House. His Anvil Transpersonal Psychology Series includes "The Calling: A Transpersonal Adventure"; "Beings: Encounters of the Spirit Questors with Non-human Entities"; "The Departed: Encounters of the Spirit Questors with Spirits of the Deceased"; "A Young Man Cries for Justice beyond His Grave" (Volume I); "Stories of the Moon: Further Adventures of the Spirit Questors"; "Songs of Sunset: Incantations and Spells by the Spirit Questors"; "Mga Panibagong Kulam"; "Mga Panibagong Tawas"; "Mga Panibagong Orasyon"; "Mga Panibagong Orasyon Sa Magica Cantada"; "Mga Panibagong Ritwal Ng Wicca"; and "Mga Panibagong Kulam Sa Pag-ibig". His literary series for Anvil include "Maligayang Pagdating sa Sitio Catacutan" and "Malagim Ang Gabi Sa Sitio Catacutan".

Tony Perez’s artworks have been showcased in more than 20 individual and group art exhibits. Among his art teachers were Araceli Limcaco-Dans, Brenda Fajardo, Virginia Flor Agbayani and Ben-Hur Villanueva of University of the Philippines' College of Fine Arts, Florencio Concepcion and Fernando Sena of The Saturday Group, and Rafael del Casal.

Mr. Perez holds an A.B. in Communications and a Cand. M.A. in Clinical Psychology from Ateneo de Manila University, and an M.A. in Religious Studies, magna cum laude, from Maryhill School of Theology in New Manila. He taught as adjunct lecturer at Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, Saint Scholastica’s College, Maryknoll College and the Philippine High School for the Arts. His master’s thesis, titled "Pagsubok sa Ilang: Ikaapat na Mukha ni Satanas", was published by Anvil Publishing, Inc. in 2005.

Mr. Perez has two sons, Nelson I. Miranda (a dentist) and Chito I. Miranda (a licensed mortician), and three granddaughters, Angelique Pearl Miranda, Nielsen Tegelan, and Aubrey Rose Miranda. His daughters-in-law are Agnes Tegelan and Ivy Vercacion. They live in Cubao, Quezon City, where Mr. Perez has resided since 1955.

Social Case Study Report

Republic of the Philippines
City of Antipolo
Province of Rizal

City Welfare and Development Office

Social Case Study Report
Date: June 4, 2008

I. A. IDENTIFYING INFORMATION:

Name of Client: Abendan, Joylin P.
Age: 10
Religion: Roman Catholic
Civil Status: Not Applicable
Birth Date: September 22, 1997
Birth Place: Manila
Educational Attainment: Not Applicable
Occupation: Not Applicable
Source of Information: Mrs. Rodita Abendan
Relation to the Client: Mother

B. FAMILY COMPOSITION
Name: Rodita
Age: 53
Relationship: Mother
Civil Status:
Education/Attainment: Grade VI
Occupation/Income: None

Name: Bernard
Age: 29
Relationship: Brother
Civil Status: Married
Education/Attainment: Vocational Course Graduate (Machine Shop, Don Bosco Tondo)
Occupation/Income: Irregular Construction Worker

II. PROBLEM PRESENTED

The client's mother is requesting a social case study report relative to her application for medical social assistance. She has no means whatsoever to provide for her daughter's medical needs, hence relies mainly on outside support.

III. FINDINGS

Barely 11 years old, Joylin Abendan was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when she was about two years old. Her condition is severe because, aside from being so emaciated, she is also bedridden, requiring constant assistance and attention. But, the mother's predicament is her inability to provide for Joylin's medical needs. She merely resorts to outside help.

The client's parents have long been separated, and it is her brother, Bernard, though married, who acts as the family breadwinner. He is just an irregular construction worker.

The family dwells in a makeshift house, situated beside a creek which is habitated by other urban-poor settlers.

The mother also claimed that, with her family's economic situation, she has since been seeking medical help for her daughter from benevolent persons who are able to provide for her needs.

IV. EVALUATION/RECOMMENDATION

The client's family is among the many indigent families of this city who cannot afford even simple medical treatment.

Appropriate assistance is hereby recommended.

Prepared by:
Jeffrey C. Elmeda
RSW, SWO

Noted by:
Jovita D. Mojica
CSWDO

Finding Joylin . . .

This is the story of Joylin.
It is so easy to ignore her story. Hers is the face that you see along the corners of our busy streets. Hers is the face that tries to stop you as you hurry your way to work or school. You see her eyes and quickly scan her surroundings and then you move on. You just move on. . . .

You have to move on because her eyes are calling your name. Her eyes cry out to you. And you move on to drown that cry that tugs at your heart. . .You have to move on because you know that if you stop, you will never be able to move again. You know that when you stop, and look deeper and longer into her eyes, you will want to touch her hand. You know that when you hold her hand, you will want to stroke her hair and listen to her story. You know that when you stop and listen to her story . . . your world will not be the same again. You will never be able to pass her way and not stop and know her story.

Yet on that day, you stopped. Your eyes locked with hers and you heard her call you. You stop and tried to drown the nagging voice that tells you to move on. Your eyes simply decided it all for you that day. You stopped and your world was never the same.


That is how I found Joylin.
I simply stopped walking, held her eyes in mine, held her frail hands, stroked her hair and listened to her story. And this blog is her story. . .