Tala for Taal: Women twirl for donations

MANILA, Philippines — A group of elderly women who called themselves zumba mumshies became the newest members of the “Tala Nation” as they joined hundreds of fans of singer Sarah Geronimo in a fund drive for Taal Volcano victims in Rizal Park yesterday.

Grace Marcelo, Fhey Tura, Aron and Cathy Briones and Vicky de Leon met in weekly zumba sessions hosted by leaders of Barangay 132 in Pasay City. ?

For these women, age is not a hindrance to the twirls and squats and other steps required by “Tala.” ?

Fans nationwide have been dancing to the tune of Tala after a video of gay volleyball players, who broke into a flash mob in apparent resistance to “Aling Nelia,” went viral on social media.

“Aling Nelia” apparently scolded the gay players.

“The dance and the song have become ingrained in our system,” Tura, 47, said.?

“Dancing is good for the health. If you don’t move your body, you feel yourself getting heavier. By dancing often, we got to memorize the steps,” Marcelo, 57, said.?

They were among those who paid P100 each in registration fee in a zumba fund-raising campaign titled “Tala for Taal.”

“The activity was organized last Monday through social media. It brought together 600 persons,” said Barrie Juanico, president of Sarah G’s fan group “Popsters.”?

The dance event was organized in response to posts by some netizens that the volcano erupted because people danced as if they were having a ritual.?“We are doing this to counter what they were saying about the song. We want to make this more meaningful by also providing aid to the victims of Taal,” Juanico said.?

Gays, women, elderly and even children donned the required pink outfit for yesterday’s dance event.?Yiko Mana supported her six-year-old son Cloud, a dancer, by buying him a sparkly vest, shoes and shades, all in pink.?Jason Valencia said he only slept for two hours after work so he could join the event.

Ellen Timbol, who was in charge of accounting for the donations, said the event raised P60,000 and they were expecting it to reach P100,000 as some gave thousands of pesos instead of the P100 registration fee.??

Experts

Meanwhile, local governments in Central Luzon will send experts on mental and psychosocial health to Taal Volcano-affected areas to help the victims cope with trauma.?Government agencies under the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) meanwhile pooled resources to help the evacuees.

The regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development provided 3,000 family food packs, 1,000 sleeping kits and 1,000 malongs for the victims.

Regional social welfare office vice chair Marites Maristela said the agency has three teams ready for deployment in Taal-affected areas.

“Each team has DSWD personnel trained in camp coordination and management, mental health and psychosocial support and various levels of incident command system,” Maristela said.

The regional office of the Department of Health provided 350 hygiene kits and 1,000 N95 face masks. It also sent an emergency medical team as well as a mental health and psychosocial team to the  Batangas Medical Center.

The Department of Public Works and Highways  deployed eight equipment with personnel to assist in the clearing operations.        

The equipment included three dump trucks, two road graders, a front-end loader and two trucks with low-bed trailer. – With Ding Cervantes