A secret is a covenant to keep. But once it is revealed, it becomes a gift. And the receiver of the gift becomes an audience to excellence.
The Spirit of Asia, a gift gallery at the ground floor of the Ramon Magsaysay Center on Roxas Boulevard in Manila, looks like a beautiful layout of a treasure trove of trinkets and thingamajigs. But look closer at the items and a plenty of secrets will be revealed: a “Mother and Child” painting in ceramic by National Artist Jose Joya, a series of bamboo paintings by Rachy Cuna, interesting etched glass products of Bobby Castillo, intricate filigree necklaces by Oskar Atendido, impressive pottery of Ugu Bigyan, among other works of Filipino artisans.
“Clearly, the spirit of Asia lives in the hearts and minds of artisans and craftsmen whose works help in preserving their own culture and heritage,” says Carmencita “Carn” Abella, president of the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation (RMAF).
In her course of work at the foundation, Abella travels around Asia to research on the nominees of the yearly Ramon Magsaysay Award, an award given to exemplary individuals who have affected dramatic change in the lives of the people around Asia. The Ramon Magsaysay Award, considered by many as the Nobel Prize of Asia, was established in 1957 — “the year the Philippines lost in a plane crash a President who was well-loved for his simplicity and humility, his passion for justice, particularly for the poor, and his advancement of human dignity” — by the trustees of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund with the concurrence of the Philippine government to preserve and propagate President Ramon Magsaysay’s example of valor, integrity and heroism.
In her many travels for the RMAF, Abella has been exposed to and enamored with the artisanal work of people from all over Asia. Thus, the inspiration of opening the Spirit of Asia germinated. “We wanted to make these products and artworks easily available in the country. That’s the story of Spirit of Asia,” Abella adds.
So, like a progressive one-stop-shop, the gift gallery was born with the help of Rachy Cuna, dubbed as the floral architect of the Philippines, who assisted in converting a 20-square-meter space from the Ramon Magsaysay Center library in 2012. The Spirit of Asia is small in size but it is definitely big in spirit — and big in dreams.
“If you purchase from the store, the proceeds are considered a donation for the upkeep of the Ramon Magsaysay Transformative Leadership Institute (RMTLI), which was developed in 2011,” says Abella. She adds, “At the RMTLI, the awardees continue to help in developing global, collective and creative answers to the persistent problems of the region.”
“The RMTLI is the foundation’s new program to make known, promote, expand the works of awardees in terms of creative solutions,” Abella adds, who has been president of the RMAF since 1998. She was the chairman of the foundation in 1997. Prior to her long-standing and fulfilling stint at the RMAF, she was president of the Development Academy of the Philippines also for a long time.
“How can I not be fulfilled with my work (at the RMAF) when I am a bearer of good news? And the good news is not just finding inspiring and great-hearted people; the good news is that there are solutions to the real problems of the poor and marginalized,” Abella says. Her utmost respect for humanity is a product of her own possession of self-respect, the most important lesson she learned from her parents.
The RMTLI is like an ambulant school where people learn from the Ramon Magsaysay awardees. “The institute promotes and organizes dialogues between an awardee and the people around Asia to address issues. For example, there is a discussion on what kind of leadership builds communities that are disaster resilient,” says Abella, whose calling in developmental work is intensified by her Sociology degree from Maryknoll College. She also enrolled at the Ateneo for her master’s degree in Social Psychology and Pastoral Education.
The RMTLI is also responsive to leadership development and immersion trainings. Abella adds: “We want to prepare the next generation of social leaders in Asia by having a leadership training program that will enable them to be immersed and inspired by the Laureates through their mentoring. We encourage young people who are idealistic and who have the spirit of volunteerism. So we connect the youth to the awardees.”
Abella says another focus of the institute is the knowledge management program where the RMTLI collects and publishes successful models of social innovation for dissemination.
It is no coincidence perhaps that the motif of the Spirit of Asia is bamboo. The bamboo’s resilience is indicative of the lives and works of the RMAF’s awardees. It is also symbolic of the passion and purpose that go with sustaining the visions of the RMTLI.
“Bamboo is the theme of the gallery for it is the quintessential Asian symbol of resilience, diversity and community,” Abella says.
In essence, the giver and the receiver of the gift from Spirit of Asia are captive spectators to work of excellence — and it is only in this store that excellence of workmanship can be purchased at prices ranging from P1 to P200,000.
Yes, tucked somewhere in the massive and imposing building of the Ramon Magsaysay Center is a secret and a gift. It’s called the Spirit of Asia.
(For more information on Spirit of Asia, call 521-3166 local 189.)
(E-mail the author at bumbaki@yahoo.com. I’m also on Instagram @bumtenorio. Have a blessed Sunday!)