Sining Kambayoka
Consul General Edwin Bael

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Patron of SKCAFI

November 7, 2001

To Whom It May Concerned:

My name is RUTH ALVIOLA POSADAS and I am an American itizen but I was born in Surigao del Norte, hometown is Butuan, Agusan del Norte of Mindanao, Philippines, graduated my bachelor degree from Mindanao State University, Marawi City and masters degree from the University of the Philippines in the Visayas, Iloilo City. My family resides in Pascagoula, Mississippi.

We have a project here in the US, the newly established Sining Kambayoka Cultural Arts Foundation (SKCAFI, http://www.kambayoka.com). One of our aims is to help promote the arts and culture of the Philippines especially the Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan Regions in the Philippines in the global landscape. This goal will be undertaken through projects like training, performances, seminar workshops, forum, exhibits, bazaars, festivals, fairs, cultural exchanges, and other educational programs in schools, universities, communities and other places. We also planned to increase exposure of Philippine Theater Arts, Philippine Dances, Philippine Music and other forms of Philippine Arts and Culture to a wider audience here in the US and abroad.

We have started just this year and the first scheduled project with focus on MINDANAO is going to be held on December 16 and 22, 2001 at Los Angeles, California. This project is sponsored by the ALPHA PHI OMEGA in cooperation with the Consulate of the Philippines at Los Angeles, CA thru the help and sanction of Consul General Edwin Bael. These are just two of the six projects to be undertaken in between December 2001 and January 2002. We have the Festival of Movies, a Cultural Exhibit, Bazaar and City Tours of the MSU/Sining Kambayoka Ensemble of Marawi City planned for this coming months.

In this regard, I would like to inquire if the RECALL of Consul General Edwin Bael is FINAL. We, in the SKCAFI are worried that we will be left hanging in these projects, without him on our side. This is the first time that Mindanao is being made the focus of any Philippine Cultural event here in the US. Consul Bael has really rallied us all from different states in the US to put up this project. It is our hope that he is REINSTATED to help us go through with all the planned projects including a 2002 Business Forum. He is our PATRON here in the US that we can depend on.

Our group aims to promote understanding, respect and cooperation among people from different cultural backgrounds or to promote cultural diversity among the people, at the same time enhance the development of a homogeneous society in the American landscape. We would work toward the social, professional, educational, and economic upliftment of all members of the organization and we would promote and assist in the social, economic, and cultural development of the Mindanao, Sulu, and Palawan regions in the Philippines.

We hope to promote education on Philippine Culture and traditions through its songs and dances, tribal customs and traditions, and Philippine arts in general to the Public especially to the Americans, Filipino-Americans and Filipino Immigrants and to help bridge the cultural gap, increase understanding between the Filipino Immigrant Parent and their American Born Children on their Cultural roots & traditions. We want to offer a venue for the American youth to explore and exploit their artistic talents and channel their energies through cultural activities.

These hopes we have expressed to Consul Bael and he listened and he promised he will extend all his support to all our projects for our nativeland. I wish you could help us or give us advice on what we can do to assure us that we will not be left hanging with our hopes and efforts because some influential people have complained on petty things against him.

We are nobody, and we don't have strong connections in the Philippines, but we are trying our best to continue working and hoping we could give back to where we came from. We would like to contribute our time, talents and a little bit of what we have to help our country. You see, we have not forgotten our roots.

We have a sympathetic Consul who was and is doing an excellent job and is mobilizing us to do more for our country. We are a group of people who are mostly from Mindanao, and we are now in the position of expanding our endeavors from our chosen fields to the field of Arts and Culture. Our ties to theater and arts go way back in our College days when we spent our summer breaks, semestral breaks and Christmas entertaining our military troops in Camp Crame, Nichols Air Base, Cavite Base, Mindanao Military Camps, Home for the Aged, Tala Leprosarium, Boys Town, Prison for Women, PGH Pediatric Section, Rajah Sulaiman Theatre, Folk Arts Theater and Cultural Center of the Philippines. We are the products of Mindanao State University in Marawi City and the Philippine Educational Theatre Association (PETA) under the Directions of Frank G. Rivera, Mario O'Hara, Soxy Topacio, Lutgardo Labad, Lorli Villanueva, the late Lino Brocka and Dandy Nadres.

We have heard some news that Consul Bael is going to be taken away from us here. My group of Filipino Americans would like to ask where we can ask for explanations or to send our petition to stop his recall. Please help us.

Sincerely,

RUTH ALVIOLA-POSADAS
SKCAFI -Vice-President

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