Justice Must Be Served: Given Grace, Rochel and Ray

I've been vocal about the situation our community's been handling these past few days and most of the time, the things I've said have been brought about my surged up angst towards our city's lack of proper governance which undeniably contributed to the recent incidents. It was just earlier today that I felt weak and I truly felt sorry for what has been happening around. See, Ray Peñaranda, who was stabbed to his death on the wee hours of lat Sunday, is actually my classmate in one of my courses this semester. I also often see him with his orgmates whenever both our organizations come as sponsors to events. I remember him most because I saw him quite a few number of times hearing Mass in St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish. Same thing with Rochel Geronda, the high school student who was raped and murdered. I literally saw her grow up. She's one of the sampaguita kids who're always in Vega or in St. Therese and we've been buying sampaguita leis from her and her two other friends since we were just in high school. I may not know Given Grace Cebanicopersonally and I may not be as close to Ray and Rochel as the other people, but I feel really terrible and sorry for what had happened to them. Good kids whose lives were taken by men who for a moment forgot about goodness and love. 

I can only pray for the victims' souls and for their families. I can only pray for those responsible for these crimes to man up and take full responsibility of what they had done. I can only pray for the safety of everyone. I can only pray that now, more than ever, we remember that love and goodness remain in our hearts. My heart goes out to the families and friends of the victims. 

I leave you guys with a video my good friend Matt made. These are footages from the Indignation Rally that was held yesterday.

May justice be served for Given Grace, Rochel and Ray.

Prayers For Elbi.

I've been living in Los Baños my whole life and I believe it's one of the safest and peaceful places that anyone can live in. The people are friendly and though there isn't a sense of tight security, you still get the feeling that nothing bad can ever happen to you here. Well, that was then. Gone are the days when anyone, especially UPLB students, can walk the streets without anything bad happening to them.

October 2011: Given Grace Cebanico

February 2012: Rochelle Geronda and Ray Bernard Peñaranda

Given Grace and Rochelle were both rape-slay victims while Ray was stabbed in his chest after he was robbed. 

Let us all take a moment to pray for the eternal repose of their souls. May they find peace in God's loving arms. Let us also pray for their families and friends. And in a very special way, let us pray for Los Baños; for its citizens, for its safety, for its governance. 

Two Weeks.

Been swamped with a lot of things these past few weeks I had to take a break from blogging. Not in my writing mood still, but here are a few photos from events I went to these past couple of weeks.

 February 2, 2012

Moonleaf Tea Shop with Dream Team after BASAGAN Auditions (taken with Instagram)

Headed straight to Java Ave right after for UP Photos' TALENTADOS 2012 (taken with Instagram)

Clockwise from left to right: Abie, Tin, Bea, Chris, Riji, Red, Yona, Krist and TJ

February 3-5, 2012

YE 1 SPSD Youth Facilitators with the Sponsoring Class, Couple Coordinators and Father Thor

Spent last weekend serving as a facilitator for the first Youth Encounter weekend under the San Pablo South District of the Bukas-Loob sa Diyos Covenant Community. It was fun and spiritually fulfilling! Never mind the physical stress and what nots! Praise God for a very successful YE weekend! See more photos here.

February 9-10, 2012

Went to UP Junior Executives' Society's REVERIE in IC's and danced the night away with some friends from UPLB Street Jazz Dance Co. and UP Entrepreneurs' Club. Congratulations, UPJES for the party! Left the party around 3:30AM and we decided to grab something to eat in Bugel's. "Unexpected" libre from me because I had no change left for jeepney fare! Ha ha!

With Abie, Yron, Fortune, TJ, Ades and RN (Taken with Instagram)

Just include lab work and classes and long training hours in between those events posted and there you have the past two weeks of yours truly. I'm pretty sure this coming week will be more eventful! UPLB Feb Fair 2012 is this week! See y'all there!

Dancing January Away.

January's leaving in a couple of days and I believe it's been a great month for the UPLB Street Jazz Dance Co. The Dream Team managed to deliver performances for 5 events in a span of two weeks and our Competing Team bagged the CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY last night in BODY WARS 2012! Here are some photos and a video of stuff that happened just yesterday.

UP SAGES' PAEStigan - The 2nd Inter-Luzon PAES Quiz Contest

Dream Team in UP SAGES' PaEStigan Quiz Contest held in EE Audi.

Girls reppin' hard!

Gandingan 2012: The 6th UPLB Isko's Iska's Broadcast Choice Awards by the UP Community Broadcaster's Society.

UPLB Street Jazz Dance Co. with Wyre Underground of UPLB, UPLB Filipiniana Dance Troupe and UPLB Sandayaw.

Dream Kids. Ha ha.

Wacky Fail. LOL

GANDINGAN was FUN! We really enjoyed the company of the other groups and we really enjoyed our performance! We're happy the entire auditorium liked it! Our collaboration with the UPLB Filipiniana Dance Troupe was very well-applauded! I'll post the video here as soon as it finishes uploading in YouTube.

EDIT: Here's the video! They recorded it using my Apple iPhone 4! Watch in HD! :)

The icing on yesterday's events is definitely our Competing Team bagging the CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY in San Beda Mendiola's BODYWARS 2012! Here's a video of their winning piece. I'll update this as soon as an official video from the organizers come out because this one's audio is quite screwed up.  

It's been a long time since the group managed to grab top spot and we're definitely gonna work hard this year to improve more! This is only the beginning! Thank You, Lord for all the blessings! :)

Oh, and one more thing. It feels really good that my mum got to watch me perform again. Been a long time! Ha ha!

UPLB Street Jazz Dance Co.
Official Web Site
Facebook 
Facebook Fan Page

Make The Cut: UPLB Street Jazz Dance Co.'s EXTENDED AUDITIONS

Missed our auditions last December? Here's your chance to make the cut! Start 2012 by rockin' our auditions! See you there! 

P.S: Y'all have til 11:59PM TONIGHT to join my first-ever blog give-away! Click here to join! Advanced Happy New Year! :)

United We Dance: A Dance Workshop For A Cause

Believe it or not, even after 7 years (and still going) of dancing with the UPLB Street Jazz Dance Co., United We Dance, which was held just this afternoon, is my first-ever dance class. Ha ha! This hip-hop class was organized by Oyen Baraquio (United 101) and Erik Javier (UPLB Street Jazz Dance Co., Urban Elite, The Crew) to raise funds and gather goods that will be sent to the victims of the typhoon Sendong. The workshop started a little past 5:00PM and it feels great to be back on the dance floor again! It feels extra special though because while we were all enjoying the class, we know that for that good hour or two, we'd be able to help our brothers and sisters from CDO and Iligan City even in our own little way.

I missed being inside a dance studio!

These were some of the stuff that we brought.

Here's my cousin Gio, Kev and one other guy from 101. Happy birthday, Insan!

Kuya Erik with Kit, another cousin of mine. Ha ha!

UPLB Street Jazz represent! With Fortune, Kev and Kuya Erik.

I struggled with catching my breath because my lungs weren't in their dancing condition yet but I'm glad I somehow didn't have trouble catching up with the choreography. Ha ha! I really have to run everyday so I'd be able to regain stamina again. Challenge accepted!

I'm really glad that Kuya Oyen and Kuya Erik did this. It shows that they don't only have big hearts for dancing, but big hearts filled with compassion for others. God bless you, both, and all of United 101 and all those who attended the class!

United We Dance: A Fund-Raising Dance Workshop For The Victims Of Typhoon Sendong.

Do drop by if you can! If you wish to bring in stuff for donation, y'all can also drop them off in JP Shapers Studio starting 5:00PM! It's time to bring back a little bit of "merry" to the Christmas of our brothers and sisters from CDO and Iligan! Here's a map for those who're not familiar with the location of the studio.

I would like to commend Kuya Oyen and the whole United 101 and Kuya Erik Javier for this inspiring project! God bless you all! :)

Surprise, Surprise!

We participated in the Gaudium Mundo: The 1st Inter-Organization Choral Festival of St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish, UPLB, which was organized by the Liseux Music Ministry and guess what? We got 3rd place! Ha ha! Only five (5) organizations joined and we were blessed enough to be included in the top three spots.

The process/practice was a bit gruesome hard because around 80% of us didn't have any background in chorale singing (re: SATB and all that jazz) but God sent us Ate Kris Reyes and she did an amazing job handling us! Thank you, Ate Kris! Next year, we'll be more prepared :)

Here are some photos from the event :)

Team Choral Fest

Ate Kris Reyes :)

Where's Ivan?

Carol of the Bells

Pasko Na, Sinta Ko

3rd Place, baby!

I think it's safe to say that you'll be seeing and hearing more from our group in future choral festivals in STCJP :)


Thank You, Lord! Lakas Niyo lang eh :)


Congratulations to St. Therese Choir for placing 2nd and to Singles For Christ for winning 1st place!




Oh, and thanks to Glee for the outfit-inspiration :)

HA HA!

Catch all five choral groups who joined this coming December 15, 2011, at the 8:00PM Eucharistic Celebration in St. Therese of the Child Jesus Parish! We'll all be singing together and SFC will perform their winning piece! See you all there!

UPLB Street Jazz Dance Co.'s AUDITIONS For 2nd Sem Ay 2011-2012.

It all starts here.

Here's your chance to be a part of the UPLB Street Jazz Dance Co.'s family! Don't forget to bring IT!

Fire Up Your Cold December Night With The UP Entrepreneurs' Club.

One day left before we set Java Avenue's dance floor ablaze!

Celebrating UniPormE Co.'s 4th year, the UP Entrepreneurs' Club brings you EC GIVES BACK: FIRED UP, tomorrow, 8:00PM with DJs Alley Cat and Mecha Hell and flaming shots at the mobile bar!

Tickets are sold at PhP 150.00 each, inclusive of THREE BEERS and UNLIMITED MIXED DRINKS!

So, what are you waiting for? Don't miss THE PARTY OF THE YEAR! Get your tickets now!

Check out the videos below to see more and here more about our two DJs for the party!

You can also check out our current CEO (Demis Aracan)'s blog post about EC GIVES BACK: FIRED UP here.

See you there!

Without Verve, Lives Are Lies | The Aftermath

Photo by Deeman of Franz Dimaano Photography

Almost twenty four hours after seeing Verve 3: Behind L.I.E.S (Living In Every Step) and I am still in awe. I don't think the UPLB Street Jazz Dance Co. did a good job. They did a (insert cuss here) great job! Every aspect of the show was remarkable; the set design, the costumes, the light design, but most importantly, the choreography, which never fails to blow me away! And no, I'm not being biased here. Ha ha!

The concept of the show was very well thought of and the production just took the telling-a-story-through-dance thing to a whole new level. Not one set was just a filler. Every set sat on its own league. Words are not enough to describe what happened on the stage last night. It won't be fair because the production is too good for just words and the people who saw it last night would most definitely agree. For those who weren't able to see it, no bull, but you kind of missed something special last night. But don't fret, I'm pretty sure videos will spur out in a few days' time. But I can't stress enough that it'd have been better if you saw it live!

It sucks because I didn't get to dance on stage with my family but sitting in the audience and seeing these kids (and my co-adults lol) made me so proud that I belong to one of the hardest-working group of people that I know. It's amazing to witness how much the group and its members have evolved not only as dancers, but as kick-ass performers and as individuals. Last night's show inspired me more to finish all my responsibilities so that I'd be able to train and dance again. 

To God, thank You for lending us Your gift of dancing. Thank You for all the blessings that You have showered the group ever since it started. No amount of grateful words would ever be enough to express our thanksgiving but one thing's for sure, we'll be lifting up to You our every move and every performance.

To Ma'am Luna, thank you for instilling values to the group. Thank you for being our second mother and the group's number one fan. Thank you for molding the group and for never giving up on the Clan. We love you, Ma'am!

To the Creative Team, freakin' good job! Y'all are the heart of show! Keep on sharing your blessings and here's to more inspirational pieces!

To the production team, director Sir Joey Vargas, assistant director Kuya Pong, head stage manager Sarina Sasaki, SMs Doma, Abigael, Sam and Angela, and to all those who gave their time and resources for the production, thank you! It is true that without Verve, lives are lies, but without all of you, there wouldn't be Verve! Ha ha!

To the guests Court 8, UP Manila Indayog Dance Varsity, Kinection, San Sebastian Recollect Dance Troupe and United 101, thank you for gracing UPLB with your amazing performances! 

To the Urban Elite, the alumni dance arm of the Clan, thank you for your never-ending support! T'was nice seeing all of you again! Walang kupas!

And of course, to everyone who prayed for the show and to those who came to see it and those who supported the UPLB Street Jazz Dance Co. in their own ways, a big THANK YOU! Dancers and performers get inspired by their audience, so thank you because you're always bringing the group's game up!

Verve 3: Behind L.I.E.S (Living In Every Step) might have ended, but surely, the legacy of Verve and UPLB Street Jazz Dance Co. will surely live on. And I guess it's safe to say that this is one dance concert that'll be talked about for a long time.

One Group. One Groove. One Passion.

UPLB Street Jazz Dance Co.

Get in touch with the UPLB Street Jazz Dance Co.

Facebook | Facebook Fanpage | Official Website 

UPLB's About To Get Fired Up.

Perfect for your cold December night. 

See you there!

eLBi Christmas 2011

UPLB's Christmas Tree (plus the Belen and Santa Clause and friends his deers) was lit for the first time last night. I did miss the lighting ceremony and the program because I really wasn't planning on going out last night but a couple of Facebook messages and Tweets from my cousins made me get up and visit the park to take photos. Read more to view more photos from last night!

UP ECOSYSTEMSS Orientation For 2nd Sem AY 2011-2012

Not many know this, but I'm actually part of the group of Biology students who re-established the UP Ecology and Systematics Major Students Society (UP ECOSYSTEMSS) back in 2009. I haven't been to a single meeting (Bad, I know.) but I'm excited to meet the resident members and participate in the org's activities. We have a lot of exciting activities for the rest of the academic year, so y'all better watch out for them. 

If you're a bona fide BS Biology student in UPLB and if you have a knack for the conservation and development of the environment, and you want to be with people with the same advocacy, then head on out to our orientation next Tuesday, November 29, 2011!

See you there!

UPEC Says: Burn, Baby, Burn.

Verve 3: Behind L.I.E.S!

Be sure to grab your tickets EARLY! See you all there!

Chubby Habbi's Soft Opening.

Our good friend Caio opened his new venture today and I'm really glad that I stayed in LB and waited for its soft opening! Finally! Los Baños, please welcome Chubby Habbi's Mediterranean Grill!

Moonleaf Tea Shop's Soft Opening In LB.

Moonleaf Tea Shop's first-ever provincial branch opened its doors to the residents of Los Baños and nearby towns at exactly 11:00AM this morning. This branch is actually one of the three new branches of Moonleaf Tea Shop that simultaneously opened today. 

WYRE Underground of UPLB at The Skechers Street Dance Battle Year 7.

Be sure to catch WYRE Underground of UPLB this coming Saturday, November 12, 2011, at the Smart Araneta Center for the Skechers Street Dance Battle Year 7 Final Battle! 

Here's WYRE Underground during their elimination leg wherein they placed 1st!

Witness the ultimate dance battle of the year as 10 high school and 15 college dance crews compete against each other for the championship title!

Skechers Street Dance Battle Year 7
November 12, 2012 | 5:00PM
Smart Araneta Center

Are You Ready To Experience A Different Brew?

Moonleaf Tea Shop's first branch outside Metro Manila will finally have its soft opening this coming Friday, November 11, 2011. Be there by 11:00AM to experience a different kind of brew! What a great way to start the second semester, right? Right!

Moonleaf Tea Shop's Official Website will also go online this 11-11-11 so y'all better check that out as well.

Follow them on Twitter as well by using the @moonleafteashop Twitter handle!

So, ElbiZens, who'll be there this Friday? Let's go!