PH companies throw support behind Peta

The Philippine Educational Theater Association (Peta) will mark its 50th year of promoting arts and culture in the Philippines in 2017.

This gives the organization, founded in 1967 by Cecile Guidote-Alvarez, just four more years to meet its target of building an endowment fund of at least P50 million.

Fortunately, Peta, an organization of cultural workers “committed to artistic excellence and a people’s culture that fosters both personal fulfillment and social transformation,” is getting valuable support from companies that share its vision for Philippine culture.

According to Peta, the P50-million endowment fund will help its cultural work reach future generations.

The trust fund will also help it “create new works that leave a mark on the cultural landscape and build creative communities.”

The campaign was officially launched in September last year during singer/songwriter Noel Cabangon’s “Tuloy ang Byahe” concert, which had repeats at the Peta Theater Center in Quezon City.

This major concert was followed in September this year, when former Eraserheads frontman Ely Buendia had a one-night show, entitled “Ely Buendia Sings for Peta.”

The proceeds of the show likewise went to the endowment fund.

Peta executive director Maria Gloriosa Santos-Cabangon says in an interview that the longtime supporters of Peta have continued to sponsor Peta’s programs, including the campaign to build the endowment fund.

One of these major supporters is the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. chaired by Manuel V. Pangilinan.

PLDT spokesperson Ramon Isberto says that Pangilinan was invited to help the theater company and the top corporate executive did not hesitate to lend his support.

“The group has been a firm supporter ever since,” says Isberto.

Another major supporter is the Phinma group, which explains why the 400-seat “black box” performance space inside Peta Theater Center is known as the Peta-Phinma Theater.

The Peta-Phinma Theater is described as “a flexible and intentionally skewed box theater that offers numerous stage and audience arrangements reflecting Peta’s exploratory and nonconventional spirit.”

The Peta-Phinma Theater is the centerpiece of the Peta Theater Center, which is being positioned as a “creative hub,” not just for Peta’s plays and productions, but also for other artists, such as Filipino jazz artist Bob Aves, who will have his “Out of Tradition” concert on Dec. 11.

“We want the Peta Theater Center to be open, not just to our own performances, but also those by other artists. We are opening up to a lot of other possibilities,” says Cabangon.  Tina Arceo-Dumlao