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The Loboc Youth Education Association (LYEA) received a donation of 30 brand new musical instruments for the newly organized Loboc National High School Band.

The donation, valued at P250,000, came from Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap as his personal contribution to the Loboc Music Project.

Secretary Yap, whose wife Carol Varquez Gow is from Loboc, is impressed by the Loboc Music Project of LYEA in reviving the musical heritage of Loboc.

“In the past, Loboc was known for its musicians.  However, its musicians became fewer and fewer.  The tradition of passing musical skills to the younger generations has suffered major setbacks due to the scarcity of musical instruments and lack of full-time music instructors,” said LYEA President Argeo Melisimo.

Through the Music Music Project, LYEA is in fact organizing musical groups and establishing a music school in Loboc to help among others revive Loboc’s cultural heritage and alleviate poverty.

Melisimo said the donation of Secretary Yap and other individuals can help very much the Loboc Music Project attain its goals.

The Loboc National High School Band is one of six musical groups in Loboc organized and supported by LYEA.

The others are Loboc Youth Ambassadors Band, the Loboc Ambassadors Rondalla, Oy National High School Band in Barangay Oy, Camayaan National High School Band, and PMI Loboc Academy High School Band.

Melisimo said these musical groups and the internationally renowned Loboc Children’s Choir are now putting the town of Loboc on the way to become the music capital of Bohol.

He said the Music Project aims to make music one of the means of livelihood in Loboc, incorporating music in the tourism packages and giving opportunities for students to finish college through music scholarship, among others.

The Loboc Youth Ambassadors Band is now performing on invitations and on Fridays and Saturdays before tourists at the Loboc Children’s Theater.

The 10-member Loboc  Ambassadors Rondalla is also performing on invitation and before tourists at the Loboc tourism facility.

Melisimo said the contribution from individuals and organizations and the support of the Department of Education and local government unit of the Music Project is helping the project attain its goals.

The other individual donor of the project is Khandee Uy, granddaughter of philanthropist Alfonso Uy and a successful dental practitioner in the U.S., who donated funds for the purchase of musical instruments of the Oy National High School Band and the Loboc Ambassadors Rondalla.  Congressman Adam Relson Jala for the Camayaan National High School Band and Misereor of Germany for the PMI-Loboc Academy High School Band.

Several universities and colleges in Tagbilaran City have also supported the projects thru the acceptance of scholarship of the students of the LYEA in their respective institutions.  The supporting colleges and universities are the BIT International College, Central Visayas State College of Agriculture, Fishery and Technology and the University of Bohol.

LYEA has embarked on the three-year Loboc Music Project with a grant from the Philippine-Australia Community Assistance Program (PACAP) and the support of the Province of Bohol, Local Government of Loboc, the First Consolidated Bank, and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. - - - The Bohol Chronicle

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