NEXT week will turn a different page in the West Philippine Sea, which witnessed in recent months harassment and confrontations between Chinese ships and Philippine vessels on humanitarian mission.
For five days starting Monday, within the country’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone, the private Atin Ito Coalition will sail out to the area, complete with musical sheets for twoplanned musical events for peace and solidarity.
Organizers are one in key of C major – no flats nor sharps in its key signature – for the first ever concert, strong in their conviction that music has a unifying power to promote solidarity.
Music does this by tapping into shared emotions, creating common experiences, and allowing for collective expression while bridging cultural and linguistic barriers, encouraging collaboration and understanding, even among individuals from different backgrounds.
Participating in the concerts in Palawan and the vicinity of Pag-asa Island are artists from the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and South Korea, with local artists Ebe Dancel and Noel Cabangon, apart from around 50 civilian volunteers and members of the media.
Coalition convenors said the mission, its third since 2023, will bring together artists, musicians, fisherfolk, and civil society leaders from the four countries “to promote peace, dialogue, and cultural exchange.”
Their ingenuity also aims to “uplift coastal communities by boosting the lived experiences and aspirations of Filipino fisherfolk and fostering regional harmony through shared cultural and maritime narratives.”
“We will sail not with warships, but with songs; not with hostility, but with harmony and solidarity,” the convenors told the media before the weekend, with the civilian ship T/S Felix Oca sailing out for El Nido tomorrow soon after sunrise for the 24-hour trip.
Expected performers at the El Nido concert include Filipino musical artists, all-women rock band Rouge, rap collective Morobeats, and P-pop group HORIZON.
They will be joined by Japanese artist Fumi, Indonesian and Malaysian musicians Viona and Kai Mata, and South Korean K-pop girl group I:Mond.
From our observer’s seat, we say let’s play the music da capo al fine.