Dulaang Filipino’s Art Gift 2026 brought together four productions that explored a range of lived experiences and perspectives on June 18 and 19 at the Design and Arts (D+A) Campus. Centered on the theme “Tayo ang Sining,” the showcase featured four devised documentary theater pieces presented in two sets—with 50% of the project's net proceeds going directly to the communities whose stories inspired the stage.
Art Gift 2026 is a community-centered project aiming to amplify local stories while advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) 2030. It began with the Art of Noticing—the deliberate exercise of observing and appreciating the simple sensory details of everyday life before venturing into the nearby communities to produce documentaries capturing the aspirations and struggles of its chosen subjects.
Opening the event, Deputy Creatives Head Juan Pantoja, an ID124 student of Bachelor in Applied Deaf Studies (BAPDST) underscored the dedication behind the project. "Ngayong hapon, sana maging paalala ang Art Gift na ang sining ay para sa lahat at kayang pagdugtung-dugtungin ang iba't ibang karanasan," he shared.
Project Head and ID123 student from the Film (ABFILM) program, Franz Allen Ojeda echoed the same sentiments. "What is done with love is done well," he said, reflecting on the journey that shaped the project. "We realized the importance of the Art of Noticing, that yes, there is art in noticing, but there is also power in knowing."
Seeing beyond sight
The first set opened with Haplos ng Himig, a documentary by Nehemiah Malachi Robles, an ID125 ABFILM student, which brought audiences into the world of visually impaired Filipinos. Among its subjects were Kuya Dens, a 37-year-old blind massage therapist and guitarist who found his voice through music, and Dong Collado, a 44-year-old singer and guitarist who performs along Taft Avenue with a donation box at his side. Both of their stories showed that those who cannot see often perceive the world with a depth that sight alone cannot offer.
Following the documentary, director Ashley Lanuzo, an ID123 student from the Music Production (AB-MP) program, presented Dream House, a devised documentary theater piece rooted in the stories of the Philippine National School for the Blind. The play follows Iris (played by ID125 Theater Arts (ABTHA) student Lyla Magpantay), an architecture student who accidentally destroys the "dream house" project of Shion (played by Yna Abiño, ID123 ABFILM student), a child with a visual impairment, and through her entry into the child's imaginative world, discovers the true meaning and value of a home.
Blending social realism and magical realism, Dream House challenged audiences to see space and human experience through a different lens, with the production urging both the sighted and the unsighted to perceive more deeply and to find balance between the practical and the humane.
Nurturing dreams
The second set opened with a documentary by Reuss Aleistair Lunar, an ID123 Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia Arts (ABMMA) student entitled Sa Munting Silid ng Kinabukasan. It turned its lens on the Daycare Center of Barangay 753, which is a modest but vital institution serving approximately 37 children from within and beyond the community. Despite offering a safe learning environment with basic facilities, the center continues to face persistent shortages in educational materials and resources.
Building on that foundation, Lunar's Hangga't May Liwanag drew from the true stories of Barangay 753 and its daycare center to form a theatrical narrative centered on light as a symbol of hope and love. The play follows a child who, upon losing her grandma—her greatest source of light—embarked on a journey through grief, only to find healing in the embrace of a community and a chosen family that loves her as their own.
The production merges the everyday realities of barangay life with the vivid inner world of a child's imagination—illuminating the critical role communities play in shaping the dreams and futures of the youth. It revealed that a community's compassion can become the very light that redirects a child's path.
Into lasting impact
For Project Head Ojeda, the most rewarding moments of Art Gift 2026 were in the feedback from the community members themselves. "Kapag nakakuha kami ng response na ‘nakita namin ‘yung sarili namin’," he recalled during an exclusive interview with The Benildean, "parang, ah, kaya naman palang gawin ‘yung mga gano’ng kinds of concept. Bakit hindi natin ginagawa?"
When asked to describe Art Gift in one word, Ojeda answered without hesitation. "Tayo," he said. "Hindi siya mabubuo nang wala tayo. Hindi siya mabubuo kung hindi kayo nagkuwento. Hindi siya mabubuo kung hindi kami nakinig." Art Gift showed that when communities are seen, heard, and honored, art becomes us.
Meanwhile, for Abiño, the moment she was most proud of, she recalled, was the play's emotional climax, when the character Iris finally understood that sight alone is never enough. "Kailangan ko ng puso ko. Kahit makakakita ako, minsan kulang talaga ‘yon,” she shared. “The world is different for them, but we, as people who can see, should never differentiate them from what is normal."
In the audience, that message reverberated gently. Adriel Tandoc, an ID124 student from the Diplomacy and International Affairs (AB-DIA) program, described the entire showcase during an interview with The Benildean in one word: “exhilarating.” "[Dulaang Filipino] has professional-worthy theatrical productions that deserve to be on a larger, international stage," he said. "They never fail to describe the plight of the ordinary Filipino, but at the same time entertain and give audiences the right life lessons."
With 50% of its proceeds offered to the communities it featured, Art Gift 2026 ensured that its impact would outlast the applause. By rooting every performance in real lives and real struggles, Dulaang Filipino prompted Benildeans and the wider community that art, at its most honest, is an act of service.
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