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November 4, 2009

Punsalans answer call of the poor for Typhoon Ondoy victims



By Darragh Doiron

The News staff writer

Every time Philip Punsalan sees the photos of suffering, he becomes emotional again. He’s printed images of Typhoon Kesana’s aftermath, known as Typhoon Ondoy in The Philippines.

The wall of water hit around Sept. 25 with reports of more than 400 deaths. Photos Punsalan printed from the computer show women searching for their children, a casket with names of the missing and misery on the faces of people in his homeland.

“The water was so swift, they say not even dogs had the time to bark,” he said.

Several more images show villagers rounding up what’s left of their sodden homes.

“This is their belongings, which is our junk,” he said.

He and his wife, Dr. Erlinda Punsalan, are part of Answering the Call of the Poor Foundation USA, a group organizing a Stephanie Reese concert to help support efforts to build housing for the victims. The local group plans to name the village in honor of the Rev. Dan Malain, pastor of St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church.

Area ANCOP volunteers have already provided villages for residents of The Philippines. The Gawad Kilinga program means “to give care.”

This next project could house about 30 families, Dr. Punsalon said. “We’re very ambitious. We believe in the miracles of God,” she said.

The program also works to provide health care, education and other community improvements, she said.

“A transformation takes place where drugs disappear. Nothing’s impossible with God,” the doctor said.

Stephanie Reese is an international singer, actress and philanthropist with a Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Irish, English and Welsh background. She performed as Kim in the German production of “Miss Saigon,” Esmeralda in the Disney World premier of the “Hunchback of Notre Dame” and the Princess Tuptim in the “King and I” at the Palladium Theater in London’s West End. 

The concert will be at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 15, at the Julie Rogers Theatre, 765 Pearl Street in Beaumont. Tickets are $30, $60 and $100. For information, call Shirley Agustin at 722-6748.

Reese directed and starred in her autobiographical one-woman show “The Journey” and received rave reviews in Seattle, San Jose, Los Angeles and at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco. Reese also wrote and directed a musical Christmas show, “The Gifts” that featured her and children of different ages and backgrounds. It has now been produced in three cities including Seattle, Virginia Beach and in Los Angeles for the Make a Wish Foundation. 

She has two solo albums, “The Voice” and “Stephanie Reese at Her Best” and a third is due out soon.

ddoiron@panews.com

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