Kaliwat Performing Arts Collective, Inc.

KALIWAT THEATRE COLLECTIVE was born twenty years ago in the month of February, 1987. It traces its roots from the staff of the Mindanao Community Theatre Network (MCTN) whose main task was the implementation of it’s Research, Evaluation And Publication and Services (REAPS) but its immersion in the communities, a wellspring of peoples stories moved them to create the collective who, in their free time artistically organized these stories and play them back to the other communities and sectors who urged them to become not just Community Development Facilitators but as media of community-to-community linkage through the stories that they tell in songs, music, dances and sketches. 

And they named themselves Kaliwat, or a generation of a race. True enough, Nestor T. Horilla, a Cebuano but found home in Mindanao and now considered one of the stalwarts in Mindanao Community Theatre, Richard Vilar, a mixture of Agusanon Manobo and Visayan roots, Roland Fortun, a Butuanon, Anoy Catague, an Agusanon and Marili Fernandez, a mixture of Mandaya and Dabawenyo poured their strengths in playing music, singing, dancing and acting to form the collective with the occasional back up of Geejai Ariola, a mix of Dabawenyo and Chavacano and Eden Licayan, an Iliganon . When resources poured in 1992, as OXFAM, a funding agency working in the Philippines saw the need for a theatre group to tell their work to audiences in United Kingdom and Ireland, an agreement was made by Kaliwat and OXFAM for the latter to fund its community work as an artistic process worthy to be shared during the said “speaking engagement”, other artists followed suit- Popong Landero, Narayan Duhaylungsod, Titing Trinquite and Tisay Opaon. Other artists were also involved both in its program and artistic works- Arnel Marduqio, Ronita Leoncito, Gigi Bedro. Gauss Obenza, Hidita Villas, Dodong Dinglasa and Boots Dumlao. Later on, as Kaliwat expanded its production program to include performance seasons, walk-ins, regular sets and tours, production assistance and workshops. Legislative theatre advocating Davao’s Women Development Code and the Theatre-in Education Mobile Team, a bunch of young artists came in - Christine Austero, Mario Lim, Emcee Clavel, Ma. Sheila Labos, Jelita Lamanilao, Pepito Sumayan, Aileen Fermalino, Rachel Valenzuela, Jojo Cadiente III, Armand Espejo, Manuel Balbutin, Donnabelle Celebrado, Edmund Superada III, Rommel Taborda, Emanuel Monreal Jr and Carmelo Fulgencio. It is very important to note that in almost all of its artistic gains, the participation of Don Pagusara as playwright is always present. 

From then on, the availability of resources pushed the collective to function as a cultural institution that will work mainly with the grassroots, specifically the indigenous peoples using its Cultural Action Methodology. But while the collective works with them in the pursuit for community development, its aim for artistic excellence will also be achieved. It’s continued community development work have provided the collective the opportunities to continue its artistic endeavors. Thus Kaliwat’s theatre production are borne out of its community linkage and immersion such as, to mention some, Nag-alintabong Kabilin, peoples’ narratives on their struggles for peace and dignity, Lem-a-Feu sa Habagatan, a music, dance and ritual performance for ethnicity, indigenous wisdom and tribal will, Siak sa Duha Ka Damgo, a piece expounding third world debt and ecology, Oya! Arakan, a theatre concert on the journey of the Manobos of Arakan for self-determination through the claiming of their ancestral domain, Trahedya sa Balay ni Kadil, a Mindanaoan version of Macbeth, Ground Up, a music and physical theatre on the aspirations of simple folks who are victims of war, Dancing Land, a music and mime on rootedness and physical separation, Mindasilang, a trilogy on the call for positive peace in Mindanao and Danaw, a sound and movement piece on water and land rights.