Do you ride the MRT to school or to work? Have you tried station hopping? Well, I don’t usually take the MRT and every time I do the number of people stresses me out. I am not used to jostling people. 
But
yesterday, during the event of Rock Ed Philippines’s Rock the Riles, I rode the MRT and
changed stations for over 4 times! It was a fun yet a challenging experience
for the reason that it’s not really easy to transfer stations instantly. You
have to wait for the next train and squeeze in a crowd of people.
We paid 12 pesos for the ticket. We bought two tickets just in case. Haha.
This is the 9th year
of the event. There are over 80+ artists who performed for the event. There are 8 stations with a stage. These are the stations of North Ave, Quezon Ave, Cubao,
Shaw, Boni, Buendia, Ayala, and Taft. Each station represent a Millennium
Development Goal of United Nations. As much as I want to visit all of the 8 stations I
can’t because I am constrained by time. Some stations started at 12 pm and all
had to stop at 3 pm to sing the National Anthem.
But what is interesting about the
event? As a member of UNESCO Club of the University of the Philippines Diliman,
this interests me because this event is in line with the 8 Millennium
Development Goals. It helps propagate
awareness. I see this as a tool that helps address different issues in the
world through music.
The first station I went to was
Shaw Boulevard Station. It just started and there were only few people.
We decided to go to South
Stations. We went to Ayala Station where we get to watch Hidden Nikki. This
station concerns about “Eradicate Poverty and Hunger”. This is the station
where Pulso and Up Dharma Down performed. Unfortunately, I was not able to go
because I want to be in the nearest station where we have our car parked at
around 4pm.
We went to Buendia Station next
and this station is different from all the stations because this doesn't involve
bands or performers but film showing and storytelling. I am not quite sure what
the film was about because when I went there, they were not starting yet. There
were just a few people waiting for the film to start. So we decided to head back North.
This is the Boni Station.We decided to stop in this station. Why? Well, it’s
the next nearest station where we parked our car. HAHA. But what caught my
attention is the people performing. Involvement of youth in this kind of event
is a step in stimulating interest from youth, making it a first step for more
participation.
What I have observed during the
event was that there would be people who would stop to read the banner and
those who would be annoyed by the loud music. There was a man who is at his 60s
asked me if I was part of the event because he wanted to stop the loud music. There
was also a man who asked me what time is Mayonnaise’s performance. There would
be people coming for the bands. Unlike me who wanted to come because I want
to know what’s with the event and how they are in lined with the 8 MDGs.
Will those who read what the
banner says would know what it means in just one look? Well, not really. I see
this actually as a step to make people curious and in turn will make people
interested in looking ways to participate. It may not be just happen in one event
but eventually it may help fasten advocacies together with the youth; which is
I see as something that is essential in having a more sustainable future.
We went back to Shaw where I
heard Noel Cabangon. Wow. I was starstrucked! I even saw Johnoy Danao and had picture with other artists. <3
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