I had always been curious about two things regarding Rock Ed founder Gang Badoy. One, is she a musician? Two, how did she get such an astig nickname?
I finally had the chance to ask the first question last week when I met Gang for the first time at a round-table discussion on election issues I attended in Makati City organized by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR). Over dinner after the forum, I asked her if she played any instrument at all, and I was kinda surprised by her answer: “I play the cello,” she said. Well, to be more accurate, she learned to play the cello, but has not touched the instrument in over a decade.
As for the second question, she answered that earlier during a break in the forum when she told me and another participant that her parents are both from the Visayas. “Kaya nga Gang ang tawag sa akin (That’s why I’m called Gang),” she said. Now “Gang” is a term of endearment, derived from “palangga” which means “beloved.” So Gang is not as astig as it sounds; in fact, it’s as sweet and mushy as it gets.
I had been a fan of sorts of Gang’s ever since I learned about Rock Ed some years back. Being a fan, I naturally wanted to get Gang’s autograph, and that’s why I approached her in the first place. I asked her for some contact information, and could I have her autograph while she was at it? She laughed like I had just made a joke, and I didn’t have the guts to tell her I was serious.
Rock Ed is the fantastically named volunteer group that uses rock culture as a venue for education. Gang has taken on the youth culture as her avenue for making critical thinking and awareness of socio-civic issues more attractive to the young. Gang said Rock Ed taps the “rich bored kids” who would not otherwise get involved in anything with civic value and channels their energy into doing something positive for society.
What is Rock Ed? According to its website, it is the following:
- a volunteer group working to provide venues and events for alternative education.
- a ten-year series of alternative education projects.
- via music, the arts, poetry, sports, photography, fashion, graphic design, literature, new approaches to science, film, cultural studies, theatre, dance, and any other way except being in a classroom – the convenors of Rock Ed decided to Rock Society through Education and educate the youth through rock culture.
- an alternative class where the substitute teachers are celebrities, musicians, poets, artists, entrepreneurs, writers, et al
- hosts alternative social studies classes through actual school visits or holding the ‘classes’ in the events venue itself like bars, restaurants, soccer fields, art galleries, etc
- a group of private citizens that coordinate joint projects with other NGOs that are addressing any of the 8 Millennium Development Goals
- a group of private citizens that believe that poverty should end now
- a group of private citizens that value education in its traditional form but creates alternative solutions for teacher training and student activities to enhance classroom learning – NOT replace it.
File photo of my band, 220, performing at MTS, where a Rock Ed concert was held recently
One of Rock Ed’s many activities is the holding of concerts with various themes and causes, and as a musician this is what interests me the most. It was also the reason I approached Gang, thinking that it is something we can replicate here in Davao City. As it turns out, Rock Ed has been brought here once (or twice?), albeit a little quietly (if quiet could ever be used to describe a rock concert) since the audience was composed mainly of students of a particular school. It was held at Matina Town Square, so bar hoppers and other creatures of the night were able to catch it as well.
If it all sounds fun, it is. Gang herself is infectious not just in her zeal but in the joy she has as she works to achieve her goals. She’s one of the few people who “get it” – that serious, grown-up concerns can be shared with and imparted to the youth in a way that is not threatening or turn-offish. She knows that instead of griping about how the youth are so detached from the real world, we adults should immerse ourselves in their world and start understanding them. And instead of lecturing to them, we can simply rock with them. There is no such thing as generation gap: for Gang – a cello player with rock ‘n’ roll in her heart – and Rock Ed, the old and the young mix together in beautiful harmony.
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