UP Concert Chorus performs in Sabah for 'friendship concert'

The official choir of the University of the Philippines recently performed in Sabah, Malaysia for a "friendship concert." In a statement, the UP Concert Chorus (UPCC) gave details about its June 4 concert in the Dewan Recital of the Universiti Malaya Sabah, entitled "Enduring Friendship between Malaysians and Filipinos." Around 600 Malaysians and Filipinos attended the concert, the UPCC said, including Sabah Head Of State spouse Toh Puan Norlidah Datuk Jasni. Prof. Janet Sabas Aracama guided the UPCC's performance, which included a selection of Filipino folk and Original Pinoy Music hits, as well as other pop and Broadway pieces. “Our role as singers goes beyond singing and entertaining. In fact, it really has more significance now culturally," Aracama said. "Music is now used as a venue for peace and goodwill and understanding because it really touches the heart, the soul of people and even to our brothers and sisters here in Malaysia and our own kababayans here,” she continued. Philippine Ambassador to Malaysia Eduardo Malaya on Tuesday said ties between the Philippines and Malaysia endured despite the row in Sabah between followers of Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III and Malaysian forces earlier this year. According to Malaysia's Bernama news agency, Malaya said the Sabah row should be a reminder for the Philippines and Malaysia to work more closely together. "Let us enhance our ties in bilateral relations as well as in our partnership in Asean,” he said at a reception marking Philippine Independence Day. In February, Kiram's followers went to Sabah and engaged Malaysian forces in a three-week standoff that ended bloodily in March. On Monday, Sultan Kiram's daughter Princess Jacel revealed an extradition plot by the Philippine government against her family. The Palace has already downplayed the claim. Malaya brought the UPCC back to Malaysia for the second time, after the group's visit in the country last year for a performance entitled "Concert for Peace." In October 2012, the UPCC performed in Malaysia as part of celebrations of the Philippine Embassy there on the recent signing that time of the Framework Agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). - Gian C. Geronimo, VVP, GMA News