‘Art Fur All Kinds’ Ang mga kapuso nina Jessica at Rina
Not many know that award-winning broadcast journalist Jessica Soho would sometimes get up at the crack of dawn, not in search of a scoop, but in search of God’s creatures to scoop up in her arms.
I believe that God is really kind, because He could have stopped after creating us. But He still gave us dogs. - Jessica Soho
She would ride a banca before the waves leapt, go to a remote island in the middle of Laguna Lake, and search on foot for abandoned dogs to rescue, sparring with talahib and nature’s other forces.
The island, Talim Island, is where many people leave unwanted dogs.
Jessica, host of Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho on GMA, is already fur mama to over a dozen dogs. Some of them are in the Soho house in La Union, some in Jessica’s own house in Metro Manila, and some in her brother’s house.
“In La Union we have Clark, Milky, Luna, Aria, Sunny, Sparkle, Clover, Bokee, Aki, Bamboo, Coco, Mallow. We have Chihuahua, and we have, I think, two more new ones. In my house, I have Sherlock, an aspin. I have Yaya, a Jack Russell, and I have Claude, a Shih Tzu. For my brother, they have one Retriever, a Chihuahua, Bambina, and they also have another one, a new dog, Mimi, who was run over and rescued,” Jessica recites the names of her fur babies after she cut the ceremonial ribbon, together with Rina Ortiz of the Biyaya Animal Care Foundation Inc., for “Art Fur All Kinds,” a fund-raising exhibit at the Leon Gallery in Makati “fur all kinds,” indeed. Biyaya is a Filipino word that means “grace.”
The exhibit formally ended last Sunday, but some of the art pieces are still (hopefully) available for those who want to help build the planned Bahay Biyaya.
Why does Jessica have such a big heart for dogs and other animals that she would go out of her way to rescue them?
“I believe that God is really kind, because He could have stopped after creating us, right? But He still gave us dogs, because He knew, in all His wisdom, that we needed companions to make us even more human, and more complete,” she told me, tears welling up in her eyes.
“Because I’ve always wondered, imagine, dogs are orphans. They’re taken away from their parents, even when they’re still puppies. This is God, in all His wisdom, giving us dogs. He loves us so much, He gave us dogs and cats and all our pets.”
Jessica met Rina, founder and CEO of the Biyaya Animal Care Foundation, because the latter was the only one willing to take in all 30 to 40 dogs abandoned on Talim Island, the largest island on Laguna Lake. Unfortunately, areas and islets around it are used for dumping unwanted dogs.
With Jessica and Rina, animal welfare volunteers from Biyaya, alongside local authorities and residents, soon launched rescue operations and reportedly saved up to 40 abandoned dogs (and even a cat) that had been dumped by their previous owners.
Jessica learned about Talim Island and its survivors, so to speak, in an online article.
“Rina and I bonded because of the abandoned dogs of Talim Island. There are many NGOs who take care of dogs, but there are just too many unwanted dogs. They were willing to take in one or two. But Rina was like, okay, we’ll take in 30 or 40 or whatever!” recounted the Kapuso host during the well-attended exhibit opening at Leon Gallery, during which dogs—aspins as well as Poodles—roamed freely among the guests.
“So, that’s the formula for world peace, ladies and gentlemen,” Jessica said. “We should have more Rina Ortizes in the whole wide world. It would be a better, more loving world if we had one million of her, right?”
“Art is always supposed to uplift you from the world, but never to deliver you from its trivialities and its challenges,” Rina said. “Only a fool would venture into what we’re venturing in, but being foolish is also sometimes a good thing.”
Sixty-five artists participated in the exhibit-for-a-cause, which was held in support of the building of Bahay Biyaya.
“Many of the works have already found homes, with some beautiful pieces still available. All proceeds from the exhibition go toward building Bahay Biyaya, our permanent home for Biyaya’s work—for rescued animals, accessible veterinary care, TNVR (trap-neuter-vaccinate-return, a humane method used to manage and stabilize outdoor or feral cat populations), training, and the communities we serve,” says Rina.
“May ganito pala, ang yaman-yaman, andoon sa talahiban at naghahanap ng hayop na ma-re-rescue niya (There are apparently very wealthy people like Rina, diving into the tall grass in search of animals to rescue),” Jessica says of Rina.
Rina is also in awe of Jessica because, despite her celebrity, she hobnobs with five-foot-high talahib at dawn in search of animals to rescue with no cameras trailing her.
“We are akin,” says Rina.
