CASA San Miguel Foundation is a home that helps children hone their skills in music, dance, and art and as such, put their talents to great use.

Bolipata-3957.jpg

Some of the students and scholars of CASA San Miguel show their talent in playing the violin

Hidden in the eart of Barrio San Miguel in San Antonio, Zambales is a beautiful villa filled with unusual but beautiful art pieces—like a huge whale made out of recycled plastic bottles. A simple search online says this is a bed and breakfast stead; but to its students and alumni, CASA San Miguel is more than just a business venture—it is a place of hope.

In 1920, celebrated violinist Ramon Corpus acquired 15 hectares of land, which he fondly called “Oasis.” Nestled near Pundaquit Beach, the ancestral farmland and seaside estate evolved into a summer house for the Corpus and Magsaysay clans, but was abandoned for some time after it burnt down due to years of neglect. It was not until the ’90s when one of Corpus’ grandsons, Coke Bolipata, also a violinist, decided to change the overall look and purpose of this ancestral land to what it is now—a place of learning. 

Bolipata-3971.jpg

One of the youngest students in the foundation

During one of his trips back to the Philippines from studying at Juilliard School in the US, Bolipata decided that he wanted to give back whatever blessings he has received—and what better place to do this than in his beloved home of San Antonio, where many of his townmates had been affected by the devastating eruption of Mt Pinatubo. 

In due time, the family’s summer home was transformed from a personal sanctuary to the Centre for the Arts in San Antonio (CASA), a foundation that helps children—whose parents mostly are fishermen, carpenters, and janitors—realise their talents in the field of the arts.

Creating Beautiful Music

DSC_7027.jpg

Founder of CASA, Coke Bolipata

The foundation aims to develop local young talent (some as young as three years old) through its residency programmes, which not only include music lessons, but painting, dancing, and more. For the past two decades, CASA has been honing the talents of children whose parents cannot afford to pay for such lessons. The foundation does not want to take all the credit though, as the decision to spend their free time learning how to play a musical instrument instead of playing on the streets come from the children themselves. 

Those in the foundation continuously work hard to create such opportunities for their students, having a variety of programmes and mini-concerts in their mini theatre at CASA San Miguel. Constantly improving ways of teaching the students, they are now working hand-in-hand with partner institutions to develop the K to 12 curriculums, aiming to have a more organised way of teaching art and music to students, which have been increasing in number every term. The quality education CASA San Miguel provides benefits not only children in its village, but also those from as far as Olongapo, Bataan, Ilocos, and even Baguio.

Hard work and patience from foundation staff have not been in vain; great opportunities have opened doors for the students. Most of the students have been invited to showcase their talents not only all over the country, but also abroad. And upon graduation from their respective high schools, most of the children go on to pursue studies in the University of the Philippines or the University of Sto Tomas conservatories of music, some gaining their scholarships with the help of CASA. 

In hopes of helping more people, CASA San Miguel has also targetted the adults of San Antonio, creating livelihood opportunities for them.

Bolipata-3988-Pano.jpg

The soundproof training rooms on the second floor

For instance, it opened its doors to guests and visitors via a café tucked beneath the mini theatre and aptly called the Backstage Café. It offered itself as a bed and breakfast for a limited number of guests. Recently, it launched a community-based water sports programme called Layag Windsurfing, and has also tapped into the mango and

cashew production, as well as island tours. A percentage of the proceeds from all these entrepreneurial ventures go to the foundation to further help talented children pursue their dreams. 

A Sound of Help

CASA San Miguel also introduced the concept of “playing it forward,” wherein those who have benefited from the foundation will voluntarily give something in return. “The initiative started in 1993, when I started teaching a dozen kids literally under a mango tree,” says Bolipata. “Through the years, this has evolved into a mentorship programme where the kids I have once mentored and have gone off to college for a music degree, will come back to teach younger kids.” Due to generous corporate sponsors, the voluntary act has turned into a financial support for these student-teachers; the foundation now covers their tuition and living expenses while still pursuing their music degree.

This foundation has started a whole new beginning in the small town of San Antonio. Not only has it helped the place and its people rise up from Pinatubo’s wrath, but it has given life to the almost dying field of the arts in the village, and has opened up a lot of possibilities.

Some of the alumni of CASA have gone back to the foundation to help one way or another, some donating their paintings for the Anita Magsaysay-Ho Museum situated just in front of the café. As the mini theatre is not sufficient for the growing number of students of the foundation, CASA San Miguel is currently raising funds to create a 400-seater venue. They are also expanding their current galleries to house their growing collections done by the students in their Residency Programme. 

Bolipata-4004.jpg

The Backstage Café not only serves delicious coffee but a variety of local dishes

“It has taken me a while—24 years to be exact—to really find the right track for CASA, as there really is nothing like it in this country to serve as a model,” says Bolipata. “I think we have established a fresh idea, a social enterprise that we will continue to develop is already set, with the long-term goal of sustainability and institutionalisation.” 

For more information about the foundation, visit casa-san-miguel.org.

Photography by Jingo Montenejo