Art sale to benefit Ifugao Eye Center

MANILA, Philippines - The Manila Polo Club will host an art sale on Feb. 3, 6 p.m., to benefit thousands of needy Ifugaos and residents of nearby provinces suffering from cataract, blindness and other eye diseases.

Multi-awarded artists participating in this fundraising event have fully donated their masterpieces. Among them are National Artist BenCab, Betsy Westendorp, Valeria Cavestany, Duddley Diaz, Ramon Diaz and Impy Pilapil. The exhibition of the paintings and sculptures will be curated by Silvana Ancellotti-Diaz.

Proceeds of the sale of artworks will help fund the projects of Restoring Sight International (RSI) for its work with the Ophthalmological Foundation of the Philippines (OFPHIL). Together with the Ifugao State University (IFSU), this eye center located in Alfonso Lista was inaugurated on Jan. 26. The eye center will be called IFSU-OFPHIL Eye Center.

Dr. Felipe I. Tolentino, president of RSI and OFPHIL, said an estimated 40,000 people are now afflicted in the region, the highest incidence of blindness anywhere in the Philippines. The center would not only help the whole Cordillera Administrative Region, but neighboring Cagayan, Isabela, Quirino, and Nueva Vizcaya as well.