“There are people who are more blessed, so sharing blessings is never ever a bad thing with those who don't have that much,” said internationally acclaimed singer Lea Salonga Saturday.

Salonga sang to a jampacked crowd of more than 7,000 at the University of St. La Salle Coliseum in Bacolod City Saturday night at a concert organized by Gawad Kalinga to raise funds to build more houses for the poor in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental.

Gawad Kalinga is all about “building homes, building dreams”, said Salonga, who traces her roots to Pulupandan, Negros Occidental.

She told the DAILY STAR her mother, Ligaya Alcantara Imutan, was the daughter of Leo Imutan, a vice mayor of Pulupandan town who briefly took over as mayor.

And the statue of a woman carrying a “bilao (basket)” on her head in the Pulupandan town plaza is that of her grandmother, Carmen Alcantara Imutan, Salonga said.

At her concert, Salonga said it was a special night for her to perform in Bacolod because it was like a family reunion with a lot of her relatives from Pulupandan in the audience.

Salonga said she was told there was an Imutan Street in Pulupandan and she would appreciate it if someone sent her a photo of it.

She was accompanied by her mother, Ligaya, and brother Gerard Salonga, who conducted the orchestra at her concert.

Bobby Magalona, GK provincial director, said funds raised from the Salonga concert will be used to build more houses for the poor this year.

He said since GK began in Negros Occidental in 2001 they have built 1,300 houses in 33 sites all over the province.

They plan on building 1,000 more houses this year, the largest number of which will be at Purok Riverside, Banago in Bacolod City with about 400, he said.

What is unique about the Banago project is that it will be an inter-faith effort participated in by Catholic and Protestant groups, he said.

And Magalona said he was happy with the unprecedented number of concert goers who trooped to the USLS coliseum for the Salonga performance and to also help GK's work.

Traffic snarled along North Drive leading to USLS Saturday night as concert goers struggled to get to Salonga's performance on time.

The multi-awarded Salonga, who won Tony, Laurence Olivier, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Awards in London and the United States for her role as Kim in the musical Miss Saigon, wowed the audience with her songs that ranged from Tagalog favorites to musical theater numbers, and the Ilonggo song “Ay Ay Kalisod” .

Also performing with her was Ilonggo singer Jed Madela who drew a rousing applause for his rendition from Phantom of the Opera.

Salonga told the DAILY STAR “Singing is my job and my first love – I love the opportunity to do both.”

She and her husband moved back to the Philippines from the United States in 2005 and she loves being home, Salonga said.

Salonga is married to Robert Charles Chien, whom she met while doing Flower Drum Song . They have a daughter, Beverly Nicole, born on May 16 , 2006 and is named after Salonga's late mother-in-law , Beverly Chien.

They moved to the Philippines because her husband heads the media department of the firm he is working for in the country, she said.

Salonga said she does not want to leave the Philippines because she feels very well taken care of and her privacy is respected when it needs to be.

Salonga, who just finished playing Fantine in the musical Les Misérables on Broadway, said she will star in the lead role in Broadway Asia Entertainment's Asian tour of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella that kicks off in Manila on July 29.*CPGomez

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