It was truly one moment of rare national pride when our very own Efren Peñaflorida was named the 2009 CNN Hero of the Year during last Saturday’s gala awards night held at Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, California. The program will be aired globally on CNN International on Friday (it will be shown at 10 a.m. in the Philippines). Actress Eva Mendes introduced Efren as one of the Top 10 CNN Heroes, and host Anderson Cooper announced him as the CNN Hero of the Year after a powerful performance by Grammy Award-winning recording artist Carrie Underwood.

Other performers at the gala event that drew an audience of 3,000 included R&B crooner Maxwell and British pop sensation Leona Lewis. Among the celebrity presenters were Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson, Neil Patrick Harris, Pierce Brosnan, Dwayne Johnson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and Randy Jackson.

Efren Peñaflorida received $100,000 which he will use to continue his education advocacy. In accepting his award, he said “our planet is filled with heroes, young and old, rich and poor, man, woman of different colors, shapes and sizes. We are one great tapestry. Each person has a hidden hero within, you just have to look inside you and search it in your heart, and be the hero to the next one in need.”

He continued: “So to each and every person inside this theater, and for those who are watching at home, the hero in you is waiting to be unleashed. Serve, serve well, serve others above yourself and be happy to serve. As I always tell my co-volunteers… you are the change that you dream as I am the change that I dream and collectively we are the change that this world needs to be…”

On his part, Anderson Cooper said “with the recognition they receive on stage, they’ll be able to help thousands and thousands of people. Through their efforts, lives will be changed and lives will be saved.”

Efren’s “pushcart classroom” which was aimed to teach impoverished children as an alternative to gang membership caught the attention of the world and for this he most deservingly was given the CNN Hero of the Year award. Efren started this advocacy through his Dynamic Teen Company in 1997. And since then, he has taught more than 1,700 students with nearly 12,000 members in his organization.

He was prompted to do something as an alternative to gang membership when he himself was challenged to a fight by a gang member. He walked away from it, concentrated on his education and then created a positive alternative – his pushcart classrooms which he brought to where the needy children are. Every Saturday, Efren pushes his cart to different sites across the city – even to cemeteries, dump sites, and places where the conditions are deplorable. He teaches reading, writing and arithmetic, and also about basic hygiene.

The CNN Heroes initiative began in 2007 but this year, over 9,000 nominees were submitted, which was a record number. It also received a record number of online votes – 2.75 million! The CNN Heroes is the only awards show of its kind, “featuring celebrities honoring everyday people who have made an extraordinary difference in their communities and beyond.”

The Top 10 CNN Heroes were selected by an esteemed Blue Ribbon Panel which included Colin Powell, Whoopi Goldberg, Ted Turner, Shakira, Rosanna Rosado, Mariane Pearl, Malaak Compton-Rock and Sir Elton John, among other humanitarians.

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Rica Arambulo releases second album ‘Am I?’

She has so much passion for music. A proof of this is the release of her second album, “Am I?” She wrote and arranged all the songs except for three which she co-wrote with friends.

“I started young – about five years old – when my love for music began,” Rica Arambulo revealed. She first learned to play the piano, and singing followed later. Her mother was a piano professor, and today, the family owns and manages a school of music in Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila.

Rica finished a course in music – a bachelor degree in piano – at the UP College of Music. That’s why “her life is her music, her music is her story!” Rica is described as the Philippines’ velvet chanteuse.

The songs in her album, “Am I?” are: “In My Dreams,” “Am I,” “Gone,” “Letting Go,” “It’s Only You,” “Simplify,” “Perfect Weather,” “Our Little Dreams,” “Splinter In My Mind,” “Lagpas Langit,” “Sa Puso Ko,” and “Me Voy” (Gone). The songs are poignant, vibrant and enigmatic.

It is often said that music is the language of the soul. And since the soul is described as a combination of a person’s mind and emotions, no other language or medium could communicate or describe one’s thought and feelings more vividly than through music. Rica Arambulo’s music reveals her deepest and most intimate thoughts. Her music are like windows to her heart.

It was also problems of the heart – her heart – which somehow gave her the biggest challenge to pursue a singing career aside from playing the piano. So that she could move on, she started writing and composing music.

“I find much strength in every song I write,” Rica said. “I am still open to fall in love again, but I hope it will be a more lasting love and commitment.”

“Am I?” is her second album, the first was self-titled “Rica Arambulo.”

Be enthralled and fascinated with her music! Her albums are now available in selected record bars.

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Tidbits: Happy b-day greetings on Nov. 27 go to former senator Freddie Webb, Dr. Fe del Mundo, Consul Mellie Romero-Ablaza, SM’s Millie Dizon, actor Ronaldo Valdez, Millie Reyes, Barge Ramos, Jean Torresyap, Boy “Rey” Bautista, Virgilio Bonifacio, Dr. Gracia F. Valledor, Wico Cubon, Norman Reyes, Emma Cawit, Aaron R. Gabriel, Eleonor M. Gerilla of Marilao, Bulacan, Ofelia S. Angeles, Mila Llorin and Dr. Primitivo Chua, former president of the Philippine Medical Association. Happy wedding anniversary to Ronald Andrew and Michelle Hipolito.