Students celebrate 'Halo-Halloween'

In celebration of Halloween, the Rutgers Association of Philippine Students held its annual "Halo-Halloween" on Friday at the Busch Campus Center.

Nicolo Santiago, a Livingston College senior and co-president of RAPS, said the event is named after halo-halo, a Filipino dessert made of crushed ice, beans, gelatin and chopped tropical fruits.

Events such as Halo-Halloween, Santiago said, bring a lot of people into association who normally would not come together. "Being Filipino is our common bond. We have a lot of talent to share with each other," he said.

Santiago said RAPS started in 1987 and has grown to about 300 members. Although every college has its own Filipino group, Santiago said, RAPS is the largest Filipino collegiate organization on the East Coast.

The event showcased various performances including singing, dancing, comedy, yo-yo stunts and comical campus "avant-garde" videos.

Rowena Madla, a Rutgers College junior and choreographer for the RAPS Dance Troupe, said the group started two years ago as a hip-hop dance company that performed in various cultural and talent shows both in and outside of the University community. The dancers have won awards from the Douglass Asian Women's Association and the Annual Women's Conference Talent Competition, Madla said.

"I think this type of dance troupe is beneficial to strengthen the club's ties together and also to showcase our pride and talent and our heritage," she said.

Voice Raw Sound One - a professional singing pair from Seattle - also performed at Halo-Halloween. Singers and brothers Jon Jon and Mateo Cruzada are presently working with the independent record label Knox Blox, which was named after their manager's dog. VRS One started early this year, the Cruzada brothers said, and they "write our own lyrics to rhythm and blues, hip-hop, jazz and gospel tunes." The Cruzada brothers said they began singing in the Philippines at 5 years old and were greatly influenced by their musical parents.

"RAPS is a great organization, and it allows Filipino students to join together and express Filipino pride," the brothers said.

Reynaldo Perez, a Rutgers College junior and RAPS secretary, said Halo-Halloween showcases some of the acts for the upcoming spring cultural show called "The Barrio Fiesta."

Perez said he was glad that other cultures aside from Filipinos came to the event.

"We're trying to show Rutgers University Filipino culture and overall Asian awareness to share with everyone else," Perez said. "And we're having fun in the process."