A full-house crowd packed the Rigodon Ballroom of the Manila Peninsula Hotel in Makati, for a benefit concert that would save a baby’s life.

The concert dubbed Martin Sings for Gaia featured popular singer Martin Nievera entertaining an audience that paid Php 2,000 each to support the operation of nine-month-old Gaia Pasamba, who is afflicted with “biliary atresia” – a serious disease that causes liver damage.

Gaia’s case gained attention when students of International School Manila, where her father, Giorde Pasamba, works as a teacher, pooled their resources in an effort to cover part of the expenses that was estimated at Php 5.4 million.

Nievera agreed to perform for free, including his long-time musical director/collaborator Louie Ocampo and two backup singers.

One Philippines had a quick word with Nievera just before he walked onstage:

Why do you think the universe allows dreadful diseases to strike babies?

These are things that test us and educate us so we can acquire the knowledge that would lick such a terrible disease. A world without tests or trials and tribulations is not life at all.

What would you say to Gaia in case you meet again in the next few years?

That she’s someone special, a miracle baby. She’s a walking testimony of God’s miracles. And one proof of these miracles is when people can come together like this night to help a child see the light of day. That’s the miracle!

Donations for Gaia’s treatment are still welcome.
www.gaiabianca.com