A medical frontliner from Leyte created a Spotify playlist titled “Holy Week Special” that included notable songs such as Carol Banawa‘s “Tanging Yaman” and Jamie Rivera‘s “Jubilee Song.”
Wesley Jay Barbosa, a radiologic technologist from Ormoc Doctor’s Hospital in Leyte, compiled 74 songs for the playlist that included songs inspired by his late mother.
The playlist includes popular Church songs like “Anima Christi,” “Humayo’t Ihayag,” “One Bread, One Body” and “Papuri sa Diyos.”
It also includes contemporary Christian melodies like “Tell the World of His Love,” “Who am I” and the “Jubilee Song,” among others.
What’s the story behind the playlist?
Barbosa said that the playlist was created after he took his licensure examination as a radiologic technologist, which was after five months before he shared it on the music streaming service.
He said the playlist reminds him of his visits to Quiapo Church as a Nazarene devotee. He frequented the church when he started reviewing for his exam before.
“Nakakamiss kasi magsimba sa Quiapo lalo na ‘yung sa dami ng nananampalataya sa Poong Nazareno. The songs give me chills lalo na noong naaalala ko po ‘yung pakikipagsiksikan at pagpila patungo sa Nazareno,” Barbosa told Interaksyon in an e-mail interview.
“Kahit na taga-Leyte po ako ay hindi ko na nakakalimutan ang pagdadasal sa kanya,” he added.
Barbosa shared that some of the songs in the playlist were added as a tribute to his mother, who died before he was able to graduate from college.
These include “Inay,” “Tanging Yaman” and “You Raise Me Up,” the latter two of which were always played by his mother when she was still alive.
“‘Yung nakatambay lang kami ng pamilya ko at nagmumuni-muni sa bagay-bagay. I miss her, lalo na siya ang inspirasyon ko sa pag-aaral,” Barbosa shared.
Be ‘brave and compassionate’
Barbosa is one of the medical workers on the frontlines of the battle against the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Being a radiologic technologist, he produces radiographic images for diagnostic purposes. Medical personnel like him work in cath labs and facilities involving x-ray machines, CT-scans and MRI.
They are also involved in nuclear medicine, interventional radiology, ultrasound and radiation therapy for cancer patients.
Barbosa processes the images of COVID-19 patients’ lungs for inspection since it is a respiratory disease.
He said that the pandemic has challenged them to be “brave and compassionate” towards their patients “despite the fear of viral transmission.”
