JR Tan’s Open Letters in Reaction to Sen. Miriam Santiago’s Statement

I was first introduced to JR, son of an unassuming lady, very kind, low profile and loving Mom, Tiffany Tan in 2006 when ALYANA was first previewed; that was before the film premiere held at the UP Film Center in July of the same year.  But though he appeared in the segment on ASP Family Day in ALYANA, I did not know who he was. When I shot the activity months before the film preview, I knew very few people and members of the Autism Society Philippines. In fact, I wasn’t even a member of the society.

JR amazingly remembered me from then on, even though we rarely meet. Anyway, I just came across an article posted last July 23 by Ms. Mona Magno-Veluz, ASP National Secretary about the open letters JR wrote to ASP. She writes:

“The actions of Senator Mirian Defensor Santiago resonated strongly with JR Tan, a graduating college student, taking up BS Accountancy, with minor in Biblical Studies. As an individual on the autism spectrum, he is passionate about autism rights and is one of the first self-advocate members of ASP. JR sent the Autism Society Philippines two open letters in reaction to the senator’s angered statement to her detractors, calling them “mongoloids”, last week.

To read JR letters and the complete article written by Ms. Mona, please click: strike-two-reflections-on-senator.html

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