Rosa Rosal is an award-winning Filipino actress who is known for her years of voluntary service with the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC). She was born Florence Danon in 1931 in Manila and started her film career in 1946, which continued throughout the 1950s, and was named FAMAS Best Actress in 1955 for “Sonny Boy”. Among the notable films she starred in were Lamberto Avellana’s “Anak Dalita” (1956), Tony Santos’s “Badjao” (1956), and Manuel Silos’s “Biyaya ng Lupa” (1959). She had a brief marriage in 1957 and had a child, Toni Rose Gayda, who later worked on television.[1]
Rosal became the first woman volunteer of the Philippine Red Cross at the height of her popularity and conducted her first official blood donation in 1950. Ordinary people then had to be persuaded into giving blood because of the misconception on the harmful effects of bloodletting.[2] She was later elected to the body’s Board of Governors in 1965 and has continuously promoted blood donation in the Philippines. Rosal helped start bloodletting programs inside campuses and military camps and lobbied for support in upgrading Red Cross facilities from political leaders and foreign embassies. She also initiated a Women’s Crisis Center within the PNRC, which assisted unwed and needy pregnant mothers and found homes for unwanted children. Rosal also worked out a college scholarship fund for poor but deserving students from pork barrel fund donations of members of Congress. The “Damayan” and “Kapwa Ko Mahal Ko” public-service television programs, which she has hosted, has solicited financial and medical aid for needy patients.[3] Rosal has faced many challenges in the course of her work in the Red Cross, which include the acquisition of a refrigerated centrifuge through her appeal to then President Ferdinand Marcos and her asking for blood via the airwaves and delivery of emergency supplies to hospitals during the 1989 coup d’etat.[4]
According to Rosal, she leads a simple but meaningful life and very seldom attends social functions. She spends her weekdays on her various charity works and projects, while Saturdays are get-togethers with old friends and Sundays are exclusively for the family. She considers being asleep by 10 in the evening a luxury. Rosal is happy that more people are aware more than ever before of the activities of the Red Cross, but because of the ever increasing population, needs have also risen, and the task of raising funds has become extremely challenging. However, she makes it a point to be always well-dressed and fully made up when she goes about her work because people somehow expect her to have the bearing of a movie star at all times. When Rosal visits foreign cities, she makes it a must to locate and drop by a Red Cross office for the sharing of experiences and learning about the latest equipment in the field.[5]
Rosa Rosal was named the Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Public Service in 1999 for her lifetime of dedicated voluntary service that has inspired her countrymen to put the needs of others ahead of their own. The Order of the Golden Heart with the rank of Grand Cross for a lifetime of public service work was also bestowed on her by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2006. The Ading Fernando Lifetime Achievement Award was likwise given to Rosal at the 22nd PMPC Star Awards For TV in November 2008.[6]
Philippine Red Cross officials acknowledged and celebrated the 60th anniversary of the volunteer Red Cross work of veteran actress-social worker Rosa Rosal in July 2010. She and other volunteers have been recognized as the moving force behind charitable institutions, churches and non-government organizations because of their selfless service to those in need.[7]
Rosa Rosal is one of those remarkable human beings who see the ultimate value of a life that is other-oriented. While the world recognizes the value of individuals who strive for self-development because their examples inspire people, it also grateful for those who basically strive for the betterment of others, because through them, many lives have been set right and saved.
[1] “Rosa Rosal”, Wikipedia, 17 May 2011, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Rosal>
[accessed 14 June 2011]
[2] Sol Jose Vanzi, “Rosa Rosal Recalls Her Magical Visit to Hollywood”, Philippine Headline News Online,
31 July 2002, <http://www.newsflash.org/2002/07/sb/sb002315.htm> [accessed 14 June 2011]
[3] “Rosa Rosal”
[4] “Actress Rosa Rosal Celebrates 60th Anniversary as Red Cross Volunteer on July 4”, Bayanihan,
2 July 2010, <http://bayanihan.org/2010/07/02/actress-rosa-rosal-celebrates-60th-anniversary-as-red-cross-volunteer-on-july-4/> [accessed 24 June 2011]
[5] Sol Jose Vanzi
[6] “Rosa Rosal”
[7] “Actress Rosa Rosal…”
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