Victory party for Martin plus more on 1st Sunday of Advent

He and his Baguio friends had every reason to celebrate. Martin Masadao, scriptwriter and director of Anac Ti Pating, adjudged best film at the recent Sineng Pambansa Festival in Davao City. gave us the blow-by-blow account of the awards night wherein one of his actors, Deuel Raynon Ladia, also won the best actor trophy. 

When Martin's name was called, he was so flustered and nervous that when he went onstage, he was shaking all over. He had to hold on to his Grand Festival Award trophy lest it fall. This would have been his thank-you speech:

"The entire cast, staff and crew behind "Anac Ti Pating" -- Ferdie Balanag, Hendrix Sanchez, Shant Verdun, Randy Cruz, Spyke, Paul, John, Willy, Laydeh, Bishi, Raynon Ladia, Luchie Maranan, Nick Prill Calinao, Steve Chong, Dr. Charles Macalalag, Joaquin Fianza, Nonnette Bennett, Laurence Yee, Endong Nevada, Sam Borcena, the students of Mabini Elementary School, Paul Ignacio, Kokoy Palma, Athena Masilungan, Gabriel Palma, Karlo and RL Altomonte, Art Tibaldo, Dave Leprozo, Ani Bongaoen, Stella Lagasca and the other bit players... (kung may nakalimutan ako, pasensya na lang, alzheimer's lang, walang personalan)

"Thank you to Norman Adefuin for the poster lay-out and design. And to Richard Balonglong for the photo we used in the poster.

"During the course of writing the script last year up to the pre-production days from January to August -- the following  people housed me, fed me, occasionally got me drunk -- Susan Tagle, Reji Regalado, Dra. Yvonne Soriano, Atty. Lyssa Pagano-Calde, Bien Benitez, Jay Adlao-Block -- Thank You!!! But most especially for the support you've given me through the years!

"(Special mention to Endong Nevada and Ellen Lao who in December last year lent me financial support so I could submit the manuscript in time. Maraming salamat, kahit na late ako nakapag-bayad nung utang. Hehehe.)

"To the Baguio Writers Group -- Merci Dulawan (who helped me out with some of the Ilocano dialogue), Baboo Mondonedo, Grace Subido, Desiree Caluza, Jenny Carino and Padma Perez -- Maraming Salamat sa encouragement!

"To the Film Development Council of the Philippines -- Chairman Briccio Santos, Exec. Director Ted Granados, Nonoy, Ma'am Wilma, Ma'am Cely, Monchito, Ina, etc. -- thank you for your understanding and having faith in the material/script from the very beginning.

"To Babeth Lolarga who helped me secure round trip tickets for Raynon Ladia and his Grandmother, Alejandra de Jesus -- through Babeth, we were able to get sponsorship from Seair -- thanks to Ms. JingJing Romero of Stratos! And to Michelle Uson-Laurel for the generous pabaon she sent for Raynon and Grandma for their trip to Davao. To our beautiful and gracious host in Davao, Mymy Andong, daghang salamat!

"To my Sagittarian mothers -- Mitos Yniguez, Laida Lim and (my real Sagittarian Mom) Gertrudes 'Didi' Masadao -- for the love, support, great food all these years and hopefully more to come!

"To Wilfredo Pascual, Nonnette Bennett and Frank Cimatu -- I may not be a member of your secret coven, but thank you for all the positive energies and vibes you've sent my way through the years! Baka pwede akong maging honorary warlock/witch?! Cheers!!!

"To my family -- Budi, Joy, Geej, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles and cousins -- thank you for all the fond memories of growing up in Baguio.

"To my dearest sister, Felina -- the keeper of the flame...

"I send my love to all of you!"

Meanwhile, Kuya Fern and I hosted a victory party-cum-potluck Christmas party at our Green Valley digs. 

Early birds Robert Abano and his children Mira and Igi brought Everything Nice cassava cake. The beer flowed, courtesy of Baboo and Kuya Fern. She also brought mechado with yum dee yum yum mushroom gravy. 

There was spaghetti from the Maranan siblings Ed and Luchie, vegetarian pica pica from Desiree Caluza, lengua from Merci Javier Dulawan that made us all chatty till dinner time and beyond. Jenny Carino brought a bottle of red wine, and she had every reason to celebrate--she was grand-slam winner in the bunutan and at the raffle of artworks from the Lolarga-Fernandez collection. She brought home a watercolor by Baboo and a Roland Bay-an oil on canvas work with three Igorot women as subjects. Latecomer-from-work Nonnette Bennett, also in the cast of Anac Ti Pating, brought kimchi. 

I opened my big bottle of Jack Daniels, the only pasalubong I requested from my kuya who went on a media fam tour of Dubai, for sharing with fellow scotch drinker Baboo. The Pacis couple, Oscar and Toottee, led a thanksgiving prayer for Martin's award and for Luchie's Palanca  prize for her children's short story and wished us well in our writerl-y, even painter-ly, endeavors, reminding us never to forget to plug in to The Source, The One when we begin anything creative. Shy mango EV Espiritu, who's also a mask-maker, theater director and choreographer when he isn't a photo correspondent of a national broadsheet, shared some photos of that enchanting evening.

There was also a dance-time-at-GV contest to the music of Sergio Mendes when he still had his original Brasil '66. Toottee and Oscar, who have a son who is a ballet dancer with a Hong Kong company, served as judges and ruled that Baboo and Ed deserved to be crowned dancing queen and king because they showed grace and intuitive timing. 

The compromising video of the contestants dancing for the prizes (a Tawi-tawi banig and a 1/1 print of Brent School's Ogilvy Hall by Pandy Aviado) has been stored away for private viewing. The videographer promised within an inch of his life that he wouldn't upload it on YouTube. Here we are at a party to remember.

Merry-makers all (from left): Baboo, Oscar and Toottee who brought home a Roberto Acosta terracotta sculpture, Babeth holding up the scarf Martin gave her (he emphasized that it didn't come from ukay-ukay but from Germany), Martin, Jenny, Luchie, Merci and Desiree. Kneeling on one knee is Rolly with his signature prop.

Next time someone please bring a tripod so everyone can be in the picture. This time another manong, EdMar, joins Rolly on the floor.

It was the kind of wild-tame party that'll long live in our memories as another year comes in and adds another year to our respective ages. This time, shy mango EV joins Rolly on the floor.

Photos courtesy of EV Espiritu

The Travelling Notebook

Around the time Noynoy Aquino was sworn in as the new Philippine President, a couple of Baguio friends talked about organizing another visual arts and poetry project timed to celebrate our city's 101st charter day. We decided on an open-media exhibit at the Cafe by the Ruins (now that the cafe is under renovation, we hope the exhibit "Explorations" remains when it reopens for the selfish reason that I haven't seen it yet).

Martin Masadao thought of a travelling notebook of handwritten poetry passed from one Baguio poet to another. The plan was to have a slide show of some sort, with projector and all on opening eve so that the poets' calligraphy would be visible to guests instead of passing the notebook from one person to the next. According to Martin, there was some technical snafu so our brave friends ended up reading our poems. The notebook, whose leaves were just a bunch of modest manila paper Martin lovingly bound together with a picture of a Moorish-looking character and setting on the front and back covers, did get passed around and stayed beyond due date with me (over two weeks) while I struggled with the usual mental block. The prospect of sitting down and allowing melancholia to take over me is not attractive, but when Baboo Mondonedo texted that someone was waiting for her turn to write, my adrenaline shot up (always a deadline beater).

Here's one of my three poems that form part of the "collection" whose whereabout is unknown:



Drawing Lesson



this boxed landscape is presented

to you on an eigth of a page of

your yasaka sketchpad.

today marks your sixth lesson.

the instruction: enlarge the landscape

on the rest of the page.



your grip on the chunk of oil pastel

is unsure.

you stare at a representation of the sun,

feel its rays, violent in yellow orange,

singe your lashes,

you hear the rattle of bones beneath

the grass, you watch a spectral

mist coil like a cobra around

the trunks of hapless trees.



in the heaving distance, blackbirds caw

a dirge of warning: stop

romancing the mountain,

reduce the drippy sentiment that

has chained you to summers past

of cousinly camaraderie.



those companions true have scattered

far. what's left is this rectangle.

inside: sunny orb, horizon of hills, grass

fading like your infrequent dreams of mountains.

watercolor shows part of my lola's home in Baguio

Talks with Myself and Another

On March 3 this year at 4:50 p.m., a friend interviewed me by email when he learned I was preparing for my third solo exhibition in April. The show “Bling Blings and Lucky Me” is still up on the walls of Taumbayan, a bar at 40 T. Gener and K-1 streets, Kamuning, Quezon City. The bar is open from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Exhibit ends on May 8.

And this was how that online conversation went:

How does this coming exhibit differ from your previous ones?

I’ve always worked with themes when preparing for a show. This time I focused on bling blings, those fashion accessories that you and I are not into (I can only buy genuine ones if I hit the lotto jackpot, but the thing is I don’t gamble). These branded bling blings are the stuff of the lives of some senatorial, congressional and landlords’ wives. Even the salesladies at Louis Vuitton in Greenbelt Makati were quoted by the Inquirer as saying they missed the Ampatuan ladies during the Christmas season because they used to make multiple purchases and paid in cold cash. You can say that this third exhibit is my first that is tweaking a social theme: the obsession over brand names and luxury goods contrasted with the typical diet of the urban poor (instant noodles and canned sardines).

What do you think is the added advantage of writers going into visual arts, if there is any?

The writer’s advantage is his/her capacity to articulate ideas and feelings. It’s not just “Wala lang. Type ko gawin.” That kind of answer used to be a no-no to my fine arts teachers on my first year at UP Diliman, the exacting ones like Bob Feleo and Nestor Vinluan. They constantly challenged us.

Many writers paint or draw, among them, Gilda Cordero Fernando, Tita Lacambra Ayala, Cirilo Bautista, Edel Garcellano, the late art critic Leo Benesa, the late Larry Francia. In Baguio, the names I can think of are mostly women: Baboo Mondoñedo who’s a columnist of the biggest circulating community paper there; Merci Dulawan, a multi-lingual writer; Jenny Cariño, my hijada who also composes poetry, lyrics and music for her songs; Toottee Chanco Pacis, a cookbook author and theology lecturer; Chi Balmaceda Gutierrez, a magazine publisher.


How does your creative moment (s) look like? You paint at any time of the day and night?

I paint in the daytime. I rest at night. I paint because it is so pleasurable. I regret that I didn’t turn to painting earlier and concentrated on writing, but that’s how life is. Midlife allows me to pick up the “dream deferred.” I loved doing art in my grade school days; it was work education I abhorred (needlework, cooking and the like). But I won’t be a hypocrite--I never liked home arts or home economics. The things in the pantry and China cabinet—for me they’re no more than models for still life paintings. My partner will admit that I am the worst hausfrau in the world. And I won’t apologize for that. I’d much rather write or paint. And if I had to choose between writing and painting, I’d still much rather paint.


Is pursuing the visual arts anything like writers pursuing their assorted muses?


I never chased after a muse, male or female. With writing, it’s the deadline, even if it’s self-imposed, that drives me to finish an article. The same with poetry and fiction—I have an idea, feeling, an experience or I overheard unforgettable snatches of conversation. And that’s when I write. With painting, it’s the totally pleasurable, almost hedonistic, feeling of the brush in my hand, moving it across the canvas. And when the work is finished, be it a feature story or a watercolor, that’s my reward. That’s why hindi tayo yayaman, My values are different; work is its own reward.

I had a grandmother, Telesfora Lolarga, who kept herself busy always. She had a career, yes, but Lola had this gift of transforming any house she lived in into a home because of her artistic touches, her flair for setting this object against that, her appreciation for fine music. So if I have a muse, it must be her. She would’ve been proud. She kept my, my siblings’ and our cousins’ paintings, drawings, letters from childhood.


What have you learned from your past exhibits?

I learned how much fun a visual arts exhibit can be in a way being published can’t approximate. You wait long for feedback for an article or anything written and published. Most times feedback doesn’t come at all. You feel like you just “talked” into the void. At an exhibit opening, you see the people who matter in your life instantly reacting and giving immediate feedback.


What are the new works in your exhibit?

Everything is new whenever I have a solo show.

Is Baguio the best place to paint and why?

I like to paint anywhere but home. The best places there are the greenhouse of Toottee Pacis in Happy Homes, Baguio, and the extended work place of Baboo in Pinsao. I like it in those places because of abundant natural light. And those women are foodies like me; they love good food. Conversation is always light. Our teacher is Norman Chow who is extremely patient with all of us. He deserves his own show, but we, his students, are more excited about booking our own shows.

What stages have you gone through as an artist thus far?

Formal fine arts studies from 2004 to 2009, private art lessons with Bob Feleo in the early 1990s, with Pytz Santos in 2004-05 and Norman to this day. Never-ending apprenticeship with Jerry Araos who is exacting in his demand for a well thought out idea for a show before mounting anything.

What do you want to achieve as one enamoured (is this the right word) with the visual arts?

More explorations of other media I don’t have mastery over yet, more exhibits that'll challenge me.

How was your 2009 and how do you see 2010 in your creative life?

2009 was a good year. I joined the Baguio Aquarelle Society in its group shows, and I had one solo at Cafe by the Ruins in Baguio. The partners there were happy, I think, with my show because I helped brighten up their walls. I can’t say what the future holds, but I hope to continue writing, painting, helping friends put together projects, including parties, and having fun while doing all of the activities I just cited.

Anything else you want to add in connection with your exhibit?

I have to thank my fashionista daughter Ida Fernandez who doesn’t throw away fashion brochures and similar print materials. These served as my visual references. I owe my partner Rolly Fernandez a big blowout; he supported my fine art studies at UP. I thank family members and friends who continue to believe. They know who they are.

Photo by ANNA LEAH SARABIA shows the painter with friends Frances Makil Ignacio and Eyelectric president Rey Araos who gave the winning bid for the work "Oh, My Señorita, Sweet Sweet Lady." The four feet by four feet work is a collaboration with Chino Chow, a computer science student at the University of Baguio.Proceeds of the auction went to Noel Cuizon, Brenda Fajardo and Rey Rimando.

Dear Sweet Filthy World

The title of this blog entry is appropriated from a coming artist’s talk of Patricia Eustaquio, an artist I admire from a distance, at the Silverlens Gallery on Pasong Tamo extension, Makati City. The title of her show comes from an Elvis Costello song.


The “A” word (appropriation) is big these days in the art scene. Discussions have filled the cyber highway on just where does copying begin and plagiarism end.


Call this a stream of consciousness sort of exercise, but at 5 a.m. that can only be one’s state of mind.


March is usually called Women’s Month (which again brings to mind a spoof magazine Amadis Ma. Guerrero, old comrade in arts and letters, once got hold of in the pre-martial law ’70s: Imelda’s Monthly). I didn’t realize this month was about to end until I turned on my cell phone upon waking up at my usual time of 5a.m.


Jeez, talk about how time goes by. My observant daughter, a follower of this blog, once asked, “Have you given up your journal for your blog?”


“No,” came my quick answer. I explained how I’ve managed so far to keep both an online journal and a diary where I handwrite all sorts of stuff. The latter is unfiltered, unexpurgated; the blog, well, it’s where I put what is still permissible but otherwise unpublishable (mainly because entries like this one are too personal) in conventional media.


Last week went by so fast that, as I texted another old gal pal asking if I was ready to meet about another book project, rest these days takes the form of trips to the bathroom. I summed up to her my mental checklist of unfinished interview transcriptions, writing and editing assignments apart from two large-scale paintings I was working on when her message came in.


“Yep,” she texted back, “just like you to take on a work load fit for a pack of wild horses. But enjoy!”


The adrenaline rush has kept me going these two weeks that when my phone’s alarm clock went off at 5 a.m. on March 24, Wednesday, my automatic move was to turn over to my left side, forgetting that I was lying on the hardwood bench on someone else’s sala in Munoz, Nueva Ecija. Three hours before I had just emailed my copy of a report on Cecile Licad’s outreach concert there. I fell hard on the marble floor, natch, a rude awakening, literally.


I managed to catch the van in San Jose bound for Baguio. I thought I’d make good time if it left on the dot at six. What I didn’t know was vans like this one that double as public utility vehicles don’t push off until it’s filled to capacity. The long Calvary had begun as I waited. The driver told me to stay put and be patient; the bus to Baguio was not air-conditioned and the trip longer (about five to six hours) with lots of stops. Once on its way, the van could be in Baguio in, oh, an hour and a half, he said.


Well, the van did make it to Baguio in that span of time, but it left Nueva Ecija at half past 10 a.m. by which time I was sticky, filthy and weepy from half-despair, half-exhaustion.


Meanwhile, I kept in touch with my one kith-kin in Baguio (long-suffering partner of almost 26 years) and Baboo Mondonedo and Toottee Chanco Pacis, the women who pinch-hit for me in helping organize a merienda meeting with Sen. Pia Cayetano. The compañera senadora was city-hopping in Northern Luzon to promote breast and cervical cancer awareness and the women’s agenda that has marked her career in the legislature. Trust women to be efficiency experts and not to be shy about introducing themselves to the senator and taking over.


My old partner, no matter how grouchy he can be, is right on this score: no one is indispensable. I was resigned to just catching the tail-end of a women’s meeting.


By the time the van was about to turn right on Gov. Pack road, I screeched, “Para!” Got down with my luggage, hopped into a cab, got to a dark house (city-wide brownout, wow, perfect timing). But this was one occasion when a curse became a blessing. Brownout meant cold shower. That was what I had. And it couldn’t have been more welcome when one was feeling filthy physically and weepy psychologically, the last from self-imposed pressure.


The women gathered at Café by the Ruins were frank and to the point with their questions just as the senator was with her answers. She hit it off with them so well that she vowed that after the whole hullabaloo on May 10 is over, she’d return for a longer visit.


Carol Brady said after the merienda ended, “This is so refreshing. I’m glad I came. This meeting gives me hope that not all politics is dirty. Please tell Pia I hope and I pray that she continues to hold her own in the Senate.”


Afterwards, the rest of the week went by in a whirl of laughter, tears, colors, paint brushes, meals downed in a hurry, errands and duties in different parts of town from the taking down of paintings at the Baguio-Mt. Provinces Museum at the close of our latest Baguio Aquarelle Society exhibition to interviewing sources for another assignment on sustainable development. At each step, little acts of kindness meant the week could be made tolerable until duties were done away with.


After a dinner of reheated leftovers following an afternoon of painting in the company of my teacher Norman Chow and his son Chino, I did the last of my evening rituals: check my email for any urgent messages that need to be answered.


Lo and behold! Odette from the Population Center Foundation years was there, responding to my invite to a solo show next week.


She wrote, “Thank you for the invite. I hope to see you there! I remember you were just starting your art lessons when we went to Malabang, Lanao Del Sur in . . . does it surprise you that I can't remember when? I distinctly recall you picked a taro leaf from the path and drew it. Did you keep that one? I want that one.

“The lesson you taught me has stayed with me since: Pare everything down to the barest essentials.”

Thanks, too, Odette, I need to relearn that lesson again.


Photo of Patricia Eustaquio's installation by ARJAY BLANCO. Eustaquio's talk is set for April 17 at 3 p.m. at Silverlens Gallery, 2320 Pasong Tamo extension, Makati City.

Pine & Bamboo, Bamboo & Pine

The idea of a bonding activity for the members of the two-year-old Baguio Aquarelle Society came from our mentor Norman Chow. A picnic on the forested floor surrounding Baboo Mondonedo's residence was suggested to be followed by a plein air painting session. Before we knew it, the idea took a life of its own.

Thus we came up with "Pine & Bamboo, Bamboo & Pine," the first on-the-spot water media painting competition to mark the Ibaloi Centennial. Scheduled on Feb. 20, Saturday, starting as early as 8:30 and ending promptly at 4 p.m., the event at 308 Piraso Road, Tam-awan, Pinsao Proper, Baguio City, is sponsored by the Baguio Aquarelle Society and the Cordillera News Agency.

Our aim is to raise awareness of the Cordillera's precious natural heritage, trees and the indigenous people's culture being the most prominent. The title of the contest was inspired by a nature poem by Basho, a Japanese poet.

The contest is divided into two categories: professional (for those who have had at least one solo visual arts exhibition) and amateur (students, hobbyists and tourists). At stake are cash prizes (first, second and third for each category) and a chance to exhibit winning works at the Baguio-Mountain Province Museum on Gov. Pack Road in time for Earth Day.

Participants must register at the main house on the day of the contest so they can choose a spot where they can comfortably settle for the day in the forested area and garden. Bring your own materials (paints, paper, brushes, easel, rags, water container). We will provide some stools and tables apart from the picnic lunch.

The artist is encouraged to explore his/her best in presenting and conceptualizing his/her entry using any water-based media(watercolors, watercolor pencils, ink, acrylic). Through this contest, the organizers hope to see artists' vision and interpretation of Baguio's true resources.

The participant can choose any style: realistic, stylized (distorted figure), representational cubism, abstract, purely non-representational, no-recognizable figures and objects but suggestive of the theme.

The competition is open to all, Filipinos and foreign residents/visitors alike, age 12 years old (by Feb 20, 2010) and above. Participants can work on as many pieces as they can but can only submit one entry.

There is no registration fee.

Minimum size is 12" x 16", horizontal or vertical.

The media acceptable are acrylic on canvas, watercolor or other water media on paper. Entry using collage, decoupage, assemblage or use of non-pigment based materials like board, plastic, metal, etc. IS NOT allowed. The entry must hang on a wall to qualify. Appropriate support and/or equivalent devices should be provided to ensure the proper hanging of the artwork (ready for hanging). For watercolor entries, any watercolor paper is allowed, except illustration board.

The entry must have been painted on the spot and finished within the time allotted for the contest. We will go around the premises and see to the participants' needs. All entries must be in and must be signed at the back of the paper or canvas by 4 p.m. It must also be properly labeled at the back: Artist (name, address and contact numbers), Title of the work, Medium, Size, Year and Price.

All participants must be responsible for their entries. We will not pick up or transport any artwork to or from any point of origin.

What to Bring:

Photocopy of one valid ID (for age verification). The only acceptable IDs are: current school ID, PRC License, driver’s license, company ID, copy of passport, postal ID, SSS ID, GSIS-E-card, senior citizen’s ID, voter’s ID, NBI/police clearance.

STRICTLY NO SMOKING indoors or outdoors. Photo shows Baboo's still life with bamboo

Here We Are Again

“Baguio Pay Laeng” is the title of the Baguio Aquarelle Society’s second exhibition opening on Feb. 8, this Sunday, at 4 p.m. at the Roman Ozaeta Wing of the Baguio Country. Club. It should be subtitled “The Passion of Baboo” because if it weren’t for Baboo Mondonedo’s leadership and love for the watercolor medium, we the members would be content in taking up the brush only when the spirit moves us.

But as Toottee Chanco-Pacis said, “I work best under pressure.” So that was how we found ourselves Wednesday afternoon with teacher Norman Chow supervising us—working on our paintings under pain of deadline but managing to enjoy ourselves.

I finished three watercolors that day and had them rushed for framing the next. Let’s see how our viewers take to our new set of odes to Baguio.

Here's "Toottee's Anthuriums," a still life I made based on one of thousands of objects in my friend's house. Photo by ELMER KRISTIAN DAUIGOY