Monday, January 27, 2025
7:48 PM |
Gloria Romero [1933-2025]
She was probably the one movie legend familiar to most Filipinos, given that her career spanned decades, and she never left the industry, and her face was always up there on our silver screens, beguiling us with her presence. She was probably the first movie star I knew to be a movie star, from my introduction to her through grainy black and white movies shown on the regular on RPN 9 in the 1980s, to her elderly patrician figure in contemporary movies in the years since then. I genuinely wish I was more familiar with her filmography, but most of her earlier films are gone. Labels: film, obituary, people
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Sunday, December 15, 2024
11:20 AM |
Lina Sagaral Reyes, 1961-2024
The last time Lina and I chatted was only a month ago. She wanted me to join her for a journalism event slated in Mindanao next year. Of course I said yes. Silliman and Dumaguete will miss you, Lina. Thank you for being a gentle guide when I was going through my own mental health crisis during the pandemic.
Lina Sagaral Reyes was a poet and journalist. She was born on 6 July 1961 in Villalimpia, Bohol, which according to her was a "a village of blacksmiths, nipa thatchers, fishers, carpenters, a few teachers, sailors and other professionals, and women who live on their own."
She moved to Dumaguete City and took courses in Journalism and Creative Writing at Silliman University between 1978 and 1983, and made the distinction of being the first female student elected as President of the SU Student Government. In 1987, she was diagnosed with a disease, which doctors claimed would take her life in two years. She wrote furiously in this time, and was quite prolific — but she outlived the diagnosis, and she returned to Bohol, reclaimed her parents' house, and transformed it into the office of the Center for Creative Women. She began researching on the life stories of creative women in villages for the Writers Involved in Creative Cultural Alternatives [WICCA]. She won the Palanca Award for her poetry in 1987 [first prize, for “(Instead of a Will These) For All the Loved Ones”] and then in 1990 [third prize, for “Istorya”]. She would author the poetry collection, Honing Weapons, published by Lunhaw Books in 1987. Another collection, ‘Storya, was published in 1993 by the Babaylan Women's Publishing Collective and the Institute of Women's Studies of St. Scholastica's College.
As a journalist, she wrote for the Philippine Daily Inquirer and the Mindanao Gold Star Daily, and often reported on the intersection between gender, the environment, climate change, culture, the arts, and mental health. As one of the directors of the The Cagayan de Oro Press Club Journalism Institute, she fostered collaborations with other organizations and drafted programs to enhance the media community. In 1998 she received the Jaime V. Ongpin Award for Investigative Journalism, for an expose on sand dredging to accommodate an international resort. In 2000 she received the National Science and Technology Journalism Grand Prize for an investigation into an algal bloom in Macajalar Bay, and in 2020 her in-depth probe into corporate pineapple farms and their questionable carbon-negative claims won her the Globe Media Excellence Awards.
She died on 14 December 2024.
Here’s a poem by Lina from her Palanca-winning collection, ‘Storya, in 1990:
Here’s a poem in tribute to Lina by Adonis Durado:
And another poem in tribute to Lina by Elio Garcia:
Labels: dumaguete, journalism, obituary, philippine literature, poetry, silliman, writers
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Wednesday, December 11, 2024
11:00 PM |
Nikki Giovanni, 1943-2024
I've been teaching this poem for years. Rest in peace, Nikki Giovanni. Her obituary at the New York Times here.
Labels: obituary, poetry
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Friday, July 26, 2024
1:12 PM |
Cheng Pei Pei, 1946-2024
I did not know this kung fu movie legend passed on a few days ago. I was introduced to Cheng Pei Pei in Ang Lee's
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, which became my portal to her Hong Kong movies,
Come Drink With Me (1966) being my favorite. Rest in peace, Queen of Swords.
More
here.
Labels: celebrity, film, obituary
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Monday, March 04, 2024
1:21 AM |
Jaclyn Jose, 1964-2024.
What a loss. I hope she makes it to the Oscar In Memoriam, if only to commemorate her Cannes Best Actress win in 2016. [But that's not likely, sigh.]
Labels: film, obituary, people
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Saturday, March 02, 2024
11:58 AM |
David Bordwell, 1947-2024
All film enthusiasts/film students have their edition of
Film Art. This was mine in college, and I still have it. RIP, David Bordwell.
Labels: books, film, obituary, people
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Friday, July 21, 2023
9:54 PM |
He Left His Heart With Us...
Labels: celebrity, obituary, singers
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Tuesday, April 25, 2023
10:33 PM |
Harry Belafonte [1927-2023]
The thing I most admire about Harry Belafonte was his capacity to walk away, even when movie stardom was at hand, and did not make movies in the 1960s for reasons that curtailed his principles, choosing only to come back in 1972. He was also a popular singer, but he soon chose not to make music either for similar reasons. But the one thing he never shied away from was his activism in the civil rights movement. He knew when to let go, and why to stay. Rest in peace, Harry Belafonte [1927-2023].
Labels: film, music, obituary, people
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Sunday, February 12, 2023
3:03 PM |
Lualhati Bautista, 1945-2023
The great Lualhati Bautista, author of acclaimed novels such as Dekada '70 (1983), Bata Bata Paano Ka Ginawa? (1983), 'Gapô (1988), Desaparesidos (2006), Sixty in the City (2015), and Sonata (2017), has died at the age of 77.
She was a staunch political critic and activist, whose life mirrored the struggles of the women she set down on the page, many of them striving and persevering in difficult times. She took note of that autofiction quality in her fiction, particularly in Bata Bata Paano Ka Ginawa, and in 2013 fashioned an experimental novel/ memoir titled In Sisterhood: Lea at Lualhati, which also served as Bautista's manifesto on writing and the meaning of being a woman living in contemporary times with all its social and political tumult — a concern she also explored in her nonfiction book Hinugot sa Tadyang.
Two of her novels [Dekada '70 and Bata Bata Paano Ka Ginawa?] would eventually be adapted to critically acclaimed and enormously popular films produced by Star Cinema, directed by Chito Roño, and starring Vilma Santos, but Bautista was also known for her searing and socially conscious screenplays for Sakada (1976), Kung Mahawi Man ang Ulap (1984), Bulaklak sa City Jail (1984), Maricris Sioson: Japayuki (1993), Kadenang Bulaklak (1994), Nena (1995), Rizal sa Dapitan (1997), Gusto Ko Nang Lumigaya (2000), among others. Mario O'Hara's Bulaklak sa City Jail, which follows a pregnant woman [played by Nora Aunor] who is arrested for attempted murder and is sent to the Manila City Jail where she meets other women with disquieting stories, won Bautista the Best Story and Best Screenplay awards at the 1984 Metro Manila Film Festival.
She also won the Palanca Award for her novels — 'Gapô in 1980, Dekada '70 in 1983, and Bata Bata Paano Ka Ginawa in 1984 — and for her short stories, "Tatlong Kuwento ng Buhay ni Julian Candelabra" [first prize in 1982] and "Buwan, Buwan, Hulugan Mo Ako ng Sundang" [third prize in 1983]. Her short stories are collected in Buwan, Buwan, Hulugan Mo Ako ng Sundang: Dalawang Dekada ng Maiikling Kuwento (1991) and Bayan Ko! (2019), and her poems are collected in Alitaptap sa Gabing Madilim (2020).
She was a national fellow for fiction of the University of the Philippines Creative Writing Center in 1986, and served as vice-president of the Screenwriters Guild of the Philippines and as chair of the Kapisanan ng mga Manunulat ng Nobelang Popular. In 2022, she was recipient of the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining for her contributions to Philippine literature.Labels: obituary, philippine literature, writers
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Wednesday, February 01, 2023
11:32 PM |
National Scientist Angel C. Alcala, 1929~2023
He was many things to different people: teacher, researcher, biologist, university president, environmentalist, DENR head honcho, family man. For colleagues and mentees, he was a relentless driving force that compelled them to reach the highest aspirations in research and publication, and as Dr. Laurie Raymundo declared in her memories of the man: “He was difficult, demanding, and exacting and he taught me that nothing less than the best you can do is acceptable.” He was also an icon, and for many people in Dumaguete, where he lived since his student days in Silliman University, he was a figure of local pride: a National Scientist.
Angel Chua Alcala was born on 1 March 1929 in Cauayan, Negros Occidental to Crescenciana Chua and Porfirio Alcala, and grew up in the small coastal barrio of Caliling, working alongside his father who worked as a fisherman at the nearby agricultural fish ponds, supplying milkfish to the local community. Regarding the sea as refuge and resource was a huge part of his upbringing, and probably fostered a lifelong passion for biology. He attended Kabankalan Academy, and moved to Dumaguete to earn a degree in biology from Silliman University from where he graduated, magna cum laude, in 1951. He then declined acceptance to the University of the Philippines College of Medicine in order to assist his family financially by going to work. He began teaching at his alma mater not long after, and occasionally assisted in biological fieldwork for Sidney Dillon Ripley and Dioscoro Rabor. In 1953, they collected the only known specimen of the Negros fruit dove.
While teaching at the Biology Department, Alcala would meet Walter C. Brown, a professor at Stanford University who came to Silliman University on a Fulbright fellowship. Brown took Acala under his wing, and they worked together on several biology publications, went on numerous field trips, and collected data for research. Brown helped Alcala begin his groundbreaking work on herpetology, which is concerned with the study of amphibians and reptiles. Together, they became the authors of “Observations on the Amphibians of the Mount Halcon and Mount Canlaon Areas,” a paper published in the 1955 edition of the Silliman Journal.
Alcala was granted a Fulbright/Smith-Mundt Fellowship to study at Stanford University, where he earned his master’s degree in biology in 1959. It was in Stanford where he found the need to apply his expertise in biology to the larger needs of his country: “My fellow graduate students were all supportive of the application of theoretical knowledge to practical problems in the country. My faculty advisers of the Graduate School were working on Philippine biodiversity and some of the graduate students were working on similar topics… They inspired me to consider for further studies the marine fauna of the Philippines,” he told Rappler in 2014.
In 1964, Alcala returned to Stanford for doctoral studies and two years later, he became an associate professor at Silliman University. He was also accorded an honor doctorate from both the Xavier University and the University of Southeastern Philippines. He soon became Vice President for Research at Silliman, but resigned in 1988. Three years later, he returned to the university to serve as President. After two years, he also resigned that post to serve as Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources from 1992 to 1995, and later as Chairman of the Commission on Higher Education from 1995 to 1999. He also served as consultant on marine and aquatic projects under the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank Global Environment Facility, the Pew Fellowship in Marine Conservation, and the University of the Philippines Marine Science Institute. He served the Philippine Council for Aquatic and Marine Research and Development as an executive director.
He was the principal Filipino scientist in a research program regarded as an outstanding contribution to Philippine biological sciences which comprised studies on local land vertebrates and the marine biodiversity of the country, which involved ecology systematics and conservation biology based in Silliman University since 1955. The program produced empirical scientific data put to practical use in terms of special development and academic programs at the university level. The research collaboration resulted to substantial publication outputs of 169 scientific papers as well as books. Alcala authored either by himself or as first author of 86 [51%] of the articles and books on the program. He is also the first Filipino to put together the most comprehensive studies on Philippine amphibians and reptiles, with minor contributions to birds and mammals. His fieldwork from 1954 to 1999 resulted to the identification of 50 more species from the 400 already known species of reptiles and amphibians. Because of his work, conservation programs in the Philippines are now well established.
Alcala also participated in the Australian-ASEAN marine project in the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. The Silliman Marine Laboratory, which he founded in 1973-74, has been active in research on marine protected areas, fisheries and marine biodiversity, mariculture, and conservation of Philippine plant and animal species. His marine science publications consist of about 80 papers on coral reef fish, marine reserves, long-term effects of protection on marine biodiversity such as corals and top predatory fish. Most of these papers have been published in refereed, international journals and books. In 1977, he set up the first artificial reef in the Philippines in Dumaguete, and then, seeing the degradation of coral reefs all over the country, he began to set up a series of marine protected areas [MPAs], first in Sumilon Island off southern Cebu, and then in Apo Island.
The establishments of MPAs is now considered one of Alcala’s greatest legacies. As marine biologist Rene Abesamis once wrote: “Alcala has studied MPAs since 1973. He was the first biologist to establish an experimental MPA in the Philippines, at Sumilon Island, with the idea of increasing the fish catch of small-scale fishers. This occurred at a time when reef fisheries resources were beginning to decline due to unsustainable fishing practices and increasing human pressures. His pioneering work involved monitoring the daily fish catch of about 100 fishers that fished the coral reef surrounding Sumilon. He demonstrated that as long as the MPA (25% of total reef area) was protected from fishing, fishers had sustainable fish yields outside the MPA (75% of total reef area). However, protection of the Sumilon MPA failed after 10 years, which resulted in dramatic declines in fish catch. This led him to hypothesize that sustainable fish yields during the period of protection occurred because of ‘spillover’ or net export of adult fishes from the MPA to reef areas open to fishing. Further studies at Apo Island (not far from Sumilon), where he helped set up the first community-managed MPA in the Philippines in 1982, confirmed this hypothesis.”
For all these hard work, he was amply rewarded with recognitions and accolades. He received the Outstanding Sillimanian Award for Biology in 1988, and was also recipient of other honors, including the Outstanding Oriental Negrense Award in Science and Technology by the Province of Negros Oriental in 1991, the Gregorio Y. Zara Award in Applied Science by the Department of Science and Technology in 1991, the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation in 1992, the Field Museum Founders’ Council Award of Merit in 1994, the Outstanding Fulbright Award in Ecology by the Philippine American Educational Foundation in 1996, the Outstanding Dumagueteño in Science and Technology by the Dumaguete City Government in 1998, Honorary Fellow by the California Academy of Sciences in 1999, and Professor Emeritus for Biological and Marine Sciences by Silliman University in 2007.
In 2014, he was named a National Scientist of the Philippines.
Even in his twilight years, he continued to be of service to the community. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of Silliman University and was Director of the Silliman University-Angelo King Center for Research and Environmental Management. He was also Director of the Commission on Higher Education Zonal Research Center at Silliman University. But he was fully aware of the specific mark he made in his years of passionate work for biology and the environment: “Work on the conservation and management of the unique biodiversity, for which the Philippines is known, has given me a feeling of satisfaction that my academic degrees have been useful not only to me and my family but also to the country,” he once said.
Alcala married Naomi Lusoc in 1952, with whom he had six children. He died in Dumaguete City on 1 February 2023.
Labels: dumaguete, obituary, people, science
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Tuesday, November 01, 2022
End of a great musical era. RIP, Danny Javier. APO was a vital part of OPM, was its engine actually. But what I love was that they represented the country so well, demographically speaking. Jim was Luzon, Buboy was Visayas [from Dumaguete, actually], and Danny was Mindanao.
Labels: music, obituary, opm, philippine culture, singers
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Tuesday, October 25, 2022
4:53 AM |
Leslie Jordan, 1955-2022
This is sad because he was such a joyous hoot in everything he did, including his pandemic Instagram posts. Him sparring with Megan Mulally’s Karen Walker in Will & Grace was a constant delight.Labels: actors, celebrity, obituary
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Wednesday, October 12, 2022
6:18 PM |
Dame Angela Lansbury, 1925-2022
I first encountered her as an evil matriarch intent on political dominion even through the cold brainwashing of her own son in The Manchurian Candidate [1962]. And then I bumped into her again as a tart English housemaid giving Ingrid Bergman the side eye in Gaslight [1944]. In both depictions, no matter how astringent her characters, she struck me as somebody to love, to watch out for. That’s Dame Angela Lansbury’s star power: you see through the depictions and realize the movie star underneath. No wonder that for both roles mentioned, she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars, an honor she truly deserved as winner more than nominee [especially for that chilling 1962 thriller]. But when I finally saw [or more correctly: heard] her as Mrs. Potts in Beauty and the Beast [1991], where she would sing the iconic titular song, I was finally bowled over. What range! I never really followed her turn as the beloved Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote — I wasn’t really into following TV shows back in the day — but twelve seasons as that indefatigable detective points to her significant cultural cache. There have been other roles, many of them beloved — I particularly love her blustery drunk romance novelist in Death on the Nile [1978] — and for all that, she will be missed.Labels: celebrity, film, obituary
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Wednesday, July 06, 2022
4:51 AM |
Reuben R. Canoy, 1929~2022
Reuben Rabe Canoy was a fictionist, poet, screenwriter, film producer, radio host, lawyer, politician, and staunch advocate for Mindanao independence and federalism. He was born on 6 June 1929 in Cagayan de Oro City. He graduated with an AA degree from Silliman University in 1952, after spending his collegiate years in Dumaguete City pursuing the literary life: he was a huge part of Silliman's post-World War II generation of writers who went on to great critical acclaim in the mid-1950s, together with Edilberto Tiempo, Edith Tiempo, Aida Rivera Ford, Ricaredo Demetillo, Eddie Romero, and Cesar Jalandoni Amigo. He was editor-in-chief of the 1952 edition of 𝑆𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝐶𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑙, the university's literary journal, for which he was also known for contributing its now iconic emblem of a nude figure swimming underwater and gathering sand in their hands, which he designed in 1948. He published his fiction and poetry widely in national papers and magazines as well. In 1981, Leopoldo Y. Yabes would include his short story "Deep River" in the landmark anthology, 𝑃ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑆ℎ𝑜𝑟𝑡 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 1941-1955, published by the University of the Philippines Press.
After graduating with a law degree from UP, he dabbled in two different worlds: cinema and politics. In 1966, he was appointed Undersecretary for the Department of Public Information under the Presidency of Ferdinand E. Marcos, and also provided the story for fellow Sillimanian Eddie Romero's 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠, which is a film noir set in Dumaguete. He would later write the screenplay for Romero's B-movie horror film 𝑀𝑎𝑑 𝐷𝑜𝑐𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝐵𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝐼𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 [1968], where he was billed as Ruben Canoy, and for Amigo's 𝐵𝑎𝑏𝑎𝑒 𝑠𝑎 𝐿𝑖𝑘𝑜𝑑 𝑛𝑔 𝑆𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑛 [1976], which he also produced under his film outfit Ruben Canoy Productions. He also went on to write and produce Amigo's 𝑆𝑎 𝐷𝑢𝑙𝑜 𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑟𝑖𝑠 [1977].
While making headway into local film, he would become a member of the Marcos-era Batasan Pambansa. He would later run for mayor of Cagayan de Oro City, a position he held from 1971 to 1976. Together with fellow Mindanaoan politicians Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Homobono Adaza, he formed the Mindanao Alliance during the Marcos years, and the three became known for being outspoken critics of the Martial Law regime. Of the three, it was Canoy who first hogged the national limelight when he emerged as the lone opposition candidate in Northern Mindanao to win in the 1978 Batasan polls. [At that time, Batasan members were elected on a regional basis.] In 1981, however, the three allies parted ways because of political differences, and Canoy would go on to form the Social Democratic Party of the Philippines with 14 members of various opposition groups, hoping to begin building a unified opposition to the then 16-year-old rule of Marcos.
He used his knowledge from his early association with Marcos to write a book on Martial Law, titled 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑒𝑖𝑡 𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛: 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑙 𝐿𝑎𝑤 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑞𝑢𝑖𝑛𝑜 𝐴𝑠𝑠𝑎𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 [1984], which many took as Canoy's diatribe against 𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟 [1978], a book in which Marcos touted the ideological foundation of his authoritarian rule. Of this tome, the late National Artist F. Sionil Jose noted: "Canoy ... has first-hand knowledge of the Marcos regime because he was Undersecretary of Information, Presidential Action Officer, and Chairman of the Southern Philippines Development Authority. As a writer in the early days of the Martial Law regime, Canoy was privy to the machinations and backdoor dealings in the Palace. His book is not only authoritative but also illustrates how power operates and how it also fails. He called the Marcos dictatorship a counterfeit revolution because like most intellectuals in the fringes of power he realized soon enough the shortcomings of a presidency surrounded by relatives and cronies who profited from that dictatorship."
Canoy also wrote 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑄𝑢𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑎𝑜 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 [1989], where he began touting his dream for that island's political independence from the Philippines. He would also turn his attention to the issue of federalism, and once described the current unitary government as “a legacy of colonialism, whose centralized power suppresses democratic governance, thwarts local development and impedes nationalist progress.”
Canoy would continue writing even when he was deeply enmeshed in politics. He had a regular column for 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑃ℎ𝑖𝑙𝑖𝑝𝑝𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝐻𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑑. He also wrote two novels: 𝐼𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑓 𝐹𝑒𝑎𝑟 [1987], which is about an armed band roaming the countryside, posing as communist guerillas and terrorizing the rural folk, who are in reality members of an operation supported by American agents, high-ranking military officials, and right-wing businessmen; and 𝑇𝑒𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑃𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑒 [2006, co-written with his brother Nestor R. Canoy], which is about a good American caught in the webs of deceit by a dictator and the nefarious activities of the CIA.
He would run for President against Marcos in 1986, and in 1990 he was arrested and detained without warrant by the military for his alleged involvement in a coup staged in Northern Mindanao led by Col. Alexander Noble.
He was also a long-time radio personality. In 1952, he convinced his brother Henry to turn his fledgling radio station in CDO into a more powerful network. This became Radio Mindanao Network. Until his later years, Canoy would host an early morning radio program, “Perspective,” which ran for 64 years on RMN. In 1971, for his contributions to mass media, he would be conferred the Outstanding Sillimanian Award.
In 2013, he made a brief return to film when he was announced as one of the winners of the Genre Film Scriptwriting Competition organized by the Film Development Council of the Philippines, for his unproduced screenplay “The Unbelievers.”
He married Solona Torralba in 1953, with whom he had four children, Rhona, Chet, Marc, and Don.
He died on 5 July 2022.
For many of his avid radio listeners, he was known for his trademark sign-off: "Ang lungsod nga nasayod maoy makahatag og kusog sa demokrasya. Apan ang lungsod nga mapasagaron, maoy makapukan sa atong kagawasan. [The city that values knowledge is what gives strength to democracy. But the city that is foolhardy is what will destroy our freedom.]"
Labels: obituary, philippine literature, politics, radio, silliman, writers
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Friday, January 07, 2022
12:15 AM |
Manong Frankie
To paraphrase a famous quote from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, he lived long enough to find himself become a villain.
I’ve always steered clear of the National Artist at local lit events, even during those at his bookstore. I think my reservation came from the fact that I was there that one notorious Palanca night when he tore apart the winning play — in front of the young playwright and hundreds of people.
I never introduced myself to him for years, nor sought his company. But during my last visit to Manila before COVID hit [in January 2020], I answered his invitation to be his lunch guest at his house in Quezon City.
It was a great meal, to be honest. He was charming and accommodating — and that was my last living memory of him. But I had to sigh several times over the succeeding months every time he opened his mouth to opine — and out came things I disagreed with in vehemence. [Sigh.]
And now he’s gone, unfortunately remembered more as the cantankerous senior writer who kowtowed to a strongman than for his stories, some of which I genuinely liked. [I love “Progress.”] And I guess he’ll never win his coveted Nobel Prize for Literature ever.Labels: obituary, people, philippine literature
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Tuesday, July 13, 2021
2:29 PM |
Remembering Dennis Teodosio
I think the last time we saw each other, I was trying to bring your play Gee-gee at Waterina to Dumaguete, years and years ago, in 2007. I was grateful that Tanghalang Pilipino was finally able to bring it in, in a double bill with Chris Martinez’s Welcome to Intelstar. Your play was something I loved—I think I staged-read the part of Gee-gee once?—and I wanted to share its crazy queerness with Dumaguete. But we must have seen each other many other times, in the Palancas, for example, or for assorted literary stuff that required me to be in Manila. The first time we met was in Iligan in 2002, where we were fellows—and together with Glenn Sevilla Mas, we were notorious for postponing a workshop session because we wanted to watch Miss Universe. That was how persuasive we were as a trio. During the pandemic, I sometimes dreamed of someday going to Myanmar. “I could see Dennis again,” I told myself. Alas, it was not meant to be. Farewell, Jose Dennis Teodosio. Your passing was much too soon.Labels: death, friends, life, obituary, philippine literature, writers
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Friday, July 09, 2021
11:32 AM |
Writing the Artistic Dearly Departed
This opportunity for obit writing for the Cultural Center of the Philippines is such a humbling task. I’m learning so much about fantastic artists and cultural workers I didn’t even know before. [Like Rey Paz Contreras, who should be a National Artist for Sculpture.] And gaining huge respect for those I know only superficially. [Like the comedian Shalala Reyes.] I’m regularly kicking myself for being ignorant about them before they died. You also sense the struggles they went through just to do their work, often with the paltriest of recognition. Sometimes, in our research, the obits one finds online, if any, are so shallow [mostly consisting of embeds of social media posts by friends] — and one sadly realizes there really is no tradition of comprehensive obituary writing in the country. I’m glad CCP saw fit to devote an entire project to this.
You can find the Hanggang sa Muli website here. Labels: art and culture, artists, death, obituary, people, philippine culture, pop culture, writing
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Sunday, May 30, 2021
4:49 PM |
Sayang Kaayo Uy
Gaguol ko nga gisapot ko nga wala ko kasabot nganong ang mga but-an sa atong politiko maoy mawala, human katong mga walay tarong ug pa-gimik ra sige mao nooy asenso kaayo—og buhi pa gyud, Enrile-style. Naay nisulti nako katong Domingo nga nikalit ra og nipanaw si Vice Mayor Alan Gel Cordova, paghuman nako’g yawyaw sa kasayang: “Ang daotan nga sagbot lisud mamatay.” Tinuod baya pud—pero unta dili. Asa ang hustisya sa kapalaran? Makasapot.
Perteng sapota, maka-Binisaya na lang ko ahat para lalum ang kaladmon sa kaguol.
Wala’y tawo sa Dumaguete makatuo nga mawala ra kalit kanato ang atong Bise Mayor. Kung imo syang lantawon katong buhi pa sya, kusgan man sya, baskog—makita gihapon ang iyang pagka-sundalo sa iyang lihok og sa iyang panagway. Kabalo ko nga grabe sya mo ehersisyo—tig-boksing sya, tig-wrestle, tig-gym, tig-biseklita. Molantaw ka niya, og hayag pa gyud ang iyang kaugma-on.
Sa katuohan, nakita na nako siya sukad pa sa una nga posibleng mahimo sya nga umaabot nga mayor sa atong syudad. Daghang pa syang mahimo para kanato, makatarongan ang iyahang bisyon sa Dumaguete—interesado sa maayong pamalakad, mapahinunguron sa mando sa mga tawo, gadumot sa mga kinaraang pamaagi sa mga tradisyonal nga mga politiko. Usa sya ka “breath of fresh air” sa atong politika, mao nang independente sya, walay vested interests, lisud makorakot.
Kasayang kaayo.
Dili na nako mahinumduman kanus-a mi nagka-amigo ni Bise Mayor. Dugay na. Bag-ong konsehal pa sya ato, pero dili nako malimot ang iyang kamahigalaon—kanang mura’g dugay namong kaila bisa’g bag-o pa mo nagkita. Daghan na kong nadungog sa iyang maayong reputasyon pagka-konsehal. Sa tinuod pa, ang mga tawo dili man kaayo ilado nila ang mga konsehal, pero ilado kaayo si Alan.
Si Alan Gel S. Cordova usa ka abogado, propesor sa law, opisyal sa militar, army scout ranger, alagad sa publiko, ug nagsilbing Bise Mayor karon sa Dumaguete City. Natawo sya sa 12 Hunyo 1967 sa Dumaguete, og ni-eskwela sa St. Louis School, benepisaryo sya sa usa ka scholarship program, og ni-gradwar nga salutatorian sa elementarya og valedictorian sa hayskol. Nagpadayon sya og eskwela sa Philippine Military Academy [PMA] sa dili pa sya na-rekrut sa United States Military Academy sa West Point, New York. Didto sya ni-gradwar sa 1989, nakahuman og degree sa Economics. Nagpadayon sya og Law sa Silliman University, nahuman niya sa 2003, og nagsugod sya og pagka-abogado sa Dumaguete. Didto nagsugod ang iyang pangandoy nga makatabang sa mga tawo sa Dumaguete. Daklit syang ni-trabaho sa Bureau of Immigration, pero giamuma na niya ang iyang pangandoy nga maka-serbisyo sya sa syudad sa lain og mahagiton nga kapasidad. Shoestring budget ra ang iyang kaya, pero nilansar gihapon sya para mahimong konsehal sa 2007, usa ka independente nga kandidato—og nakadaog sya, naabot ang 8th nga puwesto gawas sa pulo. Napamatud-an dayon niya nga usa sya ka revolutionary force sa konseho.
Sa usa ka sinulat ni Siegfred Bueno Mison para sa Business Mirror katong 2018, mabasa nato ang binuhat ni Cordova: “As a new member of the city council in 2007, Alan worked long hours, engaged all the people in the city, and introduced game-changing ordinances. For instance, Alan turned representatives of POs NGOs, CSOs and other marginalized sectors as quasi-members of City Council standing committees. This simple yet unique innovation of allowing these sectors to debate on the floor, propose ordinances and author resolutions gives them an active voice in policy-making. The presence of these sectors theoretically made city ordinances more reasonable, more proactive, and genuinely responsive. In Alan’s words, their presence also 'provided accountability for councilors who otherwise are too lazy to think of solutions or even attend committee meetings.' The concept is so revolutionary that other local governments in the province are in fact introducing the same thing—sectoral representation although without voting rights.”
Tungod sa iyang maayong pamalakad, si Cordova nahimong ilado sa mga tawo, usa ka “man-of-the-people” ang iyang dungog sa masa, gidayeg sya sa iyang propesyonalismo, makinaugalingon nga huna-huna, ug tinuud nga pag-higugma para sa Dumaguete.
Padayong sulat ni Mison: “When asked what [was] his secret in winning elections despite the obvious lack of funds, he shared that there [was] no substitute for hard work. He did not take any short cuts for him to be known in the community. His passion to make things better [was] what [drove] him to serve... [He had] the charisma to be able to talk to all kinds of people. He [had] the boyish smile that [could] disarm the harshest critic. When he decided to run for public office, he wanted to be very different from the usual politicians who Alan consider[ed] as virtually indifferent to the plight of the ordinary Dumagueteño. Prior to entering government service, Alan felt that he and the ordinary mortals in his city were mere statistics in the eyes of the traditional politicians, something to be exploited come election time by way of dole-outs and political gimmicks. Alan neither belong[ed] to a powerful political family nor [did] he have vast financial resources to run a campaign using guns, goons, and gold. Alan simply worked hard.”
Sa 2010, nidalagan sya og pagka Bise Mayor. Nidaog sya sa edad nga 43, ang pinakabata nga napili sa eleksyon sa anang posisyon. Matud pa sa Negros Chronicle atong tuiga nga nakadaog sya: “Cordova [was] up against the old tradition of mediocre practices, like coming unprepared during sessions, deploying dilatory tactics if ordinances [were] against vested interests, appropriating money in a zippy if it concern[ed] their political supporters, absenteeism, tardiness, and downright ignorance of the basic law and rules. [He] was junked by political parties saying that 'he was not winnable,' thus like a lone ranger, he battled his way as an independent, thus proving that Dumagueteños do not care about political parties but the quality of the candidates.”
Sa 2013, naghandom sya nga mahimong Mayor, pero napildi. Kani nga kapakyasan wala nitarog niya. Nidalagan na pud sya para sa konseho sa 2016, og karon iyang nadakpan ang pinakataas nga puwesto, og gipadayon ra gihapon niya ang iyang kusgan nga kadasig para sa serbisyong pampubliko. Sa 2019, nidagan na pud sya pagka-Bise Mayor nga independente nga kandidato, og nidaog. Gipangutana sya sa MetroPost giunsa nya pag-balanse sa tanan niyang bulohaton og responsabilidad. Matud niya: “I try my best to be self-disciplined, and to persevere, especially when things get rough; the mind is much stronger than we give it credit for.”
Gikan sa nahaunang konsehal nga si Manuel Arbon: “In an unexpected turn of events, we suddenly lost Alan, our ever active Vice Mayor. I had known him as a fellow Louisian since my elementary days. I knew him even before he became an accomplished man and public servant, in his own right. I knew him even before politics. And though we may not have been always on the same side of local politics of late, Alan and I remained civil. I pray that we found a spot in our hearts to forgive each other for our respective differences. He will surely be missed by all those who admired him for who he was and for what he stood for. I will miss him, too.”
Gikan ni Konsehal Joe Kenneth Arbas: “To all of us who believe in a better Dumaguete, it’s very painful to lose Alan Cordova. I am proud to have served with him. In him I have realized that our hope for honest, sincere, and committed public service is not merely a dream. We all saw how he served us.”
Gasubo ang Dumaguete karon sa pagpanaw sa usa ka maayong tawo og sa usa ka bantogan nga alagad sa publiko.
Labels: dumaguete, obituary, people, politics
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Saturday, February 06, 2021
3:03 AM |
Christopher Plummer, 1929-2021
Captain Von Trapp has left us. It was that role in
The Sound of Music that introduced me, and I believe thousands of others as well, to Christopher Plummer [1929-2021]. I saw him as handsome, precise, and subtly sardonic, which is how I'd always think of him since then. Years later I'd learn about how he hated
The Sound of Music for what he thought was its bottomless capacity for the saccharine -- but that must have also been responsible for the glimmer of mischief in his eyes whenever he'd sing. It worked. He'd mellow in his regard of the film in later years, finally accepting the profound cultural phenomenon it has become and continues to be. That mellowness would seep into the deep humanity of his portrayals in films like
Beginners, for which he finally won an Oscar. Even when curmudgeonly, like in
All the Money in the World or
Knives Out, he was all of devilish charm. He was a singular man. He will be missed.
Labels: film, obituary, people
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Thursday, January 28, 2021
7:21 PM |
Cloris Leachman, 1926-2021
I was a late worshipper at the altar of Cloris Leachman [1926-2021], encountering her first, or so I thought, as the embittered, greedy, but funny Ida in
Malcolm in the Middle, in my younger years of earnest television-watching. That image of a devil-may-care old lady was what got scorched into my brain. And those glorious cheekbones. Turns out, I've seen—and loved—her before in Peter Bogdanovich's enduring classic
The Last Picture Show (1971), where she played Ruth Popper, a repressed housewife who has an affair with a high school senior, and for which she won an Oscar for best supporting actress. That recognition for high drama belied a comic genius, including stints in two Mel Brooks comedies,
Young Frankenstein (1974) and
High Anxiety (1977), and in the TV comedy classic
The Mary Tyler Moore Show, where she often stole the show as the erratic landlady to Mary and Rhoda. I loved her every time she appeared on the screen, be it TV or film. She also appeared in Quentin Tarantino'
s Inglourious Basterds [2009] as Mrs. Himmelstein, something I looked forward to seeing when her casting was announced [Cloris in a Tarantino flick!], but her scenes were cut from the theatrical release of the film. She will be missed.
Labels: film, obituary, people, television
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