Bigger-than-Life Sculptor - Jose Lazo Jr

                                                          PUL-OY (Breeze)

 San Vicente Ilocos Sur (Philippines) to the World Series

Bigger-than-Life Sculptor - Jose Lazo Jr 

"Artists, like Jun Lazo Jr, today face a common dilemma. Today’s technology has taken much of the illusions of artists, machines are taking over the sweet tedious task of creativity, mass production has made art cheap in the guise of affordability by the masses. And the magic of electronics has led people’s attention away from original and genuine works of art." - avr 

Dr Abe V Rotor

 

Sculptor Jose Lazo and his recent obra maestra – 12-foot concrete statue of St Francis of Assisi, 2017

He may not be the like of the sculptor of the lost Colossus of Rhodes, one of the wonders of the ancient world. Or the mysterious creator of the giant bird of Nazca in Peru, or the makers of the busts of four US Presidents chiseled on a whole face of Mt Rushmore. 

But he has the resoluteness and deep spirituality of a religious artist like Michelangelo who made the Pieta – Mary holding on her lap the dead Christ, her son, the most power sculptural work that moved the world to its knees. He has the sense of patriotism of Guillermo Tolentino, foremost Filipino sculptor who made the UP Oblation and the Bonifacio Monument in Caloocan – great works that made him National Artist.

Or that of the mystic imagination of Auguste Rodin who molded The Thinker. People who saw it say he is a living rock with mind, heart and soul. “Tap his knees and imagine yourself in his place.”

Sculptors have a singular vision other artists may not have. Give them a piece of rock or block of wood or a hill of clay and they bring down Mt Olympus, so to speak; heroes come alive in the middle of a square, deities become humans; unfinished works whole, like the armless Venus de Milo which exudes the deepest source of beauty because of her incompleteness.

But who are these sculptors, and how do they relate with contemporary times, more so with today’s postmodern art?

In my hometown, the classical sculptors are a dying breed, in fact many of them are gone – but their works remain immortal. Names like Boy Peralta, Norling Castillo, Lorenzo Mata, and Jose Lazo Sr, still ring whenever San Vicente is mentioned, a town just west of Vigan dubbed “Little Florence or a la Vatican.” Or Paete (Laguna) of the North, artisan center of spatial art of world class fame, or Angono (Rizal) art capital of the Philippines, town of another national artist, Botong Francisco.

The local fame however, lives on. In my younger days I knew artists in the older generation in our hometown. After years of absence I met Jun Lazo, son of a well-known sculptor. He is a prolific maker of bigger-than-life religious and secular icons, and a series of saints revered by thousands of faithful, especially during Holy Week. His works are found in altars, grottos, atop fence walls of churches, plazas and of course, many homes.

  

 

(Top left, clockwise). Mary Magdalene; twin statues – Christ about to be scourged. and St John the Baptist; two versions of the crucified Christ, Christ seated in pensive mood

 

Jun at work: concrete statue of Bernadette who witnessed Mary’s apparition at Lourdes, France; Jun renders the basic shape of Christ on the Cross with local tools

A BS Fine Arts graduate from the University of Northern Philippines, he had a stint as instructor in the same university taking over his father’s post after his untimely demise. But he opted to leave and became a full-time and free-lance sculptor of religious icons as well as heroes and prominent individuals.

Among his famous works is a monument of Andres Bonifacio leading the Philippine Revolution in 1889. The monument proudly stood for some time at the highway junction to Bangued and Narvacan coming from Manila, until it gave way to the elements and was never restored. Jun told me that it was painful to find out the sad fate of his work, especially because it represented a national hero revered not only by Filipinos, but the whole world. “It is as if something died in me.” He sighed. Losing a masterpiece has indeed a profound effect - such experience generates renewed challenge and greater resolve. 

 

Jun climbs a scaffolding to put the final touches of a replica of a cave where Mary appeared to young Bernadette at Lourdes, France.

I studied Jun’s works, and asked him what really motivates his passion as a sculptor. “Have you ever been in Lourdes to be able to make a replica of the miraculous place and event in a local setting?” He sensed my question even before I asked it. I wonder how an artist, practically all by himself, can make a giant statue. He sensed this, too, and showed me a picture of a 12-foot concrete statue of St Francis of Assisi, patron saint of ecology and environment. “You have to work fast before the concrete mix hardens.” 

“When does an artist write finish, and put down his tools? Who has the final say?” Jun was silent. In commercial art it’s the patron. Historically, in ancient times and in the Middle Ages, the Renaissance notwithstanding, the patrons of art paid high for premium works, their imprimatur putting high value to such works, and the artists on the other hand, gain recognition and fame. Such is the case of Michelangelo, Da Vinci, and later in the field of painting, Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso, and on our part of the globe, Luna, Amorsolo, Ocampo, Alcuaz, and others. 
.
It reminds me of Michelangelo’s David, a huge marble statue of King David in his youth carrying the symbolic slingshot that killed Goliath. Soon after the statue was formally presented, Michelangelo’s patron commented, “His nose is a bit large.” Though adamant the great sculptor climbed the statue to fix it. Cleverly he put in his pocket marble dusts and pretended chiseling the nose to the satisfaction of his patron. The truth is that Michelangelo did not change his masterpiece a bit. 

The case of Rodin’s monument of Honore Balzac, France's greatest novelist, was different. While in the making, Rodin’s students visited the great sculptor in his studio and praised his on-going work. “Oh, master what real, beautiful hands! The hands alone make this work a masterpiece.” 

Instead of being elated Rodin got an axe and cut off the hands of his icon and said, “In art, no part is greater than the whole.” Today the monument of Balzac without arms proudly stands in a plaza.

Jun, as he is popularly called, is the “Last of the Mohicans” so to speak, referring to the theme of the novel by Fennimore Cooper, of a dying breed of a noble race, the Native Americans who were ultimately conquered and displaced from their domicile by foreign invaders from the West.

Art today faces a similar dilemma. Today’s technology has taken much of the illusions of artists, machines are taking over the sweet tedious task of creativity, mass production has made art cheap in the guise of affordability by the masses. And the magic of electronics has led people’s attention away from original and genuine works of art. 

Go to a store of religious items; watch the faithful carry icons during procession; examine medals, scapulas, brooches; go to the mall and have a cursory study of beauty in the corporate world; pause for a selfie; visit museums and exhibits, and so on. 

How art has changed. Yes, in a material world. In a world of fleeting moments, And if we seem to be drifting away with change - aimless, chartless, feeling uneasy and not finding peace inside us, we might as well look back and seek comfort in what makes us humane – the Humanities. 

Humanities is never considered a science, in fact it is a recourse from too much use of the left brain, the seat of reason. Humanities doesn’t deal with equations and logic, it’s the right brain taking us to the greatest height of imagination we call creativity. Creativity is the foundation of originality. And in art you can’t be wrong, because it is theory, your theory. And there is no judge better than you. 

Go over the original works of artists – amateurs and professional. Then look into you own works, and you will better appreciate Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Tolentino, et al, and their students, Jun Lazo among them. And innumerable potential artists waiting to be tapped -- you among them. 

 

Sculptor Jose Lazo Jr (left) and author take time out before a wall-to-floor mural painted by the latter at his residence in San Vicente Ilocos Sur.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Jose Lazo Jr is a native of San Vicente, Ilocos Sur. He comes from a family of professionals, his two sisters are a nurse and a care giver, and his brother a medical doctor. He has three children, all professionals too, in the fields of business management, nursing and information technology. While art runs in the family, it is Jun who found art a lifetime career and profession. ~

Abercio V. Rotor, Ph.D.  Website: avrotor.blogspotspot.com  .

Uncle Cippi, Born Naturalist

                                                                   PUL-OY (Breeze)

San Vicente IIocos Sur (Philippines) to the World Series

 Uncle Cippi, Born Naturalist 

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature - School on Blog

We, boys in our time, soon after the war ended, found ourselves a bit of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer who knew well how to catch fish and crabs with bare hands, drop a bird from its perch with slingshot, hook a purong (mullet) with roasted lumot (alga) as bait - among many other skills that would qualify us today to take a survivor's test.

Faded photo of the late Uncle Cippi, grassroots' naturalist 

It is because we were disciples of a ranger in his own right, self-taught and tempered in the field and wildlife, and along the Busiing River that runs like the Mississippi River in Mark Twain's novels. He built the most accurate slingshot - perfect-Y, the most sensitive fishing pole that quivers at the slightest touch, and bird trap (taay) that ensnares small and big birds alike. 

He would point at the North Star or Big Dipper in a starry evening, "You won't get lost at sea, just consult the stars."  And he would tell the phase of the moon, when ipon (dulong) would enter the sabangan (mouth  of the river), or the mother bangus arrives to spawn.     

Believe me, Uncle Cippi - a title for being a distant relative of my dad, and trusted guide - knew when a typhoon is coming just by looking at the sunset, if rain would spoil our sipa game in the afternoon, pointing at the hovering dragonflies, or know if a suha (pomelo) is sweet or sour or bitter just by glance. "We have to walk fast," he would urge us curious at many things in the field, pointing at the drooping leaves of the acacia. Dusk is a time of the kibbaan and the unseen. Angelus is holy. Supper brings the family together. And he would be telling all these to us kids in low tone as we quickened our pace home.  

        

"Don't go near that hole," he would warn us.  A snake could be hiding.  He knew if it's a rat tunnel. "See how smooth the entrance is?"  And we would retreat to arm ourselves with stick or anything. "No," he would calm us down.  "He is harmless, just leave him alone." And when we became cautious with the large holes on the river bank, he explained, "These are holes of burrowing crabs (gammarong). And he would set bamboo traps over the holes. (You can keep a gammarong as pet - just tie it around its carapace in a damp place and feed it regularly with morsels. This, he taught us, too.)  

We would comb the riverbank for kappi (small crabs), shrimps and fish, picking along the way edible fruits of tul-tullaya (herbaceous weed), applas (wild fig), and during summer longboy (duhat), bugnay, salamagi (tamarind), and to quench our thirst, sugarcane or coconut. 

Who would think of the sun going down fast?  Then we would go home and dad would be waiting at the gate. But on seeing Uncle Cippi with us, his anxiety and fear would soon vanish. And he would offer an ungot (coconut shell cup) of basi wine to our day's guardian, and listen to our day's adventure, looking at us with pride and appreciation. 

Monument of Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, 

characters in Mark Twain's famous novels. 

It was purong time. Old and young tried their luck in fishing near the bridge going to San Sebastian, the farthest barrio.  Historically this is the Bantaoay River  where the Basi Revolt of 1807 took place.  The river has not changed as history tells us, and it has not changed since we were kids. Oh, how nostalgic it is to visit the scene in old age!

There I see myself hooking a purong - probably half a kilo but with deceiving heavy pull. I see my late brother hooking one fish after another. Now he has a dozen, but all medium. Then Uncle Cippi lands a big one after a struggle with the fish tiring itself.  You can hear a chorus of hurrah!  Along the bank and across the river, and clapping that joins the lapping of the shore. Our fishing guru bears a broad smile and takes off his wide brim hat.   

We had no camera. But the image remains fresh and vivid to this day. There was no trophy. But there was a champion - a champion of all time. A champion of boys growing up fast and strong to face the world of men. 

Seventy years had passed.  I asked my sister if she can find a picture of our hero.  She sent me a worn out photo of his, seated on a wooden cart we once rode - the cart that took us boys to reach our dreams.~   

Uncle Cippi's influence on me to become a naturalist and writer can be found in this book.

------

Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Dr Abe V Rotor and Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 Evening Class, Monday to Friday

Sister Mamerta Rocero SPC, PhD - A Religious for All Seasons

PUL-OY (Breeze)

San Vicente IS to the World Series

Sister Mamerta Rocero SPC, PhD - A Religious for All Seasons

By Dr. Abe V. Rotor

Last photo with the author at the Vigil House, Taytay Rizal.

Death of St Paul stained glass, Vigil House where Sister Mamerta

spent the last years of her fruitful life.

St Paul of Chartres cemetery, Antipolo - resting place of

Sister Mamerta overlooking Marikina Valley -

“The undulating valley below,
The river serpentine, a moving silver sheen,
Take my breath away in the ecstasy of their beauty,
Because You are in them, Lord.”

- Sister Mamerta Rocero,SPC
Because You are in Them, Lord

Close your eyes and you can see the imagery – that inner mind, in the quaintness of Amorsolo, stillness of Corot, freshness of Renoir, faithfulness of Rembrandt and passion of Van Gogh.

Yet it is the last line that gives meaning to all these attributes – Because You are in them, Lord. It is submission, reverence; it is prayer.

Sister Mamerta, being a religious, takes us to fathom deeper the meaning of a poem. Shakespeare is perhaps the ultimate in classical style and richness of words – she can’t compare with that. The Brownings may be the most romantic in the world of poetry – she may fall short of that, too. Edgar Allan Poe’s abandon (Annabelle), Lord Byron’s melody, Whitman’s vernacular – her poems may only have a shade of these. But she exudes here and there Alexander Pope’s morals (A little learning is a dangerous thing), Robert Frost’s simplicity (And miles to go before I sleep…), Longfellow’s values (The Arrow and the Song), and Shelley’s musical lines (To a Skylark).

She can take you to meditation like in Thomas Gray’s masterpiece, Elegy on a Country Churchyard. Her poetry, like John Keat’s, possesses an urgent cause and awareness that beauty exists in a world “where pain is never done.” Yet unlike this medieval English poet, Sister Mamerta finds hope, radiating hope to any suffering.

"I meet the poor, the suffering,
the abandoned, the unwanted –
And my heart, deeply touched,
Goes out to them –
Because You are in them, Lord."

She may not all agree of grace falling down like manna from heaven. The moral is her poetry is for man to find God, for He is everywhere. But who is this God in her poetry? It is a universal God of goodness, goodness in the true sense of Christian philosophy, Christianity in action. It is the essence of the Messiah, of Matthew 25 (What you have done to the least your brethren, you have done it to me.)

You may find Him hidden in some abandoned hospital ward…
He may be the shrunken little woman, sitting all alone…
Nay, He may be the frustrated man with ambitions thwarted,
Or the humbled rich so suddenly bereft of his great wealth.

And so, you will find the Lord, not amidst glitter and wealth.
- Sis. Mamerta Rocero, Recognize Him

Browsing over her poems, one is lead to think that ours is a fatalistic world. Artists generally are like that. The more they perceive their subject to the core, the more intense their expression becomes. Suffering is dominant ingredient of art, and one can unmistakably perceive its expression, say in Eugene de la Croix’s colors of black and red in Victory Leads the People, or in Pablo Picasso’s plaza mural, Guernica that inflamed a revolution in the Basque territory of Spain, his mother country. One is familiar of course with Vincent van Gogh’s painting of Starry Night, which was transcribed into a song – Vincent - more than a century after his death.

Gleaming on the lighter side, our poetess exudes the touch of naturalism, the healing secret of a doctor who attends kindly to her patient, whose assurance for recovery comes first before the book and technology. She draws imagery from the inner self where tranquility resides – and springs in times of haste and trouble.

“The mountains before me –
majestic, verdant-hued,
their cascading, glistening falls,
envelope me with awe
and sheer wonder…”

Sister Mamerta is a living witness of man’s inhumanity to man during the Second World War. But you can only glimpse like through a keyhole the sufferings of war in her writings. It takes a contrite yet courageous heart to take the road to forgiveness and bury the past. Yet she warns that history has the capability of repeating itself, and shares with Wilfred Owen’s The Pity of War or Ernest Hemingway’s Farewell to Arms, the tragedies of Shakespearean dramas, notwithstanding.

How about the pessimism of Matthew Arnolds who foresaw the dark side of industrialization that molded our modern world? Arnolds laments -

"To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night."

- Matthew Arnold, Dover Beach

How frail is human! But how does Sister Mamerta look at this prophesy-come-true? This is what divides the grains - whole and broken. More people see the broken grains of life. No, not our Paulinian laureate. “I would rather look at John Donne,” she said. Donne wrote, encompassing the heritage he left to the world. When somebody dies, a little in each of us also dies – because humanity is interrelated, it is one.

And from here Sister Mamerta, riding on Donne’s philosophy almost always makes reference to afterlife. She is at the forefront of values formation and reformation, while writers most often talk about here and now, of this earthly life, its realities and fantasies. True to her mission as a Paulinian, she believes that one must prepare his soul’s journey to everlasting life. But earn he must, for neither by a Tower of Babel nor material affluence can one be able to reach that beautiful destiny. The mortal part of our being, is but the springboard to this great, remarkable travel, which all peoples - irrespective of culture and religion – firmly believe in. This is universal faith that binds the human species. The core of our being as Homo sapiens is therefore, our spirituality.

"You’ve need to ask His grace and His spirit of enlightenment,
If you have to pierce through the clouds hiding Him from view -
But the reward is great – He is there waiting to embrace you!"

Indeed, an unsung saint has spoken in the beauty of poetry and in the peace of a cloistered life, candle light streaming through the convent’s window. Out there the wind blows and blows on some mountain tops and down into the valley. And dawn is a child.

Author’s Note: This article is dedicated to the memory of Sister Mamerta Rocero, SPC, who died on January 7, 2009 at the age of 93. This is a critique of her poems and verses which I obliged upon her request five years before her death.

Sister Mamerta wrote eight books: two in poetry, two essays (Talking with God and His Friends, and God Bless the Family)), a compilation of her speeches, a biography of her late sister, Sister Mary Nathaniel Rocero, SPC, also a Ph.D. holder, (My Sister Mary Nath), and several scientific papers. Ethnobotany of the Itawes, her doctoral dissertation earned the honor of meritissimus from the University of Santo Tomas. It was published by the National Museum in 1985. I have known Sister Mamerta since I was a child in our hometown, San Vicente, Ilocos Sur. She and my father were cousins on the maternal side, Roberonta.

Sister Mamerta and relatives; with the author, at the Vigil House, QC. 

Posted by Abe V. Rotor at 7:59 PM 


2 comments:
Cor Invictus said...

Sr. Nathaniel was my instructor and she once said that she can teach any subject from Kinder to Doctorate. It sounds unbelievable or even a "yabang" but to those who know her, they are not surprised with what she said which is true. Sr. Nathaniel also spoke Niponggo, a basketball/volleyball referee, music-minded but cannot play the piano. (She used to ask for the help of the late Sr. Clarissa.) She was strict and always urged us to speak English. We need more Sr. Mary Nathaniel Rocero these days, a Summa Cum Laude yet very humble but multi-talented. She was very close to me and even asked me to teach college in St. Paul Vigan. You are now in God's hand Sister and I missed your friendship!January 23, 2010 at 3:19 AM
Cor Invictus said...

May I add that Sr.Emily Louise del Castillo, SPC from Vigan, now an assistant provincial for formation of the Sisters of St. Paul de Charte was also the student of Sr. Nathaniel and the late Sr. Eustacia Joseph Rosal, SPC, another daughter of San Vicente, Ilocos Sur.January 27, 2010 at 8:08 AM

Fredelito L Lazo Story teller, playwright, teacher, public servant, rolled in one

PUL-OY (Breeze)

San Vicente Ilocos Sur to the World Series

Renaissance Man: Fredelito L Lazo 

Story teller, teacher, public servant, rolled in one

Dr Abe V Rotor

 Classmate in elementary at San Vicente Central School (now San Vicente Integrated School 1952-57); high school at the Colegio de la Immaculada Concepcion  (CIC, now Divine Word College of Vigan, Ilocos Sur,  1958-1961)

Three-in-one is a rare phenomenon in a person: multi-awarded literary writer and playwright,  dynamic teacher, and dutiful public servant. 

We don't have to go far to find that person; he is here, a native of a relatively small town - San Vicente, Ilocos Sur, a hike west of Vigan, the provincial capital.  He is indigenous, a true Ilocano, in his everyday dealings with the public as provincial secretary; in his literary compositions of short stories and stage plays about local people, places and events; and in his methodology of instruction as a high school teacher.  

Fredelito L Lazo

Lito, as we, his classmates in elementary and high school, call him, is the silent type of a person, nonetheless friendly and helpful.  They say that it is in solace that one draws out creative thoughts, soaring into the depths only the imagination can reach. It is also a retrospection for memories come afresh and alive. In both cases creativity flourishes in dichotomy with the faculty of reason, converging into the making of a masterpiece. 

Creativity is a gift.  But more than that, it is a gift well earned. And it has a price - and a prize as well. Indeed, this is life's mystery. A painful experience becomes a story of courage, tragedy turns to victory, loneliness leads to a soulful communion with the Creator. Doubt traces an untrodden path. "Sweet is sweeter after pain," said our English teacher, Mrs Socorro Villamor. She would recite William Cullen Bryant's 

To a Waterfowl.  And she would ask us to memorize this chosen stanza.

"He who, from zone to zone, 

Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, 

In the long way that I must tread alone, 

Will lead my steps aright. "

Lito would recite the stanza, and each of us in class would do the same.  We compared the theme with that of  Percy Shelly's To a Skylark.  They are prayers, and the message is one -  that throughout our life wherever we go God is going to be with us, guiding us down the right path.

In our age of electronics, I would liken Lito to the brave warrior in A Never Ending Story, for Lito has gone through difficult stages of life and even reached the "edge of Fantasia," where reality and fantasy divide, where the greatest enemy is oneself.  But it is by overcoming this enemy that we truly earn a place on the highest rung of the Maslow's Ladder, that of self-actualization. It is through this rough and thorny road that made Lito win literary awards, four in short stories published in Bannawag, the leading Ilokano weekly magazine. It is through this experience that he earned a respectable position in the local government, and for becoming an effective mentor. 

These are but the later chapters of life. The Second World War erupted as he came into this world, a war baby, and when peace finally returned after four tumultuous years, the task of rehabilitation denied him, like many of us kids in his time, the comforts of childhood, but instead tempered him to face the realities of life - an initiation to Robert Frost's famous line, "And miles to go before I sleep; and miles to go before I sleep." 

  

Three institutions Lito worked with and served the people - old and young alike, in the true spirit of  an Ilocano: Ilocos Sur National High School; Benito Soliven Academy, Sto. Domingo, Ilocos Sur; and the Provincial Capitol of Ilocos Sur.  

The plot of Lito's personal life is the basis of many of his stories and stage plays (zarzuela), the original people's telenobela of today. His writings and plays reflect him as a disciple of positivism, an ability to hold back the dark side, and instead project the bright one.  It projects the heroes in Ernest Hemingway's stories, and the adventurous kids of Mark Twain.  It is the determination in treasure hunting in Robert Louis

Stevenson stories, and the drummer boy who never learned to beat the sound of retreat. 

Bannawag (Liwayway Tag) is the leading Ilokano weekly magazine.

Writers take us to the realm of detachment and contemplation, a characteristic of the great writers such as Russian short story writer, Anton Chekov, who is immortalized in a statue in Kiev, Ukraine, and that of sculptor Auguste Rodin's The Thinker. Well, we all experience such moment, but there are those who are sensitive in capturing a fleeting idea - Carpe diem, in The Dead Poet Society. From a writer this "spark of genius" grows into a literary flame. Call it in other terms - expression, awakening, erudition - or institutional titles like Dawn, Arise, Eureka!    

Imagine how an artist would teach the varied subjects in high school.  Literature, humanities and English would be fine, but how about the other subjects? There is no conflict about that. Experts say, generalization now; specialization later. But today, there's a growing demand for the return of Liberal Arts - a revival of a balanced left and right brain tandem. It is a global renaissance in education. This is where Lito the teacher, has advantage over teachers in general. Liberal art is putting values in education, values that make the student not just a learned biological being, but as an enlightened member of humanity with the finest in character towards himself, his fellowmen, Nature, and his Creator.  
---------------------------

Today, there's a growing trend to return to Liberal Arts - a revival of a balanced left and right brain tandem, the key to the wholeness of the human being.  It is a global renaissance in education. 

---------------------------
We can't help but go back to the wisdom the Greeks handed to the whole world: Philosophy is traced to Socrates, idealism to Plato, and naturalism to Aristotle. Then there is a truth-searching Diogenes, a serendipitous Archimedes, a master story teller Homer, and a great warrior laying the cornerstone of global order, Alexander. Finally, there is the Academia, the forerunner of the university, the seat of wisdom. 

The relevance of this citation is far-reaching, but it is reflected in the life and works of Lito.  Lito is an idealist, and yet real, for how can one serve the public sans the Grecian touch? To teach without mythology?  It is said that "legends make us heroes, and myths gives us wings." How can we reach out for the grassroots, without popular drama, something the masses can identify themselves to be a part of a drama - on or off the stage - in Shakespeare's adage, "The world is a stage and every one of us has a role to play."    

But Lito has yet to hurdle another test - that of the infirmities of old age, romantically the golden years. Following his retirement he has never truly stopped.  On his study table await stories and plays to write and complete. A loving wife guides him in his walk. With five successful children, and grandchildren, his mailbox and e-mail, are never wanting of good cheer. The community holds high esteem of him.  His students have become teachers like him, public servants, and writers, albeit other careers. "Once a teacher, always a teacher," but to Lito, "a teacher builds teachers." It is passing on the torch of wisdom and character.      

Through a window of a simple home, amid a happy family in a small town, the night is darkest before dawn. It is also a candle's greatest hour. ~

Atty Santiago "Tata Ago" Robinol, advocate of the sixth sense of the law

PUL-OY (Breeze)

San Vicente Ilocos Sur (Philippines) to the World Series

Atty Santiago "Tata Ago" Robinol

- Advocate of the sixth sense of the law

"He excelled in the interpretation of the law on the grassroots."

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

To his kababayan (townmates) and his numerous clients, he was known as Tata Ago, with emphasis on his nickname, contracted Santiago who, many people may not know as James - St James or Santiago, preacher and martyr of the church.*

But Tata Ago was not the religious we know, that's too assuming and doctrinaire if justice is to be fought for and in behalf of the faithful - the grassroots who quite settle into penitence and asceticism - or silence - in lieu of fundamental human right - the right for justice. Social justice. 

Graduation photo on finishing law and passing the bar soon after, from Manuel L Quezon University then the primer law school in the country.  He was only 28, idealistic and full of dreams.  He run for mayor in his hometown although he knew well the fate of a neophyte in traditional politics. After recovering from defeat he furthered his studies at the University of Southern California for a masteral degree. He returned and landed as a public servant in Comelec, a job he did not find excitement and challenge.  He went into private law practice and became an institution in his own right. 

The arena is no longer the amphitheater or the cathedral, or some fortress, but a room called the hall of justice where the search for truth is governed by  proper conduct and inspired by  principles of human society - liberty, brotherhood  and equality. Which means that the law must uphold these principles.

But these are beyond the comprehension of common people. And this is where Tata Ago excelled: the interpretation of the law on the grassroots, particularly criminal and civil law. Tata Ago is a kind and considerate man, with a Solomonic psychology as in the case of two mothers claiming for the same baby.  When the king threatened to cut the baby in half, the impostor said, go ahead.  But the real mother said, no, let the baby live, give it to her.  

Or Lincolnian compassion. When a boy soldier was presented for deserting the union army and was condemned to hanging, the kind president said, give him some spanking and send him home.  Breaking the law may be resolved by the letter, but the future of the young man was more important. 

On one occasion Tata Ago was relating the life of the hero of Les Miserables by Victor Hugo who was thrown into the dungeon for stealing bread. I thought that was one of the casual stories on a Saturday afternoon. But he continued.  There was this boy who also committed the same crime and was brought to justice. Upon pleading guilty and showing remorse, the judge said, Society can't just coolly take cognizance of the law in the face of extreme poverty.  He took his hat put a dollar and passed on to everyone in the court. The collection was given to the boy. Of course this is just an anecdote, but Tata Ago could have been a good judge.   

And would Sherlock Holmes be impressed with investigative cases Tata Ago handled? There's one thing that can't pass through his scrutiny - the evasion of justice however "perfect the crime may look." Face it, the law is not intended to shield a crime.  Tata Ago's jaw tightened and the suspect submitted to a plea. 

What greater role does a lawyer play but the prevention of crime? There on his front yard in San Vicente or in Providence Village in Marikina, he was a teacher not so much on the fundamentals of law but the sixth sense of the law.  That is, the potential of crime must be removed to prevent its commission. Like medicine, prevention has no substitute. Which means only one thing practical for everybody: be a good citizen.  Strive to be one always.

Young people, aspiring to pursue their career used to consult Tata Ago.  For he was a model in town particularly San Vicente a small community where looking for a model may not take one to the likes of legal luminaries in the books.  But the local model is not without the qualities of a Recto, Marcos, Saguisag, Roco, Rojas (another model of the town, regional director of NBI), and the vision of those non-lawyers who even surpassed those in the profession.

There is always a disturbing question raised to those people who rose to fame.  And that is, Have you changed the world?  Of course it is a gross, unkind expectation, but this leads one to examine his contribution to the betterment of life.  Victor Frankl in his book, A Search for Meaning, confirmed that those who held on to their hopes and dreams mostly survived the concentration camp. We are in a kind of concentration camp, not to merely escape but help others, too.  Tata Ago was like that, no doubt.

And when he was about to take the armchair to spend more time with his family - a loving wife and four beautiful children all raring to pursue their careers, tragedy struck.

I would like to stop here.  As a chronicler I find it difficult to shift from a happy story to a sad one, from the ideal to the cruel reality of life, the momentum set for a lifetime to end abruptly, inconsolable, irreparable, tragedy beyond any definition of the word. Beyond any explanation.  Beyond any answer.  How we wish heaven has an answer to our tragedies. 

Two of the children died in a fire that razed their house in Marikina, with the eldest son braving the fire to save his sister. It’s a dead end, Tata Ago, Nana Carolina and the surviving children faced.  Silence in gloom is perhaps the most difficult thing to bear. Time stood still, neither can it bring back the past nor pave a clear path and direction.

Tata Ago lived to 82.  On his wake my wife and I joined our townmates to pay tribute to the fallen old man, a relative both on Cecille's side and mine.  I played on the violin Meditation  during the blessing. Méditation is a symphonic intermezzo from the opera Thaïs by French composer Jules Massenet. The piece is written for solo violin and orchestra,1894.

The final melody of Meditation sounded like dirge, lament in the deepest sense for losing a man who stood up for the dignity of the legal profession, who remained a model of aspiring young men and women to take up law, and practice law in its finest, incorruptible and indelible in the annals of history and the hearts of men - and shining like the legendary compostela.~

    
* NOTE: The name Santiago goes back to the Apostle James (Saint James = Santiago) who went to this most north-western part of Spain, called by the Romans "Finis Terrae", "end of the world", to preach and convert people to Christianity.

After returning to Palestine in 44 a.C., he was taken prisoner by Herodes Agrippa and tortured to death. The king forbid to bury him, but in the night Jacob's disciples stole the body and brought him, in a sarcophagus of marble, on board of a small boat. The current of the sea drove the boat to the Spanish coast, into the port of the Roman province's capital, Iria Flavia. Here the Apostle was buried at a secret place in a wood.

Centuries later, in 813, the hermit Pelayo listened music in that wood and saw a shining. For this shining the place was called, in Latin, "Campus Stellae", field of the star, name that was later on turned into Compostela.

* Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio 738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class Monday to Friday 

Nicholas L. Rosal: "Beyond the Crossroad of Philosophy and Theology"

PUL-OY (Breeze)

San Vicente Ilocos Sur Philippines to the World Series

Nicholas L. Rosal: "Beyond the Crossroad of Philosophy and Theology"*

Philosophy takes us to the highest plane of reason, whereas theology takes us to that of faith. Can a philosopher be a theologian, and vice versa? Can a learned person embrace both, their similarities and differences?

By Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

   

Two books written by Dr Nicholas L Rosal. "Understanding an Exotic Language: Ilokano" is the counterpart of "Balarila in Pilipino," a scholarly guide to technical Ilokano."Handbook of Miracles is a valuable guide on how to understand what true miracles are and how they relate to the ultimate purpose of our existence -- eternal life in heaven." (Msgr. Armando Perini, the author's former pastor, Edison, N.J.)

Two most important words in the house of learning are philosophy and theology, in either sequence. The science of man and the science of God.

Philosophy takes us to the highest plane of reason, whereas theology takes us to that of faith.

Can a philosopher be a theologian, and vice versa? Can a learned person embrace both, their similarities and differences?

When Albert Einstein, the greatest mind in modern times, was asked, “What more can you not understand, Mr. Einstein?”

The man behind the splitting of the atom, and adjudged Man of the Twentieth Century, answered in all humility, “I understand just a little about the atom; all things else, only God can understand.” It is manifestation of deep faith in Higher Principle, above that of science.

On the other side of the coin, so to speak, when Pope Francis was bombarded with questions on ethico-morals confronting our postmodern world, he answered calmly and hushed the audience, “Who am I to be your judge.” And he led the faithful to a prayerful meditation. It is deep philosophy, humbling everyone with the biblical lesson, “He who has no sin throws the first stone.”

And Mahatma Gandhi, Man of the Millennium brought not only man to his knees, but a whole proud nation that was once the biggest empire on earth – “The sun never sets on English soil,” through asceticism and non-violence – terms that cannot explain the force that liberated India from centuries of human bondage, undoubtedly the power of the of the Human Spirit.

To this day, no one can truly explain how one man – simple, frail, devoid of the tools of war – succeeded in leading India to independence, and preserving democracy in this subcontinent with more than a billion in population. Similarly, how Nelson Mandela liberated his country South Africa from British colonial rule. Lately too, the great achievement and sacrifice behind the canonization of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and John Paul II.

Milton's query: If Paradise was lost because of man's disobedience, was it regained in his absence?

Our subject, a philosopher and theologian, Dr Nicholas "Charito" Llanes Rosal, must have reflected on the lives of these great men, the epitome of human values, the models the world looked up to, that produced equally great men and women, including our own, Dr Jose Rizal, and Jose P Burgos. He certainly found inspiration from the life and works of one of the most learned Doctors of the Church – San Vicente de Ferrer, patron saint of his hometown.

Dr Rosal (Fr. Charito) was a St. Thomas Aquinas scholar, having finished a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, and a doctoral degree in Sacred Theology (STD, Magna cum Laude) from the University of Santo Tomas

If there is more to add to his rich educational background it is a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Merrill School of Journalism in the US, where at the same time became a university professor. Dr Rosal taught Christology at St. Francis College in Brooklyn, moral theology at St John’s University, and contemporary moral problems at Loyola University in Chicago. He is the only Filipino preacher for the National Propagation of Faith under Bishop Fulton Sheen, and on many occasions he conducted recollections for priests, which we call spiritual retreat.

As a child I looked up to Uncle Charito, as I called him then, I will always remember one summer vacation when his family played quartet classical music in violin and piano, and I was there imagining of Vienna in its glorious days.

How time flies…

Years passed. On knowing that he was residing in New Jersey, I dropped at his place on my way back from Canada to the Philippines via the US. That was in July 1976, exactly 33 years since I saw him last in our hometown.

A span of thirty-three years is significant in the Christian world – it was the age of Christ when he died. So with great men like Alexander the Great, Amadeus Mozart, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Schubert, while others found themselves at a crossroad of life. I belong to the latter category, lost and perplexed.

I have been a disciple of the Three Wise Men, Magi or sages in their time, powerful and wealthy as kings, for which they are often referred as The Three Kings, and to whose honor we celebrate their feast day on January 6, and until lately, every first Sunday of January.

In one of my readings I came across the life of the great explorer and missionary Dr Albert Schweitzer. When Albert was young he asked his parents and teachers whatever happened to the three kings, after seeing the Baby Jesus, and presenting Him precious gifts.

Where were they during the years of His mission, when He was persecuted and condemned to die. What did they contribute to Christianity? Well, to humanity? The young Schweitzer was greatly bothered that he took upon himself the challenge to become a missionary. First he studied medicine and became a doctor, and humanities specializing in organ music. Thereafter he set foot on the largely unexplored interior of the Black Continent which is Africa. Another great man who followed his footsteps was Dr David Livingstone. He too, became one of the world's greatest explorers and missionaries.
There is a story related to the Three Wise Men - The Fourth Wise Man. It is a story about a man who lost his way to join the caravan of the three wise men mentioned in the bible. He never found the infant Jesus, neither the child Jesus, nor Jesus in his mission.

He had been helping people all along the way, living in a colony of lepers, healing them, helping them rise over ignorance and poverty. For 33 long years.

He lost all hope of finding Jesus. He became a very sick man. There was no news from the three wise men, who were said to have seen and given gifts to the Holy Child. He learned that his father had died, so he released his servant to be a free man.

A more detailed story goes like this.

“Artaban is a young Magus (Wise Man) who desires to follow the star to the birthplace of the coming King, against the counsel of his friends and family. Carrying three precious jewels to give to the baby Messiah, Artaban and his reluctant servant Orontes set off to join the caravan of the three other wise men. They miss the caravan, but Artaban continues the search for his King, always one step behind. Artaban spends much of his remaining wealth and all of his energy helping the poor and unfortunate people he meets, until at the end of his life he finally finds Jesus--at His trial! Has Artaban wasted his life in a foolish quest? Will he ever get the chance to present his gifts to the King? “

- Written by Yortsnave The Other Wise Man

The path beaten by Artaban leads to a philosophy of life - love for the least of our fellowmen. It is a way least trodden, lighted by a spirit that glows in the heart. It is this human spirit that elevates man to the highest level of philosophy and theology, beyond the crossroad of uncertainty. It leads to man's fulfillment in his long search for meaning.

Mother Teresa, Maximillan Kolbe, Lincoln, Rizal, Gandhi, Mandela at al all took this road. So with many others around the world unknown, unsung, perhaps with only God the only witness to their deeds. ~
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Nicholas L Rosal – linguist, author of Understanding an Exotic Language: Ilokano, a thesis that traces the roots and origin of an ethnic heritage distinctly Ilokano yet wholesomely Filipino, borrowing the words of Francisco Cruces, Archbishop of
Zamboanga.

Dr. Rosal taught Christology at St. Francis College in Brooklyn and moral theology at the former Brooklyn campus of St. John’s University. As an adjunct, he taught contemporary moral problems at Loyola University in Chicago while working toward his master’s degree at the Medill School of Journalism. A preacher for the National Propagation of Faith under Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, he gave retreats to nuns and recollection to priests.

Dr Rosal earned  his STD (Doctor in Sacred Theology) and PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) degrees at the Pontifical Seminary of the University of Santo Tomas (Magna cum laude). In addition to writing numerous articles about religious, educational, and government issues, he has published pamphlets on comparative religion and written books, including The Jerusalem Journal (2009), a continuous life story of Jesus (Claretian Publishing House, Manila), Learning an Exotic Language: Ilokano (1980), a linguistic analysis of one of the major Philippine native languages (Paragon Press, Manila) and The Unjust Position of the Church in the Philippine Constitution (1960), study of the state relations in the predominantly Catholic country in Asia (University of Santo Tomas Press, Manila).

He has translated from English into Ilokano the Catechism of the Catholic Church (822 pp), now being reviewed by the Archbishop of Nueva Segovia (Vigan).

Before going to the United States, he taught Religion, Latin, and music at the Archdiocesan Minor Seminary in Vigan, worked in parishes, and held briefly the position of chancellor of the Nueva Segovia Archdiocese. After receiving permission to leave the ministry, he went to work for Bell Labs in Murray Hill, N.J., and the Perth Amboy Board of Education, N.J., as education advocate and, later, as principal of the Adult High School.

Dr. Rosal was born in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur to devout parents (Alfonso, a lawyer, and Matilde, a school teacher). He has two brothers (Elias and Antonio), and a sister (Natividad). He has three sons (Anthony Nicholas, Patrick, and Mark) from his marriage to Mimi (deceased) and a step daughter (Christine) by his marriage to Thelma.

Nicholas Llanes Rosal Shares Biblical Miracles
in New Book (Excerpt)
by Christina Mancuso Dec. 12, 2013

Through author Nicholas Llanes Rosal's life's experiences, guided by his philosophical, theological, and spiritual studies comes "Handbook of Miracles", a book that showcases God's awesome power that makes extraordinary events possible and defines the happenings in the world that cannot be explained by mere principles of science or the potency of nature. Those events, explainable only by divine intervention, are considered as miracles. xxx "Handbook of Miracles" explores the nature of miracles, reason behind them, and cites numerous miracles from biblical beginnings, to Christ's days, the apostolic era, and the centuries of saints to the modern times. One way or another, miracles happen and will happen to everybody. Miracles strike instantaneous fear, awe, wonder, and admiration, which is all part of divine psychology. God attracts man's attention and then reveals His message. He uses miracles as a medium to gain man's attention before He delivers His message. ~
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NOTE: Antonio Vivaldi great composer and violinist known best for his "Four Seasons" was a former priest. A book by Richard Bennet, Far from Rome, Near to God: Testimonies of 50 Converted Roman Catholic Priests, 1997 cited the following ex-priests of outstanding accomplishments in their later careers: Henry Gregory Adams, Joseph Tremblay, Bartholomew F. Brewer, Hugh Farrell, Alexander Carson, Charles Berry and Bob Bush. And among them walks Charito trying in his own way to live up to his name. ~