The Sculptor Behind the Living Icons in the Garden and Countryside: Francisco "Boy" Peralta:

PUL-OY (Breeze)

San Vicente Ilocos Sur (Philippines) to the World Series

 Heritage Zone of the North (RA 11645)

                       Francisco "Boy" Peralta

The Sculptor Behind the Living Icons in the Garden

 and Countryside

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

San Vicente is famous for sculpture, producing important works that decorate many churches and homes today, here and abroad.  The town is dubbed the Little Florence (Italy), and is acclaimed to be the counterpart of Paete in Laguna and Betis in Pampanga. This article is a tribute to the sculptors of the town, and to those whose memory, we, their townmates, shall remain forever proud and grateful. 

                                  1. Man with a Hammer

Man with a Hammer, life size in stone by a local sculptor, 
the late Francisco "Boy" Peralta. San Vicente, Ilocos Sur   

Here he stands, sun and rain, season in and out, alone,

    a sledge hammer hangs on his brawn, frozen in time;

so blank his stare toward his subject, lifeless as stone,

   immortality defined in neglect in mournful sublime.  

And yet seeks man the mystery of power cum divine,

    a god from Mount Olympus, on Apollo to the moon;  

yet Man with a Hoe, Markham's hero a lowliest  kind, 

   and Rodin's thinking man turned prophet of doom. 

Mortal, shortcut to man's lofty dreams and often greed,

    a hammer falling from the sky striking the hardest;

not once, but many times 'til the die is cast to the grid,  

    in Medusa's gaze, freezing man perhaps in his best. 

And bridging the gap of thoughts and generations,

     in suspended animation of true story or legend;

yet live the man with a hammer for whatever reasons,

     and souls seeking immortality at the final bend.~ 

2. Jose Rizal on Exile at Dapitan  

 

 

The restored icon is now enshrined at the San Vicente Botanical Garden

 (Living with Nature Center) San Vicente, Ilocos Sur. 

 

Bust of Philippine national hero Dr Jose P Rizal gets a thorough cleaning from the author. The icon is a masterpiece of the late Francisco "Boy" Peralta, a local sculptor of San Vicente. 

3. The Worker

Orphaned Icon: What  posthumous fate 

lies in the unfinished work of an artist?

                                   The artist comes to rest, 

his works unfinished, 

his dreams unfulfilled; 

life, how short it is to the gifted,  

the future his present;

and who would look beyond

with him but prophets?

Or Markham who saw in beauty,

injustice in The Man with a Hoe,

of Millet's romantic scenery?

There is no answer, the artist is dead;

he lives on, with these unresolved;

time and events shall tell

as his masterpiece crumbles

to dust, but never to oblivion. 

                                              4. Apo Baket'

Keeper of Time-Honored Tradition and Values

Dr Abe V Rotor 

                  

Apo Baket, Keeper of Values and Tradition 

Views before and after restoration. The life-size icon graces

 the San Vicente Botanical Garden.  

Apo Baket

Formerly The Potter

The elements come and go,

sun and rain through the years;

wonder the model once young as clay

with a consequence to pay.   

We are potters too, of the mind,

characters of the young in our care;

time is kind in idleness, we say, 

and rebels against the clay. ~   

Life size concrete icon of an old woman, keeper of time-honored traditional values, enshrined at San Vicente Botanical Garden under the care of the author. San Vicente, Ilocos Sur.  Sculptured by Francisco "Boy" Peralta, and restored by Bhoy Adora.  

She is mother, grandmother, guardian, of countless children through generations throughout the world, teaching them the true values of growing up, to adapt to the ever changing environment, save those values that must not change.

She leads the community, church, school, in fact all facets of life, side by side with men, and behind their struggle, in the likes of Tandang Sora, Fe del Mundo, Gabriella Silang, Leona Florentino, along with Florence Nightingale, Saint Mother Teresa. 

She is the ever-loving mother in the Pieta, symbol of universal love and compassion, dedication, and asceticism on the highest level; the ever-loving partner in marital life vowed "till death do us part," core of the family as the primordial social institution. 

She is the widow of honored men in the battlefield, or by circumstances beyond her control, accepting such fate and bravely taking over the responsibility not only for her own sake, but for those under her care, and society itself.  

She keeps the kitchen of old alive and invitingly delectable as ever - pinakbet, kare-kare, ginatan, sinigang, bulalo, la-ing, pinapapaitan, kilawin, surpassing fast foods, extravagantly labelled foods, culinary preparations lavishly advertised.  

She is the storyteller Lola Basyang (pen name of Severino Reyes), around her, children gather to listen to folktales and make-believe stories from Bannawag and Liwayway, the Grimm Brothers, Hans Christian Anderson, and Scheherazade in One-Thousand-and-One Arabian Nights. 

She is the mother, the grandmother, of overseas workers who leave behind their families to secure a better socio-economic status of their families; and under her care their children grow up properly in spite of the absence of father and mother.

She is the yaya, the traditional nanny, who other than taking care of the nursery and growing children, does varied household chores - cooking, cleaning, laundry, errand, marketing, making housekeeping light on the part of parents and children as well. 

She is the weaver of abel (Ilocano blanket), and many household items made of pandan, buri, and tikiw; maker of the finest dress and formal wears made of pina; maker of fine pottery and china wares; and keeper of the old aparador of antiques and memoirs. 

She is the grandmother in Johanna Spyri's novel Heidi; Madame Curie, greatest woman scientist; Mary Shelly, author of Frankenstein, world's scariest bedtime story; Florence Nightingale, the Lady with a Lamp, who kept vigil on the sick in the wee hours in the hospital.   

She is Basang, my auntie-yaya from the time my mother died when I was only two until I went to Manila for college; Lola Usta who painstakingly  applied all local remedies to revive me born a blue baby amidst extreme danger of  World War II about to break out.  

She is the First Lady of a president of state; queen beside a king, or head of state; saint of the church; on the other hand, victim at the gallows; maligned old woman,  the butt of jokes and unkind stories, yet she stands her ground brave, undeterred and perseverant as the world goes round.  ~

 

Restoration of the icon originally an unfinished work of the late Francisco "Boy" Peralta, by local sculptor, Bhoy Adora, also a native of San Vicente, Ilocos Sur. 

5. The Unknown Nanny in the Garden

A Tribute to Ignacia Repulleza (1900-1984) et al

Dr Abe V Rotor 

 

Concrete icon of The Unknown Nanny, counterpart of The Unknown Soldier in honor of the unknown hero in the battlefield. The icon is an interpretation by the late Francisco "Boy" Peralta a local sculptor of San Vicente Ilocos Sur. His other works are the bust of our national hero, Jose Rizal, life-size Apo Baket (an old woman regarded as keeper of time-honored tradition), and The Apparition of the Blessed  Mother before the child Bernadette at Lourdes.  The three masterpieces of the local artist grace the garden, a tourist attraction and landmark of the historical town.  

For all we know, the role of the nanny carries a great responsibility of taking care of children, particularly those orphaned or abandoned for whatever circumstances, for which nannies are regarded guardians to these unfortunate children.

This icon stands in the Living with Nature Center Botanical Garden, a tribute to Basang Asiang (Ignacia Repulleza), nanny of the author, then an infant when his mother died at the outbreak of the Second World War.  Basang Asiang also served as nanny to two siblings of the author, and stayed as member of the household until she died at the age of 84. 

The word Basang (Ilk) is a respectable title befitting a new kind of hero or martyr in our troubled society today.  The icon is an interpretation by the late Francisco "Boy" Peralta a local sculptor of San Vicente Ilocos Sur. His other works are the bust of our national hero, Jose Rizal, life-size Apo Baket (an old woman regarded as keeper of time-honored tradition), and The Apparition of the Blessed  Mother before the child Bernadette at Lourdes.  The three masterpieces of the local artist grace the garden, a tourist attraction and landmark of the historical town.  

Basang (seated) at the old colonial home where she raised children of two generations as nanny or yaya. (1941- 84)

Basang poses with the author and sister, whom she took care as yaya.  At the left is a family friend.  Circa 1971 ~

 Part 6 - Folk Re-enactment of the Passion of Christ

San Vicente, Ilocos Sur

Brainchild of the late Francisco "Boy" Peralta, who painstakingly and passionately poured out his artistic talent and devotion in this yearly re-enactment of the Passion of Christ at the Crossroads in his beloved hometown, a highly revered act of penitence and contrition, attracting local devotees  and tourists.

 

Dedicated to my kababayan, particularly to the players of the Good Friday passion play. These shots were taken with a palm size digital camera with 7.2 Mega pizels, photos are unedited. 

Calvary scene where the seven last words of Christ reverberated throughout the world - the most revered moment of His life that made Christianity the world's biggest religion ever: 1.2 billion followers two thousand years after - and still growing. 

 

The living icons are natives of the town - artisans, farmers, students, fisherfolk and a host of natural artists, who know too well about the kind of life they portray for and on behalf of Christ in His greatest hour.  

 

The game cock enthusiast offers his hobby and trade; the tippler knows just how sober it is to lose oneself that he may enter into the world of spirituality - an apostle worthy of  partaking in Christ's last supper. 

  

Young centurions dreaming of bringing peace and order in a troubled world, reversing the biblical role into honor and heroism. The re-incarnated Pontius Pilate, allegory of power abuse among today's leaders, softens in the heart of a young boy whose innocence shall grow into the idealism of new young leaders.  

 

Judas Iscariot hanging on a tree, believed to be the haunting strangler's fig or balete, likewise haunts those who turn their back against Christ.  The player broke the omen, indeed a most difficult role in the stage play, by asceticism, an old principle of perseverance with meaning. The difference of a repentant Judas who took his own life with that of a neo-Judas today is that there is redemption in the latter in Christ's own way of human salvation - which is the essence of His coming as the Messiah

-

 Lesson on former Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio

738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday;

- Lesson on TATAKalikasan Ateneo de Manila University 87.9FM Radyo Katipunan