Larry Alcala: A Filipino cartoonist

Larry Alcala lived a full life. And it showed amply in his works. His name, even if he is now gone, remains synonymous with Philippine cartoons, an art form that he served well to his last days. In fact, among the practitioners of this art form on the national scene, he stood tall.

In his lifetime, Alcala commanded a popular following, not only because of the number and variety of cartoon characters that came out of his drawing board, but for the incisive wit that he willfully breathed into his characters and the participative humor that he engendered in his works have more than endeared him to his audience.

Alcala made over 500 characters, 20 comic strips, six movies, two murals, and 15,000 published pages in 56 years of cartooning. Through his works, he eloquently depicted the Filipino’s capacity to face squarely the challenges of life in the country, peppered with satirical humor and a wee bit of sarcasm.

In the practice and pursuit of his art, Alcala unwittingly became one with his readers. It was as if he knew them by heart–able to read their pulse, their likes and dislikes, in short, their being.

Many of his readers, in turn, even without personally meeting him, often regard him as a companion. The humor of Alcala visits them regardless of time and space–whether in the comforts of home while sipping their first cup of coffee at the breakfast table, or in the punishing constraints of city traffic while inching their way through a jeepney ride back home. It is this degree of intimacy that makes the art of Alcala an all-time favorite. In sum, his cartoons are for all seasons, and for all people of diverse persuasions.

Alcala also introduced a favorite pastime among his readers. Young and old, his readers would meticulously look for his trademark profile ingeniously hidden among the bushes, wall, people and places that he drew.

He also significantly contributed to the popularity of Tagalog, and without meaning to, Taglish as well.

Alcala started his career as cartoonist in 1946. The myriad achievements that he collected in his 56-year career all attest to his being widely recognized as a razor-edged satirist, a humor machine, a Filipino artist, all rolled into one.

Alcala’s Slice of Life, which originally appeared in the Philippines Daily Express, moved to The Philippine STAR, and was adjudged Best in Humor by the Catholic Mass Media Awards in February 1988. He was cited "for helping to keep alive the Filipino’s ability to laugh at himself, through the lively marriage of art and humor, and through commentaries that are at once critical and compassionate, evoking laughter and reflection."

The citation may have been written for all the characters that Alcala created in his more than half-a-century career, from Islaw Palitaw and Tipin to Kalabog and Bosyo and Asiong Aksaya. For in the dispatch of his responsibilities as an artist, Alcala steadfastly pushed the art form of cartooning to cogently affirm the Filipino’s peculiar coping mechanism of laughing at himself even in the face of adversity, and of absorbing life’s vicissitudes with characteristic resilience and candor.

Alcala was born to Ernesto Alcala and Elpidia Zarate on August 18, 1926 in Daraga, Albay. He finished his fine arts degree at the University of the Philippines in 1950 after obtaining a scholarship grant from Ramón Roces, publisher of the Manila Times. He taught at the UP College of Fine Arts from 1951 to 1981.

During his teaching stint at the University, he would always instill among his students the value of creativity. He discouraged imitation of works – more so of his works.

Alcala became instrumental in designing and offering a degree course in commercial design. It was from this shift in program focus that the department of visual communication at the UPCFA was eventually born, a revolution of a new diversified segment in the field of fine arts, a new line of thinking and approach. Until his retirement, Alcala steered this department as chairperson, pushing graphic design, in particular, the field of cartooning, to the same level that painting and sculpture have achieved through time.

The University was quite keen of the significant contributions Alcala made to the world of visual arts. In 1977, the UP Alumni Association honored him with a professional award in fine arts. The following year, he was accorded the status of artist-in-residence for cartooning.

Outside of the academe, Alcala received awards and citations such as the Araw ng Maynila Award, the Pamana Award for Cartooning, the Press Award for Best in Humor, the MOPC-SPIC Excellence in Cartooning, and the Philippine Board on Books for Young People Lifetime Achievement Award, to cite a few.

Recognized as the dean of Philippine cartoonists, he founded the Samahang Kartunista ng Pilipinas and which he served as president in 1979.

He is survived by his wife Guadalupe, children Lauro Jr. and Menchu; Toti, and Drs. Lizette and Vic Guazon; grandchildren Ana Iris, Angela Ingrid, Anjelica Ida, Andrea Isabel and Anton Ivy; and siblings Joventino and Ody, Vic and Cloty, Aurora and Leo Amatong, and Elena and Rudy Obial.

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For comments, send e-mail to ruben_david .defeo@up.edu.ph.