Sculptor to unveil Plaridel statue

Renowned sculptor Julie Lluch will unveil a statue of 19th-Century Filipino hero Marcelo H. del Pilar in front of the Manila Zoo along Mabini street today.

The project was commissioned by City Hall and Samahan Plaridel.

After four months of work, Lluch will unveil her masterpiece, a bronze statue of the Filipino propagandist whose pen name was "Plaridel."

Lluch was overseeing the installation of the seven-foot bronze statue yesterday at Plaza Plaridel at Adriatico and Quirino streets.

The statue would be mounted on a five-feet concrete-made platform.

Weighing about 400 kilos, the sculpture shows Del Pilar standing with one of his hands holding the reformist newspaper La Solidaridad, which he edited and co-published in Spain.

While the second finger on his other hand points upward.

The 59-year-old Lluch said Del Pilar’s life story had inspired her.

"I am inspired because he is a Filipino," she said.

"It is an honor for me, a privilege to make a monument of a great Filipino. He left the homeland and went to Spain where he suffered deprivation and died alone."

Lluch said while she was drawing up plans for the statue, some suggested that she present Del Pilar with either a clenched fist or an open palm, but she declined.

"A clenched fist looks too violent, too militant, while an open hand looks kind of weak," she said.

"But with this pose he is really pointing a finger at the abuses of the Spanish government, explaining the evils of that government, the ills of the society at that time the friars and it has led to the revolution."

Del Pilar was born on Aug. 30, 1850 and came to be known as a leading propagandist for reforms in the country.

He was also musically inclined and played the violin, piano, flute and a good singing voice.

On July 4, 1896, he died of tuberculosis in Barcelona, Spain.

Apart from Del Pilar’s statue, Lluch is also credited with other statues for the City of Manila.

Some of her masterpieces are displayed along the Baywalk at Roxas Boulevard: those of Mayor Arsenio Lacson, Sen. Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. and Avelino Javier.

A statue of Carlos P. Romulo stands at United Nations Avenue and Roxas Boulevard.

She also did the two figures at the entrance of the Supreme Court: those of Justices Jose Abad Santos and Cayetano Arellano.

Some of her works are also in display in Japan and Singapore, while others were bought as personal collections.

The Samahan Plaridel serves as an alternative club for journalists. –Evelyn Macairan