Books launched/published

Rodolfo and Elsa Pelaez

“Rodolfo and Elsa Pelaez, A 20th Century Legacy” was sent me by Rafaelita Pelaez Golez mother of the outstanding young pianist Rudolf P. Golez whose concerts I have been reviewing.

Rodolfo and Elsa, parents of Rafaelita, belong to prominent families in Cebu and Cagayan de Oro. Rodolfo is a first cousin of Emmanuel Pelaez. A direct forbear of Elsa was Admiral Patricio Montojo who headed the Spanish fleet defeated by Admiral George Dewey in 1898.

Author Nelson A. Navarro fascinatingly recounts the romance and marriage of Rodolfo and Elsa, as well as their common predilections and interests.

“Theirs was a marriage of shared values and total devotion to each other, of intelligence and hard work in the service of what they called ‘non-secular quality education’.

“At a time when people of their privileged background gravitated towards politics, they shied away from a culture that they felt seldom brought out what was best of otherwise well-meaning people but, on the contrary, exacerbated the less-desirable aspects of their character and ambition in life.”

All this led to the couple’s establishing and founding of the Liceo de Cagayan, “one of the earliest, most enduring and most respected institutions of higher learning in Mindanao”. The Liceo is the 20th century legacy referred to by the book’s title and appropriately because the Liceo marks its 50th anniversary this year.

The LMG Anthology

A thick volume in fine print, “The Leon Maria Guerrero Anthology” was put together by Leon’s son David who, in his foreword, hesitatingly if justifiably describes his father’s achievements in the most glowing terms.

Leon shone in dazzling light as student who edited Ateneo’s college paper The Guidon as debater, actor, lawyer who obtained 100% in international law in the bar exams, as ambassador to London, Spain, India, Mexico, Scandinavia and other Hispanic countries, as speaker (he wrote his own speeches), writer whose translations of the Noli and Fili are the most widely-read, and whose “The First Filipino” won the Rizal Centennial Commission’s first prize.

One of the episodes I like best refers to Leon as ambassador to London, and here I quote Mr. Bernard Westall: “During the thirty years that our dinner has been held, never has there been such an excellent speech . . . the Bishop of Exeter was so impressed that he asked for a transcript of the speech . . . for material for a number of sermons!”

Leon has garnered many distinguished awards, among these the highest given by our country to diplomats.

The Drama of It

Written by Daisy Hontiveros Avellana, National Artist for Theater, “The Drama of It, A Life on Film and Theater” details, in a manner of speaking, how Bert Avellana changed the face of films, and Daisy, the face of theater in the Philippines.

Before WW II, the couple founded the Barangay Theater Guild which, during the Japanese Occupation, kept theater and the people’s spirit alive with its staging of Tagalog plays at Avenue Theater and of English plays at Metropolitan Theater. BTG introduced dramatic readings, and Daisy tells us the amusing story of how a viewer complained about paying P10 for watching players who couldn’t memorize their lines!

Daisy has engaged in theater as actress, director, script-writer, adapter of plays and drama professor. Many can match Daisy’s acting talent, among them Naty Crame-Rogers who portrayed Paula in Nick Joaquin’s “Portrait” with Daisy as Candida, but the diversity of Daisy’s roles — foreign or Filipino, classic or contemporary — has yet to be matched. Further, Daisy is a brilliant short story writer.

BTG was the first to stage “Portrait of the Artist as Filipino”, and it is the longest-playing in the history of theater in the Philippines.

In 1950, Bert gave LVN “a string of quality movies unparalleled in Philippine cinema at the time,” followed by films that won several unprecedented international awards.

In her eloquent foreword, Carmen Guerrero Nakpil sums up the work of Daisy and Bert — the only National Artist who won the award in two categories, film and theater. I quote it in part: “It’s one big, great tale not only about the Avellanas, but also about how life was lived in this country, about art and theater, about dedication to ideals and unfailing courage and untainted ambitions and, above all, undying, generous, magnificent love.”