Joseph soars with dream kite

Kept out of college, and now finding it hard to land a job, this young man from San Fernando, Pampanga, sure knows how to make use of what he’s got: a talent in building and flying kites.

"It’s hard when you don’t have a job. So, here I am. Me and my kites," Joseph Gueco, speaking in Pilipino, said as he eagerly waited for his name to be called during the awarding ceremony of the 13th Bear Brand Kitefest last Sunday at the Luneta Park.

Later on, in that hot, humid and relatively windy day, the 21-year-old Joseph, who first joined the event 10 years ago, did turn out to be a very happy winner when his entry, Rattle Snake was named and crowned this year’s Super Kite.

The award, just one of 10 at stake, but certainly one of the most sought after, is given to the owner of the biggest kite successfully flown in the adults’ figure category.

Rattle Snake, which took Joseph just a little over P1,000 and more than a week, to make, was a long, green figure almost the size of a two-seater airplane. It took four persons to launch the kite that flapped and danced under the bright blue sky, dwarfing some of its rivals like Serpent, Bakya ni Lola and Lucas the Two-Headed Dog.

It wasn’t the first time though that Joseph won the Super Kite plum. In fact, it was his fifth, previously winning the award with entries like Anaconda, Tarsier and Dragon. Since joining the event as a gangling 11-year-old, Joseph now has a buffet of Bear Brand kite trophies – 36 to be exact – at home.

"Eskuwela ko kasi hanggang first year college lang sa commerce. Kaya saranggola lang talaga. Pero masaya manalo. Masaya talaga ako. Yung pagod mo naaalis kasi one week mo ginagawa ang entry mo – umaga hanggang gabi," added Joseph, whose brother Noel was also a winner for the day, his entry, Octo One, being picked as the crowd favorite in the adults’ geometric category.

Joseph said he owes a lot of his kite skills to Bear Brand, the family milk, which has been around for a long, long time.

"Hindi naman ako mahilig sa kites nung bata ako. Natuto na lang dahil sa Bear Brand. Noong una kong sali, guryon (big flat kite) lang. Tapos puro improvement na. Pinag-aralan na din namin. Masaya, eh. Hinahanap-hanap na namin every year ang laban," he said.

Making the victory sweeter for the resident of Barangay Del Pilar (home to some of – if not – the country’s finest lantern makers) was the fact that he didn’t even get a chance to give Rattle Snake a test flight before they proceeded to Manila early Sunday morning for the Mother’s Day finals of the colorful summer event.

"No test flight. Dito na lang sinubukan kaya dapat sigurado ang gawa mo. Okay naman at lumipad. At so far, wala pa namang pumapaltos. Nasanay na siguro dahil 10 years na ako gumagawa. Alam mo na ang mali," said Joseph.

Then, probably the sweetest part of the victory was the P5,000 purse that goes with the trophy.

"Whew! Super Kite ulit," blurted Joseph as he rejoined his friends on the field after the awarding ceremony.

"Any celebration lined up back home?" Joseph was asked.

"Celebration? Kainan lang at kuwentuhan. Di naman ako umiinom, eh. Masayang kuwentuhan lang na nanalo ka," said Joseph, now wearing a smile – as big as his kite.