Charming Chapels of Negros

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Leading up Easter, the anchor fiesta in the Christian calendar, Negros Season of Culture reaches out to Negrenses and Filipinos the world over to stage yet another virtual “Visita Iglesia”, a tradition started by NSC in 2021.

This year, the event will be streamed live on Facebook, on Holy Thursday at 10p.m. Philippine Time, that’s 3p.m. in London, 10a.m. in New York, and 7a.m. in Los Angeles.

Adding local color and pastoral spirituality to the observance of Holy Week “panatas” or vows are video documentaries, this time on seven chapels in Negros Occidental, each with its distinct charm.

Three of them easily find significance in facing the health challenges of the time. Perhaps most representative of Negrense heritage is the Chapel of the Cartwheels in the town of Manapla. Standing in the middle of a sugarcane plantation and using discarded farm objects to create a bespoke architecture and interior design, the chapel is dedicated to Santa Rosalia of Palermo, Italy, the saint invoked in times of plagues and sickness.

Fresh air is a welcome breather to lockdowns. Up in the cool mountains of Don Salvador Benedicto, in a community that has become a choice escape for nature habitués, is the Manggapuri Chapel. Rising above the verdant landscape of Negros, it is at once magical and idyllic. And a spiritual tonic, being dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel who, among a few special roles, is sought for healing the sick.

Meanwhile, down by the shores of Talisay, the CICM Chapel, dedicated to Mary Mother of Christ, found new calling when social distancing became the order of the day. Here, members of the community enjoy the sea breeze while hearing mass practically on the beach. Mass by the beach is a concept whose time has come…what a blessing!

Comparatively new to the scene, and inspired by fallen trees that are common to typhoon ravaged Philippines, the quaint Patagoña Chapel of Silay City eventually took form and captured the hearts of many who visit.

Located in the highlands of Silay, the cool temperature lends to deeper reflection and prayer, helped along by design inspirations from a Benedictine Monastery, and then from among Trappist monks.

Artistry is embedded in the soul of the Negrense, and several chapels live up to that standard. The popularly known Chapel of the Angry Christ in Victorias, made famous by the significant works of Filipino-American abstract expressionist, Alfonso Ossorio, is actually dedicated to St. Joseph the Worker. The Santa Clara Chapel in Bacolod is highlighted by a larger-than-life image of the Virgen sang Barangay executed by Leticia Ledesma.

Tens of thousands of locally sourced shells were used. And leave it to Negrense national artist Leandro Locsin to re-imagine Greek classical architecture into clean, modern, minimalist lines, and so create the La Salle Chapel, far and away the most familiar to Negrenses, heirs to the great La Sallian education.

Benildean tops SineDisipulo filmfest in Cebu

Wazzup Pilipinas!

 

An award-winning student filmmaker from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde added another feather to her cap after her newest short film recently led the winners of the SineDisipulo X Film Festival in Cebu.

Dan Verzosa’s “Gapos sa Kadenang Walang Kandado” bagged the Misha Boris Anissimov Award, named in honor of the pioneer of SineDisipulo, which was previously just a film exhibition.

SineDisipulo provides filmmakers and film enthusiasts alike an opportunity to show and witness the talents of young filmmakers and artists. The film festival is organized by CINEMATA, a film organization based at the University of San Carlos.

In the film, a mother listens to her daughter’s cassette tapes one morning, months before the Philippine presidential elections. She recounts and reimagines the events that happened during her child’s thesis defense as she listens to the audio recordings from years before while waiting for her daughter’s return.

Verzosa recently received a Film Ambassador Award from the Film Development Council of the Philippines after her short animation “IAMANNIKA” bagged the Southeast Asia Audience Award at the third Craft International Animation Festival.

“Gapos sa Kadenang Walang Kandado” follows the heels of “IAMANNIKA” and “Malapit Na, ‘Nay!” (Almost There, Mother), her short film on extrajudicial killings, which dominated the 2019 CineMorayta Film Festival, 2020 Karapatan at Kabataan Film Festival, and 2020 CineMapua Film Festival.

Similar to her other works, Verzosa considers her latest project, which she made for her film production class, as more than just a film. “It’s a message. A message and a reminder that given the country’s upcoming presidential elections, we need to look back on history, the truth told by the people, and consider the past in order to make a choice for the future, our future, and the future of all.”

“This election has been stirring up dark memories of the nation’s past, the martial law imposed by the late President Ferdinand Marcos marred by violence and numerous human rights violations. Similarly, President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs resulted in numerous human rights violations and extrajudicial killings,” Verzosa added.

The filmmaker wanted to use film to talk about “how history seems to be revised and changed by society and the people in power and yet for the family of the victims, it will never be forgotten.” She made her film at a time when Duterte’s term is coming to an end and with Marcos, Jr. running for president.

As Jesh’s song, “Dahil Tao,” goes in the film, “Tayo raw ay malaya, ngunit bakit may tali.” (They said we are free, but our hands are tied.) This film is a reminder to open our eyes and wake up from the false illusion of freedom and make the right choices for the future of all,” she concluded.

The film “Si Ketchup at Si Mayonnaise” took home the Artistic Visionary and Aesthetic Excellence Awards while “11:11” was adjudged the Most Viewed Film at SineDisipulo X.

The jury is made up of filmmakers and artists Chloe Veloso, Kris Villarino, and Katherine Rivera.

Vibal Foundation Launches Colección Iberoasia Imprint with Dolors Floch’s Martín de Rada

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Vibal Foundation, Inc. (FVI) commemorated women’s month with the launch of the first book in its Colección Iberoasia series: Martín de Rada (1533–1578): Scientist, Missionary, and Spanish Philippine Diplomat to China by Dolors Folch, an eminent Spanish scholar of East Asian Studies.

This landmark volume has a Spanish edition as well as an English-translated edition.

About Martín de Rada (1533–1578): Book Highlights

In this first volume of VFI’s Colección Iberoasia imprint, sinologist and professor Dolors Folch recreates the ideals, life, times, and works of Fray Martín de Rada, both a man of science and a man of the cloth, who arrived in the Philippines in 1565 with Miguel Lopez de Legazpi’s expedition that established a Spanish colony in the islands.

An expert in astronomy and mathematics, indispensable for the invading Spanish missionaries and conquistadors, he was not just a witness to the first two decades of colonial rule in the Philippines, he was also the first to describe China to Spanish readers.

Although Fray Martín’s only surviving portrait depicts him as the quintessential scientist, he was, for his more than twelve years in the Philippines, also an author, a critical observer of the plight of native Filipinos, a missionary, and, most importantly, an ambassador to China in 1575.

Martín de Rada (1533–1578): Scientist, Missionary, and Spanish Philippine Diplomat to China explores the milestones in the man’s life that made him one of the most important players in Spain–China relations. It chronicles his early years as an Augustinian missionary in New Spain (Mexico) who was commended for his administrative talent, as well as his mathematical and scientific mastery, leading to his selection as part of the royal expedition to the Philippines under the command of Miguel López de Legazpi. 

De Rada’s stay in the Philippines, as recounted in the book, proved crucial to the evolution of his beliefs about the real situation of the native population at the hands of the Spaniards who,  as he reported to the Mexican viceroy, abused and left them impoverished. 

The book also gives an account of his evangelization of the natives as he carried this experience to accompany a delegation to Ming-era China, a country that left an indelible impression on the Augustinian. He shared his experience of the country in his renowned Relación, which succeeding scholars would use as a primary reference on China.

About the author

Dolors Folch, professor emerita of the Department of Humanities of Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain, was dean of the Faculty of Humanities from 1992 to 1999 and director of the School of East Asian Studies.

Aside from supervising the groundbreaking research La China de España Elaboración de un corpus digitalizado de documentos españoles sobre China de 1555 a 1900, she also curated the landmark 2007 exhibit Els grans viatges de Zheng He at the Museu Marítim de Barcelona. 

Folch is the author of Els grans viatges de Zheng He (Angle, 2008), La Construcción de China (Península, 2002), La Fundació de l'imperi xinès (Empúries, 1991), and Wang Wei, Vell País Natal (Empúries, 1986).

About Vibal Foundation

Founded in 2007, Vibal Foundation is Vibal Group’s philanthropic arm. Its vision is to engage Filipinos in intellectual discussion of Philippine history, culture, and the arts by providing beautiful and insightful print and digital materials.

Its institutional partners are the Ateneo Art Gallery, Biblioteca Historica, Galleria Duemila, Gallery Genesis, International Rice Research Institute, National Historical Commission of the Philippines, National Museum of the Philippines, Philippine Departments of Labor and Education, Premio Zóbel, San Agustín Museum, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, and the UP Jorge B Vargas Museum.

Colección Iberoasia is Vibal Foundation’s first global publishing imprint offering digital and printed titles available on Amazon.

Martín de Rada (1533–1578): Scientist, Missionary, and Spanish Philippine Diplomat to China will be available in major bookstores, Shopee, Lazada, and Vibal Shop in May. Please follow Vibal’s FB page for announcements: www.facebook.com/vibalgroup