Francisco V. Coching Was More than Just An Illustrator

To clarify some misinformation being spread about Francisco V. Coching and his qualifications for being National Artist specially through the column of Nestor Torre, contending that:

“And there are those who oppose Francisco Coching’s selection for visual arts, because they regard him as more of an illustrator than a creative artist.”

I wish to inform these obviously misinformed people (or rather prejudiced elitists?) that Coching was more than just an illustrator. He has in fact, written all of the stories he has illustrated. He was a true auteur who was in full control of every aspect of his stories, presenting a full and unfettered vision of just one man.

More than that, all but a couple of the more than 50 komiks serials he WROTE and ILLUSTRATED were adapted into motion pictures.

Below are screenshots of only a handful of motion pictures based on Coching’s work:

For the better part of a few decades, Coching was one of those movers and shakers of popular Philippine culture. Not only did he helped direct it, he also helped express and immortalize it.

Beyond that, Coching was also one of the most influential artists whose work has inspired most artists who came after him including many of the greats this country has produced: Nestor Redondo, Alfredo Alcala, Alex Niño right down through the generations right down to me, and probably even beyond.

Coching was merely an illustrator? You must simply be out of your mind.

May 28, 2014

My mom passed away on May 28, 2014. I made a note of it in the panel of this Avengers page I was inking at the time. I wrote the date and the time of her passing.

She had been feeling somewhat sick for a week, but we all thought it was just one of those things she experienced from time to time. We believed she would eventually get better, and that she would eventually go back to her gardening and things would be OK.

She went for a check up on the morning of that day and her lab results showed she was low on hemoglobin. Her doctor, who also happens to be my doctor, recommended she be admitted so she can have a transfusion. She was in the middle of the transfusion when she suddenly had a cardiac arrest. It was 9:15pm. My dad was there, but I was at home.

Ilyn and I rushed to the hospital to see my mom being given CPR as she was being wheeled to the ICU. Dad was standing there, shell shocked, not knowing what to do. He felt as helpless as I did. We were called up to the ICU where the doctor greeted us. He told us mom was gone. Just like that.

I’m trying to remember what I felt at that moment. I felt, I don’t know, blank? Like I was speechless in my mind. The doctor was talking but all I heard were words. Nonsensical words. My mind was somewhere else. I sat down. My dad seemed to be in denial. He was talking about other things, trying not to get to grips with what just happened. I tried to convince myself I was dreaming, that I needed to wake up. I wanted to wake up. I asked Ilyn if I was dreaming, and she said that I wasn’t.

I didn’t cry then. That came later on the car on the way to the funeral home to pick a casket. I just let go. I had to let it go. I knew I couldn’t keep it inside. I worried for my dad who still seemed to be denying it to himself. I wanted to see him cry, I wanted to see him let go because then I knew he was starting to really deal with it. He eventually did. As I did.

My mom was a very strong character. We frequently butted heads all throughout my life, but it was nothing acrimonious or long lasting. We disagreed on a lot of things. She wanted me to be an Architect. She frequently meddled in my love life. She would often burst into my room and pick at things. But she was ultimately supportive of my choices, as much as she grieved over some of the decisions I made in life.

She didn’t want me to be an artist at first. And it was the source of a lot of our contention. I stuck to what I wanted, and I eventually won her over when I started to make money from my art and my comics. I guess that’s what she always wanted. For me to be able to support myself. I only had to prove I could do it, no matter what I did.

I knew my mom was proud of me and my accomplishments. And I’m so happy she got to see the things I’ve done with my little comics. I can’t forget how happy she was when my Elmer won those awards and how it allowed me to travel the world. I can’t forget how happy she was during the Supercrooks signing with Mark Millar.

And when Rodski Patotski: Ang Dalagang Baby came out, it made me so happy that my mom sat down to read the entire book non stop in one sitting and she told me that she liked it.

I wish I could have said goodbye. I wish I could have said that I loved her one last time.

I couldn’t talk about this online when it happened. I didn’t want to post about it on Facebook or on Twitter. I don’t know. I just didn’t want to. But I did let close friends know and that was enough for me. I’m so thankful for those who sent me messages and to those who came and visited and be with us during that difficult time. I’m not the friendliest person around, but I’m grateful to the friends that I do have.

Francisco V. Coching is Now a National Artist

Francisco V. Coching has finally been declared a National Artist via Proclamation 808.

MALACAÑAN PALACE
MANILA

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES

PROCLAMATION N0. 808

DECLARING FRANCISCO V. COCHING (POSTHUMOUS) AS NATIONAL ARTIST FOR VISUAL ARTS

WHEREAS, the 1987 Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines provides for patronage of arts and letters by the State;

WHEREAS, the Order of National Artists Award was established under Proclamation No. 1001 (s. 1972) to give appropriate recognition and prestige to Filipinos who have distinguished themselves and made outstanding contributions to Philippine arts and letters;

WHEREAS, the Order of National Artists Award is jointly administered by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Cultural Center of the Philippines, acting as the Order of National Artists Award Secretariat, by virtue of Proclamation No. 1144 (s. 1973) and Republic Act No. 7356 or the “Law Creating the National Commission for Culture and the Arts”; and

WHEREAS, the works and achievements of Francisco V. Coching has left a lasting influence on the succeeding generations of younger cartoonists and his comics as popular art has helped forge the practice and consciousness of Filipino as a national language.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BENIGNO S. AQUINO III, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution and existing laws, upon the joint recommendation of the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, do hereby declare Francisco V. Coching as National Artist, with the privileges and emoluments attached thereto.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 20th day of June, Two Thousand and Fourteen.

(Sgd.) BENIGNO S. AQUINO III

By the President:

(Sgd.) PAQUITO N. OCHOA JR.

Executive Secretary

**********************

To be honest, I can hardly believe it. I previously wrote a pessimistic post about Coching and his chances of becoming a National Artist. I’m very very glad to have been proven wrong, and I’m very happy to realize that the Philippine government, as well as the NCCA respects komiks enough (at least in this case) to have made this possible.

This is kind of a big deal because finally, not only did Coching receive this distinction, but it also elevated Philippine komiks as something to be respected and celebrated. That komiks is truly a part of, and an important part of Philippine culture.

Congratulations to the Coching Family, congratulations to the Filipino people, at Mabuhay ang Pinoy Komiks!

Freelancers and Health Insurance

Jessica Zafra is an acquaintance of mine for many years now. Today I was kind of shocked to hear of the news of her hospitalization and the call to friends to help her out because, as the article pointed out, “As is the case with almost all artists who work freelance, Jessica does not have health insurance.”

If you want to help out, you can donate. Check out this Facebook post on how to do exactly that.

I wish Jessica all the best and I hope she gets better soon.

She belongs to my generation of writers and artists, and our generation is slowly edging towards that age where we become susceptible to all kinds of illnesses. It’s inevitable. Our body does fail over time. We can take care of it by eating right and exercising, but we can really only do so much. One day, all of us will get sick.

That said, I do feel I have to say something about freelancers and health insurance. And the seeming acceptance that those two terms cannot exist in the same universe.

As a freelancer, YOU CAN have health insurance. You just have to do it voluntarily. And it doesn’t really cost all that much.

Here in the Philippines we have the state backed PHILHEALTH. I know, Filipinos have a general distrust of government, specially when it comes to trusting them with our hard earned money. It is corrupt and money does go to the pockets of corrupt politicians. But believe me, despite glitches here and there, PHILHEALTH is one of those government things that actually work well in the country. I’m not just saying it. It’s based on personal experience. I know there’s a bit of problem with Philhealth right now, but I’m confident it’s nothing that can’t be resolved.

I’ve had Philhealth since 2003. I was paying P300 quarterly, which is only P1200 a year. Today you pay P600 quarterly, which is P2400 year. If you start now, you can start benefiting from it nine months from now. If you are ever hospitalized, Philhealth will take care of a significant amount of that.

For example. Back in 2011, I was hospitalized. I ran a hospital bill for P90,000.00. Philhealth took care of P40,000. That’s a TON of help. I mean, where the heck can you get P40,000 just like that?

It can be daunting at first because of all the paperwork, but I tell you guys it’s all worth it.

If you feel you’re more comfortable with private insurance firms, then by all means! But to be honest, I trust them less than I do government. And yes, that too is based on personal experience. But in any case, at least get some form of insurance. Your future self will be thanking you one day.

Soft and Entitled

Back in the 80′s I spent almost an entire day going from Greenhills to Makati and finally to Cubao just look look for a copy of Marvel Team Up #150 with a cover by Barry Windsor Smith. It was a long, hard day, full of frustration, sweat and spent money. I finally found a copy of it at National Book Store in Ali Mall. It felt like a victory. It felt like triumph. All the hardship that went into it was worth it.

Today it’s so easy to get a copy, specially if you’re into digital. You just punch a few buttons from the comfort of your air conditioned room and within a minute, you have a copy in your iPad.

If you want a hard copy, you can just just punch in a few buttons at Mile High Comics from the comfort of your air conditioned bedroom and within a few days the copy is at your doorstep.

The younger generation is deprived of the thrill of the hunt, and the euphoria of finding it. And I feel bad for them because it’s an experience that’s not only fun, it also builds strength of character. If you work hard for something you want, the rewards, and the experience you get from it have much more value.

It’s too late to go back to how it was in the 80s of course. It would be idiotic of anyone to assume that’s what I want.

But this generation has to find other ways, alternate ways of making you work hard for what you want. They need to have that experience. This age of convenience has has made it possible to have a soft and entitled generation. A generation who always had it easy. A generation who never had to work hard for anything. A generation who believes that’s how things are and that they’re entitled to it. The danger of this for future generations is something I cannot even imagine.

It's May 2014

Because PLDT has been screwy for the past couple of weeks, specially after that crazy April 28 thunderstorm, my Internet has been mostly down. I had wanted to update this blog earlier, but it was just not possible. We’ve been pretty insistent on calling repair early on and PLDT has visited us twice to check things, but this seems to be a problem that they have extreme difficulty solving.

Well, whatever. As long as this interruption of service reflects on our phone bill, I won’t freak out too much. I did freak out early on, but I just got tired of it.

It was Free Comic Book Day last May 3. I never got a chance to talk about it. It’s a special FCBD for me because I was this year’s editor of Comic Odyssey’s free comic book giveaway. I had proposed to have it magazine sized with interviews and comics.

Awesome cover by Elbert Or, right? :)

I was able to bring on board guys like Whilce Portacio, Jay Anacleto, Leinil Yu, and Mark Torres to contribute pinups. But a lot of the actual work was by my team of Andrew Villar and Jon Zamar, who did the nitty gritty of putting together the comics and layout the entire thing. I came up with the interview articles.

I do this because I’ve pretty much committed to FCBD with Comic Odyssey in perpetuity several years ago. It’s when I give back to the best comic book store and comic book shop owner I’ve had the pleasure to visit and meet. Sandy Sansolis of Comic Odyssey is so passionate about comics and sharing comics that I want him to be successful in his business. The more successful he is, the better it is for us comic book fans here in the Philippines.

Summer Komikon 2014

Photo by Jonas Diego

I think I’m still feeling a little dazed from Summer Komikon. It was probably the most physically stressful time I’ve had at a Komikon. My allergies were pretty bad that it’s embarrassing, specially since I had to talk to people a lot and do a couple of interviews. My bad knee also didn’t spare me and I had to walk around with a cane. People started calling me “Don Gerardo”. I hope it doesn’t catch on. I think I will be using that cane more often from this time on. It’s also embarrassing that I forgot the names of a couple of people who were, at some point, closely acquainted with me. I feel really bad about it.

Bad vibes out of the way, it was also one of the most spiritually rewarding Komikons I’ve been to because we launched “Rodski Patotski: Ang Dalagang Baby” and we sold a lot of copies. At a rough estimate, we sold around 300 copies, plus 100 copies of Wasted. The early feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. It feels just great knowing Rodski came alive in the minds of people. That’s what I really take away from this. That things I create find a life of its own outside of me.

Rick Olivares reviews Rodski for the Philippine Star. Thanks Rick!

Bad knee notwithstanding, I did try and manage to snaggle up a few things from other creators, a few of which was given to me (thanks very much!) The output this year has been very impressive. The quality of writing and art, and the quality of formats just keep increasing with each passing year. Here are the stuff I got, which is only a fraction of what was available at the event.

I post comments on titles I’ve already read (or are currently reading).

“K8″ by Jay and Jim Jimenez, published by Black Ink.

I’ve only read like 15 pages of this so far and I’m really liking it. Jim’s art is very impressively detailed and the story by Jay is very easy to follow. Unlike a lot of the Black Ink titles available, this one seems like it’s complete in one book, which makes it a nice, compact package that can stand on its own.

“Time Machine” by Apol Sta. Maria

“Kuatro Kanto 2″ by John Nano

“Abangan” The Best Philippine Komiks 2014

Edited by Rob Cham, Adam David, Carljoe Javier and Elbert Or
Published by Visprint

“Best Philippine Komiks” is a pretty bold claim. Thankfully enough, with names like Manix Abrera, Budjette Tan, Kajo Baldisimo, Bong Redila, Emiliana Kampilan, Paolo Fabregas, Elbert Or etc contributing to this book, it more than lives up to it. This collection is definitely some of the truly best Komiks to come out of the Philippines in 2014. I haven’t read it through and through, but the variety in this book makes it a perfect cross section of the best the Philippines has to offer.

“Sumpa” Chapter 1 by Paolo Herras and Brent Sabas

“BuhayHabangBuhay” and “Noodleboy” by Paolo Herras and Tepai Pascual 

“Adventures Inside the Glory Hole” by Carlo Valenzuela 

“Enter the Dragonfly” by Noel Carlos N. Caragay

“Alamat ni Manila Man” by Mike Ignacio and RH Quilantang

“Frequency One” by Andrea Catrina Tolentino, John delacruz, Tyrell Tan, Nate Piekos

“Lagimbal: Saving the Messiah” by Rawwrr Enrique

“Caution: Drugs/Sex/Rock ‘N Roll” by Rawwrr Enrique

“Komiks!! Atbp. Ultimate Edition” Edited by Jon Zamar, Artists: Various

“#CheesyFit”, by Mel Casipit and various artists.
Not strictly a comic book but a joke book with artwork that accompanies each joke. It sports a really nice Bong Redila artwork on the cover (Bong is fast becoming one of the most excellent Filipino cartoonists around), plus other art by guys like Macoy, Freely Abrigo, Randy Valiente and Mel Casipit himself on most of it. It’s actually very funny.

“Puso Negro II Part 1″ by JP Palabon

JP continues to offer some seriously uncomfortably funny stories, plus a character that will probably sear into your memory and haunt you in your dreams. I’m still going “OMG” whenever I see a visual image of it.

“Minkowski Space Opera, Chapter One” by Aaron Felizmenio

This is a very surprising comic book because it’s so different from anything else other local creators are currently doing, and it’s a huge departure from Aaron’s previous work, Gwapoman. This universe seems well thought out and very complex. Presented in full color, this is a very ambitious piece of work that’s a pleasant surprise to witness in local comics. I knew early on Aaron had the potential to be one of the big talents in the future of Philippine comics, and with this comic book he starts to fulfill that potential.

It’s also worth noting that the last two titles presented above have been printed and in full color. Local comics is definitely leveling up.

Public Facebook Summer Komikon 2014 Photo Gallery by Jonas Diego.

Thanks and congrats again to the organizers of KOMIKON. In spite of the bad traffic, in spite of many Manila residents have already left for the provinces for Holy Week, I think this year’s Summer Komikon still pulled off a decent sized crowd. The event itself seemed to have proceeded without any visible problems. Security has been vastly improved. Great job all around!