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Painting a king’s lexis

By PINK-JEAN FANGON MELEGRITO

A mix between my grandfather’s austere looks and the stir of my young uncle-editor; most definitely an imminent picture of myself if and when I finally succumb to the reality that I can be a great writer, Sir Pedro “Jun” Cruz Reyes best fits all my descriptions.

Though fragmented, the memories we shared are far from going to an abysmal forgetfulness and from a mere interviewee-interviewer relationship. Pysched and flushed, I saw Sir Jun again last week during the Likhaan’s Seminar-Workshop here, sponsored by UP Baguio and UP Diliman-Institute of Creative Writing (UP-ICW). Anxious, I thought he wouldn’t recognize me, yet he did (to my relief).

Sir Jun, with a couple of groupies like me, and his friends, Sir Tony Serrano (UP-ICW member) and Sir Rene Villanueva (famed children’s book writer who is also one of my super favorites), spent gallivanting the celebrated ukay-ukay in the city, looking for shoes to perfectly fit Sir Jun’s 9-year-old (acting like a 19-year-old) prince.

We were formally introduced (finally, from years of wondering when will we ever meet) when UP Baguio’s official student paper Outcrop invited Sir Jun for a writers’ workshop last March 3. With deep breaths and my usual tension response (chain smoking), our conversation went from I fishing for details about him to him fishing for details about me.

Sir Jun said that to be a flexible writer, one should be a wide reader. He read Latin, African and Western literary works; hence, his views expanded. He then wrote his first story “Isang Lumang Kwento”, targetting former dictator-president Ferdinand Marcos’ declaration of Martial Law (1972) – that there is nothing new in the so-called New Society, which won a Palanca Award (1973). Numerous other works followed suit.

“Sa kasaysayan, malaki ang papel ng satire. Kawawa ang sambayanan kung walang mararangal na manunulat. Kung kaya’t sa panahon ng panunupil, magsasalita pa rin ako through my writings and paintings,” he shared on the current political crisis.

He joked, “Yang Pinoy Big Problem, yung may garapata sa nguso, ilan ang nateterorrize niya tuwing lumalabas siya sa TV. Inaatake tayo sa puso sa taas ng presyo ng mga bilihin. Katulad naming UP (Diliman) faculty, nakikisiksik kami sa canteen ng estudyante dahil mas mura dun.”

So casual our chat was, he was more of an old wise friend advising me to pursue my filmmaking and fiction writing interests. Yes, he does not only create compelling scripts to capture the essence of humanity and its difficulties, he is also a painter, a photographer and a filmmaker.

Gaining popularity from his short story “Utos ng Hari” and novel “Tutubi, Tutubi, Wag Kang Magpahuli sa Mamang Salbahe”, his visual arts career was almost unnoticed. He was typecasted as a fictionist rather than a painter. “Minsan nga natatawa na lang ako pag nakikilala na lang ako dahil sa mga sinusulat ko,” Sir Jun shared.

He already had four one-man shows exhibiting his paintings and sketches. One of his paintings was the cover of his book “Ilan Taon Na Ang Problema Ko”. Unfortunately, his paintings and some original manuscripts were lost when his ancestral home in Hagunoy, Bulacan burned down on September 30, 2004.

Speaking of burned down works, he burned his own English love sonnets when he first attempted writing. “Feeling ko kasi corny, nonsense. Pero nung tumanda na ko, naghinayang ako. You should never be ashamed of what you do. Be yourself. Dapat linawin ang pinaniniwalaan at panindigan ito,” he said as he enlightened me.

“When I started (writing), I thought to myself, I’ll make sure I’ll make the difference,” Sir Jun shared. Indisputably, he did.#

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