Manny Garibay goes to Candon to search for more creative heroes

When Emmanuel “Manny” Garibay first set foot in Candon City last week, he and his team walked around town to familiarize themselves.

“One of the things that impressed me is the real sense of contentment and order. You don’t see that anywhere,” he said.

In the plaza, he and his team saw an equestrian statue not that of Gen. Antonio Luna or Emilio Aguinaldo. It is that of local hero Isabelo Abaya who in 1898 started the “Espiritu de Candon” and on March 25, 1898, instigated the “Ikkis ti Candon (Cry of Candon)” and later established the Republica de Candon.

It was earlier than the Cry of Balintawak that preceded our First Philippine Republic, although Abaya and his men, dressed in G-strings and identified as Igorots, also joined Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo’s Malolos Republic ten months later.

Being a provincemate of Aguinaldo, Garibay was moved by this “segment of local history that defines the people.”

During the art workshop that Garibay held at Candon auctioneer market, he and his team initiated the mural painting of the Ikkis ti Candon, with Abaya holding fort at the front center with his white horse.
The painting was done mostly by members of Linangan, an artist residency program Garibay established during the COVID pandemic in his home at Alfonso, Cavite.

Garibay said that they only showed the Candonians in the mural and not the enemies.

“This shows unity in fortitude,” he said.

Three other murals were finished during the Candon workshop.

One titled “Ilokanas” showed women in the farms and mountains of Candon with revolutionary Gabriela Silang riding her horse on the left.

Gabriela, whose complete name is Maria Josefa Gabriela Carino Silang, was a resident of Candon, and their ancestral house in Barangay San Antonio was converted into the Candon City Museum.

Another mural has a woman smoking a huge tobacco cigar.

Bacolod artist Roedil Geraldo, who conducted a workshop on clay arts, painted a mural of a monochromatic version of General Abaya on stage.

Garibay’s art has always been rooted in social realism. He was an active member of the Artista ng Bayan, Salingpusa, and Anting-Anting.

Garibay and his team came to Candon City at the invitation of Mayor Eric Singson and daughter Rep. Kristine Singson-Meehan for the Candon Festival of Music and Arts.

It is also Garibay’s moment to introduce the Linangan philosophy to Ilocos.

“In many ways, it is a venture to introduce different pedagogies in art education,” he said.

“The usual art pedagogy here is foreign-influenced. Art has to be grounded,” he said.

Under the Linangan, young artists may apply for the Amuyong which means two months of mentorship.

For their outreach program, it means making local art “deeply reconnected to their heritage.”

“Art should be a constant reminder of who we are,” he said.

“It should be beyond the historicity of the moment,” Garibay said. – Rappler.com