355. A Penitent Redeemed: STA. MARIA MAGDALENA

STA, MARIA MAGDALENA, RESTORED 2005

The circumstance of how this beautiful Sta. Maria Magdalena image was delivered to me was one for the books. I had been working with a Bulacan dealer for sometime, when he called to say that there was an antique santa in the market available, but I had to decide fast whether to get it or not. To make my decision faster, he offered to bring it to me in Makati, where I lived and worked.

MAGDALENA, in its original state, when acquired

Intrigued, I told him to pass by for me by lunchtime, hitch with him in his van, go home together to my nearby studio where I can better check out the santa. Some 2 hours later, he was on his cellphone to tell me of his arrival at my office building. I hastily rushed down the elevator from my 23^rd floor office, got out of the main door---and there, seated at the groundfloor Starbucks Café was my dealer, next to an old, naked, wigless santa, and which has started to attract the stares of the café patrons, building tenants, businessmen, visitors, and passersby! In a loud voice, he said: “Eto na ang Magdalena mo, boss…what do you think?”

MAGDALENA, with a wan and white complexion.

“I think you need to put back the santa in your van NOW!”, I  muttered under my breath, while turning red with embarrassment. Just as a crowd had begun to gather around the santa, the dealer grabbed the wooden figure, stowed it in the van, and sped away with me to my place, just 5 minutes away.

MAGDALENA'S HEAD, before and after re-encarnacion

I’ve never been so stressed at the thought of the commotion we caused at that café. But all that dissipated when, in the privacy of the closed van, I took a closer look at the penitent saint.

STA. MARIA MAGDALENA, under restoration

Even in its state—paint gone pale and peeling, a vertical crack running down the body, shaky base, plus the usual dings, nicks and scratches—this Sta. Magdalena was a real beauty, with a long face face slightly frowning in restrained grief. Her mouth was slightly open, curled downward in sorrow, showing teeth. The slightly long neck featured 3 shallowly-carved neck folds that almost looked like a 3-strand necklace.

STA. MAGDALENA, under restoration

On the other hand, her ghostly white hands and slender fingers, and her bare feet were well-carved and defined. There was the slightest hint of plumpness in her body, characteristic of old female santas. This processional image was not exactly tall, only 52 inches, including the base.

REPAINTING THE PENITENT SAINT

The dealer and I struck a deal, wrote him a check, and Sta. Maria Magdalena was mine to keep. But it didn’t stay long with me either, for just a scant week after, I delivered the Magdalena to the atelier of Mr. Francisco “Kiko” Vecin, Makati’s eminent collector and santo restorer. His workshop was just across my street, near the Makati City Hall, and the schedule for its restoration was drawn up in no time at all.

THE SAINT AND HER BLONDE-BROWN LONG LOCKS

As the santa was complete, I thought restoring it would be a breeze. Other than the crack on the body,  no major repairs were really necessary. What took long was the repainting of the santa that took some 3 months to finish. A friend of mine suggested that I stick to the original paleface kind of encarna, commonly seen in old Semana Santa images. I opted for a more natural complexion that is more Filipino, rather than the fair, pinkish Caucasian type.

STA. MAGDALENA, CROWNED

Mang Kiko commissioned veteran encarnador Eddie Mabaquiao Sr. to handle the repainting, which took forever to do. But the wait was all worth it, as the santa’s expression came real and alive with his brush. The magnifical restoration of Sta. Maria Magdalena was completed in late 2005.

VESTMENT BY LOPEZ ATELIER

Even long before it was finished, a member of our local pastoral council had saved a place for me 2006 Holy Week procession. The reservation, however, was not for a Magdalena, as the town already had one—but for broom-wielding Sta. Maria Jacobe. The idea was to transform this Magdalena into a Jacobe, by having her hold a broom—which was very much possible with the grasping position of her fingers.

OLD EMBROIDERY RECOVERED AND
USED FOR MAGDALENA'S VETSMENT

This threw me into panic, as I had not really planned on having vestments and metal accessories made just yet. Dr. Raffy Lopez came to the rescue by quickly making a light blue half-cape and a matching light fuschia tunic decorated with old gold embroidery. I designed a pukpok broom handle executed in plated brass by Jeric Canlas, inserted with tambo reeds. A new brass crown that I had been keeping went to the head of the santa, which looked obviously bigger. With that the primera salida of this Sta. Maria Magdalena finally took place in 2006—in the guise of  Sta. Maria Jacobe! I soon had ambivalent feelings about that practice.

PRIMERA SALIDA, as Sta, Maria Jacobe, 2006

That was the first and last time this antique santa came out, eventually replaced by my in-law family’s antique Jacobe. But when a second Magdalena I owned suffered a similar fate, I have vowed not to allow these “conversions” to happen again.

In one corner of our covered porch today stands a glass case, in which the cloth-covered antique image of Sta. Maria Magdalena reposes. It has not been seen since 2006, and I intend to keep it that way. It is very much in keeping with a penitent saint who spent part of her life as a hermit in a cave on a desert—away from prying eyes. Her life continues to give us an example of how no person is beyond the saving grace of God, so—by the same token, no broken santo  should be left unsaved too.

STA. MARIA MAGDALENA, Castro Family

30. The Saintmakers: JERIC CANLAS, "Pukpok Boy"

Our featured ecclesiastical artist comes from Barangay Sto. Domingo in the town of Mexico, Pampanga. He is JERIC GARCIA CANLAS, 46 years old (in 2007). His story is very typical of those told by hardworking folks engaged in a vanishing handmade art—the hammering (pukpok) of brass, silver or gold plates into decorative metal accessories for santos like potencias (rays) , aureoles, crowns, scepters and more.


On a personal note, I first heard of Jeric Canlas from a San Fernando santero. Once I passed by this santero’s shop along MacArthur Highway, and I couldn‘t help but notice the handsomely carved Crucifix that was ornamented with fine metal rays, cantoners, INRI and the skull of Golgotha all rendered in hammered metal. The metalworks were exquisite! The corpus of Christ was wearing a metal loin cloth incised with fine relief designs, so minute and intricate, definitely a product of many hours of hard work. I got his phone number from the santero, but it took months before I could reach him as I didn’t know the way to Mexico town.


When Holy Angel University in Angeles put up their magnificent retablo (main altar) at the Center for Kapampangan Studies, it required silver-plated frontals. I thought of Jeric, rang him up and asked him to come to Angeles. He arrived, together with his wife, a smallish man, almost painfully shy. But when he brought out his work samples—a crown for Santo Niño and the Virgin, a trio of metal rays for Christ—we were awestruck at his natural talent and sense of design.


To make the long story short, Jeric Canlas got one of the biggest commissions of his life—the altar frontals of the now-famous school retablo—which he hammered and adorned with stylized grapevine designs, then embellished with intricate floral patterns and curlicues, done in the tedious “pukpok’ (hammered) process. Jeric obliged us with this short interview, conducted in Kapampangan. We have taken the liberty to translate it into Pilipino so as not to lose the local flavor of the humble and challenging life story of one of the last original “pukpok boys”.

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Q: JERIC, PAANO KA NAGSIMULA SA TRABAHONG ITO — ANG PAGLA-LATERO?


JERIC: Una, nagtrabaho ako bilang isang “finisher” ng mga gamit-santo na yari sa tanso noong 1978, sa bahay ng aming boss sa Bago Bantay, Quezon City. Doon, may backyard business siya. Mula sa Pampanga, dumayo ako sa Manila at ako nga ay nakontrata para sa trabahong iyon — taga-kikil at taga-liha ng mga korona ng santo, globo ng Niño, potensya, mga ganun.

Siyempre, noong nahawakan ko yung mga koronang gawa sa tanso, naaliw rin ako sa mga disenyo. Pagkatapos ng dalawang taon doon, naging confident ako na kaya ko ring gawin yun. Nagpaturo ako sa aking pinsan na si Cong Ner Taruc. Si Cong Ner ay dating nagtrabaho sa talyer ni Maximo Vicente sa Manila. Sa kanya ko natutunan ang pagpupukpok. At unti-unti akong naging bihasa. Pati pagde-design. Mahilig kasi ako sa art. Hindi lang gamit-santo, pati mga metal na palamuti sa simbahan ay nagagawa ko, tulad ng mga ramilyete.

Q: KAILAN MO NAISIP MAGTAYO NG SARILING BUSINESS?


JERIC: Mga 17 years na ang nakakaraan, noong 1990. Parang ako ay na-discover! Kasi, alam mo naman, yung pagpupukpok, ginagawa ko lang sa harap lang ng bahay ko. Minsan, may isang kotse na napadaan, huminto — at may lumabas na mama. Si Mang Isidro Alcabre pala, isang kilalang escultor na may shop sa Angeles. Nakita niya ang mga gawa ko, at mula noon, kinontrata na niya ako para gawin ang mga gamit na pukpok para sa mga likha niyang santo.

Nagsu-supply din ako ng mga pinukpok na gamit-santo sa mga santero sa San Fernando, halimbawa yung shop ni RD de Dios. So ako yung tinatawag kapag may kailangan sila.


Q: GAANO BA KAHIRAP ANG PAGPUPUKPOK? MAY PERA BA DITO?

JERIC: Mabusising trabaho. Kasi lahat gawang-kamay. Pati paggawa ng disenyo, siyempre, ido-drawing mo pa sa cardboard na dapat actual size (ang tawag doon ay “plantilla”). Maraming cut-out yan. Yung design, i-i-imprenta sa “molding dutung” (wood mold). Tapos, ita-transfer mo ang design sa tanso, pupukpukin mo. Sa Ongpin pa ako bumibili niyan. Pag silver ang kailangan, sa Macabebe ako kumukuha. Ilalatag mo ngayon yan sa “birya” (malleable pounding board made from red cement and mixed with coconut oil — the result is a clay-like mixture).


Gamit ang iba’t-ibang sizes ng sinsil, pupukpukin mo ngayon yung disenyo, ang liliit! Pukpok dito, pukpok doon … kamay lahat! Nakaka-ubos ng oras talaga. At nakakabato. Kaya hindi ako pwedeng kumuha ng maraming trabaho. Yung matatapos ko lang ang tinatanggap ko. E ako lang mag-isa ang nakakagawa nito. Yung anak ko, wala naming hilig … so hindi ko maililipat itong kaalaman kong ito sa kanya … mamamatay na siguro ito kasama ko.

Alam ko, may makina na ngayon na nakakagawa ng iba’t-ibang design sa tanso, pero iba pa rin yung yaring-kamay. Pati mga customer ko, mas gusto yun. Nakikita nila ang pagakakaiba ng gawang-kamay at gawang-makina.

Pero kahit papaano, nakaka-raos din kami. Kumikita rin kami sa “tubog” (silver plating services). Kung walang project, hayun, pukpok pa rin ako ng pukpok, gumagawa ng mga sample para ipakita sa mga prospective customers.


Q: SINO BA ANG MGA CUSTOMERS MO NGAYON? ANO BA ANG MGA GAWA MONG MGA PUKPOK NA MAIPAGMAMALAKI MO?

JERIC: Mga suki ko, halos lahat taga-Pampanga. Si Father Ric Serrano (kolektor ng mga santo), si Father Pete Cruz. May regular customer din ako sa Angeles, isang magpo-poon sa Angeles.


Yung mga projects ko na di ko makakalimutan ay yung pagbalot ko ng kaladong pinukpok sa carroza ng isang duktor sa Santa Ana. Tapos, yung retablo ng Holy Angel University. Mayroon din pala akong ginawang korona para sa isang lifesize na Virgen sa Guam – ay, ang laki ng mga korona, mga 170 cm ang taas!


Q: KUNG IPANGANGANAK KANG MULI, PIPILIIN MO PA RIN BANG MAGING PUKPOK BOY?

JERIC: Oo naman. Yung aking pagpupukpok, kahit paano, nabibigyan ako ng kasiyahan. Tulad na lang ng minsang ma-imbita ako sa Assumption College sa San Lorenzo Village, biro mo, ako? Sa Makati! Nagturo ako sa isang klase doon kung paano mag-pukpok. Ang sarap ng feeling. Ako, na isang simpleng tao, kinilala ang talino ko, kahit isang saglit!


Oo, pipiliin kong muli ang pagpupukpok bilang hanapbuhay … pero siguro ... siguro mag-aaral din ako. Iba rin talaga ang may pinag-aralan kahit papaano.

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(ENGLISH TRANSLATION)

Q. JERIC, HOW DID YOU START IN THIS KIND OF JOB—DOING METALCRAFTS?

JERIC: I began first as a “finisher” of brass accessories for santos in 1978 in the house of my boss in Bago Bantay, Quezon City. He had a backyard business there. From Pampanga, I went to Manila and I was contracted to do that particular work---filing and finishing crowns for santos, orbs for Sto. Niños, potencias…things like that.


Of course, when I held those metal crowns in my hands, I got fascinated with the designs. After two years there, I became confident that I could also make those. I asked my cousin, Cong Ner Taruc, to teach me the craft. Cong Ner was a former worker at the Maximo Vicente workshop in Manila. It was from him that I learned the art of metalcrafts. And slowly, I became more proficient. I developed even my designing skills. That’s because I’m fond of art. I just don’t do metal accessories for santos, but I can also make metal church ornmanets, like ramilletes.

Q. WHEN DID YOU CONCECIVE OF STARTING YOUR OWN BUSINESS?

JERIC: About 17 years ago* (interview conducted in 2007), around 1990. I was actually discovered! You know, making “pukpok” (metalcrafts) is something I do in front of my house. Once, a car passed by and stopped. A man stepped out who turned out to be Isidro Alacabre, a well-known sculptor with a shop in Angeles City. He saw my work samples, and from that time on, he contracted me to do the metal works for the santos he created.

I also supplied metal accessories to santeros in San Fernando, like the shop of R.D. de Dios. I usually am called when they need the services of a metal craft worker.


Q. HOW HARD IS IT TO DO PUKPOK METALCRAFTS? IS THERE MONEY IN THIS?

JERIC: It’s painstaking work. That’s because everything is made by hand. The designs are drawn in actual size on a cardboard (called “plantilla”). So many cut-outs to do. The design is then imprinted on a wooden mold. The design is then transferred on brass plates that you need to hammer. I have to buy these (plates) from Ongpin. If silver is required, I get these from Macabebe. You lay these on a “birya” ( a malleable pounding board made from red cement and mixed with coconut oil—the result is a clay-like mixture.)

Using chisels of different sizes, you pound on the designs that are so minute! Pound here, hammer there…all by hand! It is so time consuming. Not to mention, boring. That’s why I can’t accept much work. I only take on what I can finish. I, alone, can do all these work. My son is not at all interested in this, so I can’t possibly pass on this art form to him…it will probably die with me.


I know, there are machines now that can stamp dieffernt designs on brass, but nothing beats hand-made. Even my customers, that’s what they prefer. They can spot the difference between hand-made and machine-made metal works.

We get by, no matter what. I also earn from silver-plating services. If there are no projects, I still do “pukpok” works, creating more samples for prospective customers to see.

Q. WHO ARE YOUR CLIENTS TODAY? WHAT METALWAORKS HAVE YOU DONE THAT YOU ARE TRULY PROUD OF?

JERIC: Most of my loyal customers are from Pampanga. Fr. Ric Serrnao, a santo collector and Fr. Pete Cruz. I have a regular customer from Angeles, a santero from that city.

My most unforgettable projects include a carroza (processional float) owned by a doctor in Santa Ana, in which I had to cover it completely with hammered cut-out (calado) panels. I also did the frontals of the retablo of Holy Angel University. I also made a crown for the lifesize Virgin of Guam—it was such a huge crown, around 170 cm. in height!

Q. IF YOU WERE BORN AGAIN, WOULD YOU STILL CHOOSE TO BE A “PUKPOK BOY” ?

JERIC: Of course. My art of metalcrafting gives me a certain amount of satisfaction. Like in one instance, I was invited by Assumption College of Makati, no less! I taught one class the rudiments of crafting with metals. What a great feeling. Imagine, a simple man like me was recognized for my skill, if but for a moment!

Yes, I will still choose again to engage in metalcrafting as my means of livelihood, but perhaps, I will also pursue my studies. There’s nothing like getting a good education!