Untitled 65
I am an educator. I began to realize that I can teach when I met
Kuya Philip. 90's were fascinating years for me: its tensions and
contentions. I was very young and troubled during this period.
Growing up without strong mentor, it was difficult for me to be
inspired. SIKAP came to my life, then, Kuya Philip. I got inspired.
Teacher and a Dreamweaver I. At this significant turn of his life, I
know that a lot of people whom was influenced by him will 'venerate'
his being a father, a man, pastor, church missiinary, civic servant,
adminstrator, etc. etc., oh, lately a lolo. But I like to highlight
his being a TEACHER and a DREAMWEAVER--an educator par excellence. No
one can beat his straightforward, cutting edge, heartfelt lessons.
Kuya's teaching ability is transformative--his teachings are
value-ladden: classical and legendary. The best thing about Kuya is he
knows the idiosyncrasies of young people. That I guess is the essence of
an educator, who can understand the 'other', 'odd' and 'different'. I
spent my whole youth with SIKAP because I had a teacher in Kuya who
mentored me and accepted me even though I was an 'other', 'odd' and
'different'. I think I still am and I discovered lately that Kuya
Philip is a dinosaur--a rarity.
The Teacher and the Dreamaker II. I will never forget the day he and
SIKAP staff with older kuyas/ates invited Pangkat Bonifacio in UP
Diliman for a some sort of a SIKAP Talk. It was raining. Gloomy. We
were in Admin Buiilding just at the back of Oblation. At that time, UP
was so big for me, an impossible dream and unreachable star. Kuya, that
afternoon, gave a talk on 'not giving up and staying focused', he even
said that 'your choices can make an impact to your life sooner or
later...' I continued attending SIKAP events and found myself engaged
with Teatrong SIKAP, a homegrown theatre group that made me a creative
person, thus, opened an idea of a career in theatre. If Kuya Jong was
our Teatrong SIKAP manager, Kuya Philip was the one who discovered
me/us! He organized a creative performing group for us to explore the
possibilities of theatre making with values formation methods of
teaching on it. Oh, Kuya Philip is also a visionary! I got that from
him.
Aristotle. He is a very personable man, full of charisma and humor.
Some of our activities in SIKAP were simple yet thought-provoking.
Another moment I will never forget is when he asked us to 'make an
aircarft'' and 'target that point'. We were all excited and made paper
planes, thereafter. He was observing us. Nobody got the target,
because we all created an airplane made of a piece of paper. Then, I
remember Buddy Condat, crumpled a paper and threw it on the target.
Kuya excitedly stopped us and said, 'That's it! There was no
instruction to create an airplane'. With Kuya, I am always challenged
to go beyond myself and imagine. After so many years, I am proud to
say that I'm using this activity for my Genearal Education class. It's
so effective that I would quote lines directly from Kuya. I imagine
myself being THE Philip Flores. Because of him, I became an educator,
I hope equally excellent like him.
A Thespian. Kuya Philip, as a teacher, is also an artist. He acts, he
creates and can re-create himself. He knows how to pause, to smile
between sad moments and he has a skill for timing. He is a thespian. I
really think he was called to be an actor first before becoming a man
of God. I have a Philip Flores acting prowess genes in me! I'm proud
of that!
What now after 65? I am writing this note from New York City where I
will co-work with an American theatre director for an Off-Broadway
show. Beside my apartment is a theatre, I live in Broadway the heart
of theatre arts in the US. It's cold, autumn will greet me tomorrow,
and the wind makes my body chill and I like it because the fire of
memories of Kuya is aflame. I'm writing this as I remember the gloomy
rainy SIKAP Talk in UP Diliman with Kuya Philip. 'Don't give up!',
it's resonating fresh to me. For me his 'Don't give up', means dream
big.
Kuya, helped me dream big. He is one person who believed in me and
taught me to cling to the unprecedented: to trust God and hope in Him.
I guess that is the core of our relationship. Thank you!
Dennis
