THE UNIQUE AND UNUSUAL ARTS OF GREGORIO C. COCHING

Wedding picture of Gregorio C. Coching
and second wife Sixta Cagalingan (1946).
Taken from Celebrity Fortnightly
(January 15, 1984).

          Gregorio Cabral Coching (1889-1961) may not be as popular as his son, Francisco Vicente Coching (1919-1998), writer, illustrator, “Dean of Philippine Comics” and 2014 National Artist for Visual Arts. The older Coching, however, is also considered a legend in the field of story-writing during his time.

          Gregorio Coching’s career in writing started in Liwayway magazine during the early 1920s, wherein he contributed short fables, still in the process of honing his prose writing. He dreamed of emulating the likes of Jose Corazon de Jesus (1896-1932), who is known to many as Huseng Batute and the lyricist of the nationalist song “Bayan Ko;” Lope K. Santos (1879-1963), who is best known for his novel Banaag at Sikat; and Severino Reyes (1861-1942), the man behind the Lola Basyang stories and considered as the “Father of Tagalog Plays.”

          In 1925, in celebration of its third anniversary, Liwayway launched a literary contest. Coching set his mind and pen in making his first novel. His very rich imagination and literally flowery words combined to form a story of romantic sympathies for women of the low life titled Sanggumay (a local name for a kind of wild orchid). The novel narrates of a younger man who sacrifices social standing and reputation for the wanton love of a woman of the oldest profession, a “wild rose” – Sanggumay. It was quite a shocking storyline during those times. Coching sincerely believed that love conquers all (which is a recurring theme in most of his works). In Sanggumay, the man strives to give her beloved a new life and respectability and remolds her into the image of his dream. In the end, the woman realizes his noble intentions, foreswears her ways and learns to love him.



The 1937 film Gagamba starring Carlos Padilla

was based on Gregorio Coching’s

novel of the same title
published in Liwayway magazine.

          Coching’s first novel, to the surprise of the veteran writers of Liwayway who had hardly heard of the neophyte author, won first prize in the contest. It was his express ticket to popularity. Novel, one after another flowed from his pen, each one better than the last, as if he could read the minds and hearts of the readers of which materials they like to peruse. Soon he was ranked among the literary greats of the 1930s and 1940s.

          Not before long, Coching’s novels became the penchant of the reading public. He intrigued the romanticism in such diaphanous love stories as Babae ng Bayan, Baliya, Dalagang Pangit, Dama de Noche, Katlea, Mutya ng mga Mutya, Rita Ravensky. Aside from tearjerkers and amorous tales, Coching also ventured in other equally thought-provoking themes: Nature and spirituality in Ang Puso ng Diyos, Ilaw ng Diyos, and Palaboy ng Diyos; true-to-life contemporary event in Teniente Rosario; social thesis in Ang Batang Tulisan and Gagamba; moral ravages of war in Sa Impiyerno ng Lahi Natin; heroic adventure in Batibot na Anak ni Dumagit; and gothic mysteries and symbolisms in Buhay ni Penduko.

With the success of Gregorio Coching’s
1950 novel-turned-film Nanay ko,
it was immediately followed by Anak Ko,
also directed by Fernando Poe Sr and
starring Carmen Rosales with Danilo Montes.

          In Nanay Ko (1950), an unabased tearjerker of that era, Coching drenched every chapter of the novel with flowing tears. It was so popular that he wrote a sequel, Anak Ko (1951), that is to think of it half-a-century before Freddie Aguilar’s own masterpiece song, “Anak.” Both novels were adapted into films by Royal Production, with the same female lead casts – Carmen Rosales and Luningning, and the same director, Fernando Poe Sr.

       Coching’s Batibot na Anak ni Dumagit and Buhay ni Penduko, which were written in epic verses displayed his narrative skill in grandiose rhythmic style. The epic novels were both illustrated by Francisco Reyes in semi-comics form. A modest illustrator himself, Coching did the graphics for his Ang Kidlat ng Silangan, also in a semi-comics form.

 

 



The first issue of Balaghari Komiks
(March 6, 1948)

founded by Gregorio C. Coching

          In 1948, Coching founded Balaghari (March 6, 1948), what may be considered as the third true komiks in Philippine comics history, after Halakhak Komiks and Pilipino Komiks. Very little, however, is known about Balaghari except that it contained tales of local myths and legends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gregorio Coching’s Hara-Siri
on the cover of Tagalog Klasiks
(August 26, 1950)
This one drawn by his son,
Francisco V. Coching.

          Illustration was a hobby in Coching’s Liwayway days that he fully exploited later when he drew his own komiks series Hara-Siri, a tale of a self-proclaimed sultana of Marawak seeking revenge on Sultan Marikudo, the reigning ruler during that Madjapahit Era, because the latter forbade his son, Ramdit Arawari, from marrying her (serialized inTagalog Klasiks, May 6 – August 26, 1950). While Coching’s scripted illustrations may not be at par with today’s standard, his stories can be considered groundbreaking and has its merit whether they be pseudo-historical or based on legends.

          In Hara-Siri, Coching demonstrated a graphics style similar to classic western caricatures. His drawings are said to be tight and stiff. Some critics even pointed out that his drawings of horses are to rigid to be “alive” and as such may be likened to the Trojan wooden horse. We must remember, however, that artistry is not viewed in a linear way. Each artist has his unique way of presenting his concept no matter how peculiar they may be. Coching’s illustrations do have good points on its extremely detailed graphics. Considering he was more than 60 years old when he drew Hara-Siri.

The first three issues of Hara-Siri written and drawn by Gregorio C. Coching,

published in Tagalog Klasiks Nos. 22-24 (May 6 – June 3, 1950)



Gregorio Coching’s Donya Geronima
on the cover of Espesyal Komiks
(February 9, 1953),
illustrated by Alfredo P. Alcala.

          Indeed, despite his age, the stream of unique ideas kept gushing out of Coching’s imaginative mind. In Donya Geronima, the elderly novelist narrated an unusual mix of Greek myth intertwined with Filipino history and legend. The novel illustrated by Alfredo P. Alcala (1925-2000) and set during the time of the Katipunan uprising, was a story of love, lust and vengeance, where Donya Geronima, a leprous sculptress, created the Greek mythological character Hectopeles from a rock. It was given life by Nadia, the beautiful but cruel diwata of Ilog Pasig and queen of the mermaids. Both Donya Geronima and Nadia became enamored to Hectopeles. Through her enchantment, Nadia stole the love of Hectopeles. In revenge, Donya Geronima replaced Hectopeles’ stone heart with baked lime that caused him to be resentful of Nadia. In a planned ruse, Saurok, the siyukoy (merman) who wants Nadia for himself, conspired with Donya Geronima. In the end, Donya Geronima won the heart of Hectopeles with the beauty that Nadia herself direly bestowed upon her when she cured her leprosy. She defeated the mermaid queen with a buntot-page (manta ray’s tail), and thereupon, Saurok took her back to the depth of Ilog Pasig for his lustful intent. Donya Geronima and Hectopeles professed their love for one another and to live in the world of myth forever (serialized in Espesyal Komiks, February 9, 1953 – May 31, 1954).

The last three issues of Donya Geronima written by Gregorio C. Coching and drawn by Alfredo P. Alcala,
published in Espesyal Komiks Nos. 41-43 (May 3 – May 31, 1954)

          Aside from writing and drawing, Coching was an excellent researcher. He claimed that his ancestors came from the royal household of the sultanate of Borneo, and that his grandfather was a certain Sultan Amorabe. He collected and compiled many interesting materials with regard to Philippine pre-Hispanic history, including notes from the long-lost Codex of Singhapala, which detailed the origin and exploits of Lapulapu, chieftain and hero of Mactan. Much of this research became the reference materials for the 1954 Pilipino Komiks series, Lapu-Lapu, written and illustrated by his son Francisco, which was made into a movie with Mario Montenegro in the title role. He also dabbled in mechanical engineering, engraving, sculpture and architecture. He is said to have invented a fountain pen rigged-up as a 22-caliber pistol, and carved a wooden carabao peg into a statue of Christ standing on a rock.

          In another instance, while he was eating with his family, Coching suddenly got-up, went to the kitchen and took their sangkalan (chopping board) made of molave wood and started carving. When it was finished, the chopping board was transformed into a symbolic piece representing a Filipino maiden bound by chains, behind her was an eagle wrestling with a dragon – a physical metaphor of the Philippines enslaved by two disputing power, the United States and Japan.

          Still another unique manifestation of Gregorio Coching’s talents, this time in the field of architecture, was his design of a colossal monumental edifice of the Rizal Provincial Library, Museum and School of Fine Arts. It was a proposed project to be erected at the elevated Mandaluyong Estate by the Historical Research Club of Pasig (then still part of Rizal Province), founded by the Pitong Matanda sa Nayon of Pasig.

The proposed Rizal Library and Museum
designed by Gregorio C. Coching.

          The would-be seven-level “world wonder” featured a gigantic bust of National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal (1861-1896), atop an edifice with a catacomb. Inside the hollows of the head were an astronomical observatory and multi-purpose chambers. Below the head and within the hollows of the bust were the library and museum. Still below were classrooms to host the school of fine arts, and at the lowest level was a catacomb.

          Insufficient fund, however, prevented this great building from becoming a reality.