JessicaRulestheUniverse.com

Last Saturday I attended the launch of My City, My SM in SM City, Rosales, Pangasinan. I’ve seen more of the Philippines in the last four months of tagging along with the SM Marketing Communications Group than I have in the last ten years. One thing I like about the project, apart from the chance to see my own country, is that its endorsers are people of substance. Not celebrities who are famous for being famous, but individuals who have actually used their abilities for good not evil. Like Dr. Bito (eek, typo) Biyo, the head of Philippine Science High School in Iloilo, who won an international award for teachers and has a planet named after her.

The endorsers of My City, My SM in Rosales, Pangasinan are ten-year-old chess prodigy Samantha Glo Revita, Sudoku grandmaster Sarah Jane Cua, and National Artist for Literature Francisco Sionil Jose, author of the Rosales series of novels.

I got scolded for not having been to F. Sionil Jose’s Solidaridad Bookstore in Padre Faura since the dinner for James Hamilton-Paterson years and years ago. Sorry.

You imagine that your conversation with an esteemed author will be cultured and profound. Ours went like this.

“I hate wearing my dentures,” said F. Sionil Jose. Big smile. Mrs. Jose rolled her eyeballs.

“You don’t have to,” I said. “The hell with it. What was Rosales called when you were growing up?”

“Rosales.”

“Oh. I thought it was named after the actress Carmen Rosales. There are signs calling it Carmen Rosales.”

“You know why it’s called Rosales?” Mr. Jose said. “Because there were lots of rosal growing along the highway. They’re gone. There were also huts with grass roofs. Gone.”

After the launch we went on to Baguio. They’ve recorded the highest temperatures in Baguio this year—they may have hit 30 degrees—but on Saturday night it was wonderfully chilly. Still used a quilt. Sunday, though, was warm. We went to the BenCab Museum to see the exhibition of new works by the National Artist for the Visual Arts and My City, My SM’s Baguio endorser.

BenCab’s exhibit is called Draped Figures. They’re actually Draped Nudes, which sounds like a contradiction but that’s what they are. You imagine that your conversation with an esteemed artist will be cultured and profound. Ours went like this.

“See?” BenCab said. “I finally have a male nude. What do you think?”

“Um. . .”

“People complain that I only paint female nudes. Well?”

“It’s so. . .it’s so gay.” Happy Birthday, BenCab!

Draped Figures is on view at the Indigo Gallery of the BenCab Museum until May. You have to visit the next time you’re in Baguio.