The Anthem Philatelist

  Watch this video of color blind artist Celso Pepito who created Pinagbayloay (Barter), a painting on the golden past of Cebu as a center of trade of South East Asia in 1521. The artwork can be at the 7th floor of Palm Grass Hotel in Lapu-Lapu City .  This video is created by Hong-Kong based Asia Pacific Focus Features Prospero Laput.

 Thank you Emmanuel B. Villaruel and the Freeman .  click  here to view online article  CEBU, Philippines — Good things come to those who wait. This proved true for Cebuano gastroenterologist Vicente “Inting” Avanzado, Jr., who had long been wanting to personally meet his boxing idol Manny Pacquiao. His first best chance came after Pacquiao’s brutal and bloody ring war against Puerto Rican great Antonio Margarito on November 14, 2000 before a delighted crowd of 41,734 at the sprawling Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, USA. Delivering a spectacular performance in a blockbuster showdown billed as “The Eighth Wonder of the World,” Pacquiao dominated the bigger but slower Margarito to win the WBC super welterweight championship via a lopsided unanimous decision over 12 grueling rounds. Pacquiao, then 30 years old and congressman of Sarangani Province, prevailed round after round, opening a cut on Margarito’s cheek, closing his right eye,...

Tugboat, 22"x 30", Watercolor on paper, 2019   Leo M. Bomediano is a Filipino watercolor artist from Siquijor - an educator, and public school teacher whose life and work seamlessly bridge the worlds of academic stewardship and fine arts. Serving as a school principal within the Department of Education (DepEd) division in Siquijor , Philippines, Bomediano has dedicated his career to nurturing young minds while simultaneously cultivating his passion for the visual arts. His artistic practice is deeply rooted in capturing light, atmosphere, and local history through fluid, highly expressive watercolor painting. By utilizing a demanding medium that allows little room for error, Bomediano has established himself as an insightful chronicler of cultural memory and regional identity.   A central theme in Bomediano’s artwork is the preservation of Philippine heritage and the documentation of changing urban and rural landscapes. His artistic vision was prominently showcased in the p...

  I ask google for the top 10 students of Martino Abellana, who have achieved absolute mastery and carry his legacy forward as pillars of Cebuano and Philippine visual arts.  These are his answers: Romulo Galicano Arguably the most globally renowned protégé and nephew of Abellana. A true master of representational painting, landscape art, and academic portraiture, Galicano has won top accolades from prestigious bodies like the Portrait Sociey of the Philippines. Sofronio Y. Mendoza (SYM) The visionary founder of the influential Dimasalang Art Group . Mendoza took Abellana’s structural discipline and translated it into a groundbreaking movement that bridged traditional representation with early Filipino modernism. Jose "Kimsoy" Yap Jr. Celebrated as one of the country's finest master watercolorists. Yap absorbed Abellana's intensive seasonal training in Cebu before refining his expertise at the prestigious National Academy of Design in New York.   Celso Duazo Pepito ...

   "A new song, a soulful chant or a simple melody hark back to the senses the obscured movements of nature – the frolicking growth of a bud to a flower, the enthusiastic flow of a forgotten river, the murmurs at the thick of the wilderness where two artists as lovers pause to listen to the humming of indiscernible words, as they imagine better worlds spared from the uncertainties of the present precarious times. In “ Honi ug Banika ”, Cebuano artist-couple Celso Pepito and Fe Madrid bring out their works in a wilderness of hope with this exhibition of recent works made during the grueling period of community quarantine. “ Honi ug Banika ” which translates as ‘melody and nature’ is the couples’ way of contemplation, a necessary exercise of creativity and spirituality that lays open a course of redemptive action amidst the impasse of the pandemic ."       Self Mastery 2021   Mixed Media          ...