CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – What could be the Philippine’s first-ever monument to the peasant army Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa mga Hapon (Hukbalahap) in World War II is taking shape in the ateliers of Betis, Guagua, Pampanga’s woodworking capital.
Josef Andre “Totek” Canasa Layug, the youngest son of Presidential Merit Awardee for Ecclesiastical Art Willy Layug, has finished the clay maquette, a small model or third study of the monument last week.
The monument in concrete features life-size statues of Luis Taruc, founder of the biggest resistance movement in the Philippines during WWII, with living guerrillas Praxedes Clarin and Antonio Sumang as representatives of those who joined the guerrilla movement.
Commissioned by San Luis businessman Abel Manliclic, the monument is set to be unveiled in October in the said municipality that is also Taruc’s hometown.
This is not Layug’s first monument commission. The young Layug is the artist behind the 24-foot image of the Risen Christ along the section of Barangay Santa Ursula, West Lateral Dike in Betis District, Guagua town. Barcelona-educated and budding artist Totek started the project on Aug. 9, 2019, with the vision of sharing his art to the community. Totek was also the artist who created the image of Saint Joseph in a chapel inside Clark Freeport.
Totek, who has recently come home from his studies in Barcelona, Spain, is dubbed as the “heir” to the Layug legacy in the field of the arts. The young Layug takes his father for inspiration and credits him for his love of the arts.
Totek’s works will be featured with his father in the Dulog Sa Langit exhibition at the Manila Clock Tower Museum starting August 1. Punto News Team
