SCULPTOR Wilfredo
Layug was conferred the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice award, the Holy See’s highest
recognition for the laity, for his ecclesiastical art, joining the Thomasian
roster of papal awardees.
Layug, 57,
received the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice award, which translates to “For the Church and Pope,” during Holy Mass at the
Metropolitan Cathedral of San Fernando, Pampanga offered by Catholic Bishops’
Conference of the Philippines President and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates
Villegas last March 8.
Layug joins
the list of Thomasian papal awardees such as Chief Justice Andres Narvasa (1977),
former Graduate School Dean Magdalena Villaba (1987), Dr. Milagros Fernandez
(1984) and Benedictine liturgist Fr. Anscar Chupungco (2013).
In a phone
interview with the Varsitarian,
Layug said he was overwhelmed in receiving the papal honor.
“Diba Katoliko tayo, mahal natin ang Holy
Father. Kapag binigyan ka ng ganitong
karangalan, [nakaka-overwhelm]. Sinurpresa ako ni Archbishop Socrates
Villegas [nung binigay ang award na ito],” Layug said.
Asked what
works he considers his masterpieces, the sculptor cited the retablo behind the
altar he had donated to the Pontificio
Collegio Filippino in Rome and his “Our Lady of Hope,” a seven-foot Marian image
placed at the sanctuary during the Mass of Pope Francis in Leyte last year.
Layug, who was
unable to finish his fine arts degree in 1983 due to financial problems, said
the identity of his works stemmed from the “hyperrealism” concept, describing his
pieces as having “almost real” skin texture.
He said that
when he was young, he sculpted a UST-inspired wooden piece, as his mother
really wanted him to study in the Pontifical University.
As a student
in 1981, Layug was asked by the government of President Ferdinand Marcos to
restore the woodwork of the Fort Santiago gate in Intramuros, Manila.
He underwent
apprenticeship in Spain in the 1990s.
In 2009, he
was awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit Award by President Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo.
In 2013, he
was the subject of “Dukit,” a
full-feature film in the Metro Manila Film Festival’s New Wave Category by
acclaimed screenwriter Armando Lao.
On June 2, he will
finally receive his bachelor’s degree as a Rector’s Scholar, together with his
son Josef, also a student of the College of Fine Arts and Design.
“Na-develop ko `yung style na `to. Hindi kasi parang paggising mo may
talent kang ganito. It’s also inborn.
I believe it’s inborn in my younger days na
nakakapagtrabaho na ako ng clay,” the Pampanga-based sculptor said. “`Yung tradition dito ng wood carving matagal
na sa Betis [in Pampanga]. `Yun ang
base ko. Tapos, in-improve ko lang `yun. Nakatulong `yung UST sa akin sa paghubog ng talent na `yun. Hindi naman madali iyon. Kailangan
mo talagang lumabas, i-expose sa
lahat.”
Other notable
works include altarpieces in chapels, churches and cathedrals across the
country such as Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City, Dagupan and Urdaneta in
Pangasinan, San Jose, Nueva Ecija and at Loyola Memorial Park in Parañaque. Jerome
P. Villanueva
