Below is the speech Mr. Padilla delivered when theater luminary Dr. Paul Dumol was granted the rank Professor Emeritus of Humanities by the University of Asia & the Pacific on April 2, 2025. Mr, Padilla, the founding artistic director of Tanghalang Pilipino and a pioneer of PETA, is a Gawad CCP Para sa Sining 2020 awardee.
I have been asked to talk a little about Paul as an artist and playwright. Paul and I go way back to our Ateneo days.
In the grade school we trained under the program of Mrs. Araceli Dans who
established an extracurricular activity initiated by Fr. Luis Candelaria.
In high school we pioneered the drama competition under the guidance of Mr.
Onofre Pagsanhan, called the Dulaang Sibol Drama Competition. The year was 1968.
Paul wrote and directed a play entitled Ang Puting Timamanukin.
Our class presented Hoy, Boyet! written by my classmate, Tony Perez,
who, at that time seriously believed he was the reincarnation of Francisco Balagtas, for he was without a doubt a superb tagalista, producing a plethora of intriguing poetic verses, celebrating the magic and giddiness of adolescence. I was tasked to direct our entry.
Paul’s Puting Timamanukin won the grand prize.
We were kulelat (bottom dweller).
But it was there that Paul and I became fast friends.
Paul’s ambition at that time was to be a playwright and theater director.
The year after that, he wrote and directed Paglilitis ni Mang Serapio, a youthful
masterpiece that has easily become the most performed Filipino play today.
Paul was a precocious child.
His mother told me that when he was 11 years old (or was he nine?) Paul asked her to
buy a book for his birthday. He dragged her to National Bookstore in Avenida
Rizal, pointed to a big book in the window.
His finger pointed at Man and His Symbols by Carl Jung.
At so young an age, Paul was reading heavy stuff, really heavy stuff!
When most of us were still struggling to master reading a primer, See David run,
Run David, run! or we were just being introduced to adventures of The Hardy Boys, or Treasure Island, Paul was into metaphysics!
There was no doubt in Paul’s mind that he wanted to write plays, and his focus was to explore Philippine history through drama. So far he has written plays that traverse the Philippine experience through the centuries, each dramatization highlighting the birth or growth of native consciousness as individuals, participating in a community, and contributing to the growth of our nation.
Paul’s model has always been Shakespeare, via the lens of Brechtian innovation in contemporary dramaturgy. He has always kept an open mind and welcomes experimentation. His training in philosophy and theology has enabled him to translate and creatively apply the secrets of dramatic construction utilized by The Greeks, The Elizabethans, and the Spanish masters like Calderon de la Barca.
His power of concentration has always been phenomenal.
Today we celebrate his status as emeritus in this august center of learning,
but we all know that that translates into retirement, or semi-retirement, or gently putting my friend to pasture!
Congratulations, Paul.
May God bless you with time, energy, and stamina to continue your creative path, be it in education or being granted an Indian Summer of dramatic endeavors.
And yes I don’t hesitate today to proclaim that YOU deserve to be declared a National Artist for Theater and Drama.
I have been privileged to direct the premieres of most of your plays. For that, I thank you!
Our collaborations have indeed been God’s grace and blessing.
2020 Gawad CCP awardee Nonon Padilla giving his remarks on Dr. Paul Dumol (Photo courtesy of Mr. Padilla)
Dr. Paul Dumol (center), Nonon Padilla with their former Ateneo high School music teacher Ditas Rivera da Silva (Photo courtesy of Mr. Padilla)
