Two books to treasure

Former Chief Justice Hilario Davide, who just retired, leaves behind him a legacy of integrity, wisdom, patience, humility and a sense of humanity, and his successor, Chief Justice Artemio V. Panganiban, is doubtless expected by his peers to fully live up to that legacy.

Mr. Panganiban’s latest book is Judicial Renaissance, and I am the proud possessor of a copy which was given me before its launching. The book is the fourth Mr. Panganiban has gifted me with, he being a prolific writer. In fact, since 1994 he has penned nine books! As Justice Romeo J. Callejo puts it: "One book a year and no cases undecided. This is an unsurpassed record." Referring to Judicial Renaissance, Mr. Callejo says: "It is also the best summation of judicial reform." Another peer, Justice Angelina Sandoval Gutierrez, praises the author’s "preeminent judicial craftsmanship, social philosophies and literary style."

In his glowing review of the book, Justice Renato C. Corona observes: "Mr. Justice Panganiban does not camouflage or soft-pedal his philosophy of life. he states clearly and simply where he stands; law, morality and religion are inseparably linked. Man, stripped naked of all his pretensions and illusions, is, and remains a moral entity." Mr. Corona concludes his lengthy review thus: "M. Justice Panganiban’s rich insights should certainly excite and inspire those whose commitment to God, country and people and the law remains strong, no matter what happens in a flawed society of flawed men."

Author Panganiban calls his latest book "a modest volume which provides for all those interested in ‘strengthening the judiciaries of the 21st century’."

The Chief Justice has touched on widely varying subjects: mathematics, economics, business, accounting and even canon law, judging by his lectures and speeches. Former Chief Justice Davide points out that his successor "extricates the possible from the hypothetical, the emerging from the established, the literature in science and the law in art."

Chief Justice Panganiban is indeed a most worthy and deserving successor.

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Araceli Limcaco Dans is an impressively elegant and exquisite coffee table book on the life and (handsomely illustrated) works of the painter as authored by the late Leonor Orosa Goquingco, National Artist for Dance, Sylvia Mendez Ventura and Maria Araceli Dans Lee, the painter’s daughter.

Not being a visual arts critic – many can’t seem to distinguish between the visual arts and the performing arts (which encompass music, theater and dance) – I shall quote from Leonor’s 1993 review written after she had seen Dans’ exhibit in an all-female show called Babae . . . Ganda, Talino, Lakas (Woman . . . Beauty, Talent, Strength) for the UP Sigma Delta Phi Alumni Association.

Before I quote Leonor, however, let me point out that when National Artist Hernando H. Ocampo saw her sketches and drawings, he quickly told her, "You could have been a painter instead of a choreographer."

Titled "Cheloy Dans: Ease and Elegance in a Difficult Medium" (water color), the review reads:

"You are floored by the Dans paintings. Stunned. Your attention is hopelessly riveted, long and hard.

"These are still life paintings? What a misnomer!

"For these paintings, the Kuratsa ones in particular, shimmer, breathe, shine, throb, pulsate, nay, dance with life, with the play of so many subtle gradations of white on white contrasting with the shining glass background – every single thread rendered faithfully, every peroration, every single curl and billowy fold.

"Whether by man or woman, these paintings are perfection itself, the epitomé of elegance. And they, and the painter, as well, are destined for immortality."

Eminent art critic Alice G. Guillermo writes: "Araceli Dans is known for her exquisite patterns and details for embroidery on white cloth done with painstaking consummate skill. They recall the 19th century miniatured portraits of women of the Ilustrado class attired in their traditional Maria Clara costumes with their transparent bodice and butterfly sleeves embellished with floral arabesques. Thus, they are associated with gentility, refinement and delicacy of feeling, values which barely survive in this day and age. They convey beauty in their rhythmic designs as well as order and virtue in their crisp and immaculate whiteness.

"These paintings of embroidered articles such as tablecloths and doilies, also signify a woman’s presence within a gracious domestic setting that she creates for the pleasure of her family. The production of these linen or fine cottons with the distinctively Filipino calado technique was a 19th century which women occupied themselves with in convent schools and beaterios as labor, along with flower-making, which now came down to us as a tradition practised in towns such as Taal and Lumban.

"In the 19th century, the excellent embroidery produced locally was taken to international expositions where they won high praise from no less than the King of Spain. Thus these paintings celebrate woman as artist/craftsperson and as housemaker; at the same time, they are still lifes that are not isolated images in themselves but imply an entire social context with its values."

Sylvia writes: The gospel on the creative process according to Dans: "Artists must demonstrate sensitivity – the ability to absorb their environment; flexibility – to adjust to new situations; fluency – providing ideas quickly; originality – seeing things in a new light; the ability to abstract – putting things together in a more meaningful way."

Happy holidays!