Dr. Jovencio Cuanang: The Healing Art and the Art of Healing

HE PROBES THE INTRICACIES OF THE HUMAN BRAIN–WHICH he calls "the last frontier of science"–and offers safe haven to struggling artists in his Antipolo abode. His life is defined by two diverse disciplines–medicine and art–and he is using one to help the other. "Art is very powerful," says Dr. Jovencio Cuanang, medical director of the venerable 103-year-old St. Luke’s Hospital. "It is something that should be used in the healing process."

He recently presented a paper on epilepsy and the arts at an international assembly on the illness held in Paris. "Epileptics have a lot of inferiority complex. My paper was about coming out of the shadows–and into the light. It’s about exploring the potentials (of epileptics) as human beings," notes the veteran neurologist, citing Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte and Joan of Arc as among the historical figures whose episodes of seizures didn’t stop them from changing the course of history.

Utilizing the healing power of art is a familiar concept in medicine although still widely untapped in practice. "There are so many doctors now who are starting to talk to me about using art in the healing process for various illnesses like Alzheimer’s and depression. As I was trying to develop my science by studying neurology and applying what I’ve learned, I also learn in terms of caring for my patients. By doing that, I’m trying to help myself as well," Cuanang explains.

"I find great fulfillment in helping others develop their own selves whether healthy or sick. It’s all about exploring the potential of people, as I have also to explore myself," he tells STARweek in an interview at the art gallery that he and his friends opened five years ago in Antipolo.

After finishing a clinical neurology scholarship at Harvard in 1969, Cuanang sought a different kind of education by backpacking across Europe. "I’ve always believed that travel provides a very good education and whatever was my early exposure to arts and the humanities was even more enhanced by the travel that I undertook."

This journey brought the adventurous Cuanang to the temple of Aesculapius in the island of Cos in Greece. "I had taken my oath in the Philippines but here was a great opportunity to take your oath right before the God of Medicine!" he enthuses. "We registered our names and this guy who was taking care of the temple there tells me, you’re the first Filipino to do this!"

He also visited the tomb of his favorite novelist, Nikos Kasantzakis. "I went to visit his tomb in Crete. I love his novel Zorba the Greek… it’s about living life the way it should be."

Everything about the arts have always captivated Cuanang, beginning from his boyhood when his mother would read to him and his siblings the literary classics. This would later influence his running St. Luke’s, launching a "reading out" program in the pediatrics ward wherein members of the hospital’s women’s board read stories to children.

"We are also trying to develop a system for special children wherein we will incorporate art therapy in the neurodevelopmental center. In our geriatric center there’s also an art therapy going on and I’m looking at the possibility of doing art therapy among the disabled," he says.

Over the years, Cuanang has juggled his time between running St. Luke’s, teaching neurology, attending to patients, promoting Filipino arts and spending time on his favorite hobby, gardening.

Patriotism was at a peak when People Power toppled the Marcos dictatorship, and the first thing that Cuanang and company reflected on was what to do for the country now that it had regained its democratic space.

"We formed the Antipolo Foundation for Arts, Culture and Ecology. We were professionals living in Antipolo and this house became our meeting place," Cuanang says of his residence, which lies within a sprawling track of mountain land overlooking the city. The rehabilitation of an "important spiritual spot," the Hinulugang Taktak falls, was one of the first tasks of the foundation, which was later renamed the Silangan Foundation for Art, Culture and Ecology as its focus expanded beyond Antipolo.

The "confluence of events"–as was the case in the foundation’s establishment in 1986–led Cuanang and his friends to establish the Pinto Art Gallery in 2001.

Pinto, translated as "door" in English, was conceptualized on the first day of the 21st century.

"It was our way of celebrating the entering of the new century," he recalls, adding that when they saw this bare space of land a stone’s throw away from his house, "the next thing you know, we were measuring and planning how to build the gallery!"

That door opened opportunities for many artists to showcase their work as his residence became a haven for them to explore their art. In the late 1980s, several young artists collectively known as the "Salingpusa" group found a home for their contemporary art in Cuanang’s abode.

"They would hold sketching sessions. We would have art shows in the garden and artists would perform here," he says, pointing to a piano where Cecile Licad performed in four concerts.

Another important agenda of Silangan, he says, is to develop a museum for contemporary art within his Antipolo property. "The artists have come up with this particular project," he explains. An art gallery in Boston Street, Cubao is an "offshoot" of Pinto.

The painting of Salingpusa’s Elmer Borlongan with a "walang iwanan" theme is one of his favorites as it hangs above an old chest salvaged from the Galleon Trade.

Borlongan, along with Antonio Leaño, is among the many artists who had lived in Cuanang’s home "before they all got married."

"And since they stayed here, they participated by helping out in gardening," Cuanang recalls.

He credits Leaño, who stayed at his residence for 10 years, for developing the sprawling estate high up at the Sierra Madre Grand Heights, which he acquired in the early 1970s with the help of his sister. "I wanted a place at the top of a mountain. It’s the panorama that intrigues me," he says, describing the once barren land as being now a "cultivated wilderness".

"We support the foundation by selling paintings… no donations… but we are trying to make a brochure to make others know what we are doing," Cuanang says.

Apart from Leaño and Borlongan, others who spent time at Cuanang’s Antipolo sanctuary are Emmanuel Garibay, Jim Orencio, Mark Justiniani, Ferdie Montemayor and John Santos III.

And though they have all gotten married, he says they "come home" to hold exhibits. "I allow them to soar; they would hold shows abroad and come back here to hold a show."

Cuanang’s "Ilocano-Mexican" inspired house constructed from wood and centuries-old bricks from his hometown of Batac, Ilocos Norte opens up to a spacious garden where he grows his orchids. A flight of concrete stone steps leads down to a pond, then to a bamboo cottage surrounded by various types of bamboo; he once gave the president of the Paris Bamboo Society a tour of the area.

In the heart of Cuanang’s natural sanctuary, amid old mahogany and narra trees, lies a spiritual sanctuary. At the center of the chapel hangs a part of a 300-year-old Pieta, while a host of religious icons carved in wood by Filipino ancestors Cuanang had collected from church ruins give the chapel a complete sense of solace.

"The chapel was developed soon after the house was done. I’ve always felt that any place should have a spiritual center. It’s always nice to have a place for meditation," he says.

Cuanang has taken his love for Filipino culture to his home province, recently launching a heritage resort in Currimao, Ilocos Norte called Sitio Remedios. "I saw a lot of old houses echoing the lifestyle of the 1940s and 1950s being demolished. What we did was buy the houses and then we created a village and reconstructed the houses piece by piece," he says.

Cuanang developed early interest in medicine and the arts simultaneously. He fondly recalls how his mother, an elementary school teacher who died when he was a second-year medical student, would engage him and his two elder siblings in discussions about Shakespeare.

On the other hand, the influence of medicine and Cuanang’s own holistic approach came from a barrio doctor who made his rounds on a bicycle.

"I was very lucky because as a child I was exposed to a great doctor… a simple country doctor who used to take a look at me when I was sick and I would observe the way he would treat me. He made the rounds of houses in our town and he practically knew everyone!" says Cuanang.

Dr. Saulo Garganta had a holistic approach to medicine, he recalls. "Not only would he treat your cold but he would get to know you also as a person, and he inspires people. I knew that this was a great doctor and I wanted to be like him."

Cuanang was a young boy when his father, a farmer, died. "Basically we were looked after by an assortment of aunts and uncles who were all teachers… and that’s where I got my strict teaching."

Although he so far has four paintings to his name, Cuanang quips, "I keep it in under wraps," adding that he did not try to pursue a career in the arts as it was "medicine all the way."

"Medicine comes first because that is my lifelong ambition," beams Cuanang, who is professor emeritus at his alma mater, the UERM, which sponsored his scholarship to Harvard in 1966. He was the youngest graduate of medicine at UERM in its 50-year history. "I was already a doctor at age 21. I was accelerated in elementary school and I started medicine when I was 16."

After Harvard and his travels, Cuanang came home to help set up a training program on neurology at UERM and became one of the founders of the Philippine Neurological Association. He has always been fascinated by how the brain works. "Neurology is the most challenging specialty in medicine. We are trying to understand the brain, which is the last frontier of science."

Studying stroke and its therapy is another passion; he served as founding president of the Stroke Society of the Philippines for ten years. "My passion is toward the promotion of a healthy lifestyle which to me is a very important strategy to reduce the incidents of people having brain attacks, the No. 1 cause of disability in the world now and No. 2 cause of death in the Philippines," he says. "I continue to support the unfinished work for the Philippines to become a stroke-free country as soon as possible."

Amidst the challenges he faces as medical director and his involvement with the arts, culture and the environment, Cuanang reasons that actually, if one looks at how the brain works, "you’re only using 20 percent of it."

"There’s so much more to explore but you have to compartmentalize and be disciplined. For instance, since I work six days a week being a medical director at St. Luke’s, it’s a very challenging job so I reserve my weekends, usually Sundays, to arts and culture. I’m just trying to develop both sides of my brain," he laughs.

The Silangan Foundation facilitates an "east-west dialogue" and by next year, they will go "full blast" with the building of its museum.

"Last year, we hosted five Malaysian artists who stayed here for two weeks and it culminated with a show. It is development… Malaysians saw what the Filipinos can do and likewise for us with the Malaysias, and a friendship is developed. I feel that we are the best (in the arts) in Southeast Asia but we lack marketing. We already have the talent. A lot of art curators in Southeast Asia are tapping into the Filipino talent...for tourism and we should show what we can do!" he says.

"That’s the same thing that we are trying to do with St. Luke’s. Under my wing, we have international accreditation already by a stringent body in the US and we are one of the prime movers of medical tourism in the Philippines," he reveals.

And if more hospitals are accredited abroad in terms of the quality of healthcare, Cuanang says, "we can become great in medical tourism."

Retirement is not in Cuanang’s vocabulary. "I still see patients. I love seeing patients because while you heal and comfort them, you also get healed as a doctor and dealing with people who entrust their lives to you is a very, very unique opportunity."

Like the patients, doctors themselves need their own "healing" and this is where the arts come in.

"Doctors come here to see the art and they get healed! Heal thyself, that’s important."