On the day of what could have been Dolphy’s 84th birthday on July 25, son Ronnie Quizon says that the family has no special plans for the Comedy King who passed away last July 10.
“No big and lofty plans for my dad’s birthday, since we are still observing the ‘40 days’ since his passing,” Ronnie told Interaksyon. “We will just be visiting our father at the Heritage Park, on our own free time, and say our novena for him. We will probably be there until sunset. Just a simple and quiet time with lots of prayers and love.”
Afterwards, Ronnie said the Quizon siblings and Dolphy’s longtime partner, Zsa Zsa Padilla, will be going to a dinner and mass for his father hosted by Willie Revillame at the Wil’s Steak Town in Quezon City.
As for the continuous clamor for the late, great comedian’s long overdue and now posthumous recognition as National Artist, Ronnie said this is something that the Quizon family no longer wants to dwell on.
“As of the moment, I really don’t want to talk about the National Artist Award anymore. Our nation’s love for my father, as shown in the past weeks since he was hospitalized and long after he was laid to rest is his greatest achievement and legacy. Everything else, however lofty or simple, would just be icing on the cake.”
Ronnie, however, took exception on the views expressed by noted critic and academic scholar Nicanor Tiongson who protested the proposal of bestowing the National Artist award to Dolphy.
“I believed that the two icons he created for film and TV – the screaming gay and the happy-go-lucky poor man – have, in the majority of his movies, equated gayness with abnormality and mindless frivolity on the one hand, and romanticized or deodorized poverty on the other,” Tiongson wrote.
To which Ronnie asks, “I’m just wondering if he can provide one scene from any movie that my dad did, that supports his opinion. Don’t you think opinions without sound basis can never be considered credible, unless we are a nation of gullible fools?”
Easily the most opinionated among the Quizon siblings, Ronnie recalled that during Martial Law, Dolphy’s “gay” movies had a tough time getting shown in theaters.
“These gay movies were alleged to be promoting and supporting homosexuality in society. In view of this historical fact and the contradicting ‘opinion’ that he made, I believe Mr. Nicanor Tiongson has unwittingly placed the credibility of his position as a movie historian and analyst under question. Ano ba talaga, Kuya?”
“On his views that roles such as John Puruntong and Kevin Cosme were characters that are ‘misleading’ because they suggest to the audience to just laugh in the face of poverty and misery, and that it’s okay not to improve your life and be content with your troubles, I think he has failed to notice all the intricacies of those characters and how they dealt with those travails.”
Ronnie said that those roles mirror the Filipino everyman “particularly the poor, who strive to be better, who keep a positive outlook in life despite all the negativity he encounters.”
“A line in one of his favorite songs say ‘You’ll find that life is still worthwhile, if you just smile.’ My father always believed that, and that was what he was trying to convey. “
The actor and musician lamented that Tiongson failed to see what a lot of Filipinos saw in those characters.
“He even failed to notice an unforgettable catch-phrase that was used in every John En Marsha TV episode and movies, a catch-phrase that suggests the moral of the story, followed by what should be done in the future to correct your mistakes and improve yourself. And the catch-phrase goes, ‘Kaya ikaw John, magsumikap ka!’ I suggest he listens to Doña Delilah’s advice as well.”
Ronnie said he’s not saying these things to convince people to give his father the National Artist Award. Given that a lot of people have already honored Dolphy by calling him not just a National Artist but also a National Treasure and a People’s Artist since he passed away, Ronnie said it is nonetheless important to defend his father’s honor and dignity.
“He is my father, after all, and unfounded opinions can be damaging to one’s legacy,” he pointed out.
“As I’ve said before, our family is not desperate to have the award on behalf of our dad. That would be so insulting. We are more than content with whatever my dad has achieved and accomplished in his life, and particularly mentioning the love shown by a nation, in return for his contributions to society and the industries where he dedicated his life and work.”
“To quote my dad once again, ‘Kung ibigay sa akin, okay. Kung hindi, okay lang din,’” Ronnie concluded.
source: interaksyon.com
