Tantingco: The Ciniong in Apu Ceto

Monday, January 30, 2012

TRUST Kapampangans to go to any lengths to please their prelates.

These people who call their priests "among" (from "amo," master), and would elect one as their governor, now have come up with a tribute for their archbishop that even an emperor or a celebrity would envy.

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Last Saturday, ArtiSta.Rita, ImaArti and Holy Angel University presented "Ciniong: A Kapampangan Sarswela" to mark Archbishop Paciano Aniceto's 75th birth anniversary, 50th anniversary as priest and 33rd anniversary as bishop -- all happening in the same year (only stars can constellate this much.)

A musical for an archbishop is great enough, but a musical about an archbishop? How much color and drama can you extract from a bishop's life to inspire even a single song, much less a full-length musical?

It's a measure of the affection that Kapampangans hold for their spiritual leader. How many Catholics in the world have this kind of relationship with their bishop, who will allow the details of his life depicted on stage for all to see, scrutinize and criticize, even laugh at?

After the show, Archbishop Aniceto told the audience that he had been uneasy about the project from the beginning, and had given his consent to Alviz only on the condition that it would glorify not him but God.

A lesser artist wouldn't have known how to achieve this without turning the musical into a prayer meeting. Andy Alviz and creative partner Randy del Rosario used their creative wizardry to locate dramatic highlights in a bishop's bland biography, and to transform them into major production numbers. Trust Alviz to turn everyday scenes like folks waiting in line in the rectory or a typical class in the seminary into musical spectacles worthy of Broadway.

Alviz also created a narrative curve that has Ciniong transitioning from a naughty barrio kid struck by the arrow of God's call, to a brooding seminarian, and then to a young priest who must deal with a growing reputation for holiness.

By the time Ciniong has become the gaunt Apu Ceto carrying a cross as big as the archdiocese, the musical has covered all the milestones in the archbishop's life and ministry.

Act I showed his childhood in idyllic Sta. Ana, his seminary days, first parish assignments and ordination as bishop. Act II showed the challenges he faced as bishop of Tuguegarao, of Iba and finally of San Fernando.

Act I opened with a charming Palm Sunday procession where acolyte Ciniong revealed his secret wish to become a priest. This was followed by several tender scenes with his parents and siblings, which were key to understanding the way he would handle the hard issues in Act II (e.g., his passionate opposition to RH Bill and his stubborn defense of wayward priests).

The scenes showing young Ciniong being totally attuned to the rustic ways of his town mates foreshadowed the older Apu Ceto's folksiness which became one of his endearing traits.

There's a sickbed scene where Ciniong grappled with the ravages of pneumonia. Up until that point, Ciniong's antics as sacristan and seminarian had sent the audience into fits of laughter, and so we were unprepared to see illness clouding the bright-eyed boy's prospects. It reflected Ciniong's own unpreparedness in confronting his mortality (and immortality).

The first act ended with Apu Ceto receiving the mitre from Pope John Paul II-a quite difficult scene to stage, because it required the Pope to sing without trivializing himself. Joe Velez as pope pulled it off with flying colors.

If Act I planted the seeds of Ciniong's potential for greatness, Act II harvested its fruits.

Act II began with Apu Ceto collaborating with another Catholic heavyweight, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, for a project to help the poor and the sick in Zambales.

Apu Ceto had barely begun his new assignment as archbishop of San Fernando when Mount Pinatubo erupted. It was as if God returned him to Pampanga in time for the Kapampangans' darkest hour.

The musical turned darker again when the issue of erring priests turned up. In one disturbing scene, a distraught parishioner banged the table in utter disrespect for the archbishop. It takes a saint to forgive such behavior, and that's exactly what Apu Ceto did. But to give the erring priest a father's embrace and the assurance that "If you sink, I'll sink with you," that would take a God. Apu Ceto did exactly that.

It was scenes like this, which made some people regard Apu Ceto as a living saint, that elevated the musical to the sublime, but it was scenes showing an all too human Apu Ceto that really connected the audience to their bishop.

These include the scene showing his breakneck schedule and frantic need to go to every wake to bless the dead (including what turned out to be Iglesia ni Cristo), and the car scene where his assistant (played by Fr. Ted Valencia) was salivating for a hamburger and got balitug instead.

The musical, though, oversimplified Apu Ceto's stand on the complex issue of the controversial RH bill, and skipped two crucial events in the province that would have further shed light on his character: the fight against jueteng and Among Ed Panlilio's entry into, and exit from, politics.

The most effective and powerful scene in the entire musical is the small scene where Apu Ceto rushed to leave an important board meeting to attend to a "more important" business, which turned out to be an appointment with a poor man seeking the archbishop's blessing for his new pedicab.

Everything that Paciano Aniceto stands for, and everything he wants to tell us, can be found in that single scene. It captures the essence of Apu Ceto as man and as bishop.

Those who criticize Apu Ceto's managerial skills miss the whole point of what it means to be a bishop, which is not to run a diocese but to lead a flock.

In the end, the musical showed that the Church that Apu Ceto built in Pampanga is a family affair where hurting words come as easy as forgiveness, and where love and hate are just two sides of the same coin.

It's a Church that's as vibrant as Apu Ceto himself who, although already 75, still has the bright-eyed Ciniong in him.