IN HONOR of his massive impact on the province's creative industry, the Negros Season of Culture (NSC) paid tribute to the late Peque Gallaga through its website's first-ever segment.
The website was spearheaded by the Angelica Berrie Foundation and was launched online last November 5.
In her opening remarks, Angelica Berrie of Angelica Berrie Foundation expressed her gratitude to Gallaga for his impact on them and the lives of Negrenses.
"We will honor Peque Gallaga for inspiring so many of us to be part of something bigger than ourselves -- for teaching us to create, to express ourselves, in big bold ways that contribute to the story of this place we call home," Berrie said.
She then reminisced how Gallaga stages Thornton Wilder's Our Town in Visayan on the back of flatbed trucks taking them to remote villages that served as their moving stage.
According to her, it was an extraordinary way to encounter people with small barrios and see the spark in their eyes as they listened in rapt attention to the stories that they brought to them.
Alan S. Gensoli, the Creative Director of the NSC, also shared how Gallaga inspired Negrenses to unroll the stories of the province.
"He made us feel that way, that everybody contributes to the story of Negros Occidental. We owe him a depth of gratitude when it comes to instilling in our hearts [and] in our minds creativity," Gallaga said.
Maurice Claudio Luis Ruiz de Luzuriaga Gallaga, popularly known as Peque Gallaga, is a multi-awarded Filipino filmmaker. His most significant achievement in the film industry was Oro, Plata, Mata which was filmed in the province of Negros.
In the last remaining years of his life, Gallaga continued to make movies while based in his hometown of Bacolod, where he is an artist-in-residence and teaches theater and film at the University of St. La Salle.
Gallaga passed away last May 7 in Bacolod City due to pneumonia.