GE102

The
Oblation model could be FPJ’s father

August 30, 2011 - No, we are not talking about how UP’s most famous symbol came alive and procreated.
Rather, we are referring to the most common name a person hears when he or she asks who modeled for the
Oblation — Fernando Poe Sr. People faced with this question, reply in varying tones, ranging from the certain,
“Yung tatay ni Fernando Poe Jr.” (the father of Fernando Poe Jr.), to the unsure, “Sabi si Fernando Poe Sr. daw”
(people say it was allegedly Fernando Poe Sr.).

Poe Sr. was a UP student around the time the

Oblation was being created by National Artist Guillermo
Tolentino (seen in the middle) who was then a professor
at the UP School of Fine Arts. No one knows for sure how
the rumor started, but speculation about his involvement in
the creation of the prominent UP landmark remains to this
day.

His name may be the most popular answer but

other names come up, too. Online queries for “model + UP
Oblation” actually yield three other candidates. One is June
Villanueva. Another is Ferdinand Glenn Gagarin. And
finally, UP Fine Arts Prof. Anastacio Caedo. So who
really modeled for Tolentino when he was creating the
Oblation?

And the winner is — drum roll, please — candidate

number three, Prof. Anastacio Caedo (seen right), who was
Tolentino’s student assistant at the time. He has to share the
credit, however, with Virgilio Raymundo, brother of Paz
Raymundo Tolentino, the creator’s wife.

Tolentino combined Caedo’s physique with

Raymundo’s proportion and – voila! – The Oblation was
born. This is according to the book written and designed by
the late UP Diliman College of Fine Arts (UPD CFA) Prof.
Rodolfo Paras-Perez titled Tolentino.
But that is not all. UP Open University (UPOU)
Chancellor Grace Javier Alfonso confirmed in a message Anastacio Caedo (seen at right), is the first half of the model, standing
to the UP Newsletter that she recalled Caedo, who was alongside Tolentino (middle), and Raymundo, the other half of the
Oblation.
her teacher, telling her to keep in mind that he was the Source: http://web-old.up.edu.ph/tales-from-up-diliman-fact-or-
fiction/
model for the UP Oblation. Alfonso is a UPD
CFA graduate who created the Oblation statues located at the UPOU Headquarters in Los Baños, Laguna; the UP
Manila (UPM)-Philippine General Hospital compound; the UPM School of Health Sciences in Palo, Leyte; and the
UPM School of Health Sciences in Koronadal, South Cotabato. Alfonso said that when she was asked to create the
other Oblation monuments, she kept checking and re-checking the facial features of the Oblation and told us that “it
really looks like him.”
 GE102

Sino ang
Modelo ng UP Oblation?

September 2, 2007 - Hubo’t hubad na rebulto ng lalaki, nakadipa ang kamay habang nakatingin sa
kalangitan, ito ang estatwa na simbulo ng University of the Philippines. Pero totoo nga ba na isang dating sikat na
aktor ang naging modelo ng nasabing debuho?
Naging maugong noon na si Fernando Poe Sr, ama ng kinikilalang Hari ng Pelikulang Pinoy na si Fernando
Poe Jr ang sinasabing modelo ng UP oblation. Ngunit sa isang libro, lumitaw na hindi si Poe Sr kundi si Anastacio
Caedo ang modelo ng debuho.

Si Caedo ay sinasabing estudyante ni Professor Guillermo Tolentino, ang lumikha ng debuho noong 1935.
Nais umanong ipakita ni Tolentino sa kanyang obra ang nasyunalismo ng isang Filipino. Ang hubo’t hubad na
katawan habang nakadipa ang mga kamay ay pagpapakita ng pag-aalay nito ng sarili para sa bayan.

Hindi naglaon, si Caedo ay naging fine arts professor at sinundan ang yapak ni Tolentino sa paglilok.
Kabilang sa mga ginawang rebulto ni Caedo ay ang monumento ni Dr. Jose Rizal sa Idelstien, Germany.

REFERENCES:
GMANewsTV. (2007). Sino ang modelo ng UP oblation?. In News. Lifted and modified from
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/ulatfilipino/58760/sino-ang-modelo-ng-up-oblation/story/
Palisoc-Romualdo, A. (2011). Tales from UP Diliman: Fact or fiction?. In Features. Lifted and modified from
http://web-old.up.edu.ph/tales-from-up-diliman-fact-or-fiction/