ASSOCIATE DEAN for Academic Affairs (ADAA) Eduardo Calasanz cemented his place in Philippine literary history when he received the Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas Para sa Panulaang Filipino (Gawad Balagtas) in a ceremony held at the Ricardo and Dr. Rosita Leong Hall auditorium last August 31.
The award was granted to Calasanz by the Unyon ng mga Manunulat ng mga Pilipinas (Umpil) during its 39th Congress.
According to the Umpil, the Gawad Balagtas is awarded to living Filipino writers who have contributed outstanding works in any language currently used in the Philippines.
The six other recipients of the Gawad Balagtas award include Alice Tan Gonzales for fiction in Hiligaynon, Grace Hsieh-Hsing Lee for poetry in Chinese, Francisco Ponce for fiction in Ilocano, Rolando Tolentino for fiction and essays in Filipino, Mario Miclat for fiction in English and Filipino and Floy Quintos for drama in Filipino.
One of Calasanz’s works, “Talisay, Cebu,” was also presented during the ceremony.
Awarding ceremony
In the official ceremony pamphlet, the Umpil Congress described Calasanz as someone who “has brought together in his poems the joy of contemplation and faith, along the way of life’s purification and self-consciousness that serve as metaphorical proof for ascetic beauty.”
In his speech during the program, Calasanz expressed his gratitude to those who helped him throughout his career.
“Nais [kong] pasalamatan… ang yumaong si Rolando Tinio at ang buhay na buhay pa na si Padre Roque Ferriols ng Kapisanan ni Hesus (I would like to thank the late Rolando Tinio and the still spirited Fr. Roque Ferriols of the Society of Jesus),” he said.
According to Calasanz, Tinio and Ferriols were the ones who guided him early in his career as a poet and as a writer in philosophy.
Calasanz also thanked Virgilio Almario and Bienvenido Lumbera in his speech.
“Sila ang nagturo sa akin na ang pagtutula ay hindi lamang malayang pahayag, ngunit mabigat na pananagutan (They are the ones who taught me that poetry writing is not just a form of free speech, but also a great responsibility),” he said.
Almario and Lumbera are both National Artists of the Philippines who have been credited for their outstanding work in Philippine literature. Both are also former Ateneo faculty members.
Calasanz also mentioned his students in his speech, thanking them for teaching him many lessons throughout his career.
“Sila ang nagturo sa akin na ang pagtutula ay pagtugon sa tawag ng totoo at talaga (They are the ones who taught me that writing poetry is a response to the call for truth),” he said.
Calasanz concluded his speech by reciting the poem “(Walang Pamagat),” which he wrote 30 years ago.
A glimpse of Calasanz
With most of his work published, Calasanz has not only made significant contributions to the literary community, but to the Ateneo community as well.
Aside from being the current ADAA of the Loyola Schools and an associate professor of the Philosophy Department, Calasanz was the former director of the Pre-Divinity Program and the chairperson of the Philosophy and English Departments.
Cate Sison, an applied mathematics senior, and a student in Calasanz’s Philosophy of Religion class, said that the most outstanding quality Calasanz has as a teacher is that he “always teaches with a smile.”
She added, “Sobrang bukas niyang tao. Bawat session sa klase, talagang lahat ng nadi-discuss, ang bigat (He is such an open person. In all the class sessions, everything that is discussed is deep).”
She further elaborated on Calasanz’s outstanding teaching style, saying “He always tries to engage his students by giving out scenarios that we can place ourselves in, so that we can understand more the lessons and think for ourselves what we would do or think in those situations,” Sison said.
Philosophy junior Geoffrey Cruz shared the same sentiments.
“He is always prepared to give outstanding lectures that will make you record every word he says because [more] often than not, each word is useful, interesting and important,” he said.
Cruz added that the most significant lesson he has learned from Calasanz is this: “’There are things that you can only know when you take a leap.’”
Cruz also said that Calasanz’s classes are “worth waking up to every morning” and “worth taking for the semester.”
In a separate interview with The GUIDON, Calasanz said that his motivation to produce works in Filipino was to simply “say what [he] saw and felt.”
He also mentioned that while most of his readers prefer his poem entitled “Awit Kay Anna,” his personal favorite among his poetry is “Tungkol sa Kamatayan ni Martin Ledger.”
The next step
In the pamphlet of the ceremony, Umpil Secretary-General Michael Coroza said that the responsibility of a Gawad Balagtas awardee is to continue “[dedicating] their lives and talents to the development, propagation and promotion of any Philippine literature.”
Calasanz certainly hopes to live up to this responsibility, saying that he accepts this recognition “as an encouragement—even a challenge—to do better.”
“I’ve always felt that writing was not just a matter of self-expression but a responsibility, a ‘response-ability,’ an ‘answering to’ and an ‘answering for,’” Calasanz said.
He added, “Ultimately, that’s what the responsibility is all about: To answer the call to do the good—and it’s always a question not just of continuing, but of doing better.”
