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A tribute to Prof. Nieves Epistola

Adelaida Figueras Lucero
“To Mrs. E, who has touched almost everyone’s life here in the University, our teacher, second mother, the shoulder we had to cry one sometimes, but most of all, the inspiration that tells us to carry on even when she’s gone: …”
“You have sowed so much in this earthen garden, especially the seeds of teaching: ‘Patience, more patience, and still more patience,’ ‘the philosophy of critical exchange’; she would also quote: ‘to agree, to disagree without being disagreeable’; and the idea of ‘soroptomistic living’ semiotically expressed by your smiling and your cheers.”
“So with all your children here, all your students here, all your artists and poets here, live on, Mrs E.”

Babeth Lolarga
“Your UP education will not be complete unless you sign up with one of Mrs. Epistola’s classes. This was the advice of my older first cousin… He was Mrs. E’s student in a GE subject. There was that special light in his eyes when he told me about her. My curiosity grew when he told me that she loved the poems of e.e. cummings.
“I heeded his suggestion and took Stylistics in 1975 under Mrs. E. She was 49 years old then…”
“I could write a poem about her dimples alone. They danced and deepened when she was pleased with something, with someone, or some cat or kitten that brushed past her long marble-white legs.”
“…She became more than a teacher. I found a patient friend with a gift for listening to my incoherent babblings. Way before I had a boyfriend, way before someone was crazy enough to propose marriage to me, I already asked her to be my Ninang. She assented even though she knew there was no guy in my life. In that sense we were both optimists.
“I once told Amadis Maria Guerrero, my colleague and comrade in the arts and letters, that Nieves and SV Epistola were the only couple whom I considered an argument for the institution of marriage. Amadis agreed, adding that Mrs. E was the perfect foil for SV, the great alaskador. SV would mask his affection for friends with a string of barbs and put-downs. With Mrs. E there was no such mask. Amadis whom she called amadis guerriere, or beloved warrior, and I benefited from her overflowing warmth and generosity…”
“Mrs. E loved people. This love was returned in full measure, especially by her students, former students, faculty members, and the members of that lucky circle, her protégés. Of her protégés, Mrs E said last year in her room at the Philippine General Hospital: ‘I made free spirits out of them.’ She declared this with her head proudly tilted back.”
“She did everything well. She cooked well, talked extremely well, praised well, even criticized well… Ang sarap-sarap niya talagang magmahal!...”
“To quote from the Shakespearean cliché: ‘Whence comes such another? Not in this lifetime.’”

Virgie Moreno
“Long before you were born, I saw Nieves not as Mrs. E but as Nieves Benito. When she first joined the English Department, I was one of those she had chosen to dote upon. Always when she passed my desk… it could be a flower—I don’t know if she picked it up from Mrs. Fonacier’s private garden behind CAL—or she will say something nice. I remember, she had always something nice up to the end. Someone tells me: ‘You know, she always claims that every poem you wrote is a little jewel.’ These jewels I dedicate to Nieves and to SV…
“One of my memories of Nieves and SV (was when) I went to Boston and she was a nice hostess. That was in 1964 when they were in Harvard. And of course she took me under her wing… One of the things I remember: Paano ba niya ginawa ang tapa na iyon? She could make tapa in Harvard!”
“When I was going to inaugurate the Film Center—that’s in 1976—not many in the University thought it was a good idea. Anything new, anything strange, anything—say—avant-garde is not welcome ironically in the University. But I remember, she contributed not money but what she had learned in Japan. What is that? Always she had an ikebana for any event in the University.” …
“So no more ikebana. But I know she will have ikebana in another heaven, and a Harvard tapa to welcome those in Boston, in cold Boston. Thank you, Nieves.”

F. Sionil Jose
“Nieves and Sil are my contemporaries, and in those days—the late ‘40s and early ‘50s—walang mga very distinct coteries. Magkakakilala kaming lahat. Although I was in Santo Tomas, I had UP writers come and visit me and vice versa…There was also one significant thing about all of us. We were matured by the war. We were adults already when we were best friends in college, and we were writing stuff… we were not affected by the critical traditions from the west: deconstruction, New Criticism, wala sa amin ‘yan. We just wrote the way we felt and the way we liked. The important thing is that, all of us were committed to the country.”
“I had a very long talk with (Nieves) after her return from China and from that conversation, I learned of the difficulties and challenges of teaching in the educational process of China itself. But she gladdened me when I asked her, what was it that she found in China? And she said, ‘I was very glad to know that I am Filipina.’ I’d like to find out how many of us today are glad that they are Filipinos.
“There’s another thing that I would like to say about Nieves as a teacher…There are literature teachers and there are literature teachers. There are literature teachers who show off their PhDs by making literature such a difficult course in college. And there are also over-imaginative literature teachers who put symbols into anything that resembles a symbol. Having known Nieves and having been under one of the best teachers in literature when I was in college, I know that she gave literature more than just the ordinary meaning that we seek. And I say this knowing also that she has raised so many students who truly worship her aside from turning to her.”
“This is what Nieves once told me: ‘You know, Frankie, the kids love you.’ And that in itself was not flattery…, it was confirmation.
I don’t want to look at Nieves lying there. I would rather enshrine her in my mind smiling, talking, giving me bits of insight, and most of all, telling me that she also liked what I wrote.”

SV
“Anong masasabi ng isang nagdadalamhati sa maraming nagdadalamhati? Naisip ko—‘pagkat ako’y pilosopo, hindi makata—nagbalik ako sa mga sinulat ng isang pilosopo. Namatay daw ang asawa ni Chuang-tsu kaya ang kanyang mga disipulo, dali-daling nagpuntahan sa kanyang bahay. Ang dinatnan nila, andoon si Chuang-tsu, may tangang chopstick at ang kanyang mangkok itinaob niya, pagkatapos, tumutugtog. ‘Hindi ka na nahiya? Namatay na ang ina ng iyong mga anak, ganyan pa ang ginagawa mo!’ ‘Kung hindi ko gagawin ito, ipinakikilala kong hindi ko naiintindihan ang takbo ng daigdig.’
“Mayroong parte ang buhay namin ni Nieves na hindi ninyo nalalaman. Nang papuntahin siya ng gobyerno sa China, humingi siya ng permiso. Inilabas na nga po ang dossiere niya. Nabuklat ang mga pangalan ninyo. ‘Bakit ka sumasali diyan sa mga kilusang lihim?’ Alam ninyo ang sagot? ‘Mga estudyante ko lahat ‘yan.’ Kaya’t pinayagan siyang pumunta, binigyan ng clearance kaagad. Pero hindi nalaunan, bumalik na siya. Nakita niya ang paghihirap ninyo. Hindi ko kaya ang paghihirap ng mga Intsik sa Tsina. Cultural Revolution. Kaya mapalad kayo dahil si Niev, nandyan pa rin. Isipin lang ninyo at siya’y lilitaw.
“Magpatuloy kayo sa inyong pagsusulat. Mamamatay lang si Mrs. E pag hindi na kayo nagsulat.”

Hermie Beltran Jr.
“Sa isang librong nahiram ko kay Mrs. E, may dedication si SV sa kanya: Kay Mrs. E, isang magandang pangungusap. Ngumiti ako pero di ko noon naintindihan iyon. Ang nauunawaan ko lamang ay magandang salita si Mrs. E sapagkat ang kanyang salita ay piling-pili, hindi masakit pero totoo, tuwid at masaya. Hindi ko naging guro sa klasrum si Mrs. E pero sa kanya ko natutunan ang katotohanang ang mundo ay mundo ng mga landasin, mga lagusan, mga daan, mga paraan. At ang mga ito ay katulad ng tao, magkakaiba. Nasa Diyos ang awa pero nasa tao ang pagpili. Nasa iyo kung ano ang gusto mo sa buhay, sa wika, ..., sa paglikha. Ang akademyang siyang paboritong lugar ni Mrs. E ay isa lamang bahagi ng mundo. At ang pagtuturo na siyang paboritong bokasyon ni Mrs. E ay maaring maging saan man: sa mga lalawigan at lunsod, sa bukid at bayan, sa pamahalaan at digmaan.
“Sa aking pagbabasa sa mga libro at aral ni Mrs. E, sa aking higit na pagkilala sa mundong metapora ni Mrs. E, unti-unti kong naunawaan ang dedikasyon ni SV kay Mrs. E: isang magandang pangungusap. Sapagkat unti-unti ko ring napagtanto na may kaibigan akong buhay na Manwal ng Estilo—komprehensibo, balanse, tiyak at elegante. Pero bahala ka kung paniniwalaan mo o hindi. Sundin mo o hindi. Itapon mo o alagaan. Walang pilitan. Nasa iyo ang pagpili.”

Anton Juan
“I will recede. Yes, we will recede…Today, I’m doing a play. I’m 17 years old. I’m beginning my path or track as a director. And I’m opening. And there’s a couple in the audience and I don’t know them… The following day the play runs again, and the couple is there again, and the day after, and the next run, and the next run, and the next run.
“That’s how I met Mrs. E and SV. They watched my first play on every night. She approached me and said: ‘I’m Professor Nieves Epistola and this is my husband SV. Have you ever been abroad?” And I said no. She said “See, we just came from Harvard and your plays are like plays of Robert Brustein at the Yale School of Drama.” And I said, “Maybe we should write him. Maybe I should go there.” Of course I never went there. My scholarship for Robert Brustein whom Prof. Nieves Epistola wrote was blocked when my passport was denied. It’s (because of) a tape of a rehearsal… where the military agents mistook rice for rights—or rights for rice—and so that implicated me.
“Well and good anyway, because during that time, I got to know Mrs. E better.
“I am a student and I am a sophomore now. I have to take my PE. It’s 7 o’clock in the morning. It is my PE time at the old BA building and I have just had a fight with my father because I quit medicine and he refuses to support me… So I finish the class at almost 8 and I have a class with SV on Japanese and Chinese Literature on the fourth floor of AS. I always come late, and I’m driven by asthma running four flights and I enter the room, switching on this noisy electric fan. SV gets pissed. He reports this to Mrs. E, who has become my good friend and adviser. Mrs. E gives me a purple spanking. She writes me a letter and says: “…You are savage.” And I explain to her that I was not able to ride Ikot because I save my allowance… She understands and every day, she gives me an allowance. She gives me oranges for my asthma, and she gives me books and books and books and books.”
“And I look around my room now, in my house, here or in Greece, or in my parents’ house. If I look behind the frames, there’s always celebratory cheers: For a brilliant production! For this and all the plays that I have done, she has given me a painting. She fed me all the books, she fed me news about the world of theater. She reared me. She didn’t rear only me. She reared many of us. In her room at the FC, we stayed, talking about our desires, flirtations, letting it all out. It’s also where some of us smoked. Preachy is always smooching cigarettes from me. Mrs. E would come horrified because the room would smell of smoke. We would fan the smoke away. We would talk about Preachy because she would not join our protest, which is why I called her ‘bastard sister.’ That’s where we formed our caricatures of teachers in the English Department. We made huge caricatures of teachers and would paste them on the walls as protest… What we wanted were teachers like Dean Feria, and Mrs. E, Tita Amel, and Dr. Ramos, who terrified us… We stood in awe. These were the kindred, soul-givers of our time.
“I suppose we all have umbilical ties and navels and navels and navels, like if we put all our navels together, I think they would form a bouquet; and bound they would knock at Mrs. E’s home.”

Rene Villanueva
… Nang makilala ko si Mrs. E, sampid lang ako sa grupo ng mga kabataang manunulat na noo’y nagsisimula nang umani ng iba’t ibang premyo at karangalan. Pero kahit alikabok lang sa palad ang dala-dala ko, hindi naging mahalaga iyon sa mapagkalingang si Mrs. E. Kasama ng iba pang sampid at kaladkarin, malugod niya kaming tinanggap sa kanyang tahanan, sa kanilang hardin na nalalatagan ng alpombrang damong kalabaw at naliligid ng mga tanim na alaga’t ihian ni Teo Antonio pagkaraan ng apat na bote ng San Miguel. Kay Ma’am E, hindi mahalaga kung ano ka, sino ka, at saan ka nanggaling. Ang mahalaga’y naroon ka, nakikipag-inuman, nakikipagpalitang-kuro sa mga napakarami niyang anak-anakan, kasama ang kanyang sangkatutak na mga pusa, magkakasalungat man kayo ng paniniwala, magkakataliwas man ang pamumuhay o panuntunan sa buhay.
“Minsan natuklasan ni Mrs. E na hindi naman pala literature ang tinapos ko sa kolehiyo, kundi history at naipagtapat ko sa kanya ang noon ay lihim kong hangarin na sumulat ng mga dulang historikal. Sinabi niyang mabuti ang balak kong iyon at sana ay maharap ko iyon nang puspusan sa lalong madaling panahon. Pagkaraan ng ilang lingo, sa isang panibagong salu-salong hindi ko naman alam ang talagang dahilan bukod sa ang selebrasyon ay naganap noong dapithapon, habang umaambon nang masinsin sa labas, inakbayan ako ni Mrs. E at dinala sa isang shelf. Pinabuhat niya sa akin ang isang kahon ng kumpletong set ng ‘The Philippine Insurrection Against the United States’ ni John Taylor, saka sinabing ‘O sana marami ka nang maisulat na historical plays.’
“Mula nang maluklok sa gobyerno si Cory, dumalang nang dumalang ang pagkakataon na magkasama-sama ang mga taga-GAT sa beerhouse man o sa Viola. Pero sa tuwing makikita ko si Mrs. E, lagi pa ring magiliw ang kanyang pangungumusta, mainit ang pagbati, lalo na pagkaraan ng ilang munting trahedya sa aking buhay. At noon ka napatunayan na totoo nga, isa si Mrs. E sa pinakamagiliw at mapagkalingang tao na nakilala ko.
“Hindi ko naging guro sa klasrum si Mrs. E, ngunit sa kanya ko natutunan ang tunay na kahulugan ng pagiging makatao, marangal na pagpapakatao.”

Lulu Torres Reyes
“Marami akong puwedeng sabihin pero hahaba masyado. Kulang ang gabi. Pero sasabihin ko sa inyo, ang kauna-unahan kong typewriter, bigay ni Mrs. E… Eh nagpapanggap akong manunulat… Sabi ni Mrs. E, pwede kang manunulat kaya lang kung may sarili kang typewriter. So binigyan niya ako ng typewriter.
“Maraming bagay ang ibinigay sa akin ni Mrs. E. Hindi materyal pero ang pinakamahalaga doon—lagi siyang nagtitiwala na kung ano ang gusto kong gawin, pwede kong gawin. Iyon ang lagi niyang sinasabi sa akin.”

Aida Santos
“Hindi lang siguro kami anak ng Sigwa o First Quarter Storm… Naalala ko nang maglayas ako sa buhay, dahil gusto kong maging tibak at napagalitan ako. Nag-impake ako ng isang maletang maliit. At dinala ako ng aking mga paa sa bahay nina SV. Inabutan ko silang kumakain ng agahan. Sabi ni Mrs. E, ‘Ikaw ba’y talagang maglalayas na?’ Sabi ko, ‘Oo, kasi gusto ko nang maging aktibista.’ ’69 noon at inihanap ako ni Mrs. E ng trabaho, at sabi niya, ‘Bibigyan kita ng student assistant position kung saan ka lagi makakapagbasa…”
“So maraming antas ang relasyon ko kay Mrs. E at SV. Pangalawang pamilya ko sila nang panahong ako ay rebellious, ayaw tanawin ang mga advice ng magulang. ‘Yun nga ang una kong trabaho para masuportahan ko ang sarili ko ay hinanap ni Mrs. E, at binigyan niya ako no less than the English Department library para marami akong panahon. Wala naman kasing nagla-library noon eh sa English Department. Panahon iyon ng aktibismo, pag nakita ka sa library parang—ano’ng ginagawa mo d’yan? Hindi ka socially relevant. So wala akong ginawa kundi magbasa at magbasa at magbasa. … Ang unang-una kong librong hardbound—you know, when you’e a sophomore or freshman here, wala ka pang masyadong alam na mga collection—complete volume ng Shakespeare ko, ay galing kay Mrs. E. At hanggang ngayon, nasa akin pa iyon.
“Marami akong memory kay Mrs. E. Si Mrs. E at si SV, sila iyong balikan mo man ng ilang taong pagitan, tulad ko na nawala—siguro sa batch naming ako iyong matagal na nawala—sumama sa kilusan, namundok, nahuli, nakulong, natortyur... , parang mahabang panahon. Pero nang bumalik ako, nakita ko si Mrs. E at si SV, parang walang naputol.
“Dala-dala ko iyong libro ng pinakahuli kong koleksyon, pero sa tingin ko sa panahong ito, walang tulang maihahambing sa naging buhay ni Mrs. E, sa naging relasyon namin… Ngayon hindi ako makapaniwala, kasi parang it’s too soon for many of us. We feel like orphans.
“And to Mrs. E, siguro nga kung may langit… at may langit nga sana, magkita-kita tayo, Mrs. E. Kasi palagay, sabi nga ni Elmer (Ordoñez) nasa departure lounge na kayo. Nandoon na kami sa counter, bumibili pa lang ng tiket.”

Amelia Lapeña Bonifacio
“Lahat tayo ay mahal natin si Nieves. Kami sa Creative Writing Center hanggang ngayon ay nagpapasalamat sapagkat walang laman ‘yung mga walls, nilalagyan niya ng mga paintings. Pinapalitan pag nakasawaan na. Napaka-open niya at napaka-generous sa kanyang mga gamit at iyon ang isang bagay na naaalala ko sa kanya. Nung malaman niyang nahihirapan akong mangolekta ng salapi para sa aking pinapatayong children’s theater, siya mismo ang nanguha ng sampung couples at kinunan niya ng kontribusyon para ibigay sa akin ang isang halaga at iyun ang ginamit kong pambili ng window grills. Isang malaking bagay. Alam niya ang pangangailangan at iyan ang ibibigay niya sa iyo. Kapag nangangailangan siya ng isang magsasalita sa klase, kinukumbida niya ako para makapagsalita sa kanyang mga estudyante. Eh iyon naman ang mga pagkakataong I enjoy very much kasi parang nakikita ko na talagang eager siya na matutunan ang alam mo, matutunan ng kanyang estudyante ang iyong kaalaman, lalo na sa teatrong pambata.
“Si Nieves at si SV ang isang couple na kilala naming way way back in the ‘50s… Magkakakilala na kami at alam namin na pag dadalawin namin sila sa kanilang tahanan, ang unang sasalubong sa amin ay mga pusa. Maraming-maraming pusa ang pinakakain ni Nieves sa kanyang tahanan. Tuwang-tuwa siya pag nalalaman niya ang nangyayari sa inyong pamilya, sa iyong mga anak at ngayon nga, sa aking dalawang apo.”
“Natatandaan ko ang isang tulang maikli lamang na parang tamang-tama kay Nieves:
‘Some souls pass through this lifetime
like gentle summer rain.
They touch our hearts and then
return to heaven once again.’”

---

Opinyon

A tribute to Prof. Nieves Epistola
(July 24, 1946-Sept 10, 2002)

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A political option for Mindanao
by Abhoud Syed Lingga

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Lies and realities in labor force surveys
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Updated October 9, 2002
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