This
Web site
This site is a collection of tributes
to the late National Artist for Literature Francisco "Franz"
Arcellana. It had a most interesting genesis.
Alexander
Martin "Alex" Remollino was struck by the lack of news
on the death of Franz Arcellana in August 2002. The newspapers
hardly said anything about it, as if it were just some piece of
trivial news, and television never said a thing about it, as if
Franz Arcellana never existed (which seems to be just as far as
what much of the media knows).
All
the while, both print and broadcast media were abuzz with reports
of the departure of an actress for the United States, supposedly
to fix her life.
Deeply
disgusted with this heinous offense to history, Alex Remollino,
though he never knew Arcellana personally, gathered what information
he had of the man and decided that the world had to know about
him that it may realize that there are people other than those
overexposed showbiz figures-very, very, very few of whom could
claim to be as important as he.
He
wrote a tribute for Arcellana in BNext, a youth website administered
by Business World Online.
Convinced
that information about the late Franz Arcellana should be disseminated
to the widest number possible, particularly to the youth who seem
these days to be perpetually in search of heroes, Alex suggested
to Ederic Eder, editor of Tinig.com, that maybe the said e-zine
could pay tribute to the late writer as well, as it had done several
times with Andres Bonifacio, Renato Constantino, Jose Rizal, Claro
Mayo Recto, Eman Lacaba, Beng Hernandez, Levi Celerio, Lucio San
Pedro, and Rico Yan.
Ederic
said the tribute was something that should be done.
He
and Alex then started asking around for articles on the man. As
things turned out, Alex ended up having to write one himself.
He translated his BNext article into Filipino and it was published
in Tinig.com.
He
showed this article to the writer Alberto "Bert" Florentino,
with whom he had been having an online correspondence for some
time, and who had been reading-and contributing to-Tinig.com for
some time.
Ka
Bert, who had felt deeply about the demise of his friend, had
been forwarding various tributes to the late writer to his e-groups.
He thought of collecting them and came up with the idea of Tinig.com
flashing a memorial for Franz Arcellana, in which these would
be contained. He then asked Alex to discuss it with the Tinig.com
people.
Alex
discussed it with Ederic and the latter liked the idea. As soon
as he was able to spare some time from a hectic day job, Ederic
worked overtime, turning night into day to make a site especially
for a man known to only a few of his countrymen. All the while,
he and Alex consulted with Ka Bert, continually asking him for
suggestions on what he thought was best for the site.
This
site is the result of that collective effort. Through this site,
it is fervently hoped that the name of Francisco "Franz"
Arcellana would not gather dust in the abyss of oblivion to which
most great men and women have been consigned by the popular consciousness,
but shall be deeply etched in the memory of the Filipino people.
For Franz Arcellana was, after all, a Filipino-yes, a Filipino
who gave back to his country through the power of his pen-and
for this he deserves to be remembered, and is far worthier of
remembrance than many who are remembered today.
