U.P. Regent and Retired Associate Justice Abraham F. Sarmiento, Sr. passes away in Prague, Czech Republic

(Photo source:  http://tinyurl.com/2v2yjm4)

University of the Philippines (U.P.) Regent and Retired Associate Justice Abraham F. Sarmiento, Sr. has passed away in Prague, Czech Republic on October 3, 2010. He had earlier suffered from septic shock and multiple organ failure. The exact cause of his death is still unknown. At the time of his passing, he was only a few days away from his 89th birthday. Regent Sarmiento was born on October 8, 1921.

Regent Sarmiento was visiting his daughter, Philippine Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Regina Irene P. Sarmiento when he passed away.

A comprehensive summary of the life and times of Regent Sarmiento may be found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Sarmiento

A statement posted on the U.P. website (http://up.edu.ph/features.php?i=232) said that: "Regent Sarmiento was President of the UP Alumni Association from 1973-1979 and was thus ex-officio member of the UP Board of Regents. He was appointed regular member of the Board on 24 August 2000. This appointment was regularly renewed until 30 September 2010. He chaired among others the BOR’s Committee on Legal Affairs, Committee for the Refinement of the Criteria for the Selection of the President in 2004, and the Committee on the Development of the UP North Science and Technology Park.

Regent Sarmiento will be sorely missed by the UP community."

The Facebook page of the Alpha Phi Beta fraternity of the University of the Philippines said the following of Regent Sarmiento, one of their most distinguished fraternity brothers: "Lord Chancellor Emeritus Abraham "Abe" F. Sarmiento, Alpha Phi Beta' 41, LC'48, University of the Philippines Regent, former Supreme Court Justice, Father, Brother, Alphan true and through, You will be missed, Brod."

We are embedding below the following picture of Regent Sarmiento as a U.P. student which was reproduced from the Facebook page of the Alpha Phi Beta fraternity:

(To enlarge the picture, just click on it. Source: http://www.facebook.com/alphaphibeta.org#!/photo.php?pid=5210614&fbid=448949222560&id=74718922560)

Matchstick in the Wind: Palito (1934-2010)

By Paul Lee

With his cadaverously rail-thin appearance and sunken eyes that nevertheless carries a boyish twinkle and topped with his pageboy haircut; it is hard not to miss the late Reynaldo Hipolito, Sr. aka the comedian Palito in the middle of a crowd. Undoubtedly Palito was one of the most underrated icons in Philippine Cinema; nevertheless he possessed more personality and talent with his homey appearance than most of today’s lacklustre ‘artists’ in local show business.

Then again with his appearance and typecasting being a liability in show business, people could only remember Palito either as the comic zombie-corpse and stooge for more famous comedians or the craven comedy relief to the action stars of his day. Indeed this writer’s most indelible memory of this comedian was a slapstick pratfall he made on a wok full of boiling water landing seat first and screaming uncontrollably before running around like a headless chicken; that was in an old and
long-forgotten film starring another late great Pinoy comedian Chiquito who had long since crossed to the Great Beyond. While landing rear-first on boiling water was humour as its simplest nevertheless a comedian of Palito’s stature can breeze through this otherwise prosaic routine and deliver the laughs.

Ironically while audiences only remember Palito as the typecast comic zombie or the hapless stooge to an action hero; it was with his comically emaciated appearance that he blazed a trail in his comedic career parodying Sylvester Stallone back when the latter was in vague in films like Rambuto and No Blood, No Surrender. Likewise there was also Palito’s parody of British secret agent James Bond in the eponymous James Bone. Certainly the image of a scrawny slapstick actor packing heavy firepower or sporting a faux Saville Row suit has achieved trash-cinema cult status amongst foreign film critics delighting at the muscular Hollywood action icon being lampooned by a scrawny Pinoy. Sadly Palito’s parodies did not buoy his fortunes as they took a reversal relegating him to once again playing second banana roles before his career wound down as he worked both as a stand-up comedian at a club in Avenida, Sta. Cruz, Manila and as an occasional drummer.

It was only when he began making appearances in independent films and music videos in his latter years coupled with an episode of Maalala Mo Kaya starring Vhong Navarro that Palito rebounded back to the public consciousness. By then a newer generation had begun to appreciate his comedic homey looks complemented by his timed and quirky slapstick. Perhaps the most noted of his latter films was the little-released Interpool, another send-off on the action genre which unfortunately disappeared after only a few days of theatrical release. Another feather on the twilight of Palito’s career was his appearance in the Rivermaya music video Ambotsa where he slept through the video only to be roused by the band from time to time.

Of course, Palito had a string of other upcoming appearances including M.O.N.A.Y or Misteyks obda Neyson Adres Yata co-starring Jun Urbano as well as the documentary The Search for Weng-Weng and Khavn de la Cruz’s MondoManila.

Unfortunately despite enjoying an apparent revival in his career, Palito was dogged by both health and financial problems, in particular his lung ailment which would claim his life last April 12, 2010.

Postscript: Having seen Palito’s seminal film Rambuto back to back with one of his final works, Pablong Shoeshine at the Mogwai Cinematheque in Cubao, Quezon City last April 18, 2010, I became completely aware of the kitsch factor in his film. Though the pace, plot and production values of Rambuto would have done Ed Wood Jr. proud; it is precisely the kitschiness in Palito’s lampooning of the action genre that had made Rambuto unique in Philippine cinema and all the more reason for him to be missed.

Editor's note: For more information on the life, times and career of Palito, please check this link:
http://balita.ph/2010/04/12/veteran-comedian-palito-is-dead/

(Paul Lee is a freelance writer. He is currently finishing his master's degree in Creative Writing at U.P. Diliman)