Honoring an Internationally-acclaimed Pampango Poet

Amado M. Yuzon — multilingual orator and writer, global peace advocate and Nobel Prize nominee — has received his due recognition from his “kabalen”

By Gil Yuzon

Last January 17, an impressive memorial statue honoring the life and legacy of Amado Magcalas Yuzon was unveiled in his birthplace of Maquiapo in Guagua, Pampanga, in a fitting ceremony organized by officials of his hometown and province, in celebration of his 45th death anniversary.

Who was Amado Yuzon?

For starters, he was the son of a small farmer, born in 1906 in the then “barrio” of Maquiapo, today one of the barangays of the town of Guagua in Pampanga province. At a very young age, while still in school, he demonstrated a sharp intellect which found primary expression in both his love for the written word and his gift of eloquence. Later, building a reputation in his home province as an exceptional orator and debater in his native Kapampangan, he earned the title, “Ari ning Krisotan” (“King of Krisotan,” the Pampango art form of extemporaneous rhymed debate, equivalent to the “Balagtasan” of the Tagalogs).

As a young man in his twenties and thirties, Yuzon gained prominence as a sought-after orator and reciter of poetry throughout his province during cultural events and town fiestas. It was also around this time that he began expressing his love for literature by writing in Pamapango, Spanish, and English in various literary genrés, but mainly in verse, because his heart was in poetry.

The overriding themes of his copious poetic works were: love of country; identification with the common man, particularly farmers and laborers; and the adulation of Filipino heroes. These themes are reflected in his major works, notably “The Citizen’s Poems” and “The Passion of Rizal, Poet and Martyr,” in which he translated, among other works, our national hero’s “Last Farewell” (“Postrer Adios”).

He was no less prolific in his translations (either into Pampango, English or Spanish) of selected works of a slew of foreign classical authors ranging from William Shakespeare, Omar Khayyam, Rabindranath Tagore, Euripides, Sophocles, Sappho, Victor Hugo, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and more (en.wikipedia.org).

Inspiring fellow poets

But probably one of Amado Yuzon’s most significant life contributions was his founding of United Poets Laureate International (UPLI) in 1963. UPLI was an international organization of prominent poets whose avowed mission and vision was “World Brotherhood and Peace through Poetry.” Yuzon was the moving spirit and tireless proponent of this advocacy, visiting many countries and inspiring his fellow poets to write about and champion UPLI’s mission until his death in 1979 — and even beyond into the first two decades of the 21st century.

At its peak, UPLI counted members in more than 30 countries in almost every continent — from nations as diverse (and often politically and ideologically opposed) as the United States and China, India and Pakistan, Israel and Iran, and as distant from each other as Panama and South Africa, Greece and Australia, England and Taiwan, the Philippines and Italy, and many others.

For his lifelong advocacy for international peace, and for his multi-faceted literary works in several languages, Amado Yuzon is probably the only Filipino who has been nominated for both the Nobel Prize for Literature (two times) and the Nobel Peace Prize (in the name of his organization, UPLI).

Besides being a lifelong man of letters and avid global peace advocate, Yuzon also rendered public service to his country. He served as congressman of the first district of Pampanga (1946 – 49) and was a constitutional delegate of his province in the 1973 Constitutional Convention. He was also appointed special cultural envoy by then President Diosdado Macapagal. It was during this time that he was hosted and honored by cultural and political leaders, literary societies and famous literary figures of the many countries he visited. His memorabilia are a veritable treasure trove of awards and titles conferred upon him by his international hosts.

Monument

An unforgettable highlight of his foreign travels was his visit with the renowned poet, John Masefield, the lifelong Poet Laureate of England, whose poems were a staple of our English literature textbooks in high school and college. Although already a recluse at the time, Mr. Masefield received his fellow poet graciously in his home and wrote a rare personal poem for him, which read:

The English say

“The really wise
Come westward from the eastern skies
The western wisdoms are increast
Only by pilgrims from the East.
I write to say I think it’s true
And add, they make us happy too.

With my thanks and greetings,
(Sgd.) John Masefield

So, on his 45th death anniversary last January 17, with members of the Yuzon family in attendance, the public officials of his hometown and province, led by the ever-gracious and dynamic Mayor Anthony Torres of Guagua, paid tribute to Amado Yuzon with a monument at the grounds of the public school in his birthplace. As Mayor Torres said in his address, the statue was more than a structure to be appreciated; it should serve as an abiding inspiration, for emulation by today’s and tomorrow’s youth, of the person being honored by the memorial.

Thus, Amado Yuzon — a son of barrio Maquiapo, a son of Guagua, and a son of Pampanga — served his country by leaving his mark on the world stage in the pursuit of that elusive ideal of global brotherhood and peace, through his own poetry and that of his fellow poets whom he continues to inspire up to this day.

I am proud to be his son.

First published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

About the Author:

Gil Yuzon, a lifelong marketing and advertising practitioner, was the founder of Hemisphere Advertising, later Hemisphere-Leo Burnett after partnering with the leading U.S. multinational ad agency. He has also served in government in various positions, notably as chairman of People’s Television Network.

He has been an active member of Rotary for 55 years, today the  longest serving Rotarian in his Rotary district and probably in the Philippines.