When people talk about the Quezon City Hall’s façade, most people refer to Eugenio Bunuán’s adobe relief of “The Life of President Manuel Quezón” on the QC Assembly Hall, and not the architectural design by Arch. Ruperto Cecilio Gaite (born 1925). Despite that recognition, there isn’t very much information about Bunuán, or any of his other works.
Eugenio R. Bunuán was born between 1938 and 1939 in the Cagayan Valley, and would migrate to Manila after World War II. Bunuán would eventually take his formal art education at the University of the Philippines School of Fine Arts, in the late 1950s. At the university, Bunuán joined the Brotherhood of the UP Plebeians (now UP Kapatirang Plebeians, est. 1954) under future-Senator Renato Luna Cayetano (1934-2003), to participate in socio-civic activities while avoiding the “barbaric” behavior of fraternities. Bunuán’s avoidance of politics and conflict would continue in his later years, as he refused participate in activities of the Society of Philippine Sculptors (SPS) and Art Association of the Philippines (AAP). Neither did Bunuán participate in group shows or care to have his own solo exhibition.
At the university, Bunuán was a student of the future-National Artist, Napoleón Isabelo “Billy” Veloso Abueva (1930-2018), who had begun teaching in 1955. Bunuán would be influenced by Abueva’s thrust for modernism, as adapted his for a Filipino form of modern art. Aside from learning the traditional techniques of wood carving, molding and casting, Bunuán, and his contemporaries Anselmo “Ansel” Day-ag (1935-1980), Renato A. Rocha (1937-2001) and Ildefonso Cruz Marcelo (born 1941), took to carving abstracted human forms on to Philippine tuffaceious sediment rock or “adobe” as a means of expressing their art on through an indigenous material. The material was very easy to obtain and often for free, as the post-war reconstruction period activities would unearth much of the material during the digging of the foundations of buildings. Adobe was quite abundant for Bunuán, as the Dilimán (in Quezon City) and Gaudalupe (in Makati) plateaus were made of the tuff. Bunuán would hone these skills by working as an assistant in Abueva’s studio, from his student days until his breaking into his own professional in the 1960s.
From the 1940s to the 1960s, the whole Philippines was still in the middle of the urban rehabilitation, after World War II left many of the cities and municipalities razed to the ground. Because of this, there was a surge in the reconstruction of damaged buildings and the construction of newer edifices. And the trust of this building boom was to define a Filipino style of modern architecture, known as the International Style. Many architects coordinated with artists, to create a grand vision for their structures. Bunuán’s foray into architectural sculpture started with his friendship with Arch. Ruperto Cecilio Gaite (born 1925). Their first collaboration was with the Makati City Hall, which was inaugurated in 1962 with Bunuán creating small stone plates that featured aspects of Philippine culture, on the façade of the building. The new city hall was commissioned by Mayor Máximo Bondoc Estrella (served 1956-1964).
The next project of Bunuán was to recreate the Art Deco sculptures inside the Times Theater, in Quiapo. Arch. Luis Maria Zaragoza Araneta (1916-1984) was renovating his 1939 masterpiece, which was damaged during the war, and he wanted interior reliefs that resembled the style of Francesco Riccardo Clementi Monti (1888-1958), the Italian Art Deco master who dominated architectural sculpture in the earlier part of the century.
Bunuán’s work caught the eyes of other cinema developers, as a new wave of theater building came post-war Hollywood Golden Age and the rise of Philippine film pioneers of Sampaguita Pictures, LVN Studios, Lebran Productions, and Premiere Productions. One of Bunuán’s earliest works for a theater was the 1967 three-paneled Cubist pattern of a face and a film projector on the façade of the Recto Cinema (now the Golden Valley Building), at the end of Senator Claro Mayo Recto Jr. Avenue, Judge Florentino Santos Torres Street, and Architect Tomás Bautista Mapúa Street, in Manila.
This was followed New Love Cinema along Quezon Boulevard, in Manila, with Bunuán creating two 12 meter tall adobe reliefs on the northwest and southwest corners of the building. At the northwest corner is a sun looking down at figures performing the folk “Moro-moro” play of a battle between Christians and Muslims, reciting in classic “Balagtasan” poetry, and dancing traditional “Jota.” At the southwestern corner is the moon looking down at the “Tragedy and Comedy” masks, two styles of tribal warrior dances, and a man playing the brass gonged kulintang.
The 1970s saw a second wave of cinema construction in Manila and Quezon City. In 1974, future National Artist Arch. Pablo Sebero Antonio, Sr. (1901-1975) designed the Roben Theater, which opened along the corner of Recto Avenue and Severino Réyes Street. Inside the lobby, Bunuán crafter a near 18 meter long adobe relief panel that ran across three walls of the hall. The artwork shows several “muses” or “diwata” (goddesses) inspiring the Filipinos in various creative activities. From the left, the artwork starts (lower left) with the diwata as a reclined nude who is filmed by a camera crew, while a jazz and rock band play behind them. From the diwata, the scene transitions (lower right) to two types of film genres of romance and action; with a man and woman in a passionate kiss while two men are fighting in the foreground. This is followed an image of the “Musikong Bumbong” bamboo marching band, singers, a man playing the violin, and a woman on the piano. The next panel (upper left) features a diwata carrying a torch, as she overlooks people engaged in folk dance, the romantic “Harana”, and the debative “Balagtasan”. And the last panel shows a diwata with a lyre floating above a Mangyan man etching the scriptive “Ambahan” poetry on wood, a woman singing as she does her chores, two warriors in a tribal dance, the “Moro-moro” drama, and the Lenten “Moriones” as the Greek images of tragedy and comedy.
In 1977, the Dilson Theater was opened at the corner of Recto and Dr. José Protasio Rizal avenues, with Bunuán’s sunken relief of Filipino folk dances at the upper lobby wall.
The cinema boom in the Cubao district of Quezon City started with the construction of the New Frontier Theater in 1967. Soon more than a dozen cinemas opened in the following years, including the opening of the Remar Theater in 1973, at the corner of Doña Aurora Antonia Molina Aragón Quezón Boulevard and West Point Street. On the wall above the elevator, Bunuán sculpts nine welded bronze figures of naked women dancing and playing music, representing the nine “Μοῦσαι” or muses of Greek myth: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Euterpe (flutes and lyric poetry), Thalia (comedy and pastoral poetry), Melpomene (tragedy), Terpsichore (dance), Erato (love poetry), Polyhymnia (sacred poetry), and Urania (astronomy). At wall beside the entrance to the theater, Bunuán presents a Moro warrior and his two wives, as he watches over a line of people paying tribute to him.
In 1974, the Alta Cinema opened at the corner of Aurora Boulevard and Stanford Street. Bunuán creates five odd shaped beaten bronze panels mounted on wood, with the images of “Cinema and Theater” (lower right of center), “Three Muses” (right), “The Muse of Cinema” (upper center), “Music” (lower left of center), and “Mother Nature” (left). Although it is believed that Bunuán created more works for the other theaters in Manila and Quezon City, many of these buildings have been demolished, closed down, and repurposed; while the conditions and whereabouts of Bunuán’s works are unknown, and most likely destroyed or deteriorated. Whereas the Dilson, Remar, Roben and Times theaters have been converted to mixed-commercial establishments, the Alta and New Love were shut done and left to rot, after they became havens for prostitution.
Another theater piece by Bunuán is the façade of the Delta Theater along Quezon Avenue, built between 1968 and 1971, the Delta Theater relief features the sun of the Philippine flag, Mount Mayon in the Bicol region, the colorful Vista boat of the Badjao-Sama people, a pair of coconut trees, the masks of drama and comedy, a film reel with vaious images, and the central images of a Filipino couple dressed in traditional clothes.
Through the years, Bunuán’s works for government buildings are still well preserved, and in the late 1960s Bunuán partnered once again with Arch. Gaite, to complete the Marikina Municipal Hall in 1969. Marikina is considered the “Shoe Capital of the Philippines,” which Bunuán emphasized with images of shoes and the shoe industry on the frieze above the entrance to the municipal hall and on the nearby plant boxes. At the façade of the municipal hall is the image of Don Laureano “Kapitan Moy” Guevara who started the Marikina shoe industry when he opened the first shoe factory in 1887.
Bunuán and Gaite also partnered in the development of the Governor Isidor Santiago Rodriguez Sports Center (now the Marikina Sports Center), which was also completed in 1969 between Route 53 (now the Senator Juan Marquez Sumulong Sr. Highway) and McDonald’s and Toyota avenues. On the western side of the sports center façade is a panel that features the sports of (from left to right) the javelin throw, the discus throw, the shot put, the high jump, football, baseball, running, basketball, hurdles, and volleyball; with a torch bearer and the Greek Goddess of Victory Nike rising above an athlete being awarded a trophy at the rightmost part of the panel. At the northeastern side are images (left to right) of folk dance, three Filipinos representing the major Philippine island groups of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, basketball, Ping-Pong, diving and swimming, and gymnastics. The reliefs of the Marikina Municipal Hall and Sports Center were commissioned by Mayor Osmundo S. De Guzman (served 1960-1986).
After completing the Marikina Municipal Hall and Sports Center, Bunuán and Gaite continued working on the Quezon City Hall complex, in which Gaite was commissioned to design by Mayor Norberto Salandanan Amoranto (1907-1979) in 1964. The center piece of the whole complex is Bunuán’s adobe bas-relief of the “Life of Pres. Manuel Quezón” on the façade of the Quezon City Assembly Hall. From left to right, Bunuán starts with Pres. Quezón’s childhood home in Tayabas, his military service as a major during the Philippine-American War, his taking of law studies at the University of Santo Tomas, his meteoric rise from the Philippine Assembly to the Senate, his election as the first president of the Philippine Commonwealth government with Inang Laya (Mother Freedom) in the background, his partnership with Vice-President Sergio Osmeña Sr. (1878-1961) and Mayor Tomás Eduardo Bernabéu Morató (1887-1965), his celebration of the 1st National Rice Planting Day on the 9th of July 1939, his planning of the new capitol city, to his relationship with General Douglas Hardy MacArthur (1880-1964) and World War II. At the rightmost side of the artwork, Bunuán shows the rise of Quezon City, with the develop of agriculture, industry and education in the city; as well as the construction of the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, GSIS General Hospital on East Avenue, the University of the Philippines, the Quezon Memorial Park, and the Quezon City Hall. At the center of the artwork, Bunuán presents Pres. Quezón in his famous stance, while delivering his fiery speech as the newly inducted president of the Philippine Commonwealth.
Aside from the “The Life of President Manuel Quezón” relief on the QC Assembly Hall, Bunuán created two more reliefs at the ground floor of the Quezon City Hall Administrative Building, which were dedicated to the industries of the city and vision of the “Bagong Lipunan” (New Society) of President Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (1917-1989). The east panel features a cornucopia of Filipino agricultural and manufactured products with the gear of industry, while four men are depicted in various stages of the manufacturing process. The west panel shows the nation guided by the torch of progress, the “bahay kubo” representing tradition, the dove of peace, the Filipino family, the Homesite housing projects, the Quezon City Hall and Quezon Memorial, the gear of industry, and four individuals representing (left to right) education, commerce, governance, and labor.
The last know project between Bunuán and Gaite was the Rizal Technological High School, in Mandaluyong. At the entrance of the main hall is Bunuán’s frieze on “Education.”
The Rizal Technological High School was not the first school that Bunuán designed for. In the late 1960s, the Benedictine monks of the San Beda College contacted Bunuán to create the reliefs for the new Athlete’s Quarters in their campus. The quarters was completed in 1968, with Bunuán rendering the images (top to bottom) tennis, chess, volleyball, football, martial arts, Ping-Pong, and swimming.
Aside from government executive buildings, Bunuán also created several carved wooded panels for the Philippine National Bank Financial Center, along Central Boulevard (now the President Diosdado Pangan Macapagal Boulevard) in Pasay City. These 1977 panels are currently the only known wood works of Bunuán, which features images of the traditional processes of lumber, coconut, rice, and animal food industries.
Sadly, Bunuán was never able to complete his last project. Around 1977, the Bunuán was hired to create the 30 meter bust of Pres. Marcos in Pugo, La Union. Bunuán accepted the project and the initial payment, and started developing the base of the monument. However one day in 1978, Bunuán was killed in a car accident on the way to the work site. The project was taken over my Bunuán’s contemporary, Anselmo “Ansel” Day-ag (1935-1980), who would also pass away before completing the project. The area is believed to be a sacred site to the Ibaloi people, with Bunuán and Day-ag paying the price for desecrating the land. The Philippine Army Engineering Corps finished Bunuán and Day-ag’s work. What is left of the Marcos bust was destroyed communist guerillas and treasure hunters.
There are more works of Eugenio R. Bunuán that have to be rediscovered and documented, before these are destroyed. However, it is not just the works of Bunuán that have to be documented, but also his life. There is no information about Bunuán personal life, and he was known to keep to himself, even while working with contemporaries in Abueva’s studio. Another difficulty in tracing Bunuán’s life is that most his contemporaries have passed away, while others have problems remembering due to the ravages of age. Hopefully more information will surface soon, so that a more comprehensive biography of Bunuán can be made.
Architects whom Eugenio R. Bunuan worked with:
Arch. Pablo Sebero Antonio, Sr. (1901-1975) was a pioneer of modern Philippine architecture, moving from the Neoclassical aesthetics of the American Occupation (1898-1945) to the modernist Art Deco and International styles. Antonio first took a correspondence course in architecture and structural engineering, before enrolling at the Mapua Institute of Technology, but had to drop out due to the lack of funds. Fortunately, Antonio was sponsored by Eng. Ramon Arevalo, and he was able to complete his studies at the University of London. Upon returning to the Philippines and obtaining his license, Antonio’s talent was easily recognized and he was getting projects for institutions such as the Far Eastern University (FEU), Philippine National Bank, and Manila Railroad Company. Some of Antonio’s most noted works are the Nicanor Reyes Hall and Administration Building of the FEU, Manila Polo Club, the Galaxy Theater in Manila, and Ramon Roces Publications Building. At a latter point of his career, Antonio became president of the Philippine Institute of Architects (PIA). Antonio’s continuing thrust for a modern Philippine architectural landscape led to many awards and honors such as the Architect of the Year by PIA in 1952, the National Award of Merit for Architecture by the government, the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award from the City of Manila in 1971, the Republic Cultural Heritage Award in 1972, and the National Artist in Architecture in 1976.
Arch. Luis Maria Zaragoza Araneta (1916-1984) took his architectural studies at the University of Santo Tomas, and worked for Andres Luna de San Pedro before establishing his own firm. Some of Araneta’s major works include the Times Theater in Quiapo, the Makati Medical Center, and Santa Catalina College in Manila. As an architect, Araneta was the president of the Philippine Institute of Architects, (PIA), an honorary president of the League of City and Town Planners of the Philippines, a member of the Philippine Institute of Environmental Planners, and technical adviser of the Committee for Parks Development. Aside from designing numerous structures around Manila, Araneta was also a noted businessman, and active in the Manila, Philippine, and International Jaycee (Junior Chamber) organizations, and Operations Brotherhood International. As a patron of the arts, Araneta became a member of the Bayanihan Folk Arts Association, Filipiniana Book Guild, Art Association of the Philippines, and Manila Symphony Society, as well as the Commissioner of the Philippine Participation in the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair and in the 1960 Seattle World’s Fair. Araneta’s collection of religious colonial sculpture, painting, and church furnishings are housed in the San Agustin Museum.
Arch. Ruperto Cecilio Gaite (born 1925) is an architect who is noted for his application of the international and brutalist styles to government buildings during the 1960s. Gaite hailed from the Province of Rizal, and graduated from the National University in Manila. In 1949, Gaite was the 1st placer in the National Architecture Licensure Examinations, with a score of 96+ that has not yet been surpassed to this date. Gaite’s reputation soared when the Governor Isidro Santiago Rodriguez Sr. (1915-1992) hired him to design the Rizal Provincial Capitol Building, which was completed in 1962. The modernist capitol building caught the attention of municipal mayors, and Gaite was hired to design the Makati City Hall (1962) for Mayor Máximo Bondoc Estrella, the Marikina City Hall and Sports Park (1969) for Mayor Osmundo S. De Guzman, and the Quezon City Hall and Hall of Justice (1974) for Mayor Norberto Salandanan Amoranto (1907-1979). In all three municipal buildings, Gaite partnered with the sculptor, Eugenio Bunuan, who created the adobe bas-reliefs on the façade of each building. Other notable works by Gaite are the Rizal Technological University in Mandaluyong (1975) and the Century Park Sheraton in Manila (1976). From 1977 to 1978, Gaite served as the president of the United Architect of the Philippines (UAP), which would later award him with the Outstanding Architect on 1993, with the Professional Regulatory Commission (PRC). Gaite was also honored with the City of Manila the Patnubay ng Sining and Kalinangan Award in 1979. Gaite also served as the dean of the Institute of Architecture and Fine Arts (IARFA) of the Far Eastern University (FEU), from 1981 to 1987. While working on various architectural projects and organizations, Gaite was elected Rizal Provincial Board, and then ascended to vice-governor in 1971, and served until 1981. Then Gaite would serve as a member of the National Assembly from 1984 to 1986, representing the Municipal of Makati. After the EDSA People Power Revolution, Gaite migrated to Los Angeles, California, and retired. The current Makati Hall extension is named after Gaite.
I would like to thank Adrian G. Isidro and Junyee for supplying the additional data regarding Eugenio Bunuán
Lakbay ng Lakan 
How interesting and serendipitous to have come across this blog–especially of Eugenio Bunuan and his many works & the infamous Marcos Bust. I comment, however, because I take issues with the inaugural dates you assign to his work on the cinemas in the Manila Metro area. Having grown up in Manila in the 1950s-60s-and early 70s, I took meticulous notes on the opening dates of the burgeoning cinematic life in Manila starting w/ the opening of the Ever theatre on May 19, 1954.
On your list above on which Bunuan worked in one capacity or another, these are the dates I have:
DILSON – opened Oct 24, 1970
DELTA – opened April 11, 1971
REMAR – opened sometime in March 1972
(and my list stopped in August 1972 because I then moved to the US. But should you want the list of cinema openings with their opening attractions from Ever (1954) to Alta (July 25, 1972), you may email me @ razor323@gmail.com. Oh, also, on Luis Aranet’s bio, the Seattle World’s Fair was 1962, NOT 1960.
Best regards, Myles Garcia.
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He is my uncle, married to my mom’s cousin. If you want to contact the family, his children, you can search in Facebook. Search Ariel Ahyie Bunyan, he’s the oldest or contact me
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Thank you very much!
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Could you inform Mr. Ariel Bunuan that I sent him a message request. Thank you once again
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My coudin said he couldn’t gind your friend’s request, maybe you can message him. He’s asking what name….
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It is John Paul Lakan Olivares, just in case it might be in his message requests
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I’ll message him, He also have other kids, Irien Perez, Joel Bunuan, Roel Miana Bunuan and Leany Bunuan Marfil. In the early 80’s when we went to their house in QuezonCity, I have seen a clipping from a magazine showing Uncle Eños (Enyos) shaking hands with then Pres. Marcos. He also worked in Saudi and did a lot of murals for big hotels and palaces(. He also fid local mural forv Sheraton or Shangrila, not sure what branch , maybe near Quezon City (as they lived there). We have photos of him getting married to my Auntie and also one doing some work with my Dad in one of his projects. I think he also did the Cry of Balintawak , as my father used to tell us when we passed by ” your Uncle did that” and the one in Manila Zoo somewhere at the entrance ( been only once as an adult long time ago).
About his death, need to be corrected in that one and the Marcos head (?).
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This excite me as we are on the process of studying the wall relief in our University – the University of Nueva Caceres, here in Naga City, Bicol. What we have is sculpture made between 1971-74, but sadly we don’t have a record of it. Any assistance of the name of the sculptor is highly appreciated.
Here’s the photos
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1fLR-mpreDrFXvxcwFJ0TETCBiEQ68tQ9
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I just sent are request to access the files
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Good day,
I have reviewed your photographs, and there would be 3 possible candidates for the sculpture:
Apolinario “Ka Inar” Paraiso Bulaong (1930s-2013)
Eugenio Ronquillo Bunuan (1934-2014)
Anselmo “Ansel” Bayang Day-ag, Sr. (1935-1980)
All three were students of National Artist, Napoleón Isabelo “Billy” Veloso Abueva (1930-2018), who influence in clearly seen on the artwork
Most likely, these are by Day-ag, as there are similar works in Baguio City. But I will ask around
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Please look near the bottom and corners of the sculpture if there is a signature
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