Rizal: Empowering the Youth

World-renowned artist Gregory Pototsky has named his new sculpture, “flight to eternity.” But it’s official name was dubbed “Rizal: Empowering the Youth,” which was unveiled Saturday amid pouring rain in heart of University Town, Daang Reyna in the Las Piñas-Cavite area.
The bronze statue, roughly five feet tall, depicts a never-before-seen likeness of the Philippine national hero.

Russian Pototsky, who has erected 65 monuments in 45 countries, portrays a “boy Jose Rizal,” with outstretched arms, hands directed to the sky. The sculpted detail shows him wearing colonial period clothes.

Also, this new statue is literally on its toes, as if the young Rizal is levitating. “If you look closely at my monument,” Pototsky said through a translator, “It’s really fly (flying).” According to the Leonardo da Vinci-esque Pototsky, Rizal’s striking Flight to Eternity pose shows the entire Philippines “spreading its wings, and flying to the future.”

“This is the flight to freedom, flight to eternity, and fight of the youth,” he said, apparently aware of our national hero’s firm association and high hopes for the country’s future generations.

The unveiling of the statue, which took a year to finish, came just six days after Rizal’s 150th birth anniversary.“I wanted to create a new symbol of the Philippines. Hopefully, my new monument would be your new cultural symbol,” he told a crowd of 300 people who gathered at the nearby Fernbrook Gardens after the homage to Rizal had been revealed.

Pototsky, 57, is no stranger to the Philippines. His works in the country include a bronze sculpture of novelist Leo Tolstoy in Cebu, writer Alexander Pushkin in Manila City Hall and a bronze plaque of President Elpidio Quirino in the Vigan Museum.

Conversely, his extolling of Rizal further cements the latter’s international appeal, making him sort of the Philippines’ business card to the world.
And rightfully so. Ambassador Nikolay Kudashev, who was also there Saturday to honor the Filipino genius and polymath, said that Rizal serves as an “inspiration not only to Filipinos but to everyone who know his work.”

Rizal’s work, including his two famous novels, poems, essays and other writings currently number over half a million published items in Russia, Kudashev bared.

Meanwhile, Pototsky added: “I respect the Filipino people so much for their attitude toward their poet (Rizal). For you, Jose Rizal is more than everything.”

For the Villar Foundation – managed by former Las Piñas Rep. Cynthia Villar and proponent of the sprawling he sprawling University Town, boasting top-caliber schools, will take shape in Daang Reyna in Las Piñas City and Cavite. Thus, it will cater to South Manila-based families looking for accessible and affordable education in the area.

“Access to education is important in developing the youth into becoming responsible, responsive, pro-active, and morally upright members of the society—a key mission of the foundation,” said Cynthia A. Villar, Managing Director of the Villar Foundation. Continue Reading »“Like Jose Rizal, we believe that the youth is the hope of a nation, so we should invest in their future. This is the reason also why we deem it fitting to have the sculpture of our national hero to be an important landmark of University Town. It will serve as a symbol of hope and inspiration for the students,” said Senator Manny Villar, Foundation chairman.