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Widow of Pedro Penduko creator cries foul
(Philippine Daily Inquirer Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) ITS UNFAIR, SAYS FILOMENA Coching, widow of Francisco V. Coching, creator of the komiks classic Pedro Penduko.
She is bewailing the fact that her husbands name is not included in the TV advertisements for the new ABS-CBN show, Komiks Presents: Da Adventures of Pedro Penduko, scheduled to premiere on Sept. 9.
The oversight is glaring, Ms Coching says, considering her late husbands stature as dean of komiks novelists.
Pablo S. Gomez, another veteran novelistand whose Kampanerang Kuba was recently serialized on ABS-CBNacknowledges that Coching is among the Big Four in the komiks industry, along with Mars Ravelo, creator of Darna; Clodualdo del Mundo Sr., Prinsipe Amante; and Tony Velasquez, Kenkoy.
Darna bore Ravelos name when it was serialized on GMA 7. Kampanera carried above-the-title billing for Gomez as well.
Coching, who died in 1998, had written and illustrated about 60 novels, with at least 51 making it to the silver screen.
Apart from Penduko, Cochings most famous work is Hagibis, the Filipino version of Tarzan, which ran from 1947 to 1950 in Liwayway magazine.
Hagibis was made into a movie by Royal Production in 1950. It starred Fernando Poe Sr., Erlinda Cortez and Rolando Liwanag.
Coching also created Satur, which topbilled Manuel Conde in an LVN movie in 1951, and Talipandas, which starred Rita Gomez in a Sampaguita film in 1958.
Penduko, which also ran in Liwayway in 1954, had four film versions.
In all those movies, my husband was credited as author, Ms Coching, 82, points out.
The first Penduko movie starred Efren Reyes and Edna Luna and was produced in 1954 by Peoples Picture, under the direction of National Artist for Film Gerardo de Leon.
In the 1970s, the role was portrayed by Ramon Zamora. In 1994 and 2000, Janno Gibbs played Penduko in two versions produced by Viva Films.
The novels small-screen incarnation now stars Matt Evans, one of the evicted housemates in the Pinoy Big Brother Teen Edition.
Pedro Penduko, who is aided by a magical anting-anting (amulet), is described by Cochings widow as a slightly dim, but good-natured lad who loves helping other people.
My husband made use of Filipino folklore and his own imagination in coming up with his stories, she recalls.
When ABS-CBN was conceptualizing a Penduko series, network representatives approached the Coching family, according to her. But we found out that, by virtue of our most recent contract with Viva, we no longer owned either the story or the title Pedro Penduko. So the network negotiated with Viva instead.
Ms Coching hoped that the new show would revive interest in her husbands work, but she saw that the TV ads didnt even mention his name.
When she complained to Viva, she was assured that the network would put Cochings name in the credits once the show starts its run. Meanwhile, she sighs, her husbandwho was nominated for National Artist four times goes unrecognized, except for a single mention in a press release just over a week ago about the contract signing between Viva and ABS-CBN.
Copyright 2006 Philippine Daily Inquirer. Source : Financial Times Information Limited (Trademark)
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