A Dream of a Museum of Philippine Cartoons

Here is another vintage Kenkoy strip from my archive of Philippine cartoons from a 1929 issue of the Liwayway.

One of my grandest plans in life is to build a museum of Philippine cartoons which would mainly showcase the works of the pioneer cartoonists of the Philippines like Jose Rizal, Fernando Amorsolo, Jorge Pineda, Jose Pereira, Irineo Miranda, Izzy Izon, Jose Zabala Santos and of course, the Father of Philippine Komiks, Tony Velasquez.

I got this idea when I met cartoonist Nonoy Marcelo-creator of Ikabod strip-five years ago, and he expressed to me his desire to have a museum of Philippine cartoons built, and was willing to discuss it to anyone who would care to listen. In fact, he showed me several papers relating to this future museum. It was sad he had not been able to realize his dream since he fell to an illness which led to his untimely death in 2002.

I felt great anguish upon learning of his death, since I'm one of those millions who admired and followed his Ikabod strips on a regular basis. Inspired by Mr. Marcelo, I began collecting Philippine komiks and original cartoon art. I spent quite a magnificent sum to gather my collection. Fortunately, I met several artists who were willing to sell me their old komiks and magazines, which brought me closer to realizing Mr. Marcelo's dream.

Last year, I even rented an expensive place in Quezon City to begin the museum. Sadly, lack of funds prevented my project from its full realization, and I had to close the place before the year was out. But I know I will still pursue this dream sooner or later. It will be done. And very soon.