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CONRADO V. PEDROCHE - Great Writer, 1909-1980	Aug 18, 2008 By: ALFONSO G. PEDROCHE (4th son)

CONRADO V. PEDROCHE has gone to his Creator 28 years ago as of this writing. He was a well-loved Filipino author and considered among the pillars of Philippine Literature. This Multiply site to his name is launched for the benefit of researchers, scholars and others who are interested to know more about this illustrious yet not too heralded Filipino who was among those who paved the basic foundation of Philippine literature.

CONRADO'S BIOGRAPHY

CONRADO VILLEGAS PEDROCHE was among the Filipino literary icons of the early 20th century. Born on September 6, 1909 to parents Raymundo Pedroche and Francisca Villegas in Victoria, Tarlac, he migrated to Manila after finishing High School, and at the prodding of his older brother Gaudencio, he took up Liberal Arts (Journalism) at the University of the Philippines where he discovered his special fondness for creative writing. Later in his life, he married a woman from Mexico, Pampanga named Avelina Pecson Gomez with whom he fathered five children: four boys and the youngest was a girl, namely (in chronological order) Edgardo Raymundo (Ray), Danilo (Dan), Joel, Alfonso (Al) and Maria Adora (Doris).

CV, as he was better known also did poetry but most of his works were short stories usually combining facts and fictions. For example, when he wrote short stories about his firstborn son Ray, he pictured him as a superboy who can fly and do extraordinary things like planting duck feathers that yielded eggs. This literary work titled Ray Stories was influenced and inspired by Lewis Caroll's Alice in Wonderland. Among his contemporaries who were all recognized as pillars of Philippine literature were NVM Gonzales, Carlos Buloson, Francisco Arcellana and D. Paulo Dizon just to name a few. He was known to be a humorist because he always found laughter even in the most tragic of situations that he wrote.

CV joined the government service where he became director of the National Media Production Center, a government public information arm. After retiring at the age of 60, he dabbled in some artistic pursuits like painting, sculpture and pottery making. His works of arts were usually given away for a song to special friends and he never sold any of them which he called "priceless."

CV joined his Creator on May 19, 1980, a few ticks away to midnight in his sleep because of heart failure. His short stories and poems like The carabao impersonator, Man upon the Cross, Through ages and ages, eternal to name a few have been anthologized in a number of books featuring known Filipino writers.

A PAINTER, SCULPTOR AND A POTTER

CV had a strong passion for woods and rocks and (I don't mean rock music). As an almost full-time pre-occupation after retirement, he set-up a small workshop in his backyard where he spent his time chiseling and filing on either wood or rocks as if trying to free a being that has been imprisoned within. Alternately, he pounded on his typewriter to write articles or sat on his favorite armchair reading a book. He was a fan of William Saroyan, Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), William Faulkner and TS Eliot. He also kept a potter's wheel and kiln where he did his ceramics, not really to earn extra bucks but to keep his frail nerves from breaking. He was hypertensive and later in his life, his heart slowly failed which caused his demise in 1980 at age 70.

He also did abstract paintings but unfortunately, not one of his works was preserved as far as this writer knows. It can only be presumed that perhaps, some of his close friends are keeping some of his works which he would give away for a song to people he liked.

These artistic pursuits he did unwaveringly as a way, I think, to escape from the rough and tumble of life. CV Pedroche viewed life like a fantasy. In fact he wrote a collection of fairy tales compiled into a book he titled "The Beautiful Ginger Girl and other Stories."

The "Ray Stories" were a compilation of CV's writings about his eldest son Ray which was a combination of facts and fancies, or "factoids" as he would put it. Being his firstborn, CV was quite doting about Ray when the latter was still a young boy, thus the book was written.

BITS OF INFO ABOUT THE NATIONAL MEDIA PRODUCTION CENTER

Here are some data about the defunct National Media Production Center where CV once worked as director:

According to a very sketchy information from the internet, "The National Media Production Center (NMPC) was created in 1954 under the Office of the President. Its "builders" were Hernando R. Ocampo, Conrado V. Pedroche and Gregorio Cendaña. NMPC was mandated to produce information and education materials for government development programs".

As far as this writer remembers, the very first director of NMPC was Zacarias Nuguid who was later replaced by writer/painter Hernando R. Ocampo whose assistant was CV Pedroche. When Ocampo retired from government service, Pedroche took over and after a while, he was assigned to work at the press office of Malacañang during the time of President Diosdado Macapagal. Jose Arcellana, brother of writer Francisco Arcellana held the helm for a while until Pedroche was reassigned to his former position of director. When Pedroche retired at age 60 in 1969, Gregorio Cendaña, his former assistant assumed directorship of NMPC.

After the 1986 EDSA revolution, the NMPC under Cendaña was abolished and replaced by what is now known as Philippine Information Agency.