The artist formerly known as Eric de Guia was in the headlines recently precisely for that name change. Kidlat, a multiawarded independent, and to some a bizarre, filmmaker, wanted to discard the colonial taint that the European Eric and the Spanish de Guia which has burdened his crusade to advocate the pure Filipino.

Despite the efforts of the Office of the Solicitor General to object to Kidlat's arguments, he finally got his wish. This latest episode in the life of this Wharton-trained economist is stuff for the movies. But he is not about to make one. At least not the film we all end up enjoying.

His resumé tells us why.

Kidlat was born Eric de Guia on October 3, 1942 in Baguio City. His mother is Virginia de Guia, a former post-war mayor of Baguio and a crusader today for issues that are not always popular. Eric studied grade school at the Maryknoll Convent School between 1947 and 1954, graduated later from the St. Louis University Boy's High School (1954-1958), and finished speech drama at the University of the Philippines in Diliman (1958-1963). He pursued his graduate studies at the Wharton School University of Pennsylvania, and took on the research consultancy for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris between 1968 and 1972.

Then his world changed.

Following a process of deconstruction, the wiry, long-faced economist tore up his Wharton diploma and cleansed himself between 1972 to 1975 in order to pursue an artist's life. His resumé does not explain how the imposition of Martial Law in 1972 affected his deconstruction.

He describes 1975 up to the present as his life's period of restructuring. He fathered the KKK - his boys Kidlat de Guia, who is now a television and film director; Kawayan de Guia, who is Kidlat Tahimik's blond, blue-eyed artistic wildfire in Baguio; and the youngest, Kabunyan.

But it was 1977 that introduced Kidlat Tahimik to the world. His cinematic dissertation called Mababangong Bangungot (Perfumed Nightmares) won the international film critics jury prize at the Berlin Film festival, as well as the Catholic Jury Prize and the Ecumenical Jury prize. "These awards reinforced Kidlat's commitments to stay out of the commercial film industry's sex and violence formulas," his resumé states.

Kidlat's resume includes a litany of "milestones in his 50 orbits around the sun":
1. Winner, 1954 essay contest for "The Evils of Communism" at age 11
2. Chair, UP student council (1962)
3. Chair, International Student's Association, University of Pensylvannia (1966)
4. Founder AISEC Philippines (1968) which convened a board of advisers chaired by Sixto Roxas
5. Winner, Best Third World Film at Mannheim Filmfest (1983)
6. Artist-in-residence, East West Center (1984) in Hawaii
7. Professor in independent film production, San Francsico State University (1990)
8. President, a non-government organization dedicated to documenting indigenous wisdom
9. Guest lecturer at numerous film forums, universities, art happenings in Japan, US, Germany (1978 to the present)
10. Artist sector representative to the John Hay Advisory Council, which helped make an orderly turnover of Camp John Hay to private contractors for its reestablishment as a toruism center.
11. Contributor to the Sunday Weekend Magazine, the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and the defunct Weekend Chronicle
12. Convenor of LIBHRTY (Limit Idiot Box Hours Thank You), a national awareness movement to guard against TV overdoes.

* Kidlat Tahimik can often be found at his gallery atop the La Azotea building, in the heart of Session Road in Baguio.

Story by MALOU GUIEB & VINCENT CABREZA
Photo by ANDY ZAPATA, JR.

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