Al Robles (Source: Leland Wong Photography/ www.lwongphoto.com)
While millions of Filipinos worldwide celebrated Manny Pacquiao’s knock out victory over Ricky Hatton on Saturday May 2nd, many here in the SF Bay Area Filipino community were mourning the loss of another Filipino fighter, Al Robles. It was a passing that was absolutely “so sudden, so fast.”
No, Manong Al Robles was not a fighter in the ring, but in the San Francisco community. He was an acclaimed poet and activist for the elderly at the I-Hotel in San Francisco. He is also one of the Board of Directors for the Manilatown Heritage Foundation. I first met Manong Al many years ago through my friend Jeff Trinidad (RIP), also a community activist. Through Jeff and Manong Al, that is how I learned about the I-Hotel and the Manilatown Heritage Foundation.
Though Manong Al has a face you cannot forget, it’s his words I will always remember. His collection of poetry can be found in Rappin’ With Ten Thousand Carabaos in the Dark, which was published in the late 90’s (hard to find by the way). Another gem I recommend is a recorded spoken word piece titled “All The Things He Was (a poem for Flip Nunez)”, accompanied by Theo Gonzalves on piano from Gonzalves’ album Novemberly (2002).
Those who never got to know Manong Al, should see this recent documentary called “Manilatown Is In The Heart (Time Travel with Al Robles)” directed by Curtis Choy. It’s currently screening at various film festivals, but is now available on Choy’s website.
A memorial for Manong Al is planned for Sunday, May 17th at SOMArts (934 Brannan St.) in San Francisco. For updates and more information, please check out Hyphen Magazine’s blog.
