MANILA, Philippines - Diplomatic relations - friendly, strong, uninterrupted and warm - have been a continuing state policy between the Philippines and Israel for almost half a century now. Such relations must have found their seminal period when Carlos P. Romulo, then Philippine ambassador to the United Nations, cast the crucial vote in favor of an independent Israel. Date: May 14, 1942. It was a Friday.

Human relationship actually presaged the diplomatic relations between the Philippines and Israel. Historical records show that "when everyone else in the world refused to take in Jews escaping from Nazi tyranny in Europe, the Philippines gladly opened its doors and welcomed them with open arms."

Furthermore, President Manuel L. Quezon "built a housing project for Jewish refugees in Marikina in 1939 and allotted a farm and settlement area in Mindanao for 35,000 Jewish refugees before World War II."

The diaspora had since taken an inverse relationship, except that the Filipinos in Israel are not refugees.

Public-sculpture contest

To mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the Department of Foreign Affairs-Office of Middle East and African Affairs, and the National Commission on Culture and the Arts, with the cooperation of the Art Association of the Philippines-Society of Philippine Sculptors, launched a public-sculpture competition, with the grand prize-winning entry to be installed at the Holocaust Memorial Park in the Municipality of Rishon Lezion, Israel.

There was no "specific theme," but the sculptural piece (all entries must be studies, or mock-ups, with specifications like materials to be used, exact measurement of the actual monument, etc.), must reflect "the Philippine heroic deeds during the Holocaust in saving Jewish refugees."

There were three criteria for judging: originality; relevance to the theme (although there was no "specific theme" as the rules specified); and visual impact. (Intellectual depth, and how this was actualized, should have been included).

While the public monument "will become the property of the government of Israel," the artist "has the absolute ownership of the copyright and intellectual property rights" of the artwork. The rules did not resolve the issue of the extent of property ownership on the part of the government of Israel, and property rights, including copyright and intellectual rights on the part of the artist.

Short list

Established and emerging artists participated. From the many entries, the board of judges (who must remain anonymous) chose 12 entries, from which they short-listed five, all of them by great artists.

The five were invited to attend the announcement of winners at the NCCA on April 12. The Grand Prize winner: Luis Enano Yee Jr., known in national and international art circles as Junyee.

Artist's interpretation

Junyee interprets his winning entry thus:

"?Open Doors? is a monument of modern conceptual doors that represent the Philippines, which gladly opened its doors and welcomed the Jewish refugees with open arms during the Nazi tyranny in Europe.

"The monument consists of three open doors, its size increasing in height, forming a triangle. The triangle pattern is actually the triangle of the Philippine flag. The triangle of the Philippine flag fits half of the two triangles of the Star of David of the flag of Israel. In a sense, our flag and the flag of Israel are joined together to symbolize the closeness and brotherhood of the two nations that will celebrate their 50th year of diplomatic relations in November this year.

"The doors also symbolize Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The doors open inward and 'meet' in the middle of the triangle, where a light feature that represents the sun in our flag will be switched on every night.

"The three stars of our flag will rise one foot from the floor. The stylized and abstract ... doors that rise beyond the door frames represent the sun rays of our flag and are inspired by the Muslim vinta in Zamboanga.

"In front of each door, two footsteps will be imprinted. One, the left foot imprinted in front of the door, and the second, the right foot imprinted inside the door. These footsteps will be imprinted by an actual person while the floor cement is still wet. Two Israelis who were actually part of the thousands of Jews who sought refuge in our country, probably one man and one woman, will imprint their bare feet on the floor.

"I suggest, Mr. Max Weixler, a Manilaner, as the Jew refugees called themselves, who now lives in Israel and still fluent in Filipino will represent the male. The third, a younger Jew representing the new generation, will be selected by the Israeli government to represent the unbroken friendship and our continuous welcome to the Israelis up to the present.

"I also suggest that the judges should view my model on eye level instead of just looking above it. While on eye level the model should be turned around slowly while the judge viewing it should be stationary. This way, the judge can perceive the monument the way it is perceived by one standing before the actual monument and walking around it.

"As a whole, the monument will have a feeling of soaring up in triumph because of the rising design of the open doors. I cannot imagine ... a more fitting symbol for this occasion than ... open doors, literally, dramatically and so contemporarily designed as open doors."

Los Baños

Junyee, the first artist-in-residence in UP Los Baños (1985), will work on his monument in Los Baños. The public monument all in metal sheet except for the perpetual light which will rise to a height of seven meters.

Once finished by panels, nine pieces in all, the monument will be transported to Israel, where Junyee will supervise the installation on a total lot area of 12 sq m.

"Open Doors" will complement two other monumental masterpieces: "Holocaust Memorial" and "Menora Statue."