by Ricky Jimenez
If the Ateneo de Manila University has its Blue Eagle, the Ateneo de Davao University has its own iconic symbol, the Blue Knight statue, standing seven feett tall on a pedestal at the high school quadrangle.
The statue, constructed with solid concrete and steel mesh inside and given a poly resin and fiber glass surface with glossy auto finish, was formally unveiled December 8, coinciding with the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
The mid-morning skies had just cleared following strong rains earlier, the quadrangle area had a sparse crowd, mostly from High School Batch 65, which came to see the fruit of their labor, the completion and inauguration of their class project, there being no classes that day, a religious holiday.
HS Batch 65 Alumni Foundation president Reynaldo “Boy” Reyes, welcomed his batchmates, guests, some HS officials led by assistant principal Pons Montecillo, the Jesuit fathers led by Fr. Dan McNamara, rector of the Jesuit community in Davao City.
Marcelino “Jun” Tumaroy Jr., Blue Knight statue project chairman, said local artist Edison Dorado and sculptor Jimmy Ang collaborated to give the figure a three-dimensional appearance. “We did not have any guide except to base the figure on illustrations found in Ateneo de Davao brochures and manuals. The drawings were flat and only one dimensional. A lot of imagination was used to give the statue a semblance of reality from all sides,” Tumaroy explained.
Tumaroy quickly added that the statue subtly changes its blue hue at night when illuminated, giving it an eerie appearance in the middle of the quadrangle grounds.
Conceptualized as a batch project in 1990, the statue eventually gave way to more pressing concerns then, like the need to raise funds to support its continuing scholarship program for poor but deserving students. The project resurfaced in 2002, and from there it took shape slowly in paper work, solicitation work and discussions with Ateneo authorities.
The Blue Knight project had its ground breaking on August 19, 2010 after the proponents thought it had a number of major sponsors, donors and benefactors to bankroll the project. At last estimates, the statue had cost over 350,000 thousand pesos.
Fr. McNamara thanked the sponsoring Batch 65 for completing the project and putting into concrete form the ideals that students had always imbibed, which were characterized by the Blue Knight statue: strength of character, truthfulness, humility and dignity.
The human figure carries a shield in its left hand. Depicted therein are four symbols: the keys of St. Peter, the peak of Mt. Apo, the seven Loyola family stripes representing the seven siblings of St. Ignatius, and the wolves and a pot (Lobos y olla in Spanish) from where the name Loyola came, according to HS assistant principal Montecillo.
In the figure’s right hand is a real sword, made of stainless steel, fabricated by bolo makers in Tagum City, Tumaroy added.
In acknowledging the support of numerous funders, Eduardo “Momong” Robillo said the Blue Knight statue is “unisex” in deferrence to the presence of some lady batchmates who came to join in the unveiling ceremony.
