Oblation's real model is not FPJ's father..

National Artist Guillermo Tolentino (center)  with Esteban Caedo (left) and Prof. Anastacio  Caedo (right). 

We have heard this  story before, and perhaps even helped spread them.  Upperclassmen have passed on these tales to gullible, innocent freshmen. A classmate heard it from another classmate, who then told you, and perhaps you told another. But is there any truth to these stories?

The model for the Oblation is the father of the late action star. 

The Oblation is a concrete statue by Filipino artist Guillermo E. Tolentino which serves as the iconic symbol of the University of the Philippines. It depicts a man facing upward with arms outstretched, symbolizing selfless offering of oneself to his country. The concrete sculpture painted to look like bronze, measures 3.5 meters in height, symbolizing the 350 years of Spanish rule in the Philippines

If you are an Isko, perhaps the most common name a person hears when he or she is asked who modeled for the Oblation—Fernando Poe Sr. People faced with this question, reply in varying tones, ranging from the certain, “Yung tatay ni Fernando Poe Jr.” (the father of Fernando Poe Jr.) to the unsure, “Sabi si Fernando Poe Sr. daw” (people say it was allegedly Fernando Poe Sr.). Poe Sr. was a UP student around the time the Oblation was being created by National Artist Guillermo Tolentino who was then a professor at the UP School of Fine Arts. No one knows for sure how the rumor started, but speculation about his involvement in the creation of the prominent UP landmark remains to this day. 

 

His name may be the most popular answer but other names come up, too. And researches revealed that oblation's model was  Fine Arts Prof. Anastacio Caedo, who was Tolentino’s student assistant at the time. He has to share the credit, however, with Virgilio Raymundo, brother of Paz Raymundo Tolentino, the creator’s wife. Tolentino combined Caedo’s physique with Raymundo’s proportion and – voila! – The Oblation was born. This is according to the book written and designed by the late UP Diliman College of Fine Arts (UPD CFA) Prof. Rodolfo Paras-Perez titled Tolentino.

 

The idea for the Oblation was first conceived during the presidency of Rafael Palma, who was the one to commission Tolentino to make the sculpture. Palma requested that the statue would be based on the second verse of Rizal's Mi Ultimo Adios;

“

In fields of battle, deliriously fighting, Others give you their lives, without doubt, without regret; Where there’s cypress, laurel or lily, On a plank or open field, in combat or cruel martyrdom, If the home or country asks, it's all the same--it matters not.

The sculpture is replete with references of selfless dedication and service to the nation, and as Tolentino himself describes it;

“

The completely nude figure of a young man with outstretched arms and open hands, with tilted head, closed eyes and parted lips murmuring a prayer, with breast forward in the act of offering himself, is my interpretation of that sublime stanza. It symbolizes all the unknown heroes who fell during the night. The statue stands on a rustic base, a stylized rugged shape of the Philippine archipelago, lined with big and small hard rocks, each of which represents an island. The “katakataka” (wonder plant) whose roots are tightly implanted on Philippine soil, is the link that binds the symbolized figure to the allegorical Philippine Group. “Katakataka” is really a wonder plant. It is called siempre vivo (always alive) in Spanish. A leaf or a piece of it thrown anywhere will sprout into a young plant. Hence, it symbolizes the deep-rooted patriotism in the heart of our heroes. Such patriotism continually and forever grows anywhere in the Philippines.

”

(Portion of the article lifted from The UP Newsletter - March 2012 - (Vol xxxiii Issue 3) Tales from UP Diliman: fact or fiction?)