THEOLOGY 3

A Student’s Viewpoint: A Take on Velasco’s ‘Hapag ng Pag-asa’

Submitted by:
Bidua, Kurt B.

Submitted to:
Prof. Nestor Torrefranca

Date submitted:
October 17, 2019
 One of the more common items found in a traditional Filipino household is some artists’
rendition of ‘The Last Supper’. Be it a paint, a wood carving, a drawing, or a photocopied
photograph, the famous artistic description of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist always finds
its way into the heart of a Christian family’s home.

It comes with no surprise that this tradition of hanging art depicting the breaking of bread
dates back to the Spanish colonization era when the nation’s conversion to Catholicism came to
be. From then on, there already are various renditions of such. In addition to the wide array of
same themed art, Joey Velasco’s ‘Hapag ng Pag-asa’ or ‘Table of Hope’, is considered to be one
of the most popular religious paintings by a Filipino artist in modern times.

In a painting that rose to popularity in 2005, for portraying street children joining Jesus on
a long table, the message is most heartfelt by the audience, most especially because all of the
characters in the art were real, children whom Velasco and his wife have spent some time with.

Taking a look at the deeper sense of what the late Velasco was trying to elucidate from his
painting, there were two concepts relayed: first is the contrast between the Western take on the
theological passage, and second is the actualities in the modern society that occur largely because
of an impending social stratification and the absence of compassion.

Leonardo da Vinci’s take on The Last Supper was more controversial than helpful, as it
portrayed betrayal, anger and disgust, wherein the passage was not built upon. On the other hand,
Velasco’s take reminisces and focuses more simply on the Christian value of sharing and what it
really means. Where da Vinci provided complexity, Velasco’s basic approach becomes a point of
comparison and contrast.

Moreover, the painting exposes the never-ending expansion of the social stratus that
occurs, which helps none of the poor and the marginalized. Poverty lingers and remains an erring
societal problem. Children remain hungry and thin, and families homeless.

So, the painting knocks and asks, “As a Christian, what are you doing about it?”