In memoriam: Ernie Cloma

Through the internet grapevine, we just learned that our friend and colleague Ernie Cloma passed away in December 2016. Ernie touched our hearts through the sincerity and enormous wisdom of his personality and the incredible skills he possessed as a theatre educator and facilitator. Eugene first met him in Manila 1986 during the turbulent times that led to the dismantling of the Marcos dictatorship. Back then and in the years that followed, Ernie dedicated himself to developing a very effective children’s theatre pedagogy, which he himself implemented in all kinds of war-torn regions in the Philippines and beyond. Eugene felt very privileged to work with him and Dessa Quesada again in the island of Marinduque in 1997. Ernie Cloma graced our ICAF festival with his presence in 2011 and impressed everyone who had the good fortune to participate in the workshop he offered at our event. To us, Ernie has been one of the great forces in the community art world. Humble to a fault he never really received the recognition that he deserved. But those of us who did get to know him and work with him, realise what an inspiration he was. He set a standard for sincerity, honesty, and methodological thoroughness that many of us only get close to in our wildest dreams. We will miss him but his legacy lives on. We particularly extend our condolences to our friends at PETA, who will miss ‘Tito Ernie’ even more than we will, particularly during the upcoming 40th anniversary of their company.