By CESAR JOLITO III

Forty-six years ago, as Bacolod City faced one of its darkest chapters, a group of artists and cultural workers came together to imagine a festival of hope.

Among them was Ely Santiago — painter, caricaturist and satirist — who not only coined the word MassKara but also designed its first logo, giving the city a face that would come to symbolize resilience.

Today, his legacy lives on not just in history books or city celebrations, but in the memories of his family.

His daughter, Kimee Santiago, recalls how she grew up surrounded by masks long before she understood their significance.

“I remember having masks as toys. Some were painted, others left bare,” Kimee shared.

“My dad would mold them by hand out of newspapers and paste. When they dried, he would hand me a stack along with watercolor paints and shredded matchsticks that I used as brushes. To me, it was just playtime. I never realized it was part of something bigger,” she added.

Born in the household of an artist, Kimee’s childhood was colored with creativity and humor.

She remembers her father’s playfulness more than his seriousness.

“He’d let me put makeup on his face while he napped. One time, a visitor arrived, and my dad woke up with blue and pink eyeshadow still on. Instead of scolding me, he laughed about it and turned it into a story he would retell,” she recalled.

Ely Santiago’s artistry extended far beyond mask-making. He was a prolific cartoonist and caricaturist, often filling their home with sketches, verses and posters laced with wit and social commentary.

In Manila, he became known for a TV segment called “Chalk Talk,” where he turned words into caricatures on the spot.

But his most enduring contribution remains MassKara.

The festival was born in 1980 at a time when Bacolod was reeling from the collapse of the sugar industry and the sinking of the MV Don Juan.

Santiago’s coined term — a portmanteau of “mass” (people) and “kara” (face) — became both a rallying cry and a promise: that Bacolod would continue to smile through hardship.

Sadly, Ely Santiago passed away in 1993, leaving behind his wife and young children. Kimee was only seven years old.

“At that age, I didn’t really understand his brilliance,” she admitted.

“Google will tell you he was the late artist who coined MassKara. But to me, he was Dad — the man who carried me to bed, who let me sniff raw onions after dinner, who made magic out of ordinary things.”

Years later, during a posthumous tribute at the Convention Plaza Hotel, Kimee finally began to see how the world viewed her father.

His college friend, comedian Willie Nepomuceno, presented a plaque in his honor, cementing Santiago’s place in Bacolod’s cultural history.

For the city, Ely Santiago is remembered as the man who gave Bacolod its enduring symbol of joy.

For Kimee, he is still the playful, kind and brilliant father whose legacy she continues to piece together through memories and stories shared by others.

As Bacolod celebrates MassKara’s 46th year, the festival remains more than a street party or a spectacle of masks.

It is a living reminder of the vision of artists like Ely Santiago — a vision born from hardship, sustained by creativity, and carried forward by generations who continue to smile through life’s trials./CJ, WDJ