Makuapo ni Handiong | Vic Nierva

Why do I play Coco Girl?

2012-01-28T06:58:00.003+08:00

I'M TURNING thirty-two, and the university I'm teaching at has just informed me that I've been with them for ten years now and that they're giving me a plaque soon for this. I have earned awards for my literature and I have a couple of books to my name and several poetry manuscripts more saved in my hard drive. Conveniently, I think I have everything I need: all those consoles that console a man of my age. I can go to movies anytime I want. I can buy my clothes. I can wander everywhere when I feel the need to do so. I can eat anything I like—ooops!—except that gold-dusted ice cream in Europe and those that Prince William and Sultan Bolkiah feed on. A little above average, however, I have pretty much nothing to prove except that I'm single, and perhaps, an eligible bachelor.

Social networking sites prove not that effective. Thus, my status speaks much about my situation: it's complicated. Albums in my account contain photographs that are happy, jubilant and contented. But, often, if they aren't photos of friends during sprees or chocolate shake afternoons, they would be adventures at photography: sunsets, landscapes, train rides, rains. Oh, not to forget, of course, the photos of a naughty nephew and a cute niece by my sister who is eight years younger than me. Sadly, as it always happens to other photographers, I am usually nowhere in the photos.

There's an interesting album in my collection, nevertheless. And I consider it interesting based on the number of 'likes' it has merited and the tone of the comments—from bewilderment to heckles—made on it by friends. This is my 'Coco Girl' album.

To date, I have around 83 photos in my album; most of which are fulfillment of daily quests while a handful are my attempts at pushing my avatar—that girl icon whose sense of fashion is my creative conception—to win the Coco It Girl selection. Fortunately, and to my jubilation, she won in my third try—quite ridiculously getting ahead of my Coco-playing coed students in this category!

Coco Girl is a game application introduced on Facebook by Argentina-based MetroGames during these times when the site is synonymous with the names of hundreds more game and non-game apps like Tetris Wars, Castleville, Pet Society, etc. I didn't look it up in the net where the game's name was derived but I have a hunch that, for obvious reasons, whether MetroGames admits it or not, it was named after the 20th century French couturière Coco Chanel.

With a very simple gameplay, a not time-consuming one too, Coco Girl allows the player to manifest one's fashion preference through a girl avatar. A player's avatar may be heavily customized in terms of appearance, hairstyle and even tattoos and body piercing. Coco Girl leads the player to a daily quest of fashioning the avatar with various outfits according to given situations. But Coco Girl isn't just about vogue clothing styles. It is also about relating with others in terms of fashion sensibilities. The game is mainly based on how a player rates her fellow players' fashion sense; this also earns for the player the most needed Rubies which are the bread and butter for shopping outfits and accessories at the Coco Girl shops.

While I'm far from being a fad-savvy, I believe it is the ultimate app for the lady fashionista. And so, as many friends ask, why am I, a certified, self-confessed, indubitable straight male playing Coco Girl?

Here's where complications enter.

I tell my friends I simply enjoy the game. But behind this sense of delight is a labyrinthine of reasons—or excuses—why Coco Girl appeals to me.

I grew up with a pretty happy childhood spending my first decade as an only child. I was given everything.We weren't—still aren't—rich but both of my parents were employed so that I was raised provided with everything I needed. After spending my primary education in a public school in a small pastoral town, I was sent to an exclusive, all-boys school in the city but with a parental instruction that all I had to do was to study well, pray and live healthily. My schooling years were spent with home-school routine. I participated in almost every school activity, studied well and earned honors certificates and was a member of the acolytes because I had a slight inkling that I had a calling toward the religious life. In short, I was a nerd. I belonged to the type of student my classmates called mayong pakisáma. I was, perhaps, the strictest beadle in school so that I listed down on the beadle's report every student I knew committed even the slightest infraction. I wasn't in.

College years came and I was still a nerd. I tried to impress the ladies with wit and words only to find out that erudition wasn't the best criteria. Still, I couldn't get the ladies to like—or love—me with a tinge of romance even though they swoon over my drawings and poems and abilities with computers. I was simply a friend to everyone. As I did in high school, I busied myself with things that made me qualified to be called a good student. I sang in the choir, I performed on stage, I delivered orations, I wrote in the university paper, and many other things, some of which I have already or were intentionally forgotten. Thinking about it now, however, doesn't give me a sad feel. Rather, I feel stupid for not being able to find a way.

My first relationship—which lasted five years—happened only after graduation; I was 21 then, I think. By the sheer number of years it took from my lifetime, I thought she was the one I would marry. We were both professionals, had stable jobs and shared passion for a lot of things. Many times, we did plan our future: a small house of three or four bedrooms in a quaint suburb where our family of two children would live with comfort. But things didn't out quite well for us and after half a decade, my girlfriend and I parted ways. We remained friends even after the breakup. She’s now working abroad.

My second girlfriend was a fellow writer I met at a prestigious writers workshop in Baguio City. It was our penchant for creepy stories and sarcastic poems that brought and kept us together. She was pretty intelligent and it took me some time to break through the intellectual walls around her and eventually won her heart. My second relationship was a more serious one. There were already conversations about marriage and those talks were far more concrete. The dilemma where to settle was a major issue: I wanted to live in the province and many times she expressed that she won’t survive if I would bring her deep into the woods. This same quandary gradually kept us further and further apart until, after five years too, we said goodbye to each other.

I had my share of stubbornness and faults and, therefore, I want the third one, which I hope to come soon, to be my last. I believe I have a way with women that keeps me part ways with them after some time; and this I want to fix. At times, I would become too deep into what I desire for and neglect my lady’s basic longings—something that I believe is innate in every male human being, only that it is fully developed in some.

And Coco Girl?

I play Coco Girl because with it I believe I learn and dissect, in a rather peculiar way, the woman’s psyche. Playing it is in some ways learning the pattern of choices that a woman may confront in her likewise complicated life. All this because in Coco Girl I can fit my feet into a female’s footwear, or my waist into a plaid, pink checkered mini-skirt or my torso into a stylish floral blouse. I appropriate these bouts of choosing in Coco Girl’s daily quest to the more complicated problematiques of the female experiences. Through Coco Girl—despite its deep sophisticated and extravagant fashion nature—I do recall the challenges I had in my relationships with women; my ex-girlfriends, my quarrelsome sister and my late endearing mother.

Each Coco Girl daily quest is also a daily recollection of endearing moments with former lovers. Sometimes, they also come as remembrances of arguments with them and of the fact that I always gave in despite preposterousness for the sake of peace.

I play Coco Girl despite the possibilities of gossips that I may in fact be gay.

I play this ladies’ game because it makes me more manly.

20 January 2012

2012-01-14T01:26:00.004+08:00

Doros asín mga Anghél

Translations in Bikol of John Donne's

Holy Sonnets and Selected Works

Launch of the Ateneo de Naga University Press

2F Fr. James O'Brien Library

20 January 2012

- 3pm -

Lecture on Academic Publishing

Ms. Maricor Baytion

Director, AdMU Press

- 4.30pm -

Book Launch

Doros asin mga Anghel, Victor Dennis T. Nierva

Minatubod Ako sa Diklom, Kristian Sendon Cordero

Diin

2011-08-25T14:41:00.003+08:00

HALIKA ka. Tuloy. Dito,

itabi mo na muna diyan yang palumpon

ng mga bulaklak na handog sa'yo at

hindi ka naman istatwa ng Mahal

na Birhen na nilalapastangan lamang

ng mga binatilyong 'yan na

walang ibang nalalamang gawin

kundi ang maglaro lamang

ng mga baril-barilang regalo

ng kanilang mga nanay

noong Pasko. Tuloy ka. H'wag kang

mag-alinlangan. Ang talim ng tingin ko

ay hindi para sa'yo kundi upang

itaboy sila papunta

doon..............................sa malayo. Tuloy.

Halika. Tuloy. Huwag nang

pagtakhan ang antigong

pintuan na 'yan pati ang bronseng

pansara. Nabili ko ang mga 'yan

sa unang sahod ko

sa unibersidad. Sobrang tagal

na n'on—'wag mo 'kong pagtawanan.

Tuloy. Upo ka,..............diyan,

d'yan sa kulay-lumot na sofa

na pinili ng una kong kasintahan—o

mapapangasawa?—para sa 'kin, para dito.

Ay, sa ibang araw na natin sila pag-

usapan, ha?....................Oo,—hahaha!

—sige lang—hanggang maramdaman mong

bukas ito para sa'yo. Hindi ka tatanggihan

ng aking bahay, kahit pa suson-

suson na ang mga pinturang ibinalot sa mga

dingding nito na tadtad ng mga pakong

sabitan ng mga damit, pang-ilalim, sinturon,

sumbrero, kuwadro, marami pa. Hindi muna

kita sisilbihan ng maiinom, ha, mamaya na;

kakatapos pa rin lang naman ng meryenda,

at malamig itong hapon. Ba't walang tigil

ang kakatawa mo? Ako ba? O itong bahay?

Ay, ilabas na'ng libro't magbasa, mag-aral.

Kung gusto mo, hubarin mo 'yang sapatos

mong kasing-tingkad ng rosas ng iyong

mga labi, para mas maginhawa sa'yo.

Sa'yo muna ngayon 'yang sofa ko.

..........................................."May anghel,"

sambit mo nang saglit tayong nanahimik.

Nagtinginan na lang tayo. "Oo nga,"

sabi ko, "totoo ang anghel na 'yan," sabay

bitiw ko ng isang ngiti. "Dito ka muna, ha."

Hinabol......mo......pa......ako......ng......tingin.

Tumatanda na ang inumin mo sa pitsel,

nabuo na rin ang manipis na yelo, nag-

krema na ang sitrus at mansanas. Tamang-

tamang pantapos ng 'yong pagbabasa dahil

higit na uhaw pa ang..........darating.

25 Agosto 2011, Lungsod Naga

May 2011

2011-04-28T15:51:00.002+08:00

Vic Nierva has always impressed me as one of those few living poets with a keen ear for sound. His Donne is a tour de force of a translation. The fusion of wit and passion, the abrupt entrances, the dislocations, ironies and paradoxes, the air-tight syntaxes, the inner disquiets both sacred and sensual, the metaphysical conceits—these are all here! What excites me the most, however, is how Nierva effectively translates Donne’s brutal supplications to a God he loves with such passion and confidence he never doubts will forgive him despite himself. This is not a translation of Donne; this is John Donne writing in Bicol.

Dr. Carlos Aureus

Professor of Latin and Critical Theory

University of the Philippines Diliman

AdNU to hold conference on film, culture

2011-01-09T00:02:00.002+08:00

WITH THE prime aspiration of instigating a culture of filmmaking in Bicol, the Ateneo de Naga University Department of Media Studies and the Media Studies Society are holding the 2nd Bicol Conference on Communication and Media Studies on January 1 to February 2, 2011. With the title-theme “Pelikula@Kultura”, the conference is aimed at stirring the Bikolano students and enthusiasts to see the various images, artifacts and traditions and thereafter reflect on the possibilities of translating these riches into information transfer, expressions or advocacies through the art of film.

The conference will feature a list of lectures on the various essential aspects of film. The roster of lecturers is topped by the keynote speaker, Dr. Miguel Q. Rapatan, chair of the National Committee on Cinema of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Other lecturers are Prof. Tito Genova Valiente of AdNU (Film as Cultural Memory), Dr. Roland Tolentino, Dean of UP College of Mass Communication (Film Semiotics), Dr. Alvin B. Yapan, writer-filmmaker, and a faculty member of Ateneo de Manila University (Panitikan at Pamemelikula); Mr. Jerry B. Gracio, poet-screenwriter (Mga Tunguhin at Hamon ng Kontemporanyong Screenwriting); and Mr. Jim Libiran, filmmaker and journalist (Guerilla Filmmaking).

Screening of noted independent films will highlight the conference. Veronica Velasco’s Last Supper No.3 will be shown on January 31, Alvin Yapan’s Gayuma is scheduled to be shown on February 1, and Jim Libiran’s Happyland will be featured on February 2. Velasco’s Last Supper No.3 is humorous presentation of the rather meandering route of the Philippines’ legal system for someone who wants justice. Yapan’s Gayuma, noted for its being the first-ever full-length feature film in the Bikol language, is a remarkable love story that transcends social class, religious and superstitious beliefs, and urban rural prejudices. Libiran’s Happyland brings the viewers into the labyrinthine Tondo, among the legendary barefooted football players at the heart of their dreams and desires.

For inquiries and other details, please contact the Department of Media Studies of Ateneo de Naga University at (054)4738447 local 2022, look for Vic Nierva; or inquire through text messages at 09293371588.

Priase God, honor Ina, amplify Bikol music

2010-09-06T22:53:00.005+08:00

On Ateneo Choir's 1st album

NAGA CITY—HERE is something earthly but is also ethereal. And much more, here, the two blends very well together.

On July 30, this year, the Ateneo de Naga University Choir launched its first album, Kamurawayan sa Diyos (Glory to God). The choir, probably the best in Bikol, sang in its usual flair and was accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra—a performance unprecedented in the Bicol music scene. For Joseph Reburiano, who arranged, scored, conducted and directed all the tracks in the CD, the album is a dream fulfilled. “It was a project that had been there since the university choir was established,” he added. The album was produced in time for the celebrations of the seventieth anniversary of Ateneo de Naga University and the Tercentenary of Peñafrancia Devotion.

The AdNU Choir, popularly known within the Ateneo community as UC, was established in 2001, and has since then been directly under the supervision of the university president. UC is composed of students from the different colleges of the university; they enjoy scholarship for their services rendered on and off campus. The group maintains the status of being a cultural ambassador of the university.

The UC has three objectives: first, to conduct researches on Bikol cultural and liturgical music with the goal of publishing well-arranged musical collections that may lead Bikolanos to a deeper appreciation of Bikol music and its significance to rituals, celebrations and the development of our culture; second, to enrich and deepen prayer experience and other religious activities, especially the celebrations of the Eucharist; and, third, to lead Bikolanos to a wider sound vocabulary and music-cultural perspectives towards developing a richer music culture.

To many followers, the choir has already hit these objectives when they moved their listeners with the cuts from their very first CD album. Much more were touched by the live performances during the launching concert which commenced with a fresh instrumental version of the “Himno a Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia”, a song more popularly known in Bikol as the “Resuene Vibrante”, composed for the 1924 Canonical Coronation of Our Lady of Peñafrancia by Fr. Maximo Juguera, CM.

First in Bikol

For Reburiano, Kamurawayan sa Diyos is “the first Bikol album with musical arrangements intended for a full orchestra. The tradition in Bikol sacred music is to make arrangements as simple as possible; on the other hand, we can have it more complicated, that is, to make our music richer and our rituals more meaningful to celebrate.”

He always points to the song “Ina nin Kabikolan (Mother of Kabikolan)” as an embodiment of the colors of the Bikolano devotion to Ina—Our Lady of Peñafrancia. The song is the official hymn for the celebration of the tercentenary of Peñafrancia devotion.

“In form and content, I wanted to capture how we, Bikolanos, revere Ina. I wanted to set into music how we wave our handkerchiefs as Ina passes us by. I wanted to translate into a song how voyadores would struggle to make their way to Ina’s andas; how the boatmen would row their boat in gentle unison. I want to make music out of these images, and “Ina nin Kabikolan” succeeded in embodying them, and I believe, we very seldom do that,” Reburiano shared.

Donnel Ramirez, the soloist whose voice gives a rather silvery character to “Ina nin Kabikolan”, says of the song, “It was as if [my voice] was used to unify all Bikolanos and all devotees of Ina wherever they may be. There lies the fulfillment of having sung the tercentenary hymn. Something deep within stirs me too, and then I would just find myself singing it to Ina the way any child would sing to his or her own mother.”

Similarly, the launching concert was widely lauded, not just for the sweet and carefully restrained performance of the UC, but also for the presence of an orchestra, which is a very rare sight in the Bikol music milieu. It is more interesting to note that all performers, save four guest instrumentalists, were Bikolano artists hand-picked by Reburiano.

For this, Reburiano was pensive as he told Vox Bikol: “it was amazing to realize that we can in fact form a local orchestra here in Naga, an orchestra that will have regular seasons and performances, focused on uplifting the quality of our music, all for the development of our local culture.”

New and Revisited Songs

The preparation of Kamurawayan sa Diyos, according to Reburiano, involved months of arranging and scoring. The produce: a sixteen-track record of new and and revisited Bikol sacred songs penciled for chorus and orchestra in the contemporary musical idiom.

The first two tracks are instrumental renditions of “Himno a Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia” and “Ina nin Kabikolan”—both in a boatman’s gentle but firm cadence. Then follows Julito Regalario’s “Tara, Kagurangnan Maria (Hail Mary)” in which the UC’s mellifluous singing comes with an orchestral caress that gives the song a real Filipino texture.

Classic Bikol sacred song “Namomotan Taka, O Kagurangnan” by noted composer Fr. Lorenzo Juan Jarcia III is featured in a surprisingly never-been-heard manner so that at some point the song may turn so suddenly from dulce to allegro accompanied by an exciting run of the violin section.

Reburiano’s collection of his own version of responses for celebration of the Catholic Mass follows with “Kagurangnan, Kaheraki Kami (Lord, Have Mercy)”, “Kamurawayan sa Diyos (Glory to God)”, “Banal (Holy)”, “Ama Niamo (Our Father)”, and “Kordero kan Diyos (Lamb of God)”. The new versions were composed in response to the changes in text of the Mass in the vernacular. “Kagurangnan, Kaheraki Kami” is the only a cappella cut in the album, but it presents an intense version of the Kyrie. “Banal” is slow yet grand. “Ama Niamo” is dulcet and so is “Kordero kan Diyos”.

The title-song “Kamurawayan sa Diyos” brings new form to the Bikol sacred music. At one point, Reburiano quipped that he only used to imagine melodies like this in the Bikol context, and that the actual “Kamurawayan” is an answer to—and a fulfillment of—an old query whether the melody would fit Bikol text. “Kamurawayan” is lilting and grandiose in its peaks and runs, and is very much moving in its lows and slow downs.

Bikolano Jesuit composer Fr. Fruto Ramirez, who’s own version of “Ama Niamo” has been an anthem of the Bikol church, lends two songs: first, the popular “Hesus, Tinapay nin Buhay (Jesus, Bread of Life)”, and secondly, the classic and nostalgic Marian song “Ina”.

Restrained yet regal, “Awit ki Kristong Hade (Hymn to Christ the King)”, penned by this writer and set into song by Reburiano, is a reverential tribute to Christ the King, to whom the Ateneo University Church is dedicated.

The album ends with a full and fresh version of the “Himno a Nuestra Señora de Peñafrancia”. Probably the longest version of the song at 8 minutes 34 seconds, just like the instrumental version, UC’s “Himno” is slower than usual because, again, it takes the boatman’s tempo.

Bikolano artistry

Kamurawayan sa Diyos is a loud and lucid manifestation of Bikolano artistry. Aside from Reburiano’s musical ingenuity, the record in any way showcases the natural talents of the 21-voice UC.

The album also features voices of former members of the UC. Rhea Rodriguez sang “Hesus, Tinapay nin Buhay” while Floyd Tena gave an endearing rendition of “Ina”.

The “Himno”, in a special way, features the voices of two Bikolano professional musician-singers: tenor Conrado Ong III, who hails from Daet, sang the first strophe; while Prof. Ena Maria Aldecoa from the UP College of Music sang the third strophe.

The 30-piece orchestra for the launching concert was a gathering of Bikolano musicians coming from different music groups and institutions in Naga City.

Music and faith

In the CD inlay of the album, AdNU President and Kamurawayan executive producer, Fr. Joel Tabora, SJ, quotes the famous lines from Fr. Horacio de la Costa, SJ: “…We are a remarkably poor people; poor not only in material goods, but even in the riches of the spirit. …But poor as we are, we have something. This pauper among the nations of the earth hides two jewels in her rags. One of them is our music… [the other is] our Faith. … These are the bonds that bind us together; these are the souls that make us one.”

Fr. Tabora further shares: “Hidden in this CD are two jewels: the jewel of music coming from the Bicolano soul, … [and the] jewel of our Faith: our love for Ina, our Lady of Peñafrancia. Ina nin Kabikolan (Mother of Bicolandia), who does not tire to lead us to her Son, Hesus, Tinapay nin Buhay (Bread of Life), our Kristong Hade (Christ the King). In this CD may these two jewels bind us together, make us one, and bring glory to God!”

Sounds of tastes

2010-05-24T10:55:00.005+08:00

LIKE SCENTS, tastes bring us to places, remind us of events and affairs, and conjure within us old feelings. More often, these feelings are heightened because some are of our deepest intimacies while some are of our greatest melancholies and fears. This simple psychology of flavor was, is, and will always be a big part of how we are formed as individual persons.

We squirm at the slightest redolent of our childhood food and we feast in jubilation and we linger on it upon the taste of a delicacy we consumed at the height of let’s say victory or experience of love. Nevertheless, as grownups, we do not just resent dishes that are reminiscent of our pains like breakups or deaths, we avoid places where we have experienced those tastes. Moreover, we use our taste to remember something, someone or someplace to keep particular thing, person, experience or place alive at least in our memory.

There is also the option to remember tastes and make them channels as if they are television sets always at hand to flash moving images of certain portions of our lives.

I feel comforted at the memory of the taste of hulog-hulog—rice balls in sweet ginger and coco milk soup—which I last tasted years ago when I was a still a kid whose concerns would range from toy trains to magic slates to taking a quick dip in the river with fellow children without Mother knowing it. Perhaps, it is the soothing warmth of the ginger soup that reminds me how rustic and pastoral was my old hometown and how beautiful and comforting it was to live there. Or maybe the rice balls provide lucid recollections of my wandering in the woods with friends in search for something supernatural. How I would childishly chomp on the rice balls, too sticky inside my mouth that sometimes they got stuck in my upper palate, could be my portal to that Good Friday when with other itinerant kids I braved the deserted Sulóng river only to find out if true was the olden belief that the river would turn into a single solid slab of crystal at noon time when Jesus died on the cross. The water remained water; we small kids almost lost our sanity when we saw a snake crossing the river heading to our direction.

Mother cooked hulog-hulog in afternoons because the rice balls needed prior sun drying. The excitement waiting for it to finally reach the dining table was often accompanied by the occasional blares of transistor radios from neighboring houses quietly listening to radio dramas and advices from nicely-voiced radiomen. Then comes the faint rhythm of the rice mill grinding palay into polished rice.

In the chorus of these sounds, one of my uncles would join with allegro cadence of manual grating of coconut flesh. Then Mother, like a magician, would whistle the charcoal stove to fire using talayóp, a small bamboo pipe through which one may blow wind to burn embers in stoves. The cooking begins.

The saucepan was filled almost to the brim with water, coconut milk, with a right amount of chopped ginger and a few tablespoon of sugar. The rice balls, now plump and dry, were on a flat tray waiting somewhere. By this time, I would be facilitating the hauling of a derailed toy train somewhere in between the switch and the curve of my toy railroad tracks. Such is how a pre-school only son spends an ordinary afternoon—solitary because older friends would only come after school, or maybe because they, being preschoolers too, were not allowed to go out because the sun was still up and outside was too hot for kids.

The announcement that merienda was ready was a kind of fan fare. Consuming those sticky, slimy, savory rice balls and slurping the thick, sweet ginger soup were always done in a tempo that goes between fast and not so fast. Or perhaps, a child’s emotions gradually rising like the hairpin of crescendo. The memory of the taste of the whole thing reminds me that soon Mother would be sending me out to bring to some dear neighbors bowls of hulog-hulog. Soon would be playtime, and playtime was until six o’clock when church bells tolled oracion.

Some time soon, the taste of hulog-hulog would wear out from my taste buds. A few hours into it and the ginger would lose its spirit. The stomach then would do then its job. Maybe to give way to other dishes, like fried fish or eggplant salad or the thick sauce of Bikol-style igado. Their respective tastes in the future may become passwords to portals of imagined past—perhaps, a portion of one’s own psyche. They may too come as answers to the whys and hows of our lives—either permanent or temporary answers to own frequent philosophizing.

Let our tongues then do the remembering sometimes.

Ayúno

2010-03-29T11:27:00.002+08:00

SA REHIYON NA INI nin mga rito asin simbahan, an Semana Santa sarong panahon nin pagtuninong. Orog na sa mga banwaan na daing gayo nariribaraw kan maribok na parakpaták nin mga traysikel asin ruab nin nag-iirinotan na mga sasakyan, an semanang ini panahon nin pagtenir sa mga harong-harong, signos nin nakatùdan na pag-ontok na may kaibahan pamibi asin paghorop-hórop. Para sa mga henerasyon na naábot pa an saindang mga kagugurángan, natukduan pa sinda kan mga gawê-gawè tuyong naabot an panahon na ini. Sa kinaban kan mga Katoliko asin iba pang mga pagtubod na nag-roromdom kan pagsakit asin pagkagadan kan Kagurangnan, an Semana Santa panahon man nin pagsakripisyo, asin saro na digdi an pag-ayuno o paglihis nin pagkakan minsan an iba minapili na sanáng dai magkakan nin karne sosog sa tradisyon kan mga Hudeo kaidtong daan na panahon.

Sa sarong inkulturadong nasyon na arog kan Pilipinas, an mga Katolikong agi-agi nabubuhay sa mga paagi kan katutubong sosyudad kaini. Dai ta man ini pinagririrongan. An pag-awit ngani kan Mahal na Pasyon nakaugat man sa daan na ritwal kan mga Pilipino bago pa mag-abot an mga Espanyol. Sa lado nin pagnamit, na ipinapahiling naman kan manlaen-laen na rito nin pagpapasalamat na minána ta sa mga suánoy na lahi, igwa ako nin pagtubod na natura tang mga Pilipino an mahimo an satong pakikipagsarô sa Kagurangnan—Gugurang, Kabunian, Bathala, o ano pa man na ngaran kan satong Dios—sa paagi nin pagkakan.

Kun karakter kan pagtubod an pagiging ‘personal alagad pangkagabsan,’ dai ako mangalas kun an màwot tang eksperiyensiyang relihiyoso mahimo ta sa sarabay na pagkonsumo sa mga pagkakan na linutò nin may pagkamoot sa mga kusina kan satong mga harong. Garo baga: “salamat sa Dios sa masiram na ginutaan na manok na may tapayas asin kalunggay!” Siring man na dai pagpugulan an pagluha kun mahiling ta an lawog kan Kagurangnan pagbukas ta kan patos na petsay sa sinanglay na tilapyang linutò sa lipotok na guta, kumpleto nin rekado—tinadtad na sibulyas, giniriris na kamatis, pinong làya, gurút-gurót na bawang, asin iba pa. Dai ako nagsusuba. Huli ta sa kalangkawan nin sarong eksperyensiya nin pagranga asin pagkangalas—sublimity!—na sa kadakol na panahon minaturò an satong mga luha, naroromdoman ta man an kamurawayan kan Kagurangnan, an saiyang pagtaó, an saiyang pagkamoot. Mina-ontok an kinaban sa pagtírig, minatenir na saná kita sa eksperiyensiya sagkod maabot ta an sarong momentong siring sa epipanya, siring sa bilog na pagkamidbid sa Dios. Mapapahangos na saná kita asin ma-usar nin halipot na pag-omaw.

Dai ko man katuyuhan na magin erehe asin balgahon an katukduan kan Simbahan dapit sa mga sakripisyong maninigong gibohon sa pagromdom sa pagsakit kan Kagurangnan. Sa panahon na sinusurat ko ini, dinuduridot saná kan sakong isip an posibilidad, posibilidad na minsan nangyayari sa samong harong. Minsan sa aldaw na kaipuhan mag-ayúno, nakakabungkal ako nin masiram na pinakrong batag o ginutaan na dilis na pinahìbog nin kadakol na kamatis o pinaltak na mais o mahamis-hamis na ginutaan na balaw na pinasakrot dikit nin kininit na kurakding. Ano ta dai magtingkalag sa langit asin magrokyaw, magpasalamat sa balaog na inakò?!

Dai ko man katuyuhan na tawan nin lehitimong dahilan (o palusót) an puwedeng hilingon man nanggad na pagkapaslo saná. Tibaad nahihiling ko sanáng an pag-kakan puwede man na gawè nin pagpamìbi, paghorop-horop, pag-agi sa eksperyensiya nin Mahal na Dios, pagpasalamat, asin kadakol pang ibang agi-agì nin karahayan kun mamàwoton ta saná man sa satong mga puso, odok sa boot asin bakong sagin-ságin.

Siring sa gabos na Katoliko sa kinaban, nakikisumaro ako sa mamundong pagbakho sa Kagurangnan na nag-atang kan saiyang sadiri tanganing matubos kita sa kaoripnan. Rinoromdom ko an saiyang makuring pagsakit, an labi-labing kulog na saiyang namate, an saiyang pagdusay duman sa Krus. Sa likod kan mga kadikloman na ini, hararom na nakatanom sa sakong daghan an dai-masukol, dai-marurip, daing kabaing niyang pagkamoot. Huli ta sa likod man kan mga pagkakasalà, takot, pagtios, pagsakot, problema, asin mga kakundian ko asin kan kinàban, minahangos ako nin preskong duros, inaaling ako kan mga aking nagdadara-dalagán sa samong natad, nakakahimo ako nin mga magagayon na ladawan, napapaluhâ ako sa mahamis na musika, napápanô ako sa pagsirang asin pagsulnop kan saldang, nangangalas ako sa mekanismo kan pagmatá sa pagka-aga asin pagturog sa banggi; kaiba na sa gabos na ini an masisiram na pagkakan kun sain an Kagurangnan yaon man.

Maogma an sakuyang Dios.

The Booth is a Marketplace:

2010-01-28T22:35:00.009+08:00

Corruption in the Local Media

A media studies lecture delivered on the occasion of the Regional Convention on Decoding Politics: An Interdisciplinary Approach on 28 January 2010, at the Instructional Media Center, Ateneo de Naga University. the convention was held in line with the Philosophy Week Celebration, 25 to 30 January 2010,AdNU.

MY FATHER is a constant cynic when it comes to media personnel. It hurts me, because primarily, I work with and for media—although indirectly. I teach Media Studies in this university. My students—should they persevere in their respective disciplines—will be our journalists and/or broadcasters a few years hence. But I very well understand my father, his experiences with the media hollering around to get his views and to extract information from him in his capacity as one of the chiefs of our state railway agency were frequented with disappointments like interview answers edited to fit the taste of the person covering the beat (the term ideologies can never be applied, the use of it would be an insult to the word itself). The essential truth is that this is never new to us. The more alarming thing is that all through these recent years, this phenomenon has already desensitized, disillusioned, brainwashed, mis-educated us.

I have a daunting task in hauling broadcasting majors from believing that political figures need the media for publicity. As a pedagogue of Media Studies, I am deeply troubled by this; although never really surprised. Over the radio one evening, I heard a commentator arrogantly asked a field reporter to search for certain Camarines Sur board member so that they could ask him questions, subsequently telling the field reporter that in times like this, advent of the 2010 plebiscite, the politician in question should be in dire need of the media.

My lecture today is more experiential than theoretical or demographic. It is more of a tale, a narrative, than a presentation of figures and survey results. Perhaps, it is what we need these times; during this epoch of surveys that are self-serving, a period when demographic profiles and statistical data end up in just being figures and data themselves and nothing else, not even a tinge of action that research findings necessitate. Consider how the public ignores political surveys; consider how we disregard these supposedly social response indicators, simply because we believe either they are tampered or are done to favor one entity over the others. To the commoner, these demographics are never an authentic determinant of the public desire.

What I have today is a tale that embodies my own critique—or perhaps, censure—of, over, and about the state of our media industry today—particularly our local media here in Bicol. I am here in a two-fold persona: that of an advocate, and that of a pedagogue, a teacher. This fact, maybe, is the scope and limit of my lecture and public sharing. I believe that here in our midst, the booth is a marketplace. That supposed sacred space of media practitioners, especially, our broadcasters is more often than not, violated by their own kind and their cohorts. The booth, that small glass-lined, sound-proof cube consisted of a broadcast console, a swivel chair, and a condenser microphone, may also be a place of merchandise, where information are curbed in exchange of something, cash or kind.

All be it that this is a pressing concern, pun intended, there is nothing new in the issue of media corruption. Chay Hofileña of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism a few years ago came out with the book, News for Sale that presented an extensive research on the corruption of media in the Philippines and how politicians—our supposed leaders—have managed and succeeded in debauching the press. Funny, though never we should actually be, that new terminologies and term definitions came out of this shameful phenomenon in our media. Unfortunately, I happened to have witnessed one here in Naga City, where cash payments to media personnel covering a particular beat were distributed from a u-box of a motorcycle. How nasty the process was. In my eyes, how money-hungry our press was during that time. But can we actually blame this on the poor field reporter assigned? The answer may just be another chicken-and-egg tale. One newspaperman, a senior one, told me he got ten thousand from that event. That was supposedly for a good news out of a really, really bad and shameful failure of an ambitious and not well-researched implementation of a state project. The next day, the newspaperman was by-lined in a news article on a failed project in a national daily. That evening he invited all the radiomen and they all had a drinking spree out of the ten thousand pesos issued to him by the manager of the state agency. Our broadcast industry has lots more tales to share.

Media and Corruption: A Brief Definitive Inquiry

In the discussion of media corruption, there are two words necessitating an etymological and contextual scrutinies—first, the term media, and the second, corruption. Such looking up of the origins of these two apellations may give us a deconstructed and definitive clarity of what the fusion of the two, media and corruption, or media corruption, is all about.

Etymologically, the term media, has never lost the original Latin form of the word, the plural form of medium. This word puts an entity embodying it in between two worlds, while media itelf is an independent world with her own systems and procedures. In the context of our subject today, and considering the most obsolete and most basic of all models of mass communication, the media is synonymous to the channel through which information are transmitted from an entity to another—which in the communication parlance, more often, we refer to as either sender or receiver.

In the world of mass communication, the media are classified into the print, broadcast, audio-visual, the internet, and other mode of channeling information—the term multimedia, despite it acquiring some age, never ceases to amaze me, much like how younger students are perpetually amazed by 3D graphics created on computers.

In the context of this lecture, and to streamline our focus, I contain my scope within the broadcast practices in Naga City, within which I was recently deeply involved due to my involvement in an advocacy against the Libmanan-Cabusao Dam Project which is feared to inundate my hometown Lupi in case the insistent proponents push through with it despite calls for local folks to stop its construction. Because of this project, I became a regular radio interviewee. There were days when it became routinely, eating my early mornings or late evenings, answering to attacks and even succumbing to attacking my so-called enemies-in-principles, either out of compulsion or utter anger and disgust. In this sense, large portion of my tale is confined within this extracting of an insight out of recollection of memories and experiences.

On the other hand, the other term, corruption, was taken from the Latin corrumpere, or to ‘mar, bribe, or destroy.’ The etymological attributes are blatant; they are too revealing if I may say, of the intervening and altering faculties that I wish to convey as the bastardizing agent in communication systems like the mass media. Simply, corruption is anything intentionally applied to the transfer of information such that the transfer could never be a perfect process, never a high-fidelity ferrying of data from one entity to another—from the sender to the receiver.

Contextually, again, corruption happens when information broadcasted over the radio never reaches the audience with optimum fidelity and clarity. This involves curbing of data, misinterpretations, dagdag-bawas, information black out, one entity favored over another entity, I’m sure you know them all. Corruption happens when the supposed fluidity in the process of mass communication—that is the process of communication from a source to a large audience via a channel, is marred by merchandizing, information buying or selling, loss of neutrality, et cetera. Alarmingly, this is very much present and evident among radio stations airing news and public affairs programs. I am not accusing anyone; I am speaking of a fact.

Media, the Fourth Estate

We all should remember that in the world of communication, mass media, the press, is considered as the fourth estate participating in the check and balance in our state affairs. Again, it is something that is nothing new to all of us. And this is exactly the reason why we are supposed to protect mass media from corruption; the very same reason too why in the first place it is very vulnerable to corruption—because mass media is power. That small device called the microphone through which the voices of radio commentators are heard by thousands of listeners is a device that in the mornings becomes a channel of our social and political thinking. The misinformed will eventually say, “iyo ano,” no matter how shallow the views aired over popular stations. This problem could have been solved with proper education. There’s the rub.

The power of the media is immense and vast, that is has also the capacity to take away from us proper sensibilities. This is the danger of public perception. When Joseph Estrada was ousted by the so-called second Edsa People Power, Joseph Spaeth of Time predicted that ousting a leader would be a vice in the Philippines. Now it is indeed a vice, and the media is greatly involved in its success. You don’t like the face of your principal, go to a radio station; you want to defend a parcel of land you don’t really own, go to a radio station; there’s a hostage-taking somewhere else, get a media celebrity. Of course, I may have exaggerated a bit, but that’s only for literary purposes.

Media, as the fourth estate, is a participant in the check and balance among the executive, legislative, and judicial powers. In the Philippines, however, media almost fiscalizes—it had gone almost to the jurisdiction of police powers. Pag nadukutan ka, dai ka magkonsulta sa pulis, magreport ka sa radyo. Of course, there’s validity to some extent of what others may retort that the government may have indeed reached a point when even the smallest units of it are no longer trusted by the people. But even this condition is partly created by public perceptions partly shaped by the media.

In my anti-dam advocacy works, I often work with media personnel for information dissemination as well as rebuttals of statements released by the dam proponents. I opt to go to them because we need to reach wider audience for our concerns. We need empathy and sympathy, not to mention various assistances, either tangible or intangible. Not a few times have I experienced having the anchor commentator place me in the awkward situation of having the other party maligned, insulted, challenged, to a point of violations of broadcast ethics, while the interview was still on air. In my advocacy, I believe a branch of the state failed to deliver a good project for, with, and by the people, and the media could have actually done a great part in evaluating it, in a manner that is ethical and scientific.

The Libmanan-Cabusao Dam Experience: A Discourse of Media in Advocacy

In my plight as an advocate, my relationship with the media began a few months ago when we needed a shoulder to rely on in terms of information dissemination. In the movement, we believe that there was an information blackout—my townsfolk in Lupi having been suffering from poverty, and many have received little education. Government engineers gave them jokes for answers, ridiculed their questions, and mocked them, in supposedly consultation meetings. We needed a stronger and more powerful means of sharing information. We turned to the radio stations. Two stations eventually—seemingly—adopted us. They provided us with ease in expressing our concerns, gave us enough time on air, gave us opportunities for interviews. Both were obviously favoring one political figure over another, this was a few months ago.

One station began mentioning my name in a bad light, apparently announcing that I was wanted by a particular commentator to call the station for an interview because I am accountable for many things—including alternative projects in case we succeed in fighting against that gargantuan project of the Libmanan-Cabusao Dam. I succumbed to the call, I got upset one evening I called the station. On my first call, the lady on the phone asked me to call again after fifteen minutes because the commentator was still delivering the evening news. After that all the lines gave me busy tones until the time the program ended. The day after, the same thing happened. On the third day, I called again, this time, I told the lady on the phone I was willing to wait until the commentator was finished with whatever he was doing. I got a pass.

I told the commentator, on the air, that he had maligned my name and wanted me answerable for things that were out of my responsibilities. He tried to clear himself. I told him to turn to the government agency responsible for it, because I’m not the one who were supposed to work on it. There is a government agency tasked for creating irrigation; do not ask me to look for alternative projects for the dam. I told him why, reiterating all our reasons, plus all the documents necessary to be annotated and alluded to for our advocacy. I told him about the Environmental Impact Statement, he didn’t know anything about it. Patay na. He wasn’t aware of the many documents appertaining to what we were fighting for. The media studies teacher in me suddenly sprung out. Perhaps it was in an arrogant manner, I didn’t care, but I told the commentator: next time when you malign an advocacy work, when you malign a person, please do so with tangible and pertinent documents for bases. Reading maketh a full man.

The many times we were with the media in our advocacy works were always tinted and hinted with political malice. There has always been that kind intimation for political leaning—and many times they were not intimations, they were blatant propaganda. One commentator would always make fun of the situation and would tell the reporter interviewing me, ‘pakisabi ngantig ki Dato, buwisit siya ha,’ obviously alluding to the tv ad of Dato Arroyo.

One station, which obviously acts as an evangelist for another politician always took the positive stance, instead of negatively attacking, to compare their sponsor with the adversary politician. Instead of saying the remark uttered by the commentator of the station earlier mentioned, they would say ‘kaya ngaya si gob baga kontrang maray talaga digdi sa dam ta makakaraot man talaga, maray pa ngaya si gob.’

Where can we go then, when our media is contaminated with this malady?

Desensitization and Public Perception: The Case of Ads Employing Children

My increasing rage over the Libmanan-Cabusao Dam Project and its insensitive and deceitful proponents was put to an almost overshoot when the first radio ad employing children was broadcasted on air. The ad employed children notwithstanding the fact that the very nature of the ad was no at all rate in congruence with the nature of the child. I am a creative writer, and in this capacity, as much as I desire to read texts are they are, the interpretation of text would always elicit intertextual perspective. In the case of the radio ad, it was obvious. Children were made to curse—muda—when the term peste was mentioned to refer to a group of people. It meant calling a group of people a sort of a menace, irritant, obnoxious being, toxic, whatsoever. The advertising agency, standing for the advertiser or the financing sponsor, must have missed the point, as much as it must have missed the fact that those who were opposing the project were a populace of a community, of a town, or towns in the case of Lupi and Sipocot. The very nature of the ad defies the very nature of the child. The ad itself, in form and content, was problematic, assessing it from the point of view of media studies.

The ad costs fifty thousand pesos a month, and in the contract, as related to me by an insider, would last for six months. Crude computation gave us three hundred thousand pesos, multiplied by the number of stations where the ad was aired. Millions.

It was all the more infuriating when a counter-ad from another party was aired.

One morning, a commentator in another station sent me a text message, ‘sir, igwa na po baga kitang simbag duman sa radio ad.’

The ad, likewise, employed children, but this time, it was in favor of us, those who oppose the dam project. I could have chosen to laugh at its entertaining value like what most people have done. I could have given it a rest, perhaps, because it was in favor of our cause. But, hell, no. Perhaps, it was the media studies in me who reacted. This time, I wrote Mr. Emmanuel Llagas, the president of KBP Naga. I wrote him my indignation over the ads that insensitively use children as talents. Questions were raging in my mind—labor issues, children’s rights, bad propaganda, truth in advertisement, et cetera.

In my trying to convince them that I was writing not in my capacity as an anti-dam advocate, I wrote: “Despite my involvement in campaigns against the Libmanan-Cabusao Dam Project and despite the fact that the anti-dam advertisement may actually favor our advocacies, I do not believe that the manner of presentation is in congruence with how we believe things should be done. Because we still believe in subtlety, in restraint, in human gentleness and compassion; not in rude and unreasonably adversarial procedure of airing concerns.

“Now, we should ask: where now lies our press ethics? Where now is our primordial sympathy as influencer and persuader of thoughts? Where now is our duty to further only what is the truth?”

After which followed my citations of declarations and Philippine laws apparently violated by the advertisements. I firmly believe that as partakers in this horrible phenomenon the media had the faculty to say NO in the first place. Only if they have included in their business considerations a bit of discernment over what is ethical and correct and what is not, this matter would have not gotten worse.

A few weeks later, more and more ads with children as talents came in. I saw no action despite my letter and the weight of people’s appreciation of it.

I paid visit to Mr. Llagas, there I knew that the problem was there was no one to turn to, no one to hold accountable for all the ads. My question for myself was, if there were no people accountable, how did all these ads make it to the airwaves?! There’s the rub.

I left Mr. Llagas office, the outcome of our conversation was to help each other look for names whom we can credit the ads to. Until now it remained unsolved. Media and the ways to impunity.

The exchanges of advertisements flourished, radio frequencies became like cockpit arena where one ad comes in response after another, and the process repeats itself, like eager roosters in a denouement of a cockfight. Most exchanges of attacks via advertisements were adorned with frequent comments from anchor commentators, who I associate to taunting public in cockpits. Perhaps, the cash flow is similar in terms of process.

The most alarming to me was that public got entertained. They laughed at the ads. Other children were made to imitate the singing. The elder sang them too, with gusto and frequent extemporizing. There was no anger, no abhorrence, no protests.

Now we ask, is this how mass media ideally should be? Where was the function to inform properly? Where was the function to educate? Where was the function to influence with ethical correctness?

Actions and Consequences

Two weeks ago, the media personnel were given the opportunity to have an audience in the Malacañan, the soon-to-be erstwhile residence of President Arroyo and her family. Upon coming back to Naga, I asked a friend as to how much he got from the sideline trip, he answered: four thousand. The amount depended on many things. What excited me more was the promise to share with me an information: he texted the clue: dato arroyo vic nierva.

Here’s the rub.

Two media personnel, a man I though was principled and an old lady broadcaster got into a conversation with the congressman. I was in the topic, as well as my letter about the ads and my advocacy against the dam.

The two broadcasters took turns in belittling my efforts against the ads that employed children, saying that the points I raised were somewhat weak and insignificant. Added to that was the assurance that our advocacy against the congressman’s dam project was, likewise, weak and proves nothing against the adamantine insistence of the proponents.

It hurt me as well as it challenged me to be more resolute.

No one can really blame it entirely on the media personnel. As it is in any other organization, not everyone is corrupt. Many are victims too. A few years ago, a research on the status of our media industry revealed that, on a nationwide scale, 80% of our journalists and broadcasters do not receive social security; 75% do not have health plans; 80% do not own their homes; 60% take out loans from family and friends to make ends meet; 60% have gone to news source to solicit funds. In Naga, a television reporter-cum-celebrity loaned thirty-nine thousand pesos from the office of a well-known elected official when his wife gave birth.

We all decry for all the media killings in our country. We protest against the violation of the dignity of the noble profession of journalists and broadcasters. But if we are going to ask ourselves, what are we doing to combat these monstrous acts? For if we in the media continue to attach ourselves to warring politicians, we will surely find ourselves caught in their senseless crossfires. Pity us, in the end.

In the last statements in my letter of protest against the ads employing children, I wrote: ‘During these times when we whine and rant so much about corruption, the best action perhaps is to start cleansing from within.”

Sadly, my last statement was perceived as arrogance. Who am I, according to them, a 30-year old dam fighter, teacher, and struggling poet, to instruct them who were in the business for such a long time.

In my body and spirit, and as I am telling you now in this lecture, that one afternoon upon learning of their response to my letter, upon questioning my capacity to question them, I told myself: “Precisely, who am I?”

Dios mabalos saindo gabos!

San Fernando, Camarines Sur
28 January 2010

Two for the Road

2010-01-16T02:54:00.001+08:00

FACEBOOK HAS BEEN EATING UP many people’s schedules lately. Unlike Friendster which had gone boring and stale as an old loaf of bread, Facebook or FB has gotten people’s attention including the bosses and the senior citizens in such large scale that I think every computer in the world has in its cache remnants of logging in to and out of FB. In my experience, this didn’t spare the Filipino literary writers. The list of popular Filipino writers in my page includes national artists—Bien Lumbera maintains an FB account! Jimmy Abad, Jing Hidalgo, Jun Balde, Marne Kilates, among the seniors; and a hundred or more of younger writers.

Bikolano poet and cultural scholar Frank Peñones, who I think is lots more cosmopolitan now than ever before, maintains too an FB account, and so does the grand dame of Bikol literary criticism, Doods Santos. And they are very much active online!

Among the very active ones in FB, however, and though rather unsurprisingly, are the much younger writers. And I’d like to name two of them, perhaps because they are both poets, and that they are both very eager so that it has already become a routine to find myself tagged in notes that upon opening will reveal a few lines or stanzas of an original poem.

Jusan Misolas and Jan Kevin de Quiroz are among those young students churning out verses every now and then and having them posted on FB. In turn, friends comment of their works, mostly discreet praises and neat expressions of liking and approval. Perhaps, the literary workshop method had gone out of the circles and found its way to the net.

I have known Jusan since he added me as an FB friend, though I don’t really remember meeting him face-to-face. Lately, I’ve learned that Jusan is a student of my Heideggerian friend Adrian Remodo (When’s the official launching of the Remodians, by the way? In a month’s time, Adrian will be a published book author through the NCCA’s Ubod Project.) My impressions of Jusan were affirmed by Adrian’s stories that were centered on one singular character of this young writer: passion for the written art. And like many other entities in this article, it is not quite surprising, for in “Kawit,” one of Jusan’s poem on FB, he wrote: “hale sa/ sarong/ malaen na/ pangiturugan.// nahimatang akong/ bagol/ an intero/ kong mga kamot.// pinutol/ daa/ ni kamatayan/ an mga ini/ habang/ dinudulagan ko/ an saiyang matarom/ na kawit.// asin sa sakuyang/ pagbungkaras/ hale sa higdaan/ kapot ko/ an sakuyang/ panurat na/ patos nin dugo.” Is there any greater passion than to murder Death so that one will write?

Kevin, on the other hand, is a was a fellow in the last Juliana Arejola Workshop sa Pagsurat-Bikol where I sat as one of the panelists, and this made it rather more unforeseen that his writings in English are better off. His short poem posted on FB reveals something about the one’s faculty to edify a phenomenon with a hint of gentle sarcasm. Here it is: “Sunrise” Who wouldn't get caught in awe/ as sunlight could feel our eyes/ as they slowly open/ and weariness steps out?// Then, as soon as we rise from bed,/ the mountains peel off their blankets/ of daylight. The sheets of sun then,/ slide freely from the mountain's peak// to its foot, leaving it vulnerable/ from the huge yellow eyes to peruse/ its fragile nakedness,// as it bathed under the shower/ of the cool mist./ Life is a beautiful cycle.”

Jusan and Kevin are two younger Bikolano writers writing primarily in Bikol. Just like us, and their non-writer contemporaries, their world is made vast by agents that come by way of social networking websites like the Facebook. They post their works on these sites. An effortless proof that works in Bikol are universal too. They get workshopped there, despite the utter lack of academic structures and the high and mighty ordaining literary theories and frameworks.

Who are they writing for in the first place? For now, it may just be enough for them to know that their friends are reading their works and thereafter to learn that their works are appreciated in no-nonsense and unassuming comments like: “gayunon man po baga” or “matarom an pagmate mo ngunyan ay” or simply, the Bikolano expression, “orag!”

UP-ICW announces Best First Book nominees for 2009

2009-11-23T23:57:00.003+08:00

Arvin Abejo Mangohig, Pantikan.com.ph

The UP Institute of Creative Writing and the Madrigal-Gonzalez family are pleased to announce the nominees for the Madrigal-Gonzalez Best First Book Award for 2009. The nominees are: The Proxy Eros by Mookie Katigbak, Stories From Another Time by Benjamin Bautista, Antisipasyon by Victor Dennis T. Nierva , The El Bimbo Variations by Adam David, Girl Trouble by Alan Navarra, Trese: Murder on Balete Drive by Budjette Tan and Kajo Baldisimo, I Hate My Mother by Perpilili Vivienne Tiongson and Playing It Safe by Gerry T. Los Baños.

The Madrigal-Gonzalez Best First Book Award is administered by the UP ICW and is generously sponsored by Atty. Gizela Gonzalez-Montinola and the Madrigal-Gonzalez family. Each year, alternating between Filipino and English, the UP ICW selects from the list of first-time authors and their works and grants the cash prize of P50,000 and a plaque during Writers Night. Former winners include Sarg Lacuesta, Luna Sicat Cleto, Kristian Cordero, and Vincent Groyon. Last year's winner was Pagluwas by Zosimo Quibilan published by the UP Press.

This year's selection mirrors the changing landscape of Philippine literature as it includes the bestselling graphic novel Trese, a collaboration between Tan and Baldisimo—a possibly controversial inclusion among purist circles. Katigbak is acknowledged for her first volume of "lovely and genteel" poetry (according to Conchitina Cruz), published by Anvil. Nierva's book is a strong contender as it has already won a National Book Award for Poetry. David dazzles with his postmodernist experiments. Tiongson's novel about teen emotions is “pitch-perfect,” according to reviewer Tarie Sabido. Gregorio Brillantes hails Bautista as “exceptional and remarkable,” comparing him to stylists Joaquin and Polotan. UP Press Deputy Director Gerry Los Baños rounds out this year's selection with his first novel for young readers, a story of young love.

This year's winner will be awarded on Writers Night at the UP Diliman on December 11.

"Phuling her?"

2009-11-08T16:15:00.000+08:00

SA PAGRULUWASAN KAN KADAKOL na mga endorsement kan 'pambansang kamao' na si Manny Pacquiao, kadakol akong nagkakadarangog na reaksiyon kun tano subuot si Pacquiao an piniling endorser kan mga kapitalistang an natura kan produkto enot nang sulnupanon. Kadakol sa mga nagkokorokonyohan na mga paradalan sa telebisyon an napapangirit asin labi-labi an pagtuyaw sa mga komersyal kan boksingero. Sa mga kahobenan, punto an mga komersyal ni Pacquiao nin mga pag-arog-arog na may katuyuhan na magpangirit. Alagad sa karaskasan na paghiling, ano man nanggad an remalaso?

Si Manny Pacquiao an sarong klasiko asin awtentikong ehemplo nin sarong indibidwal na uminulanto gikan sa pagtios pasiring sa pagiging multi-millionaire, sarong bagay na dai nanggad manenegaran nin siisay man na nagsusubaybay sa saiyang buhay. Huli kaini, natatada pa sa satong suru-suró an pagkangalas na nagtutulod sa pagkuwestiyon sa pagigin lehitimo ni Pacquiao para sa mga penomenon na arog kan komersyal sa telebisyon. Kaagid ini kan kaisipan na an maninigo sanang magin artista, anchor newscaster, product endorser o ano pa man na trabahong nangangaipo nin exposure sa atubangan kan kamera iyo idtong magayon, guwapo, maputi, maorag magtaram, maskulado, o ano pa man na superyor na karakter na kun susumahon garo ladawan nin pagigin bakong Filipino. Nakakapangirít ini huli ta an mga dayuhan logod labi-labi man an pagmawot na mahàbon an kolor kan satong kublit.

Sa kaso ni Pacquiao, nginingiritan ta an saiyang pagtaram. Ini-spoof na ini ni Pooh asin ginibong parte nin tagline sa billboard kan GMA 7-"I'm a Kapuso, you know"-mga gibong orog pang nagpalataw na garo baga lain o kakaiba an siring na mga bagay. Romdomon ta na sa mga komersyal kaidto igwa na katabang na Inday an pangaran asin Dudung an apod niya sa lalaking napupusuan. Kun siring, hinihiling kaini an pagkakaiba sa tataramon. Igwa akong honà na an may koneksiyon ini sa katotoohan na an sentro kan advertising sa Filipinas iyo an Manila kun sain an tataramon Tagalog asin bakong Bisaya. Siring man na nginingiritan ta si Pacquiao sa saiyang pagtaram huli ta kita mga Bikolano, mga tawong mahalnas an tataramon kun ponema asin ponetika an pag-uurulayan, asin huli man kaini, bakong matagas an satong pagtaram nin ibang lenggwahe.

Sa linggwistika, masuwerte kita huli ta kaya tang itaram an anuman na lenggwahe sa bilog na kinaban. (Bako daw ini sarong rason kun tano ta nakabalangibog sa bilog na kinaban an mga Filipino?) An mga korong Filipino na nakikilaban sa mga kompetisyon sa ibang nasyon pirming mga ganador asin labi-labing nginangalasan. Sarong factor kaini an satuyang dila. Kun an mga Tsino o Vietnamese piriripit an dila pag mina-Ingles, bako ta ining problema, ta kaya kan dila tang mag-Ingles, mag-Ingles na Pinoy na nagtataram Ingles, o mag-Ingles na garo Ingles na nagtataram Filipino. Sa totoo lang, kaya tang magtaram nin Hapón o Ruso, asin kaya ta man arogon an sarong Hapón na nagru-Ruso asin an Ruso na nagha-Hapón. Abang orag!

Ini an sarong bagay na pinasâ ni Pacquiao: sa totoo lang, orog niyang itinaas an dilang Bisaya na minataram nin ibang lenggwahe sa antas na ini maninigo man palan gamiton sa telebisyon. Pinara niya an Bisayang dilang ni Inday na pirmi na sanang nirerepresentar nin mga katabang asin mga para-aling na igwang ka-ilusyon na delivery boy na an ngaran Dudung. Kun hihilingon, tano ta dai ta nginingiritan an mga Afrikano, Tsino, Hapon (Siring ki Hiro Nakamura sa tv series na Heroes), Italyano, Pranses asin iba pang igwang lain na tanog an saindang pagtaram nin ibang lenggwahe arog kan Ingles? Sa cable tv, kun dadalanon an mga edverstisements sa mga channels kan mga nasyon na bakong Anglophones o kun sain bakong Ingles an nangongorog na tataramon, mayo man bagang problema kun may punto o may gira kan sadiring tataramon an pagtaram nin Ingles asin iba pang lenggwahe.

An penomenon ni Pacquaio asin kan dilang Bisaya sa telebisyon kan Filipinas, sa hiling ko minapahiling sana sa mga tataramon na "puwede palan." Puwede palan na matagas an pagtaram kan sarong minaluwas sa telebisyon. Puwede palan na an endorser kan sarong produkto igwang matagas an Ingles, o Ingles na an tanog tanog nin pagtaram kan mga ordinaryong mga tawo. Puwede palan na an pagtaram bakong pag-aróg-aróg sa pagtaram kan mga Amerikano asin Ingles na minahalnas sana an tataramon asin matindi an schwa.

Sa totoo man kaya, puwede man talaga.

Nostalgia

2009-11-04T14:49:00.000+08:00

Courtesy of Brad Peadon, Australia

Damonyo

2009-09-25T23:47:00.000+08:00

MABOSONG SINDANG NAGRARATAK sa mga konstituwenteng pinabayaan nindang dai nag-aaram huli ta pinag-imotan ninda nin impormasyon. Mabosong sindang nagpapaabaw-abaw sa paagi nin bilyon-bilyon na kuwarta mantang an mga tawo nagtitios. Mabosong sindang magagayon an mga harong mantang an mga tawo inaabisuhan na bayaan na an saindang mga erokán huli suboot ta malalantop nin tubig an banwaan. Mabosong sindang masisiram an pagkakan huli sa panaóng suhol mantang an mga tawo naghahandal na mawaran kan mga badang na saindang pinagkukuahan kabuhayan asin pagkakan. Mabosong sindang daing pakimàno—nagbubungog-bungugan, nagbubuta-butáhan—minsan an banwaan ribong na kun siisay an kakapútan sa tahaw nin kawaran nin pagláom. Mabosong sindang nanlalansi asin nandadaya nin kapwa minsan an mga tawo makosog an pagtubod na matatabangan sindang makahàwas sa pagtios asin kawàran. Mabosong sinda.

1.9-bilyon piso an pinapabulos sa dam na tinutugdok ngunyan sa pag-ultanan kan Lupi asin Sipocot. Sarong dam na para sa irigasyon sa sarong lugar na pirming linalantop nin tubig pag makusog an uran. Sabi ni Tomasito Monzon kan BRBWMP, “blessing in disguise” daa an dam para sa mga tawo. Kun sa Lupi daw siya naka-istar, “blessing in disguise” daw ini? Alagad sabi ngani ni Tomasito, “blessing in disguise” an dam, asin kita makakakontra, huli ta kagalang-galang si Tomasito. Blessing sa Lupi an malantop an haros 70 sagkod 80% kan Poblacion, asin malantop man an pirang barangay. Blessing man ini sa Sipocot huli ta lalantupan man an pirang barangay duman. Dai kita makakakontra kayan.

Sosog sa bareta pirang bulan na nakakaagi, regalo ini ni Gloria sa saiyang aking si Dato. Regalo man ni Gloria sa mga tagaduman sa apektadong mga lugar an paglumoy kan daga, an pagkapara kan natatadang kapalibutan, pagkawara nin kabuhayan, pagkawara nin mga istaran, asin kadakol pang iba. Regalo man ni Gloria an bagong danaw na mahahaman kan dam, sa irarom kan danaw an mga giromdom, mga eksperiyensiya, asin panghabambuhay na agrangay. Asin huli man ta kasuguan ni Gloria, kaipuhan dali-dalion an dam, pati na an pagpalipat kan mga tawo na garo baga mga idong sinisikâ pahali sa irarom kan lamesang kinakakanan—daing konsultasyon na totoo, daing pakimàno. Alagad magin si Gloria o si Dato kagalang-galang man, dai kita makakakontra kayan.

An sabi kan NIA asin kan iba pang imbuweltong ahensiya, igwa daa nin Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) na magtataong go signal sa proyektong dam. Alagad an NIA asin an iba pang mga imbuweltong ahensiya mga kagalang-galang man. Minsan ngani duda an mga tawo kun totoo man nanggad an mga nakalahad sa ECC, huli ta pàno makakakua nin ECC kun mayong ‘social acceptance’ o pag-akò kan mga tawo. Sabi ngani kan saro kong amigo, baka ngaya mga taga-Potot an nagsabing togot sinda. Malà ta sa Lupi nag-aalburuto an mga tawo sa takot na mawàran sinda nin erokán, kun siring bakong ‘socially accepted’ an dam. An sabi pa kan mga ahensiya, tres siyentos na pamilya sana an madadanyaran, alagad kun nasa Lupi sinda, aram nindang labi pang marhay sa tres siyentos an madadanyaran. Kun an kataid mo harong babayaan na kan mga nakaistar huli ta abot sinda kan linderos na aaboton kan paglangkaw kan tubig, dai mo daw babayaan an sadiri mong harong? Dai ka daw mangingirhat sa aabtan kan saimong lokál kun harong mo na saná an nakatindog asin napapalibutan na ini nin tubig? Tama na an paghapot, huli ta sabi ko na ngani, an mga ahensiyang ini mga kagalang-galang man, asin dai kita makakakontra sainda.

Tuninong an mga lokal na opisyal. Sabi ngani kan sarong angel sa Lupi, “e ‘di ilipat ngaya an mga tawo.” Arog na sana kaiyan palan. mayong levels of contestation. Daog pa kadtong mga nagralaban sa American Civil War, itong hili-hilera an baradilan, pag nabadil na si mga nasa enotan, si sunod naman. Dawa sa hiling ko an sarong banwaan dapat ipakipaglaban hanggan sa kahuri-hurihan. Dawa sa hiling ko, sa gabos na panahon kaipuhan panindugan kan mga opisyal an mga tawo, bako sana sa paagi nin kun anu-anong panaó o materyal na bagay. Alagad an opisyal kaipuhan na minatindog para sa tawo sa gabos na panahon huli ta obligasyon moral ninda ini—ibinoto baga sinda kan tawo. Alagad pano man nanggad kun sa ngaran kan mga tawo, pirmado an gabos na papel na nagtotogot sa dam, relokasyon, asin iba pa. Alagad, iyan ngani, magin an mga lokal na opisyal man kagalang-galang, dai ta sinda makokontra.

Enot pa sana ini. Mabosong sana sinda huli ta sinda kagalang-galang.

Naglalangkaw na an Tubig

2009-09-21T20:24:00.008+08:00

for my friends in Lupi who are affected by the displacement caused by the construction of a dam project by Gloria and his son Dato

An tubig naglalangkaw! Naglalangkaw an tubig!
Ano an buhay kun an kusá magigin danaw?
Pagpasaluib kan kuta sa banwâ sadiring kasarig!

Ay! Hilnga baya ta paabot na an pagtakig
asin ngirhat kan banwaan na malataw
huli ta naglalangkaw na! Naglalangkaw an tubig!

May agrangay an banwaan na linulupig
ta iniirarom na sa tubig, garo sana karaw
an pagpasaluib kan kuta sa banwâ sadiring kasarig!

Hain an pagmakulog sa dagang ngunyan tinitipig
sa mga sagin-sagin na papel asin asin pag-omaw?
Ta an tubig naglalangkaw! Naglalangkaw an tubig!

Paaram na daw maogmang banwaan na hilig?
Paaram na daw dinakulaan na malaad na tingraw?
Pinasaluiban ka kan kuta sa banwâ sadiring kasarig!

Ay ta dai! Dai matogot an sa daga totoong minasarig!
Sisilawon ta sinda kan kosog kan satong kurahaw!
An tubig naglalangkaw! Naglalangkaw an tubig!

Madya na, mga katood, pûnan an pagribaraw!
Rumpagon an tuyo nindang pagkaraw!
An tubig naglalangkaw! Naglalangkaw na an tubig!
Pagpasaluib kan kuta sa banwâ sadiring kasarig!

Ina nin Kabikolan

2009-09-08T19:12:00.004+08:00

The Hymn for the Celebration of the Tercentenary of Peñafrancia Devotion

Festival

2009-07-08T17:01:00.001+08:00

(Vox Bikol, June 15-22)

LAST WEEK, THIS PAPER featured four articles on the Church’s rejection of the secular celebrations, military parade, and other civic activities during the Peñafrancia week. Take note that I used ‘week’ instead of the ecclesiastical term ‘novena’ which is a little more than a week. Even the editorial professed kudos to the Bicol Association of Catholic Schools for releasing a statement calling for the Naga City government to schedule the military parade outside the nine-day observance. Atty. Che Carpio, for his part, considered the effort as a way of ‘demilitarizing’ the ‘supposedly’ religious event, which I think is an overreaction—military parade and Marcos regime, Oakwood mutiny, and Moro insurgency?

I, on the other hand, see this as another way of martial conviction of the Church officials themselves—officials, not the Church herself. This is another episode along the melodramatic series of pursuing its parochial character—kitakita, sindasinda. As if the ‘festival’— or rather, the ‘observance’—is not composed of civic individuals, who, when gathered inside the church precinct, would be called a ‘congregation of the faithful.’

And again, I’d want to go back to a fact: that we are given here a situation where no complacency and remorse is shown by the local Church for having participated in these so-called non-religious activities during the fiesta. Again, I ask: didn’t the Church sanction these matters that it lasted for so long? Or should the local Church apologize for being lethargic when all these brouhahas were thriving in the past? Did the local Church in the past enjoyed it too for the reason that they also had a share of its worldly fruits?

But I doubt if the Church officials will do that. I would bet a tithe.

Ah, the military parade.

BACS should have started its statement with an apology, apology for participating in this non-religious, irrelevant parade for how long. BACS representatives should have started its statement with an apology for occupying special seats up there in the reviewing stand during the parade itself. BACS should apologize for wasting much of the effort and passion and perspiration of the students in practicing formation and flanking and rifle carriage just for this one-day event.

For the essential question is: why only now when the Peñafrancia festival, in all aspects and on singular occasion, have already been deeply set in our cultural consciousness? It has become a festival that wonderfully unites all Bikolanos, ecclesiastically and civilly. Oh, please, we do not need another schism.

We just cannot stay blind to the fact that nobody, including the Church, has the monopoly to the decisions that would affect all of us. Otherwise, the Church will be remain as arrogant as it were during Padre Damaso’s time, when the Church prided around of its erudition, knowledge, and the power scaring people around with misquoted passages form the Holy Bible. During those times, the Church seemed to convey to everyone that it possessed the key to everything, all with shock value. Now, I don’t want that happening to my society and my Church, and I’m saying this albeit my voice being just a small voice in the reverberating voices of prelates and presbyters.

All I want is a Church who looks at everything with a look not of utter judgment because the thing being looked at is out of its league. I wish the act of looking be done with understanding, wisdom, and openness. All I want is a Church who believes that each thing has its own beauty and goodness, yes, including military parades and pageantries.

I wish for these manners, because these are the manners of the God this Church had made known to me.

Contemplating Catholicity

2009-05-21T18:42:00.003+08:00

AFTER ALL THESE YEARS of being a Catholic, I was moved again to reflect on my allegiance to this faith after seeing the live-action version of Dan Brown’s another controversial novel, Angels and Demons. No, it did not make me question or doubt my religion. But it lead me to evaluate how this Church—and I, as its member—makes way in this contemporary world. I admit that Angels and Demons is not a very powerful story (albeit better than The Da Vinci Code); but I also believe that its job of mixing facts and fictive elements were done superbly. It possesses in itself many of the qualities of fiction, and among these is the capacity to lead readers to reflection.

Those who have read the original novel will find some parts are missing in the film version but nevertheless the core story is there. It starts, of course, with Robert Langdon, a Harvard professor of symbology who seems to have the answers to all problems in the story. A formula for all Brown’s stories, Langdon is partnered with the sexy and beautiful Vittoria Vetra, a physicist from the CERN (just Google for the meaning). The story begins with a death of two important individuals: the Pope, and a physicist from CERN who is the brain behind the center’s research on the anti-matter—a thing that would supposedly affect our notion of the story of creation, that would scientifically support the mystery of God creating everything out of nothing.

The resurfacing of the ancient secret society Illuminati as the threat to the Church is key to the story. Three cardinals were murdered serially, with each bearing the marks of the Illuminati. One death would lead to another, as one place of murder would be key to the next. The uncovering of the sequences would be done with Langdon’s expertise in interpreting symbols. All these were juxtaposed with scenes that in many ways may be propagandizing against the flaws of the Church. At the end, the deceiver is a young priest, the right hand—the Camerlengo—and the murderer of the Pontiff.

In the end, the story seemed to be a promotion of an overread liberation Theology while being short—or the absence in fact—of reading Teillhard de Chardin, who understood and prayed to God present in sub-atomic particles. But, anyway, it was reflective as much as it was entertaining.

In the end too, it brought me back to the long-standing character of a Church that urges us all to seek the truth. And yet in the not so distant past, she had persecuted those who wished to know and present the truth, if the process was not in accordance with the proceeding sanctioned by the Church. And perhaps these happened because the Church failed to listen. And it continues to this day. Pope John Paul II had apologized for it in fact.

In our local Church, this may actually be a call. This is a call not just to counter with pastoral letters and synodal decrees all what others—state, communities, individuals, etc.—had done contrary to her dogmas and teachings. Perhaps, this is a call for the Church authorities themselves to reflect. Perhaps, there has been lack of reflection, or that reflection was done wrong, all throughout these times when the Church was saying, ‘yes, I do reflect.’ Many times we have heard the hierarchy responded with arrogant indifference and prided themselves with their higher degree of Theologizing substantiated with eloquence of the laws of the Church.

Here in Naga, for one, the Church has been calling for the de-commercialization of the 300-year old Peñafrancia devotion; a call so noble and right. And yet, for me, the Church has yet to admit that in many ways she has the greatest participation in the building up of this awful phenomenon; that along history, the Church was among the first to allow these unnecessary non-religious practices to make their way into the supposedly solemn devotion. Thus, perhaps, it may be an utmost need that the Church, within herself, take lead in the renewal that she calls for; not just lambasting whoever and whatever and ending up being misdirected chronic complainers.

Sometime ago, authorities decreed the changes in Church rites in the vernacular language without considering cultural nuances; perhaps, with the conviction that religions are higher than cultures. This is dangerous. We should know how religion, in its desire to subdue our culture, had altered many of the its components—truths—and left us with a culture contrived according to its preferences.

I end this article in the way Angels and Demons ends. I shall remain a Catholic faithful to her laws and character and cognizant of her flaws and mistakes. From here I shall strive to be better.

Type[faces]

2009-05-15T01:18:00.006+08:00

MY RECENT odysseys devoted to taking pictures of promotional materials of our esteemed trapoliticians have sidetracked me into a conclusion that I would have failed them if they were my students in a course on Typography. Or the other way around: I might have failed to open their minds and enrich their tastes on the looks and disposition of an excellent print design. But hell, no, the latter was just for crying out loud; the former was far more real in essence. This would mean, of course, that they were never serious in whatever they have been promoting, save perhaps for earning a few points on matters of x-factor and the ostentatious exhibiting of their faces and names on tarpaulins to catch public attention replicated by the great number of prints ordered.

As a designer for print, I have always given special attention to typography—the style and appearance of printed matters. At one look, the type gives the impression if the artist has certain sophistication in his or her taste as a designer. A good designer has the special eye for the font styles he or she uses in a particular project. The designer too has the control over the number of styles the project requires. This has something to do with designers who would seem to squeeze all the font styles on a single page so that thereafter the page would look like a circus of types.

For one who wishes to devote oneself to the art of designing for print, typography is an exciting and yet not so easy consideration. For example, I still believe that even if we have been using Times New Roman as the default font style for Microsoft Word for many decades (even until now that it has been replaced with awful Calibri that looks like a try-hard clone of Adobe’s Myriad Pro), or perhaps caused by this very situation itself, Times New Roman remains a much underestimated font style. A few years ago, Ateneo de Naga University’s student paper The Pillars had displayed a masterful use of this type originally founded in 1931 by Stanley Morsel and Victor Lardent for The Times.

But there is no more fulfilling way of discussing typography than employing the examples of our trapoliticians’s campaign materials. Because even if Congressman Luis R. Villafuerte had managed to come up with a quite legible display of his name on those green panels of tin attached to almost every road sign in CamSur’s 2nd district, I would still suggest he stick to the official international road sign font, Helvetica Bold, for the veritable reason of consistency.

On the other hand, his son Lray, has a poorer taste for type styles by using oversized Impact for his graduation greetings. My views on his choices of colors, light orange and blue, are saved for next time. Worse, the critical viewer will surely recognize that Lray kind of jumbled his greeting message because of poor typography. He used an awkwardly expanded Rage Italic, for ‘Happy Graduation!’; then an extremely large Impact for ‘Graduates of 2009’, and a out of place-looking Goudy for the claim: ‘from Gov. Lray Villafuerte’.

Congressman Dato Arroyo, the distinguished-presidential-son-who-was-sent-to-save-Bicol, however, does not have the discerning eye for what could be read from a distance. Dato’s small blue panels, though, attached to warning signs along the roads of the first district of Cam Sur, are of better quality in make and material than those of Congressman Villafuerte. In typography, however, it looks like a post-modern variation of the Snellen scale. One can test his or her visual acuity by staring at one of these panels from a seven-foot distance. Aside from using a very small size of Lucida Calligraphy that barely looked like a yellow streak from a 5-meter distance, Dato’s name was compressed into a narrower Steelfish- or Impact-like type—something that could be used in determining the level of astigmatism because what mattered was not the thickness of the text but the hair-thin distances between letters.

What a waste of public money. What a disgrace to the different foundries that shaped these types into the wonders that they are. For each of these types has an exciting story of its own—from the moment of conception on the flat white paper to the casting of the type on to the metal. Search for the life story of Eric Gill who created Gill Sans, and you’ll know what I mean.

My department chair had already informed me that I will be handling the special course on Desktop Publishing for the first semester. I am pretty excited for this. First part of the course shall be devoted to Typography—something that has not been studied thoroughly here in Bicol, except by students of fine arts and designs. Perhaps, if our trapoliticians are able to bamboozle us now with posters with shitty typography and celebrity-like masquerading, this can be my simple way of educating people that even these useless signage are of low quality and taste; and that even with these ‘banners of hope,’ they are deceiving us.

This time, we may judge the book by its cover.

Fellows for the 6th Juliana Arejola-Fajardo Workshop sa Pagsurat-Bikol

2009-04-26T21:02:00.004+08:00

The Arejola Foundation for Social Responsibility, Inc. announces the ten (10) fellows for the 6th Juliana Arejola-Fajardo Workshop sa Pagsurat-Bikol. They are:

• Johner A. Caneba (Iriga City)
• Troy Christopher V. Carretas (Legazpi City)
• Welbert Cipria (Tabaco City)
• Jan Kevin de Quiros (Naga City)
• Richard Madrilejo (Tabaco City)
• Ma. Bernadette Negrite (Calabanga, Camarines Sur)
• Eileen Nidea-Parrocha (Ragay, Camarines Sur)
• Fe F. Peralta (Pili, Camarines Sur)
• Ryen Paul Sumayao (Pili, Camarines Sur)
• Eduardo E. Uy, Jr. (Gubat, Sorsogon)

The 6th JAFWPB will be held on 23-25 May 2009, at the Caceres Cathecetical Center, Basilica Minore Complex, Balatas Road, Naga City.

The panelists for this year's workshop is composed of writers Carlos A. Arejola, Jose Jason Chancoco, Kristian S. Cordero (workshop director), Victor Dennis Nierva, and Adrian V. Remodo.

Signos nin pagrûrô

2009-04-26T20:57:00.001+08:00

HONÀ KO, TAMA NA an kabalintunaan para ipasabot an sarong klase nin pag-agrangay. Alagad matapos magluwas an ‘Vestiges of progress’ digdi sa column ko pirang semana na an nakakaagi, naenkaminar ako kan pirang mga katood sa internet na bilogon logod bilang sarong paghiro o movement an agrangay sa palta-rason nang pagbugtak nin mga karatulang kulang na sanang hayagan nang sabihon kan mga politiko na iboto sinda sa paaboton na pirilian. Sabi ngani kan sarong nagkomento sa ginibo kong grupo sa paagi kan Facebook(dot)com, nakakarima-rima na suboot an practice na ini sa Pilipinas. Alagad orog na digdi sa Bikol, haros daing pagduwa-duwa an satong mga linalaoman kuta nang mga namamayo sa pagbugtak kan saindang mga lalawgon asin ngaran—in big, all-caps, bold letters—sa mga karatula binubugtak sa mga proyekto asin iba pa, na sa totoo sana, mayo man kamanungdanan.

An mobimiyentong ‘KontraKaratula’ o Kilusan Kontra Karatula ng Gagong Politika, ngaran na tinao kan maorag na para-rawitdawit asin translator na si Marne Kilates para sa orihinal kong konseptong Label-less Philippines. Katuyuhan kan mobimiyento na ipahiling an nakakarima-rimang paggastos kan satong mga politiko sa kwarta kan mga tawo para sana sa pagpapa-guwapo sa mga karatulang mahihiling ta haros sa lambang kanto kan satong banwaan ngunyan.

Bihira sana ini, alagad didiretsahon ko na; huli ta dapat na kitang maanggot. Pag minaabot an aldaw nin pag-file kan satong mga buwis, mamundo na labi-kadakula an nababawas sa satong pinaghanapbuhayan, kaiba an kahapotan na sain ini napapaduman?

Tibaad, kaipuhan ta nang mangapudan—o sa totoo sana, maghapot logod; halimbawa, ki Congressman Luis Villafuerte kun tano ta haros lambang road sign sa segundo distrito kan Camarines Sur may nakakabit na sadit na karatulang may nakasurat na pangaran niya. O kun tano ta kaipuhan na gayong nakabuyangyang an ngaran niya sa atop asin iba pang parte kan arin man na building na ipinagibo o pinapinturahan niya. Sa tinampong hali sa Naga pasiring sa Calabanga, pirang lalawgon ni Luis Villafuerte an nakabalandra para ipaabot sa gabos na siya daa an nagpapapakarhay kan tinampo. O ki Governor Lray Villafuerte, kun tano ta sa gabos na proyekto, naisip niya pang magpagibo nin kadakol na tarpaulins na nakabalaybay sa mga baro-banwaan na nagko-congratulate sa mga graduates kaiba an litrato niya. Sa mga harong sa gilid kan highway, 2009 calendar model si Lray—orang background, blue text. O ki Dato Arroyo, na an paskil na ‘Iskolar ni Dato’ garo bagang nagpapahiling na utang na boot pa kan mga recipients kun makakakua sinda kaini; kaiba pa an kadakol niya man na mga karatula para sa graduation; mala ta pati pagpapintura nin mga kudal sa eskwelahan igwa pang ngaran. Sa primer distrito ngani, an mga ‘dangerous curves’ asin iba pang mga patanid, nadugangan na nin ‘a reminder from Cong. Dato.’

Dai ini nasusuhay sa mga politiko ta sa nasyonal na lebel, arog ni Senador Mar Roxas, na igwa man nangalat-kalat na mga graduation tarps. Sa Manila, an lalawgon ni Congresswoman Trisha Bonoan-David kasusupog nang nakabalandra sa lambang kanto kan Sampaloc. Sa Quezon City mahihiling mo sa haros gabos na lugar an signature na SB para ki Mayor Sonny Belmonte. An superman symbol ni Konsehal Bong Suntay, an ngaran sa mga kudal ninda Janet Malaya asin Nanette Castelo Daza, iyo an pirming mahihiling sa QC. Asin malilingawan pa daw an darakulang streamers ni Bayani Fernando na maski sa mga probinsiya nakaarabot.

Sa totoo sana, nakakasupog na an practice na ini. Ta kun pag-aatid-atidon, bakong arog kaini sa ibang nasyon. Nakakasupog huli man ta tinotogotan ta na gibohon ini sato kan satong mga trapolitiko. Sa gabos, nakakasupog huli ta kita na an nasusupog na dai sinda nasusupog sa sato na mga nagbabayad nin buwis. Digdi sato, kita an nakikimaherak sa mga trapolitiko para sa mga proyekto, tabang, asin iba pang bagay, na sa totoo sana, responsibilidad nindang itao sato bilang mga elehidong lider. Bako tang responsibilidad an magbayad nin buwas para gastoson sana sa pagpapagayon kan saindang imahen.

Sa Facebook ngunyan, padagos na nagdadakol an nagmimiyembro sa KontraKaratula, hale sa manlaenlaen na parte kan nasyon. May nagpapahayag na haloy na palan sindang nau-uyam asin nababaldê kan gaweng ini kan mga trapolitiko, naghahalat sanang may manginotan asin magtaram. May mga abogadong nangako nang matabang, may sarong independent legislator na nagsabing matabang siya kun paggibo nin ley an kaipuhan. Tibaan panahon na para ibawal ini kan ley.

Sadit sana ining bagay, alagad sa hiling ko, dakula an impact na magigibo kaini sa pangaturogan tang linigon an electoral process kan nasyon. Sa panahon na ini, medyo elusive kun iisipon an kamawotan na ini, huli ta: siisay man kita kumpara sa poder ninda?

Alagad, dapat nindang marealisar na orog kitang mapoder bilang mga namamanwaan na nagluklok sainda sa lugar na kinamumugtakan ninda ngunyan. Dapat nindang marealisar na nakakasupog na an saindang ginigibo.

Pagsurat

2009-04-21T14:29:00.001+08:00

MALIPOT ASIN MAPRESKO pa man giraray an Baguio minsan ini pano na nin kaharongan asin katatagbuan naman nin trapikong nagpapabontol sa buhay. Mantang sinusurat ko ini sa huring aldaw kan prestihiyosong UP National Writers Workshop, liwat akong napahapot sa sadiri kun pano ako nagsusurat. Sa sarong semanang pagtiripon para repasohon an gawe nin pagsurat asin mga panurat kan nagkakapirang mga parasurat kan nasyon, dakula an epekto sako para tanawon liwat an halipot pa man na dalan na sakong inagihan bilang parasurat.

Sa kinaban kan literatura, sarong hararom na hapot para sa sarong parasurat kun ano an saiyang poetika. Ini an mga bagay—penomenon, eksperiyensiya, mga tawo, lugar, asin iba pa—na minahurma asin minaapekto sa panurat kan sarong parasurat. Sa sakuyang eksperiyensiya, minabago-bago an poetika, minsan ngani dai ini klaro, minsan man labi-kalinaw. Kaidtong nagpopoon ako magtagasurat, boot ko sanang magpahayag nin emosyon, boot ko sanang magluwas nin mga bagay-bagay na magpapagian sa sakong pagkabuhay. Hinihiling kong sa mga panahon na idto, minaitok an sakong poetika sa literatura bilang katarsis—laom sana sa pansadiri asin labi-kaeksistensiyal. Sa mga panahon na idto, nahaman an mga enot na rawitdawit dapit sa pagkamoot, kaogmahan, kamunduan, pangyayari, asin iba pa, asin an mga ini sinurat kong garo baga dapit sana sa pagkayaon kan mga emosyon na ini.

Sa paglihis kan panahon—sa totoo, halipot pa sana man, nagin sentro kan sakong poetika an kinaban man kan iba. Nagin ining poetika nin pagmasid: mga eksperiyensiya na nin ibang tawo, mga agi-agi ninda, asin mga “tibaad” sa saindang buhay. Sa dakol na paagi, dai ko masabotan kun pano ko naiibugtak an sakong mga bitis sa saindang kamugtakan asin pagmate. Sa mga panahon na idto, suhay sa sako agi-agi an mga panurat na nahimo ko. An natatada sanang koneksiyon iyo na ako an paramasid, ako an kaghiling kan saindang mga agi-agi; alagad bako ako an persona. Digdi napapangyari kong ako magin sarong alabado o babayi o sarong tawong-lipod o kun ano pang personahe sa kinaban laen sako.

Sa panahon na ini, an sakong poetika nakadungaw sa mga lugar na inagihan, inistaran, nagtaong eksperiyensiya, o nag-apekto sa sako bilang tawo. Igwa nin pagmate nin pagpasalamat, igwa man nin pagmate nin pagnegar minsan, pagmate nin pag-akò, pag-dai, pag-omaw, asin iba pa. Sa mga panahon na ini, hinuhurma nin poetika nin lugar an sakong mga panurat. Igwang gira nin romantisismo, alagad bako gabos romantisismo, huli ta igwa man nin tinta nin pagkontra, siring baga kan pagsabat sa kapobrehan, kawaran nin pagkakapantay-pantay, paglingaw sa nakaagi, karâtan, asin iba pang mga madidiklom na bagay.

Sosog sa Tagalog na parasalaysay na si Jing Panganiban, para saiya, an poetika iyo an desisyon sa kun ano an magayon para sa parasurat. Ini an nahihiling niyang minadikta sa saiyang pagsurat asin mga isinusurat. Ini man an minagiya para saiya sa kun papano asin para kiisay siya minasurat. Ini an diskurso na tinutulayan niya sa saiyang pagigin parasurat, orog na sa kinaban na ini, na sosog sa pararawitdawit na si Pete Lacaba, kinaban nin kontradiksiyon.

Sa presente kong pagsurat, minabalik ako pirmi sa banwaan na sakong dinakulaan—an Lupi. Asin sa mga kontradiksiyon na sakong namamate sa pagbalik duman, nabibilog an mga temang minaklaro sa mga boot kong ipasabot dapit sa sakong banwaan. Hinihiling ko man ini na poetika nin paghidaw na sarong konsepto para sako na igwang katakod na pag-tibaad. Tibaad huli ta dai ako sigurado kun hidaw man nanggad an pagmateng sakong namamate. Puwede man kaya na pag-omaw, pagmundô, o pag-láom. Sa mga kontradiksiyon na ini sinisentro ko an sakong mga rawitdawit. Boot kong mag-omaw sa paagi nin pagbalik sa historya, boot kong mag-mundô huli sa paglingaw asin pagtios, boot ko man na magláom na an gabos na ini magigin maliwanag sa maabot na panahon.

An poetika minabaro-bago. Tibaad saaga, bako naman ini an poetika ko. Tibaad bago na, o tibaad magbalik sa mga inagihan na poetika. An sunod na mahalaga para sako iyo na buhayon an poetika sa poesiya o ano pa man na klase nin panurat. Ilapat ini asin tawan-buhay sa arte nin pagsurat. Kun pano, laen naman na istorya iyan.

Boot kong taposon an artikulong ini sa paagi nin rawitdawit na sinurat ko para sarong amigo:

Pagluwás

Dinádara kitá pasíring dumán kan pulá
o bérdeng karátula—daí nanggád malumlóm,
pirmíng maliwánag—garó bagá náenot
nang itinaláan na manínigô kitáng alingón
bâgó an pagluwás. Kun daíng karátula,
igwá satóng magíya: an magayón na darága,
an maórag na laláki, na sarô saná man
pámpaogmá bágo an búhay sa luwás.
Pusûan an pagluwás kun an pintóan gíbo sa salmíng—
nahíhiling pa an laóg minsán kitá nakaluwás na.
Alágad kun an pintóan gíbo sa káhoy o bákal
o kun anó pa man na bakóng silág, magián
an pagluwás húli ta daí nang sásalingóyon na laóg.
Kadákol an mináluwas sa tag-inít, kadikít man
sa tag-lipót, húli ta oróg na marháy na halì
sa lípot pasíring sa ínit an pagluwás.
Daí na mahídaw nin kógos, daí na mahánap
kan dáting kaibáhan na nása laóg pa.

River Eclipse: My Wordpress Blog

2009-04-16T10:51:00.005+08:00

I'M ENJOYING the clean design of my experimental blogsite. I'm not sure if it will be permanent because doing such will mean finally abandoning this blogsite. It pains me much. Many things had already happened in and through this blogsite. So, I guess my WordPress Blog, River Eclipse, will be purely academic, for my students come June. The name River Eclipse was generated by Facebook as my hippy name.

You may view my WordPress blog HERE.

Oripon

2009-04-10T16:04:00.008+08:00

NAGMOMOTÔ-MOTÒ NA NAMAN an kadakol na Pilipino ngunyan huli man sa sinurat ni Chip Tsao dapit sa pagigin “nasyon nin mga oripon (country of servants)” kan Pilipinas. Mala ta haros magbilog na si Sen. Pia Cayetano nin bill tanganing isikwal kan bilog na nasyon si Chip huli sa saiyang ‘racial remark.’ Nangyari ini huli sa pagkaongis ni Chip dara ka diringkilan kan Pilipinas asin Tsina sa isyu kan Spratlys. Huli kaini labi-labing makuring batikos an inabot kan peryodistang taga-Hongkong hali sa mga Pilipinong dai maakò an binutasan niyang ‘racial remark’. Pati ngani si Commissioner Marcelino Libanan kan Bureau of Immigration nag-aksiyon na dai nanggad na makakatungtong si Chip digdi sa satong nasyon minsan ngani inako na ni Chip an saiyang salâ asin naghagad na siya nin dispensa sa mga Pilipino.

Kun maroromdoman, bako man ini an enot ma maghimo kita nin mga ‘racist’ na pahayag, o itong mga pahayag na nagbabalu-bagi sa sato bilang mga namamanwaan nin sarong nasyon. Kan 1998, sinabi kan Hollywood actress na si Claire Danes na “Manila is a ghastly and weird city.” Huli kaini, si dating presidente Joseph Estrada mismo an nagsabing dapat na dai na nanggad patungtungon si Danes sa Manila. Lain pa kaini, idineklara an aktres kan konseho kan Manila bilang persona non grata asin binawal man na ipadalan sa mga sinehan kan siyudad nin Manila an gabos niyang pelikula.

Kan 2007, sa TV series na “Desperate Housewives,” naanggot man an mga Pinoy, orog na an mga doktor, sa sinabi kan karakter na pinapelan ni Teri Hatcher kan sinabi kaini an patanid na "...make sure that they are not from some med school in the Philippines." Si Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita mismo an nagsabi na kaipuhan maghagad nin dispensa an mga kagsurat kan nasabi nang TV series huli sa hababang paghiling kaini sa mga mediko na hali sa Pilipinas.

Kadakol pang ibang siring kaini.

Dai ko sinasabing tama sana an pagbalubagi na nabutasan ninda Chip, Danes asin kan mga kagsurat kan “Desperate Housewives.” Alagad, sa hiling ko, nangangapodan ini nin paghorop-horop sa parte tang mga Pilipino, bago pa man kita magtahaw sa mga tinampo asin magkurahaw sa kaanggotan huli sa mga ‘racial slurs’ na siring kan mga nasambit ko.

Kun iisipon, dapat sanang maghapot man kita: ano an dapat tang gibohon tanganing dai kita apodon na nasyon nin mga oripon? Igwa akong mga pinsan na nagpapaoripon sa ibang nasyon matawan sana nin marhay na buhay an saindang mga pamilya. Katakod ini kan pagka-uyam ko sa label na “bagong bayani” an satong mga OFWs. Kun pag-aatid-atidon, an gobyerno an enot na nag-apod sainda sa label na ini. Sa siring na paagi, natatakupan an kakulangan kan gobyerno na magtaong trabaho sa rinibong mga Pilipinong nakakamate nin kawaran nin paglaom digdi sa satong nasyon. Kun kita inaapod na “nasyon nin mga oripon,” tibaad igwang katotoohan digdi. Tibaad kita mismo digdi sa nasyon na ini, nagigin oripon nin kadakol na mga bagay, kaiba na an korapsyon, kapalpakan kan mga awtoridad, o magin kan satong mga sadiring kaluyahan. Labi-labi an satong pagka-sensitibo sa mga siring kaining bagay, alagad dai ta man nahihiling na minsan kita siring man kaiyan. Dai ngani nagrereklamo an mga Tsino na padagos tang inaarog-arog pag bilot na minataram. O an mga itum na padagos tang inaapod Negro. O an mga puting napapadigdi na niloloko sana kan satong mga taxi drivers.

Halimbawa, an pahayag ni Claire Danes, sa hiling ko, igwa man nanggad nin katotoohan. Sa hiling ko, “ghastly” man nanggad an Manila—huli sa mga kausmakan naman sana kan mga tawo. Kita mismong mga Pilipinong napapaduman makakapagsabi na matatakot kang maglakaw kun banggi, tibaad maholdap, matripan nin mga adik, o kun dai, mabulsot sa manholes na daing takop. Tren nganing tren pag minaagi inaapunan basura.

Kun ako hahapoton, pagal naman ako sa satong nasyon. Garo dai nang pag-asang makabangon hali sa pagkaoripon sa sadiri kaining mga problema—korapsyon, red tapes sa gobyerno, kawaran disiplina kan mga namamanwaan, problematikong bureaucracy, kadakol pang iba. Kun nakakanamit kita nin mga ‘racial slurs’ paminsan-minsan, tibaad agyat ini sato gabos na hilngon an satong mga sadiri asin pagsikapan na trabahohon sagkod na kaya ta nang ikurahaw dai kita maninigong pagsabihan nin mga siring na nakakarima-rimang mga pahayag. Mayo man ibang makakagibo kaiyan kundi kita sana. Mapoon ini sa sato. Pag nagibo ta ngani iyan, sukitihon ta an gabos na minabalubagi sato bilang mga namamanwaan kan Pilipinas.

Kakalagon ni Gabaldon

2009-03-25T00:01:00.001+08:00

SA KINABAN nin mga suanoy na pagtubod sa mga supernatural na pangyayari, biyo kitang pinapatanidan na likayan an paghirô, paghirá, paggaba, o pagraot nin mga dáan na bagay huli sa mga elemental na puwedeng nag-eerok digdi. Pinapatanidan kita kan mga gurang na mag ‘tabi apo’ kun minaagi sa madidiklom na parte kan kakahuyan o pag nakakahiling kita nin mga punsô na tinutubudan na erokán nin mga duwende asin tawong lipod. Dawa ngani sa paglihis kan panahon an mga pagtubod na ini nagin pagromdom asin pagrespeto na saná sa mga henerasyon na nag-agi asin nagpatanid, an siring na mga bagay nagin esensyal na parte kan satong agimadmad asin kultura—mga bagay na dapat sanang tungkusan huli sa mga pagpapahalang dara kaini sato bilang mga tawo. Nakakaagid ini sa dapat na pagtao ta nin importansya sa mga istruktura—lumang harong, establisimiyentong pampubliko, simbahan, tulay, asin iba pa—na inaataman bako sanang huli sa praktikal na halaga kan mga ini, kundi sa memoryang nagpoon, nagbilog, asin nagtaong-kolor sa buhay kan mga tawo sa lugar na kinamumugtakan. Alagad pâno kun an mga awtoridad na mismo an nagigin dálan pasiring sa paglingaw sa mga adal kan nakaagi?

An paggaba sa Gabaldon school building sa sentro kan Nabua sarong ehemplo nin pagratak bako sana sa sarong liktao o artifact kundi pagratak man sa giromdom kan mga tawo kan sarong bagay na naghurma sainda bilang mga namamanwaan. Sarong aksyon ini nin pirit na pagpalingaw sa mga tawo kan nakaagi, orog na an mga istrukturang arog kan Gabaldon na instrumento kan pagpauswag kan banwaan sa rinibong mga estudyanteng nag-aragi digdi. An makamumundô kaini, an gobyerno lokal mismo kan banwaan an nangenot sa paggaba kan istruktura. Kun kayâ dai man makangangalas na an mga taga-Nabua mag-agrangay sa pagkawara kan Gabaldon. Sabi ngani sa sarong ladawan sa Nabua Forum sa internet, ‘ako na ginikanan ninyo, rinugba ninyo ako.’ Sosog sa kag-pundar kan Nabua Forum na si Dada Docot, dai ninda masabotan kun tano ginaba pa an Gabaldon sa likod kan mga pangapodan na ipreserbar ini, sa likod kan mga surat kan National Historical Institute asin Heritage Conservation Society, asin sa likod man kan naenot nang pahayag ni Mayor Fer Simbulan na dai nanggad gagabaon an Gabaldon.

Mall—LCC Mall—subuot an itutugdok sa lugar na dating kinamumugtakan kan Gabaldon. Kun ini man nanggad an dalagan, naghihimo ini nin mga hapot, mga hapot na sensitibo na sa pandangog kan sarong politiko: Ano an nasa irarom kan mga paghirong ini? Ano an karibay kan paggaba kan Gabaldon asin pagtogot na mall an magribay digdi? Siisay an manginginabang? Dai magngalas kun an mga tawo mag-agrangay nin korapsyon. Dai man magngalas kun an mga tawo mahiling pa an pagiging bagong propiong Nabueño kan saindang Mayor. Dai man magngalas kun magkurahaw pa an mga tawo na dai pagbotohan kun madalagan sa pagka-alkalde an agom kan mayor huli saná ta dai ini tataong mag-Rinconada.

Sa mga panahon na ini, pinapatubod kita kan satong mga awtoridad na an progreso orog na mamamate sa pagdagdag nin mga pisikal na bagay. Sa hiling ko, an progresong ini progresong kulapós, huli ta kaibahan kan mga pisikal na bagay, kaibahan sa progreso an kabilugan kan pagkatawo kan sarong banwaan. Kun gabos sana pisikal, asin an agimadmad, an pagkatawo, an kaaraman dai nagpo-progreso, hilaw an progresong iyan. Enot pa, bakong an tawo kinukumpunir nin hawak asin kalag?

An paggaba sa Gabaldon, nagpapahiling saná nin kakulangan kan mga namamahala sa Nabua kan hustong kaaraman kan importansya kan istruktura. Sa hiling ninda, ini saro sanang edipisyong lapâ na asin kaipuhan nang gabaon. Dai ninda nahiling an pamana kaini sa banwaan, an kaaraman na nagunò kan mga tawong nag-ereskwela digdi. O tibaad sinda napaglingaw saná. Tibaad man awad-awad an karibay asin dai nanggad manenegaran. Tibaad saná.

Sa paggaba kan Gabaldon, sarong lakdang an ginibo kan gobyerno lokal tanganing pirit na panlingawon an mga Nabueño kan yaman kan saindang nakaagi. Bako sanang paglingaw kundi pagratak sa saindang agimadmad, sa saindang mga eksperiyensiya bilang tawo asin banwaan. Sa mga lakdang na ini, nawawâran man an mga maarabot na henerasyon nin pagkakataon na masîrip an nakaagi kan saindang banwaan. Kun arog kaini an nangyayari, pasain man nanggad an dalagan kan banwaan?

Kun an mga namamahala an nagigin mga instrumento nin paglingaw, tibaad sinda na nguna an kaipuhan lingawan.

Photograph courtesy of Dada Docot

Taboan Video

2009-03-17T20:39:00.003+08:00

Here's a 20-minute documentary video on Taboan: The Philippine International Writers Festival 2009.

Climb a belfry and love history

2009-03-15T05:18:00.005+08:00

(Editorial, Bicol Mail, Volume XXV Number 29, March 12, 2009)

THE RESEARCH undertaken by local writer Jose Fernando Obias regarding old buildings and belfries including bells in the province in Camarines Sur has a mouthful to say about these Spanish souvenirs.

For one thing, built during the Spanish regime, these churches are expressions of the architecture at a given time. The façade—like the face of any man—has distinctive lines and features from “the slings and arrows of an outrageous fortune” that are expressive of the influence the builders of these structures were exposed to. There is no definite design followed by the various churches in Camarines Sur. Those in Partido have different designs from those in Rinconada or in the second district. But the common denominator of all these structures is the use of massive blocks and bricks held together by mortar. The façade of any church is a masterpiece by itself. This makes every church unique and gives it its own identity.

For another, the belfries of churches in Camarines Sur and the bells found in them are veritable archives. They contain data that have not found print in cultural journals in the province.

Take the case of the bell found in Libmanan which contains the declaration that the bell was cast during the term of Rev. Fray Jose Castaño. The name of the Franciscan missionary is written on the bell and any local writer worth his salt could not feign ignorance of who Fr. Jose Castaño was. He translated into Spanish the local epic Ibalon which was then handed orally from one generation to another in Bikol. What has survived to our days is the Spanish translation—not the Bicol narrative. The files of Bicol Mail on the Catalogo Biografico Religiosos Franciscanos de San Gregorio Magno de Filipinas contend that Fr. Castaño professed his vows on May 2, 1874, administered the parish of Camalig briefly in 1878, and was assigned to the parish of Lupi. How come a bell in Libmanan bears his name as the parish priest? Could it be that this bell was in the parish of Lupi before it was carried to Libmanan?

Did Fr. Castaño do the translation into Spanish thus perpetuating the epic in Bicol literature, while he was parish priest of Lupi thus bringing into the epic more familiar places in the whereabouts of parish, such as Colasi, Ponong to mention a few? This brings us to one very sensitive question: is it proper for other towns or cities in the Bicol region to lay claim on Ibalon for their festival? Should not Lupi have the first claim on the epic?

Still another observation uncovered by the research is the sorry state of these Spanish souvenirs. A big number of these Spanish bells have cracks, others have part of their mouth chipped off, and still others are without their clappers. Is there not a technology that can cure the cracks, give the bells a face-lift or a makeover so that they can be used as new? If old immovable structures can be refurbished and conserved why can’t these bells? Perhaps we just don’t have the technology at the moment but in this age the makeover for bells cannot be far behind.

As a station for the culture of a bygone regime, the belfries cannot be turned into a bodega as was observed by this research. Not very many have climbed the belfry of their parish. But if they do, they would see the trash accumulated in these belfries. However, of more importance is the experience to see for one’s self the data written on those bells and ravages on their surface left by the passage of time. Would that in our life we can observe intently and carefully the data that can be found in the belfry and in the façade of churches. Truly, one cannot only enrich one’s information about one’s town but also fall in love with one’s culture and history the second time around.

Requiem for Nabua's Gabaldon Building

2009-03-08T23:34:00.004+08:00

Text by Minasbad and Photograph by Dada Docot (from Nabua Forum)

Masimut ading Mayor Fer Simbulan na di! (ading text na di, kanako, Vic Nierva)

Today, we received final confirmation that nothing remains of the 100-year old Gabaldon building in Nabua. It is sad to hear that the few remaining links to our history in probably one of the oldest towns in the entire province of Camarines Sur had been torn down. An iconic structure that withstood the test of time had been reduced to nothing but a shred of a memory to the people who once roamed its august halls.

For the past nine months, Nabua Forum has fought a lonely fight trying to preserve the remaining link of the town to its colonial past. Our elders would probably have nothing but good memories of their years of education at the said Gabaldon building, the very first schoolhouse built in the town. Nabua Forum has raised the issue of saving the said Gabaldon Building not only as a testament to the legacy of a free and universal education during the American period but because of its exceptional architectural significance, belonging to the iconic designs reminiscent of the grandeur of that colonial era. Heritage Specialist Architect Melvin Patawaran declared the importance of conserving Nabua's Gabaldon building because of its unique five-room design. Thru the efforts of the Nabua Forum's founder, Dada Docot, the organization was able to solicit the participation of the Heritage Conservation Society and Ms. Gemma Cruz-Araneta, who wholeheartedly supported last year's public seminar on heritage conservation that was attended by various personalities not only from Nabua but the rest of Camarines Sur. In October 2008, Dada Docot was also able to secure an official letter from the National Historical Institute (NHI) restraining the Municipal Government of Nabua from conducting any activities that would be detrimental to the structure of the Gabaldon building. The NHI letter was given to the Mayor’s Office but sadly, the authority of the NHI has been ignored and completely disregarded by the town’s highest official. In January 2009, the local government constructed a fence around the Gabaldon Building, not to protect it, but to prevent Nabuenos from noticing the demolition of the historical building. This year, a shopping mall will rise on the site where the Gabaldon school once stood.

It is sad to realize that the municipal officials of Nabua, tasked to protect not only its people but safeguard its heritage as well, understand the concept of development and progress in terms of the construction of a shopping complex which not only will kill local businesses but which sacrificed the town's historical monument as well. While other political leadesr of such provinces like Tarlac and Ilocos Norte listened to the voice of their constituents and respected their clamor to preserve their Gabaldon schools, Mayor Fernando Simbulan preferred to disrespect Nabuenos and erase the remaining link to a glorious past they can be truly be proud of. Mayor Simbulan displayed a classic example of a small time politician’s arrogance by ramming through the local legislative council his idea of a “legacy” to the town as he completes his ten years of corrupt leadership. His tenure continues to be marred by irregularities and controversies and his action to destroy Gabaldon is not only an insult to the people of Nabua but a travesty of justice that should never be forgiven nor forgotten.

We grieve not for the Gabaldon but for Nabua's political leaders who put their selfish interests first rather than the good of the public they have sworn to serve.

Farewell to Nabua's Gabaldon!

Bikol-ness

2009-03-07T14:42:00.002+08:00

IF THERE is something we’ve learned from the recent Bikol Arts Festival—which Naga City hosted, it is the full realization that in many ways we have lost our touch with what Bikol culture really is. And yet, the whole festival came in and out, despite this, and made clearer the very picture of our hunger—and resolve—to present something ‘more’ Bikol next time. Or the question is: have we ever really got in touch with the Bikol-ness of our ‘cultural’ endeavors in the first place? For at present, this Bikol-ness itself seems so elusive and deceiving as the eel when quantum-quick underwater. What happened?

For the fixing job, we could only look at other cultures and see how their cultural workers labor to revive, especially when in a similar case like ours. I personally envy the way Holy Angel University in Pampanga consolidated all the efforts to make Kapampangan culture shine again with its Kapampangan Studies Center. There, cultural efforts are no longer confined to just mere presentations, or worse, street dances—which NCCA dreads most. At HAU, the library of Kapampangan studies is just awesome. It houses perhaps every research works conducted on Kapampangan music, visual arts, literature, dance, theatre, and other cultural components. Now, this is something that I think we have to emulate.

In the last BAF, I was struck in awe by the sight of the children from Kwerdas de Naga whose way with violin is I think already above entry level. The quality of music produced by their collective playing was beyond nice; a level of sublimity was achieved. But the pieces rendered failed to give the capability to create music. Aside from an instrumental rendition of ‘Sarung Banggi’, which I think we should find replacement for as the representative tune for Bikol for the sheer reason that it is already overused, I don’t find Pachelbel’s ‘Kanon,’ ‘I Will Survive,’ and other more popular melodies as embodiment of the musical culture of Bikol. An intermediate arrangement perhaps of ‘Ano daw idtong sa gogon?’ or ‘Salampating Guminaro’ may do. In this case, again, we lack research, or we just failed to read. We can have the latter option because the Bikoliana Collection at the Roco Library, even if still lacking, will considerably help us a lot on this.

This phenomenon is present in other genres as well, except perhaps in history and literature, where there is a generally active atmosphere among individual writers intensified more by obvious relocation of literary centers from Manila to the regions. Besides, these cultural components are immortalized in the codices found in our libraries. But despite this, literature was not even represented in BAF (despite the city government’s invitation). And so we can just ask: where too have all the writers gone?

It would be best, I suggest, that in the next celebrations of BAF, an equally substantial time should also be given to studies, lectures, discussions, fora, on our culture. We have a lot of people to tap, there’s Dr. Danny Gerona, Tito Valiente, Dr. Lilia Realubit, Dr. Antonio Hila, Jazz Llana, Abdon Balde Jr., Dr. Henry Totanes, Joe Obias, Frank Peñones Jr., and many more. We can never hold legitimate presentations on our culture if in the first place we are groping as to what really consist the Bikol-ness of it. Otherwise, we will just replicate variety shows and stage programs, and hold nothing unique and special and ‘Bikolnon’ in our efforts.

I see this as a void still because in the celebrations of the Philippine International Arts Festival, in the CineRehiyon (for film) and Taboan: The Philippine International Writers Festival (for literature), Bikol was significantly represented. And the dominant question for us representatives was: what are you fellas doing there in Bikol about your culture?

In the end, I believe BAF was a success. Cheers for the city government of Naga, especially Councilor Badette Roco! More than it having been enjoying to watch, and despite the voids in its presentation, BAF challenged us to get to know more our identity as Bikolanos. Who we really are? What makes us true Bikolanos? What can we do as a people to revive our cultural heritage? What can we do to enrich it all the more?

Vestiges of progress

2009-02-27T22:57:00.000+08:00

“FENCE repainting project by Congressman Dato Arroyo.”
“Iskolar ni Dato.”
“School building: construction courtesy of Congressman Dato.”
“Amigo Foundation of Congressman Dato.”
“School building: a project of (former) Congressman Nonoy Andaya.”
“Covered court construction (a project of (former) Congressman Nonoy Andaya).”
“Strong Republic/Matatag na Republika (with a large photograph of Gloria Arroyo.)”
“Proyekto ni Pangulong Gloria (Road widening project).”
“Proyekto ni Pangulong Gloria (Road construction project).”
“LRV Multi-purpose Hall.”
“LRV Barangay Hall.”
“Roof repainting project of (former) Gov. Luis R. Villafuerte.”
“Overpass courtesy of (former) Gov. Luis R. Villafuerte.”
Road signs (All! Including ‘road bend,’ ‘T-junction,’ ‘dangerous curves,’ ‘slippery when wet,’ ‘no yield,’ ‘no overtaking,’ ’10, 15, 20-ton capacity bridges,’ ‘school zone,’ ‘no left turn,’ ‘loading and unloading area,’ etc.) with text ‘Cong. Luis R. Villafuerte (LRV)’ on a green panel underneath the sign.
“Bong Bell (from Bong Villafuerte).” Whew.
“Villa del Rey.”
“CamSur Watersports Complex a project of Governor Lray Villafuerte.”
“Chicken Dispersal Livelihood Program, Gov. Lray Villafuerte.”
“Bicol Arts Festival (tarpaulin poster with a large photograph of Mayor Jesse Robredo).”
“Bantay Kataid o Bankat ni Councilor John Bongat.”
“Maogmang Pasko asin Manigong Bagong Taon hale sa saindong amigo Cong. Dato Arroyo.”
“Happy graduation from Cong. Dato.”
“Amigo ko si Dato” printed at the back of t-shirts.
Waiting sheds with support posts shaped in the politician-donor’s initials.
Monobloc chairs, Trophies, medals, basketballs, water pumps, sport jerseys, etc. courtesy of Congressman, Governor, Mayor, Councilor, Barangay Chair, SK Chair, etc.
These are where our taxes go.
Note: These are actual signs posted around as labels for certain government projects. The number of labels is even more than the number of projects. This is how progress comes to us.

***

In Quezon City, there are even more bizarre project labels, such as:
“Kasúso Foundation by Councilor Bong Suntay.”
Tolda para sa mga patay courtesy of Congresswoman Nanette Castelo Daza, Mayor Sonny Belmonte, etc.
Councilor Janet Malaya’s name is stretched on public fences for some obscure reasons.

Nobela ni Merlinda

2009-02-09T00:26:00.006+08:00

With Dr. Merlinda Bobis in Legaspi City last January 23. Dr. Bobis received the 'Omaw sa Orágon Award' given by Aquinas University to Bikolanos who have done exemplary works for the development of Bikol culture. Dr. Bobis is a novelist, poet, playwright, and performer extraordinaire. She now based in Australia where she teaches Creative Writing at the University of Wollongong.

AN ORAG ni Merlinda Bobis dakula asin mahiwas, mala ngani ta inampon na siya kan kontinenteng Australia asin hinihiling na saro sa saindang pinaka-maoorag na parasurat. Alagad, siring sa sarong aki o namamanwaan kan sarong rona, minakiling an sarong parasurat sa saiyang ginikanan asin hilingon ini bilang sarong poetika na pinaghahalean kan tinta kan saiyang mga istorya.

Ini an dakulang ipinasabot kan ‘Omaw sa Orágon’ na ginibo kan Enero 23 sa Aquinas University (AUL) sa Legaspi kun nuarin ibinilang si Bobis sa mga orágon na Bikolano—naenot nang tinawan honra kan mga nakaaging taon sinda Merito Espinas (posthumously, 2002) asin man an Oasnon na nobelitang si Abdon M. Balde Jr. (2008). Sa ‘Omaw’ ipinahiling kan AUL an kadakulaan kan orag na ipinahiling ni Bobis sa saiyang mga istorya, rawitdawit asin pasali (drama).

Sa pag-ako ni Bobis kan honra, ihineras niyang giromdom an nangongorog na poetika sa saiyang pagsurat. Ibinuyboy niya an mga istorya kan saiyang pagka-aki na minapoon pa duman sa saiyang mga apoon—dapit sa mga kasag na nawawara ta kinua kan mga tawong lipod sa saindang harong asin man mga eksperiyensiya kaidto na mga mayayaman na ugat kan saiyang mga panurat. Siring man, malaad niyang ihineras na dai nanggad balakid an rayo sa dagang tinubuan asin mga mahal sa buhay tanganing maipadagos na maisurat, maipasali, asin maisabuhay an mga agi-agi kan Bikol.

Mala ngani ta biyong nag-aniningal an saiyang boses kan kantahon niya an parte kan “Cantada ni Daragang Magayon (Cantata of the Woman-Warrior)”—an pinakapopular sa mga pasaling nasurat niya. Sa sarong short film, ipinadalan man an padagos na pagtulod ni Bobis kan post-colonial na arte kan Kabikolan mantang nakatuon sa suanoy na mga tradisyon. Kun hihilingon tang mga kontemporanyong paradalan, nagkaigwa nang ibang ladawan ni Daragang Magayon na sa halabang panahon hinihiling sana kaidto bilang ehemplo kan babayi na malumanay asin magayon. Sa panurat ni Bobis, si Daragang Magayon, maorag man, salugsog sa sulog kan panânaw na an orag panlalaki sana. Mala ngani ta an Daragang Magayon nakikilaban para sa banwaan, katotoohan, asin iba pang mga birtud na kaidto lalaki sana an tinutubdan na may kusog na manindugan para sa mga ini.

Totoo man nanggad an sabi ni Jazz Llana sa sarong email na “...when it comes to Merlinda, iba man talaga.” Igwa nin girabo sa takyag asin ukag sa tulak an performance.

Sa ngunyan, igwa si Bobis sampolong libro; apat na koleksiyon nin mga rawitdawit, sarong libro nin rawitdawit-epiko, sarong katiriponan nin mga lectures, asin apat na nobela. Kadaklan kan saiyang mga nobela napublikar sa Australia asin may mga bersyon na maluwas sa US.

Kun babasahon an saiyang mga nobela, an mga ini malinaw na ladawan kan saiyang hinalean na banwaan. Sa mga pagpapamidbid saiya bilang parasurat, dai nanggad mawawara an linyang ‘sa lindong kan anino kan sarong bulkan’—an bulkan Mayon. Asin sa saiyang mga nobela, madudukayan an agi-aging kun mababasa kan sarong Bikolano, makukua niya man an saiyang sadiri huli ta agimadmad Bikolnon, daing dúwa-dúwa, an dugong minaagos sa mga ugat kan saiyang osipon.

Sa pagtao saiya kan AUL kan ‘Omaw sa Orágon’, namukna man an pagkakaigwa kan Merlinda Bobis Short Story Writing Contest na sosog sa plano gigibohon taon-taon asin saro sa mga premyo an pagkakaigwa nin pagkakataon na ma-workshop niya an manggaganang istorya—sarong pagkakataon na sa hiling ko kaipuhan sa satong banwaan huli ta an workshop sa pagsurat osipon medyo nagkukulang kun ikukumpara sa workshops para sa pagsurat rawitdawit. Kun sosog sa parasurat man na si Kristian Cordero na an mga Bikolano mga natural na mga mainósip, tibaad man lamang mailuwas an mga osipon na ini asin maging dakulang parte kan mayaman tang literatura, sa paagi kan workshops asin contests.

Sa importanteng pagkakataon na ini, hinihiling kong saro man na agyat an ‘Omaw sa Orágon’ para ki Dr. Merlinda Bobis. Inaagyat kaini an mga Bikolano na kamôtan asin pagmakulugan an Kabikolan asin mga agi-agi, tradisyon, asin kultura kan ronâ. Inaagyat kita kaini na maging orog na sensitibo sa kamugtakan kan banwaan. Inaagyat kita na makabilog man nin mga bago asin lâbas na mga kaisipan, konsepto, asin mga paghirô na orog pang mapamidbid sa gabos kan satong pagka-Bikolano. Sa siring na paagi, dakulang gayo an satong maiheheras sa orog na mahiwas na dalagan kan mga kalakawan sa satong nasyon asin kinaban—siring sa mga nobela asin panurat ni Bobis.

Taboan: The Philippine International Writers Festival 2009

2009-01-29T05:51:00.004+08:00

11 to 13 FEBRUARY 2009
University of the Philippines Diliman (Feb 11)
Ateneo de Manila University (Feb 12)
Cubao Expo (Feb 13)

DAY 1 | FEBRUARY 11, WEDNESDAY

University of the Philippines

Diliman, Quezon City

9:00AM | OPENING PROGRAM
Venue: Pulungang Claro M. Recto, Bulwagang Rizal

Welcome Remarks
• UP Diliman Chancellor Sergio S. Cao
• NCCA Chair Vilma L. Labrador
• Festival Director Ricardo M. de Ungria
• Festival Coordinator Jose Y. Dalisay, Jr.

PHILIPPINE LITERATURE TODAY. The keynote address, a synoptic overview of where we’ve been and where we are, taking into account our literature in Filipino, English, and the regional languages; Philippine literature in the 21st century; and Philippine literature in the Asian and global context. To be delivered by National Artist Francisco Sionil Jose.
Venue: Pulungang Claro M. Recto, Bulwagang Rizal, UPD

9:45AM | A TRIBUTE TO EDITH TIEMPO. The tribute to National Artist Edith L. Tiempo is a short poetry reading by Merlie Alunan, Dinah Roma, and Ronald Baytan, who all attended the Dumaguete National Workshop and have been influenced by Tiempo’s poetics. To date, Edith Tiempo is the sole woman National Artist for Literature.
Moderator: Marjorie Evasco
Venue: Pulungang Claro M. Recto, Bulwagang Rizal, UPD

10:30AM | GANITO KAMI NOON: WRITING THROUGH THE DECADES. A plenary panel discussion to set the tone for all other panel discussions. A representative each from the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s can talk about the conditions for writing and publishing in their eras and how things have changed, or maybe not. And where do we go from here?
Panelists: Elmer Ordonez (1950s), National Artist Virgilio S. Almario (1960s), José Pete Lacaba (1970s), Marjorie Evasco (1980s), Angelo Lacuesta (1990s)
Moderator: José Y. Dalisay, Jr.
Pulungang Claro M. Recto, Bulwagang Rizal, UPD

1:30PM | ICONS OF THE NEW CENTURY: WRITERS WHOM WRITERS READ. Who are you reading and why? Who's your literary daddy (or mommy)? A discussion of literary influences and how they are shaping contemporary Philippine literature.
Panelists: Rebecca Añonuevo, Franklin Cimatu, Carlos Cortes, Francis Macansantos, Katrina Tuvera
Moderator: Gémino H. Abad
Venue: CAL New Building (CNB), Room 508

WRITING FOR A LIVING. What's writing like as a profession in the Philippines? What writing jobs pay, and how can writers get them? How should writers deal with writing commissions? What about copyrights and contracts? How do we break into the global market and find and deal with agents?
Panelists: Vietnamese writer Nguyen Bao Chan, Tony Enriquez, Kragi Garcia, Luis Katigbak, Charlson Ong, Alfred Yuson
Moderator: José Y. Dalisay, Jr.
Venue: CAL-AVR, 2/F Bulwagang Rizal, UPD

THE CREATIVE WRITING CLASSROOM. The teaching of creative writing, for the teachers among us: challenges, strategies, approaches, tips and tricks in the creative writing classroom.
Penelists: Merlie Alunan, Conchitina Cruz, Jun Cruz Reyes, Macario Tiu, Ricardo de Ungria
Moderator: Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo
Venue: CNB Inquirer Room 201

WORKSHOPPING THE WORKSHOP, ORGANIZING WRITERS. A review of the Dumaguete, Baguio, and Iligan workshops, plus maybe the biggest school-based ones, and how they grew. A sharing of best practices, as well as a discussion of common problems and situations. This panel can also deal with writers’ organizations, centers, institutes, and programs.
Panelists: Vicente Groyon III, Christine Godinez-Ortega, V.E. Carmelo D. Nadera Jr., Benilda Santos, Anthony Tan
Moderator: Lito Zulueta
Venue: CNB Rm 309

3:30 PM | WRITING OFF-CENTER: THE REGIONAL EXPERIENCE. How goes creative writing and literary publishing outside of Metro Manila? Have new centers of literary activity emerged, and what are the keys to their success? What does it take to promote writing from the regions to broader audiences?
Panelists: John Bengan, Jose Jason Chancoco, Rey Duque, David Genotiva, Alice Tan-Gonzales
Moderator: Ricardo de Ungria
Venue: CNB Inquirer Room 201

ATBP: WRITING OFF THE MAINSTREAM. Gay/lesbian literature, chick lit, "spec fic", Chinoy lit , and all that jazz. What alternatives exist to straight, realist, mainstream lit? Is this kind of "pigeonholing" good or bad—or, when is it good, and when is it bad?
Panelists: Dean Francis Alfar, Jhoanna Cruz, J. Neil C. Garcia, Jaime An Lim, Tara FT. Sering
Moderator: Danton Remoto
Venue: CNB Room 309

FILIPINO-NESS IN THE GLOBAL AGE. A perennial hot topic in the blogosphere. How can "Filipino-ness" be defined? Is it an absolute necessity in this age of globalization? Is "nation" even a relevant concept? How can this be manifested in a literary work? Why don’t we seem to see enough of such central elements of Filipino life as crime, sex, and humor in our literature, or is that only in English?
Panelists: Efren Abueg, Leoncio Deriada, Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, Resil Mojares, Timothy Montes
Moderator: Isagani R. Cruz
Venue: CAL-AVR

DAY 2, FEBRUARY 12, THURSDAY
Ateneo de Manila University
Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezon City

9:00AM | PLENARY
Venue: Leong Hall Auditorium

Program
• Opening Remarks, Prof. Ricardo de Ungria, Commissioner for the Arts, NCCA
• Welcome Address, Dr. Ma. Luz Vilches, Dean of the School of Humanities
• Message, Dr. Antonette Palma-Angeles, Academic Vice-President, AdMU
• A Concise History of 150 Years of Ateneo Writing
• Open Forum
• Tribute Proper
• Screen Presentation on Emmanuel S. Torres and Reading of Citation
• Screen Presentation on Gregorio C. Brillantes and Reading of Citation
• Response of the Honorees
• Closing Remarks, Dr. Ma. Luisa Torres Reyes, Chair, Dept. of English

1:00PM |ATENEO GALLERY AND LIBRARY TOUR

2:00PM | PARALLEL SESSIONS

THE POET-CRITIC. The issue of how art and criticism interface has been a central topic even in the creative writing curricula of top universities worldwide. Whether our writers have found the interface uneasy or comfortable, consciously or unconsciously, it has shaped the craft and aesthetics of generations of authors in the Philippines.
Panelists: Gemino H. Abad, Exie Abola, J. Neil Garcia, Allan Popa, Jun Cruz Reyes, and Thai fictionist/screenwriter Prabda Yoon
Moderator: D(anilo) Francisco (M) Reyes
Venue: Social Science Conference Rooms 1 & 2

TEXT AND CONTEXT. The encounter between art and politics, writing and ideology, or aesthetics and social engagement, has been a significant consideration in countries like the Philippines as it has been said to make for bad writing and good politics/bad politics and good writing. Thus, these binary categories have been considered mutually exclusive practices by some writers, but deemed mutually constitutive commitments by writers.
Panelists: Isagani R. Cruz, National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera, Danton Remoto, Roland Tolentino
Moderator: Oscar Campomanes
Venue: Social Science Conference Rooms 3 & 4

PUBLISHING FOR THE FUTURE. No literature can prosper without publishing, but publishing itself is taking on new forms and challenges in this new century, such as online publishing and print on demand. What directions will Philippine literary publishing and Philippine literature itself take in the foreseeable future? What can the Philippine academic and commercial publishers do to promote literature here and abroad? Are there alternatives to mainstream publishing that can be explored, and can they be commercially viable?
Panelists: Karina Bolasco, Adam David, Antonio Hidalgo, Esther Pacheco
Moderator: Maricor Baytion
Venue: NGF Conference Rm, G/F De La Costa Hall

4:00PM | PARALLEL SESSIONS

FEMINISM IN OUR MIDST. The question of how women writers write under conditions quite distinct from men writers has been a source of dynamism and controversy in both their works and the criticism on their work. This has been a point of contention in recent literary history as some women writers organize themselves as women writers, weaving literature and sharing life.
Panelists: Rica Bolipata-Santos, Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, Priscilla Macansantos, Aida F. Santos, Dinah Roma-Sianturi, Hope Yu
Moderator: Benilda Santos
Venue: Social Science Conference Rooms 1 & 2

LITERATURE IN ACTION. Non-canonical texts abound in contexts like the Philippines in which literature’s energies come from places quite apart from "Literature." Foremost among this type of literary production is the whole range of performative practices which create cultural "events" as opposed to literary "art." Most prominent examples of this range from avant-garde forms to so-called "agit-prop" art in which visual and/or performance artists and educational and community theater groups like PETA have been making a splash in the international art and academic scene since the 80s and 90s.
Panelists: Michael Coroza, Steven Patrick Fernandez, Servando Halili, Bonifacio Ilagan, Glenn Mas
Moderator: Gary Devilles
Venue: Social Science Conference Rooms 3 & 4

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE. In the Philippines, it has been said that the reading fare of Filipino children continues to be dominated by children’s literature from the West, as evidenced by the children's books usually on display in major book shops. Nevertheless, it can be argued that for decades now, significant headway has been made in providing alternative reading materials for Filipino children by publishing houses like Aklat Adarna and noted Filipino authors and published locally in English, Filipino and other Philippine languages. What genres have been developed in children’s literature by Filipinos? Are these genres a mere imitation of the western models? Has the production been enough to begin to draw up a canon of children’s literature in the Philippines? What has been the impact of children's literature on the readers? What role must children's literature play in the Philippines?
Panelists: Cyan Abad-Jugo, Christine Bellen, Jean Lee Patindol, Ramon V. Sunico
Moderator: Jerry Respeto
Venue: NGF Conference Room, G/F De La Costa Hall

5:00PM | DINNER
Venue: Leong Hall Roof Deck

• Closing Remarks, Dr. Assunta Cuyegkeng, Vice President, Ateneo de Manila Univeristy-Loyola Schools

DAY 3, FEBRUARY 13, FRIDAY
Cubao X, Araneta Center, Cubao, Quezon City

9:30AM | PLENARY
Venue: Cubao X
Hosts: Angelo R. Lacuesta, Festival Coordinator; Joel Toledo, Festival Assistant Coordinator

10:00PM | PARALLEL SESSIONS

HOME, ROAM, AND AWAY. Publishing locally versus publishing abroad. How does place of publication—or place of writing—affect or define your audience, or your career or your work? This should also function as a guide for those who seek international publication: what are the challenges and what are the chances?
Panelists: Vicente G. Groyon III, Mookie Katigbak
Moderator: Lourd Ernest De Veyra
Venue: Mogwai 2

THE END OF PRINT. Web-based publishing, traditional print publishing, and print-on-demand: the meaning of publication has multiplied so much these days. Has the meaning of quality, or rigor, or intent changed as well? How has this affected today’s writer? Has he (or must he) achieve convergence, or should there be dividing lines?
Panelists: Roberto Añonuevo, Adam David, Jean Claire Dy, Luis Katigbak, Edgar Samar
Moderator: Dean Francis Alfar
Venue: Pablo

WRITE TO LIFE. Writing to live, or living to write? Many literary writers have commercial writing careers—but what about other lines of work? And what of the lines that divide work and writing? This discussion covers all sorts of jobs writers must take—and the amount of confrontation and compromise writers must endure. It will also cover tips and tricks to avoid burnout and “multitasking hell.”
Panelists: Josua Cabrera, Dominique Cimafranca, Mikael de Lara Co, Ramil Gulle, Victor Dennis T. Nierva
Moderator: Frank Cimatu
Venue: Kolektib 1

LINGO NG WIKA. Language and authenticity in Philippine literary practice—it’s an old argument. So should we be done with it, then? Or shouldn’t we? (This conversation covers all Filipino languages.)
Panelists: Genevieve Asenjo, John Barrios, Jaime Jesus Borlagdan, Jose Jason Changcoco, Jason Laxamana, Glen Mas, Voltaire Oyzon, John Iremil Teodoro
Moderator: Rica Bolipata-Santos
Venue: Kolektib 2

GLOBAL WARMING. A plenary discussion over lunch featuring Asian and Filipino writers who have gone “global.” Our international panelists will discuss the challenges and rewards of writing in their local language and still achieving international recognition and popularity. The panel will also discuss practical tips on international grants, fellowships and exchange programs.
Panelists: Nguyan Bao Chan, Conchitina Cruz, Dinah Roma-Sianturi, Prabda Yoon
Moderator: Angelo R. Lacuesta

2:00PM | PARALLEL SESSIONS

PURO FORMA. The formal versus the experimental in poetry—is there a conflict? Young poets discuss the issues (and, inevitably, the non-issues) that abound.
Panelists: Michael Coroza, Conchitina Cruz, J. Neil C. Garcia, Mookie Katigbak, Angelo Suarez
Moderator: Allan Popa
Venue: Mogwai 2

MOVING UP IN THE WORD. Building the literary career—does it still have the same requirements as ten years ago, or are there new ways to get that break? Is the PalancaTM Award still the quickest path to writerhood? Or is that old-school thinking? What’s a literary career anyway?
Panelists: Efmer Agustin, Janice Bagawi, Arifah Jamil, Junley Lazaga, Leonila Lopido, Monica Macansantos, Harold Mercurio
Moderator: Mikael Co
Venue: Pablo

FICTIONAL SHOWDOWN. This is a friendly showdown between the realms speculative fiction and “non-speculative” fiction—its advocates, practitioners and its subject matter. Also up for discussion: attempted definitions, blurred boundaries and common goals.
Panelists: Dean Francis Alfar, Adam David, Jonathan J. Siason, Alvin B. Yapan, Prabda Yoon
Moderator: Ian Casocot
Venue: Kolektib 1

4:00PM | PARALLEL SESSIONS

ALL ABOUT MY OTHER. The I versus “otherness” in poetry: how do they figure in your work? Insights, questions, problems and answers on this mind-boggling topic.
Panelists: Ronald Baytan, Kristian S. Cordero, Conchitina Cruz, Larry Ypil
Moderators: Carlomar Daoana, Dinah Roma-Sianturi
Venue: Mogwai 2

UNSCRIPTED. Playwrights, screenwriters and writers in general discuss the difficulties of writing for the stage and screen—from the issue (or non-issue) of language and the challenges of the craft, to the long road to production and the burden of having to win the audience.
Panelists: Jhoanna Cruz, Glen Mas, John Iremil Teodoro
Moderator: Jun Lana
Venue: Pablo

THE YOUNG AND THE LITLESS. Is the Filipino youth worth writing for? In the age of the Internet and digital home entertainment, Filipino children and young adults have so much to see, hear and read—without having to open a book. How does this affect the youngest generation of the Filipino literary audience? How does this affect the Filipino writer?
Panelists: Christine Bellen, Jean Lee Patindol
Moderator: Tara FT Sering
Venue: Kolektib 1

THE STORY OF OUR LIVES. Short story writers and novelists discuss the concerns of today’s fictionist—from language and style to themes and subject matter. Also to be discussed: getting published internationally, and the problem and the burden of writing long-form work.
Panelists: Vincente Groyon III, Arifah Jamil, Luis Katigbak, Januar Yap, Alvin B. Yapan
Moderators: Genevieve Asenjo, John Bengan
Venue: Kolektib 2

6:30PM | PLENARY: DEAR NCCA. What can the NCCA do for the younger or emerging writer? This discussion hopes to come up with a wishlist for the NCCA, covering specific measures of support for the Filipino writer.
Moderators: Angelo R. Lacuesta, Joel Toledo
Venue: Mogwai

8:00PM | CLOSING CEREMONIES
• Address, National Artist Virgilio S. Almario
• NCCA Resolutions
• Response and Closing Address, Ricardo de Ungria

FELLOWSHIP

Bagyo

2009-01-22T15:21:00.001+08:00

Sa tahaw kan banggi,
kinaulay ko si Nanay.
Sabi ko may paabot na tren.
Simbag niya—
Dai, aki ko, bagyo ‘yan.

Storm

At the middle of the night,
I spoke to Mother.
I told her I heard a train coming.
She said—
No, son, it’s the storm.

Paglaláng

2009-01-22T15:20:00.000+08:00

I.

Minasarò an semilya
asin an sogok.
Pagkatapos
kaini, minabanga
an haman nang pinagsaro,
minadakol—makaskas
siring sa subasko—
nin minadakol.

II.

May mga bangging
daing rawitdawit—
malipot asin daing pakimâno—
kun sain an hawak
minaadimó kan ranga
kan higdaan.

III.

Mangingidam
sa maaalsom na bunga:
siring sa ibà
na túyong pinugtal
harani sa mga gamot
kan inang kahoy.

IV.

Asin dikitdikit,
mabubuhay an laman
na nasa tulak.
An tipasì magigin gigís,
asin magkakaigwa enot
nin pusò.

V.

Minasunod an mga takyag,
tabay, itom kan mga mata,
labót kan dungô, ngusò.
Dai paglingawan
an pusod nakatakod
pa sa ginikanan.

VI.

Sa luwas, nalalangkag
an komunidad.
Minaiktin sa pagsikad
kan nasa laog.
Minabotog an tulak
asin kanigoan an paghalat.

VII.

Minalihis an mga
Panahon—mga aga,
odto, hapon, banggi—
na dai namamangno.

Finally...

2009-01-20T22:06:00.006+08:00

I, Barack Hussein Obama II, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God.

I could only wish similar things for this country. I hope there will come a leader whose electoral victory shall be widely accepted, someone whom we can say, yes, that's the president we've all voted for. At least we can start from there.

Photograph courtesy of Grizzly Lightning

Vanishing crafts(manship)

2009-01-18T20:31:00.004+08:00

IT’S SAD for me to discover this week that I have almost lost my way with paintbrushes. I am back at learning feeling the handle and to be one with it so that a desired image could be impressed on a small canvass. Not even a simple single-colored line was I able to conjure with a stroke that suggested I am already missing the dexterity I had before. It did not mean, however, that I am now nearing the age of losing the usual curves and highpoints of my signature for I am only twenty-nine years old. Perhaps, my signature is the only remaining consistency in my dealing with pens, brushes, and other writing sticks. Like many other complainers, the demise of my very own handwriting and painting skills came with my gradual addiction—almost a romantic one—to digital technology, especially computers.

It would have been a relief to know that I am not alone. But this means something. This means that processes of losing are happening collectively. I remember Discovery Channel showing short features entitled ‘Vanishing Trades’ and how nostalgic the feelings were watching these features.

My own personal loss led me to remember my college years at the Ateneo de Naga when we went to Faday Ads for streamers and posters for certain big events. I too remembered Rudy’s along Prieto Street; and Alex Arts—perhaps the most popular in Naga back then. There were many other shops that offered hand-made outdoor signages and other graphic art jobs. Faday, who gave me discount for talking to him in Rinconada, was the most memorable and perhaps the most artsy for me. Being an art enthusiast, I delighted in his strokes on coco cloth for our streamers. It was always amusing how he approximated the distance of his hand from the cloth. His workshop was the sidewalk of that portion of Ateneo Avenue now occupied by Willprint Graphic Center. I learned that he is still open for the usual jobs. But the question is: until when?

The coming of the tarpaulin sidelined the ‘hand-made art shops’ and dragged them into the category of ‘vanishing trades’. Except if they too would turn digital.

When Cory ran for presidency in 1986, her campaign visuals included a yellow cloth on which the silhouette of Ninoy was stenciled. That icon has been so popularized in the country, almost like the faces of Che Guevarra, Chairman Mao, and Bob Marley on shirts of teenagers and hippy wannabees. At present, the magic of the tarp is that it has become the ultimate goal of almost every politician to appear smiling on tarps claiming sponsorship of a highway or a school building construction, scholarships, or a feeding program, and many more. As if the money spent for these projects were theirs and the constituents are just asking for favors.

Enough of the random surfacing of political dismay.

The tarps arrived alongside growing interest in digital arts. When I first explored the wonders of the Photoshop, I think that’s when I began losing my way with the brush and the canvass. I got so hooked into it which can imitate the brushstrokes—only the brush strokes and not the feeling and sense—of Dela Rosa or Van Gogh or Dáli. I now wonder how many of our digital art students are able to create characters and designs without the help of the computer mouse and digital tablet. Ateneo digital art teacher and manga illustrator Ben Bana once complained of animation students who could not even do rough sketches. All they could do was draw with their mice and digital pens.

With manual designing at the precipice of extinction, tarpaulins as the main mode of outdoor campaigns, and boom in the digital art, what future is there for that method of design that requires a more eloquent and powerful expression of emotion? This is not to say that digital art does not require human-ness. This is only to show that there is nothing really that can equate to human touch. If we forego the human side of art, we lose everything. We also forget and waste every thought shared—from Plato to Derrida to Brocka to Kahlo.

It would always be exciting to create art. It is exciting to capture a poignant scene of a Madonna on a Nikon D90 but something is more fulfilling to conjure an image on a white paper in a dark room. Likewise, there is something to miss in a real band playing than in a track out of clips from a music bank pasted together. I do not say we should reject these advancements, I say we embrace them as they are signs and invitations of the time. But we should never set the originals aside for they hold the rules and rudiments of art. Only after we have mastered human art that we can violate its laws.

Kultura nin pagláom (A Yearender)

2008-12-29T14:56:00.001+08:00

SA TAHAW nin mga katikapohan, krisis pang-ekonomiya, durulak sa pulitika, asin iba pang mga remalasong padagos tang namamate sa satong rona, nakakaogmang an pagtulod sa kulturang Bikolnon minadanay na makusog asin maliwanag an dalan na inaagihan. Sa pagtapos kan taon 2008, malinaw an katotoohan na kadakol pa an aanihon na balaog huli sa mga pagtanom na nangyari ngunyan na taon. Balikan ta an mga nangyari sa taon na ini sa lado kan kulturang Bikolnon.

Enero nahiling ta an pagbungsod kan “Pusûánon”, pan-tolong libro nin mga rawitdawit kan premyadong parasurat na si Kristian S. Cordero. An nagdadakol na mga publikasyon nin mga obrang panliteratura sa Bikol minapahiling nin nagkukusog na sulog kan literturang Bikolnon.

Sa bulan Pebrero ginibo an “Aklat Ani sa Taon kan Kino” na tinutulod ni Gode Calleja sa Legaspi City, kun sain tiniripon an mga publikasyon sa Bikol sa paagi nin booksale asin exhibit. Sa bulan na Pebrero man na iyo an National Arts Month nagbisita si National Artist for Literature Francisco Sionil Jose sa Naga na dara an hulit na padagos pang pagpakusog kan sadiri tang kultura.

Sarong tabang sa pundasyon kan pag-aadal Bikolnon an thesis ni Jason Chancoco na “Pagsasatubuanan: Modernistang Poetikang Bikolnon” sa pagtapos niya kan AB Literature sa Ateneo de Naga University kan Marso. Ini an enot na thesis dapit sa literaturang Bikol na sinurat sa tataramon na Bikol, naghawan ini nin dakulang posibilidad sa masurunod na henerasyon nin mga pag-aadal kan satong kultura. Marso man nangyari an enot na “Kantaramon” sa Lolo’s Bar na nagin katiriponan kan mga Bikolanong parasurat asin paratulod kan literatura.

Sa bulan na Abril, nadalan sa entablado kan Plaza Quezon (asin sa TV) an “Kantaramon Dos” na pinadrinuhan kan lokal na gobyerno kan Naga asin man kan Kabulig-Bikol.

Magayon na sambiton an padagos na pagkolekta kan mga Bikol oral narratives sa pamamayo kan propesor sa AdNU na si Dr. Cyril Conde. Manlaenlaen na mga aktibidad na an nahihimo kan pag-aadal na ini, arog kan Oral Storytelling Contest na nangyari sa bulan na Mayo.

Matrayumpong napangyari sa bulan na Hulyo an “Pagtukdo, Pagsurat Bikolnon” na pinadrinuhan kan Naga College Foundation asin kan Kabulig-Bikol kaiba naman an nagkakapirang mga institusyon. Sa pagtiripon na ini, naiheras sa satong mga paratukdo asin mga parasurat an mga esensyal na bagay sa satong sadiring literatura, pasabong kan paaboton man na eksena sa satong mga lokal na akademiya—literaturang Bikol na bako sanang binabasa asin inaapresyar, kundi sarong literaturang tinotokdo asin inaadalan sa mga eskwelahan sa laog asin luwas kan Kabikolan. Sa bulan man na Hulyo naaraman kan kagabsan an panggana ni Kristian Cordero kan NCCA Writers Prize para sa koleksiyon niya nin mga rawitdawit na may titulong “Segunda Mano.”

Sa bulan nin Agosto, tinawan onra kan Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL) an Aréjola Foundation for Social Responsibility, Inc. para sa mga pagtulod kaini sa kultura asin literaturang Bikol. Ginawadan an AFRSI kan prestihiyosong Gawad Pedro Bucaneg na pagmidbid sa sarong institusyon na an pagtulod sa kultura dapat pangarogan kan gabos.

Sa bulan ni Ina, Setyembre, ginana kan mga hoben na parasurat an ika-5 Premio Tomas Arejola para sa Literaturang Bikolnon. Pinangenotan kan Irigenyong si Joner Cañeba an mga nanggana sa pagguno niya kan premyong ‘Parasurat kan Taon’. Sa bulan man na Setyembre binungsod an bagong nobela na “Awit ni Kadunung” kan Oasnon na nobelistang si Abdon M. Balde Jr.

Nobyembre binungsod man kan Daragenyong pararawitdawit na si Marne L. Kilates an “Mostly in Monsoon Weather: Poems Past and Revisited”. Nobyembre 15, National Book Awards, nagpahiling kan orag kan mga Bikolano sa disiplina kan Letra. Nagin finalist an nagkakapirang Bikolano: Fr. Joaquin Bernas para sa “A Living Constitution” (Law), Conrado de Quiros, “Tongues on Fire” (Essay/Nonfiction), Fr. Andrew Recepcion, “God’s Global Household” (Theology), Luis Cabalquinto, “Mannahatta Mahal”, Kristian Cordero, “Pusûánon”, asin an saindong lingkod para sa “Antisipasyon asin iba pang rawitdawit sa Bikol asin Ingles” (Poetry). Nagpuling National Book Awardees sinda Fr. Joaquin Bernas, Conrad de Quiros, Marne Kilates, asin man an saindong lingkod. Sa panggana kan “Antisipasyon” na sarong libro sa tataramon na Bikol, nagtutubod ako na pinahiling kan National Book Awards na tapos na an literary parochialism sa satong nasyon.

Bago matapos an taon, sa bulan na Disyembre, dakol na Bikolanong parasurat an nakaayon sa ANI 34, an literary journal kan Cultural Center of the Philippines. Kaiba sa mga contributors sinda Carlo Arejola, Jaime Jesus Borlagdan, Jose Jason Chancoco, Kristian Cordero, asin Jason Tabinas.

Laóman ta na sa mga masurunod na taon, mahihiling ta an Kabikolan na may pusog na pangapotan sa sadiring kultura, historya, literatura, nahihiling na arte, asin iba pa na nagpapagamiaw sato sa kun siisay kita bilang sarong rona—mga apoon kan mga herwe kan Ibalong, dagang matalingkas, daga kan mga magagayon asin mga oragon.

Personal

2008-12-19T17:00:00.001+08:00

THE OTHER DAY, I found myself in Megamall buying a present for our Christmas party in UP Likhaan. The gift should be within P100 price limit. For my manita, I got a set of four cute coffee shakers for P109. Not bad. The gift looked elegant, and as I have always made sure when I bought presents, it should be something the receiver could use, not perishable or consumable. It should have a practical purpose. While in a cab on my way to UP, I wrapped it with a fancy paper with blue and silver linings with ‘Maligayang Pasko’ beautifully written on it. When giving gifts, I would usually do the wrapping except in circumstances when I really have no time. Nevertheless, I would inform the one wrapping of my preferences about ribbons, colors, etc. I personally would write the note. I want the presents I give to be personal.

While on my way, the cab driver noticed me wrapping the gift, saying: “Party ba, sir?” I answered yes. He asked again: “‘Dami ‘atang tao sa mall ngayon, no? Bilihan ng regalo e.” I told him that I waited in line just for the P100 worth of a gift. Then, he quipped: “E minsan lang naman ‘yan sa isang taon, sir. ‘Di naman araw-araw. Ako nga mula November, inunti-unti ko nang bilhan ng regalo mga anak ko. Kahit, ‘yung mura lang.” I got curious and so I asked: “Lan na ba anak n’yo, manong?” He smiled and said: “Pito ho. Medyo mahirap nga e. Pero gusto ko mabigyan kahit ano lang. ‘Yun bang babagay sa bawat isa sa kanila. ‘Yung isa mahilig magdrowing, binilhan ko nu’ng pangkulay, yung marami-raming kulay. Matutuwa ‘yon. ‘Yung isa naman pala-aral, kaya binilhan ko ng libro, ‘yung mura, sa Recto marami.” The driver’s story was actually long but I hat to get off at the UP Faculty Center.

Somehow the driver’s tale reminded me of the opposite, of how indifferent many of us have become through the years when giving presents. In fact, we are slowly ceasing to personally hand our gifts to the receiving person. And there is an increasing number of courier services that cater to delivering presents to friends or loved ones celebrating whatever in their lives. LBC, for example, delivers flowers and other gift materials. Some couriers even deliver pastries, cakes, etc. nationwide! These delivery services do the work as replacement for personal presences—which I always think would never suffice the real verbal greeting, the warm embraces, and the moments of togetherness.

I remember when we were still naïve little kids in the primary school, we used to give our loved ones hand-made cards for occasions like Valentines Day, Mothers’ Day, Fathers’ Day, Teachers’ Day, and, most especially, Christmas. I remember how we rummaged around for pieces of cloth or dry leaves or seashells, coloring pens, and used cartons for our greeting cards. Personal touch meant burning paper edges with ‘katol,’ composing messages that later we would carefully impress on the card with the best of our lettering skills. There was no need for any courier delivery. We would slip the card into the bag or planner of the one whom we wished to give it. A little wait and time will tell when the recipient had already read the card.

The driver’s story only tells us that it takes a simple effort to make things heart-felt. Even in the frenzied humdrum of our everyday lives, we still have time to make things personal. “Minsan lang naman ‘yun, sir,” the driver reminds me.

Once a year, we celebrate this special season of Christmas. We fill our homes with decors and carols, nativity sets and candy canes; we go to Misa de Gallo and attend Christmas parties; we greet each other ‘Merry Christmas’ with glee. It will surely be more memorable and worth celebrating if done with such a personal touch. On Christmas Eve, we shall be kissing that cute image of infant God laid on a makeshift manger; we shall be kissing this Child with personal prayers in our hearts. It maybe worthwhile to include in our prayers a humble request for us to be a little—just a little—more personal in our dealings in the years to come—to be a little more personal as love is always a personal thing.

Maogmáng Paskó po saíndo gabós!

(Dis)desaparecídos

2008-12-15T23:11:00.000+08:00

Mináabót sindá minsán daí mi hinalát—
óyon sa sulóg kan sálog, o kalangkáw
kan poón kan baletè, o labí-kalumbód

kan bâgóng tambón na dagâ. Mináabót
sindá sa samóng banwáan na áram ming daí
sindáng paáram sa mga namómôtan sa búhay,

o tibáad, kayâ nganì sindá nápadigdí
ta daí nang mga namómôtan sa búhay
asín boót na nindá sindáng mákasarô

liwát. Mináabót sindáng mapulá an sûlót—
pirmíng mapulá an sûlót, patí na an gânót—
patotoó kan halábang dálan na inagíhan.

Mináabót sindá mantáng nadádangóg mi
an baréta sa rádyo dapít sa mga táwong
daíng ontók an paghánap sa mga nagkákawararâ—

binayáan na mga agóm, akì, amâ, inâ, katóod;
minatángis, minahídaw. Kun kayâ, kamí,
síring sa mga anghél na nakabantáy

sa luwás kan lolobngán, masílot: abáng lúya
kan saindóng pagtubod, tâdáw ta hinahánap nindó
an mga nabubúhay sa mga nagkagaradán na?

Photograph by Kenneth Pornillos

What ba itataram ko?

2008-12-12T02:00:00.000+08:00

FIRST OF ALL, bako man talagang isyu an lenggwahe para sako. Bilang parasurat, dai nuarinpaman nagin kaolángan an kun anong language an gagamiton ko sa sakong mga sinusurat. Dakula an sakong paggalang sa arinman na lenggwahe; sagkod sa desire kong dai pagsaralakon an iba’t ibang lenggwahe para magin malinaw an nais kong ipasabot. Ngunit, sa pagkakataon na ini, kun ginigibo ko man an pagsaralak-salak, iyan sana huli man sa pag-emphasize ko kan pagiging non-issue sa lado kan language para sako.

Igwa kaya ngunyan minaburubutwang durulak na naman sa pag-ultanan kan mga supporters kan Tagalog bilang pambansang wika sagkod kan mga paratulod sa arinman na mga regional languages. Garo baga may nang-aapi asin man may inaapi. Kun arin an arin, dai ko aram. Basta an malinaw, may hidwaan. Pipilion kong magtindog sa tahaw, kun bako man magin mirón na sana na madalan kan gabos na pangyayari. O bilang parasurat, aram kong dai man ako nag-iisa sa puntong ini, masurat na sana ako sa wikang pinakakomportable akong magsurat.

Sa totoo man talaga, walang sinuman an puwedeng magdikta kun arin an satong lenggwahe. Sa kahurihurihan, dawa pa si Balagtas, dai man kita mapipirit na mga Bikolano na mag-Tagalog sa Canaman, lalo naman sa Iriga, na garo German an lenggwahe sa paggamit kan schwa sa vowels ninda. Siyerto, dakulang durulak an kakaluwasan kan siring na mga pangyayari. Sa katapusan, namention ko na,daing siisay man, daing arinman na institusyon an mapili kan lenggwahe. Kita sana, kitang minataram nin sarong distinct na lenggwahe sa sarong distinct na lugar. Dai ta puwedeng piriton an mga taga-Partido (with emphasis on the “ó”) na magtaram Masbatenyo. Mapiripit an mga dila ninda. Dawa arin na linguistic establishment dai ini mapapangyari. Dawa si Dato magpasar nin House Bill na Kapampangan na an lenggwahe kan first district kan Camarines Sur, asin dawa an HB na ini borotohan kan saiyang mga kakomplot, Tagalog pa man giraray an magigin language of conversation ni Msgr. Legazpi, huli ta siya Tagalog. ‘Nasidà’ pa man giraray an ‘naraót’ sa Daet, ‘amó’ pa man giraray an ‘iyó’ sa Rinconada, ‘baláy’ pa man giraray an ‘harong’ sa Burias, asin ‘dayô’ pa man giraray an ‘idò’ sa San Fernando. Magpurustahan pa kita, ta iyo iyan an mangyayari.

Tano? Huli ta kun arin man na lenggwahe an tinataram ta sa aroaldaw, that’s the language of our hearts! (Exclamation point). Pinapagian ko saná. Huli ta sa hiling ko, dai dapat magdurulak. Iyo, tibaad, dara sana man ini kan natura kong mabóot asin gusto always peaceful. Alagad, siisay man an habo? Magabát an debate sa lenggwahe. Magabat orog na huli ta aram tang parareho man sana an satong kabotan na magkasinarabotan. Romdomon ta na in the first place, language is a means to understand each other. It is a channel through which everything is put into its necessary place. Tagalog man, Bikol, Cebuano, Rinconada, Buhînon, Albayano, Oasnon, English, Swahili, o Bikol-Partido, saro sana man an destinasyon, an magka-irintindihan. Kun kita mismo an minabarì kan lenggwahe para maglihis ini sa katuyuhan, we lose. Kawâran ta iyan. Kun an gawè nin pagtaram ta sa aroaldaw siring sa doros na minahoyop na dai ta naririsang nag-agi, nagluwas sa satong mga voice box, pasiring sa satong mga nguso, pasiring sa talinga kan paradangog; iyo iyan an natura kan tataramon. I believe tha language is one of the humblest things on earth, it does not flaunt itself. Kun igwang mga lenggwaheng nakaka-orog, bako iyan kasalan kan lenggwahe. Pabayaan ta na saná. Kun nagmamalasakit kita sa sarong lenggwahe, dai kita kaipuhan makidulak tanganing itolod an lenggwahe; kaipuhan ta iyan na taramon. Kun minaagrangay kita na sa belief na our language is dying, then speak the language. Kun sa irarom kan boot ta mâwot tang ibalangibog an satong language, itokdo ta sa satong mga kaakian. Kun sa satong aroaldaw na buhay minatubod kita sa satong lenggwahe bilang pusog na parte kan satong kultura, adalan ta kun pano kaini binibilog an satong psyche, an satong pagkatao, an satong pagka-Bikolano. Daing ibang paagi tanganing masuportahan ta an satong krusada para sa satong lenggwahe kundi an paggamit sa tataramon na iyan. Huli ta iyan an lenggwahe kan satong daghan.

Sabi ngani kan sakong propesor, an bistadong kritiko asin poet na si Gémino Abad, “It won’t matter. There is no English, Tagalog, Ilocano, Bicolano; but there is language. It is that which matters most.”

An mito ni Charice (sa liwat, aki)

2008-12-04T21:02:00.000+08:00

MARICEL Soriano, Snooky Serna, Alma Moreno, Aiza Seguerra, Matet, asin iba pa. Sinda mga child stars kaidto, ngunyan full-fledged nang mga artista. Sa halabang lista kan mga Pilipinong artista—babaye man o lalaki—manlaen-laen na an inabot kan mga ini; igwang naparahay asin mahayahay an buhay, igwang naraot, naaddict sa mga pinapangalad na droga, igwa man na sagkod ngunyan sikat pa asin masilyáb pa an ngaran sa industriya kan pelikula asin telebisyon. An saindang mga inagihan siyertong makakabilog nin mga istoryang magirà para náman sa mga masurunod. Asin huli ta an industriya nin pelikula sa Pilipinas sarong dakula asin nagririmá-rimáng kinaban nin kapitalismo, sa totoo sana, sadit an paglaom kan mga kontemporanyong child stars na magigin madali an dalan para sainda. Lain pa kaiyan, orog na biyong dakula an posibilidad na an búhay-akì dai nanggad ninda maeeksperiyensiya.

Ehemplo kaini si Charice Pempengco. An 16-anyos na aking namidbid sa YouTube kun kaya nakaabot sa mga talk shows ninda Ellen Degeneres asin Oprah Winfrey, ngunyan saro nang celebrity na kinukuragritan sa Pilipinas siring man sa nagkakapirang lugar sa kinaban. Alagad, dai maninigong apodon si Charice bilang sarong child star. Minsan ngani an saiyang edad, istatura, asin abót sa mga tawo iyo na bilang sarong aki, an mga aktibidad kun sain siya namimidbid arog baga kan pag-awit, bako man pan-aki, kundi gibo na kan sarong indibidwal na inabot na an hustong edad para sa mga aktibidad na iyan. Halimbawa, an saiyang mga awit. Huri kong nadálan sa telebisyon si Charice sa Thanksgiving parade sa Hollywood na nagkakanta kan ‘Because You Loved Me” ni Celine Dion. Pirang beses ta naman siyang nadalan na nagpi-perform kan mga kanta ni Whitney Houston. Dakol na pagkakataon nadangog ko siyang nagkanta kan “Hopelessly Devoted.” Mga awit na kun paghohorop-horopan bako man na para sa saiyang edad, kundi para sa mga mas may edad nang parakanta.

Mantang nahihiling ko an natural na kakayahan ni Charice, nahihiling ko man an hilaw na pagbotong sa saiya tanganing magin totoong celebrity singer. An hapot: nasasabotan niya daw an teksto asin konteksto kan saiyang mga kinakanta? Husto na daw an saiyang kaisipan asin pagkatao sa siring na mga mensahe? Huli ta kun dai, na iyo an pagtubod ko, ginigibo sana si Charice na puppet o marionette kan mga kapitalistang nagmamaneho kan saiyang karera bilang parakanta. Orog pang mandata, hinahalean ninda siya nin pagkakataon na mabuhay sa saiyang edad.

Sarong marhay na halimbawa an grupong Smokey Mountain kaidto na an mga kanta mga diskurso na angay asin tamà sa edad kan mga miyembro. An awit na “Kailan” na dapit sa pag-iilusyon o pagpapapansin sa nagugustuhan sarong awit na angay sana sa milieu kan mga nagkanta. An “Mama” na agrangay kan sarong aki sa ina na mayo huli ta naghahanapbuhay sa balyong-dagat tama sana huli ta ini kontemporanyong problema kan mga kaakian. O an “Can This Be Love” sarong paghapot sa sadiri huli sa iba man na namamatean. Siring man an premyadong singer/performer na si Lea Salonga asin an tugang niyang si Gerard. Naroromdoman ko pa an programa ninda kaidtong “Rainbow Connections” kun sain bilang aki, an saindang mga awit mga pan-aki man. Alagad pano kun sa edad na 16, an mga kanta igwa nang mga linya minatukar nin pagdurog sa namomotan, mga bangging naghahalat, pagiging taksil sa pagkamoot, asin iba pa, ano daw an kaaabtan kan parakanta?

Tinutukar ko ini bako sa paghiling na moralista, kundi etika. Huli ta pinangingimotan ta an kaakian nin pagkakataon para magin aki. Nagkakapirang beses na akong nagsurat dapit digdi asin padagos pa akong masurat huli man sa personal na pagkamoot ko—asin pagkamoot man nindo—sa kaakian. Sa hiling ko, binabasang-basang ta sana an pagkaaki kan sarong indibidwal. Sa siring na bagay, nagigin makasadiri sana kita. Hinahalean ta sinda nin paglaom na pakarhayon an maabot na panahon sa paagi kan pagtokdo sainda na isabuhay an satong mga kausmakan siring sa nasambit ko kaidto dapit sa show na “Going Bulilit.” Kun kaya ini sainda sanang ipapadagos na daing pagbabago.

An mito ni Charice Pempengco bilang parakanta dai minanegar na marhay man nanggad an saiyang kakayahan magkanta. Alagad, dinadaya sana kita kan mga kapitalista sa paghaman ninda nin sarong celebrity na siring sa puppet na minaaling sato alagad bilang paraaling dai man nasasabotan an saiyang ginigibo. Sa huri an kaherak-herak iyo an aki. Dai niya naagihan an mga stages na dapat agihan. Dai niya mamamate an hustong kaogmahan na maninigong mamatean sa itinalaan na panahon, asin hahanapon niya ini sa maabot. Dai nanggad kita nadara sa henyo ni Erik Erikson sa saiyang sikolohiyang nagtutubod sa mga tángga nin panahon sa buhay kan sarong tawo: na an lambang eksperiyensiya igwa nin sadiri niyang panahon. Sa liwat, togotan ta man logod sindang magin mga aki.

Carmen

2008-12-01T15:12:00.000+08:00

LIKE many of my wanderings, watching Mabuhay Singers perform live last Thursday, November 26, for their 50th year as a group was never premeditated. This time, it was simply a coincidence involving award-winning poets Vim Nadera and Mike Coroza, and, albeit without his knowledge, National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario or Rio Alma. Mike sent Rio a concert pass through Vim, Vim thought Rio could not make it and, alas, the pass ended up with me. I arrived in Philamlife Auditorium along UN Avenue 30 minutes late after a UP-Mandaluyong-Manila traffic ordea;. When I entered the hall, the group was halfway serenading the crowd with Constancio de Guzman’s Babalik Ka Rin—the first song of the second set which awfully meant that I have missed a dozen songs already. The program notes said I missed a series which included Maalaala Mo Kaya and Hatinggabi.

After Babalik Ka Rin, I was surprised to have known that the concert host was no less than Mrs. Sonia Roco who delivered with gusto glimpses of the history of Mabuhay Singers as well as how the group can indeed be considered a jewel of Filipino music heritage. In the second set, pastoral Philippines was felt in Lawiswis Kawayan, Nicanor Abelardo’s Mutya ng Pasig which is actually my favorite kundiman, Bituing Marikit, Madaling Araw, and several more which were testaments to the group’s place in the musical tradition of our country. It was obvious, however, that the group members—Cely Bautista, Carmen Camacho, Raye Lucero, Peping de Leon, Eddie Suarez, Jimmy Salonga, and Marlon Marifosque—are no longer young in age. But their music was beyond the limits of age. There may have been a difference between their performances now and those done decades ago, but what was highly noticeable was the firm resolve to present the beauty of the Philippines in the songs they sang.

I take special interest in the ‘Tanghalan ng Kampeon’ winner Carmen Camacho because she is a Bikolana. In the third set, which was introduced by Mrs. Roco as the set which would show us the soloist in each of the Mabuhay Singers, Ms. Camacho came in first and sang Philip Maninang’s Magtitiis Ako. She belted the song with a deep alto voice which reminded me of her own versions of Bikol folk songs. We should be reminded that no any other Bikolano singer had ever recorded Bikol songs as many as Ms. Camacho did. Ms. Camacho’s voice was already in the airwaves even before the time my auditory sense started processing sound. While I expect that the Bikol songs she recorded may not move a music scholar’s baton, I firmly believe that everything she did did something great for Bikol music. Why? Because no one had ever dared to do the things she did with equal commitment. Not even the musically schooled. There can be no denying that in this case, even if what Carmen Camacho did was what is considered now as bakya, she had helped prevent Bikol songs from being obliterated and consequently fading from our consciousness. Of course, many would laugh at Sa Baybayon nin Sisirang, Ano Daw Idtong sa Gogon, Pantomina, and other Bikol folk tunes; later, however, and I am sure of this, this region of ‘bulkan Bulusan, Mayon, Isarog, na magayón na tunay...’ will never stop thanking Ms. Camacho.

In the fourth set of the concert, Mike Coroza, who I consider as the walking encyclopedia and almanac of kundiman (unabridged!), led the pagpuputong, an act of honoring the group, with his delivery of what I think were impromptu verses for each of the members. After the pagpuputong the last set saw a series of lilting songs characteristic of the Philippine fiesta traditions. It was nostalgic to hear Mabuhay Singers sang Pista sa Nayon, Fiesta, Pandangguhan, which ended with Amado del Paraguay and George Canseco’s patriotic song Filipinas.

For us Bikolanos, end recipient of Ms. Camacho’s efforts to popularize our own folk songs, her achievement comes as a challenge to do the same if not further. We are a region where music history is practically nowhere to be found. The are no traces of pre-colonial musical practices and, perhaps, the richest collection of songs in our vernacular belongs to the Catholic church. But, indeed, big dreams like really having something we can call as Bikol music may start with us singing them. We have a range of popular stars—from Bugoy to Imelda Papin to the superstar Nora Aunor. We also have singers admired in the scholarly world, like Jonathan Zaens and Raymond Roldan. We have a lot of musicians, all of high caliber and respect. With these, we do not have any legitimate reason to leave Bikol music in the mire of neglect and perhaps, if worse times come, death. Let then the irony come to an end.

Fair trade

2008-11-29T07:51:00.002+08:00

SA KINABAN na ini, igwang mga magagayon na bagay. Hilingon ta sindang idtong mga nakakapagian sa satong aroaldaw na buhay. Isipon ta an mga komplikadong bagay arog kan transportasyon, elektrisidad; asin idto man mga saradit na bagay arog kan mp3 players sa satong mga bulsa, minahatod sa satong pandangog kan mga Cantata ni Bach. O iyan laundry shop na minaligtas sa satong mga kamot tanganing dai maghibog huli sa sabon.

Alagad igwa pang orog na magagayon. Romdoma itong kapihan sa kanto na minasabing an saindang arabica asin robusta tinanom, inataman, ginunò kan mga kamot kan satong mga kahimanwa. O iyan na bag na sukbit kan babae na gibo sa sinaralapid na mga tadang tela, obra maestra kan mga ina na daing lehitimong trabaho. O iyan na nítong tukawan na halatan sa saimong opisina para sa mga naghaharalat, aram mong gibo iyan sa sarong banwaan kan Bikol. Sabihon tang an mga ini orog na magagayon huli ta bako sanang buhay ta an napaparahay kundi buhay man kan iba. Bako daw na mas maogma kun minahigop kita kape na igwang kaaraman na sa paghigop ta igwa kita nin mga natatabangan?

Sa kontemporanyong ekonomiks, igwang inaapod na ‘fair trade.’ Sosog ngani sa Wikipedia, an fair trade is an organized social movement and market-based approach empowering developing country producers and promoting sustainability.’ Sa hiling ko an riribayan na siring kaini haloy na sato poon pa kan madukayan kan mga Europeo an mahiwas tang yaman kan daga, iyo lang ngani iyan ta mayo pa an tataramon na ‘fair.’ Kinua ninda an satong bulawan, mayo kitang nakua. Kinua ninda an satong mga rekado, mayo kitang nakua. Paghaloy-haloy, pati naman an satong mga batag, pinya, abaka, asin kadakol pang nakua karibay an pipirang peseta na dai ngani makabakal nin sarong yardang seda hali sa mga Tsino. Siring man, an prinsipyo kan neo-kolonyalismo asin neo-imperialismo nag-abot, kinua man an satong mga yaman, asin ngunyan,pati na an satong mga mahal sa buhay, mga katood, mga nurse, paratukdo, engineers asin iba pa. Mantang ining mga palyadong riribayan pakusog nin pakusog asin lataw nang marhay, igwang mga para-isip, grupong relihiyoso, asin mga NGO na nagmâwot na kun an mga makukusog na kapangyarihan na ini boot mag-ganansya sa kun anong igwa kita, maninigo sana na magbayad sinda. Kaya, an fair trade.

Sa Pilipinas, an fair trade matè na marhay sa saradit na mga komunidad nin produksiyon. Halimbawa, mga ina na nagma-manufacture nin sabon na gibo sa mga indigenous materials arog kan sabila asin tapayas. Igwa man nagfe-ferment nin local wines na gibo sa mga prutas na puwedeng ipantay sa vino kan mga Sulnupanon. Igwa man mga rural handicraft artisans na nagpoporma nin mga muwebles na dadarahon sa siyudad asin sa ibang nasyon. Kun an mga produktong ini kaidto pinipresyuhan na hababa pa sa tumpok nin kamote sa saúd, ngunyan dai na puwede. Sinisiyerto kan fair trade na tama an halagang kinapabakalan. Tangani man na masustenir an raw materials, kaipuhan na ikonsiderar an kapakanan kan kapalibutan. Sa siring na paagi, igwa nin sustainability an negosyo.

An fair trade sarong pag-atubang sa agyat kan liberalisasyon sa negosyo asin sa pag-abot kan sistema nin ekonomiya na pangkinaban na minagadan sa saradit na mga enterprises. Sa mga panahon na ini na igwang dakulang pagduwa-duwa sa konsepto kan globalisasyon, an mga paratulod kan fair trade arog kan Ten Thousand Villages asin Fair Trade Alliance minasabi na ini minataong paglaom, dignidad, asin kaogmahan sa mga saradit na produser. Tinatawan sinda nin pagkakataon na magkaigwa nin marhay na buhay, income, asin pantustos sa saindang pamilya. Orog sa gabos, minamukna ini nin tulay sa pag-ultanan kan mga barangay asin siyudad, kan mina-uswag pa sana asin kan mauswag na, kan produser asin parabakal, siring na nakikisumaro sinda sa sarong ekonomiya na pang-kinaban.

An punto iyo na puwede man na pilion ta an orog na magagayon, siring na sa sunod tang pag-shopping, puwede ta man purbaran an mga produkto kan fair trade. Madali sana sindang makua huli ta an mga materyal ninda nahihiling ta sa satong palibot. Dai ta sana kaya ini pina-patronize na marhay huli ta sa kombensiyunal na hiling ta maluluyang klase an mga ini kumpara sa imported goods. Tadaw ta dai ta purbaran an sabon na may sabila, an pansit na kalunggay o kalabasa, an hikaw na gibo sa buskay, an kawatan na gibo sa kahoy, kadakol pang iba.

Kaya igwa kitang option na magpili kan orog na magayon, na mahayahay an buhay sa paagi kan mga fair trade products mantang tinatabangan ta man an mga small-time workers na maghanapbuhay—makua man an saindang paglaom, dignidad, asin kaogmahan. Bako daw na orog na marhay? Kadakol pati kaiyan digdi sa Bikol. Purbari baya.

27th National Book Awards

2008-11-17T01:25:00.009+08:00

Citation

In less enlightened times, poetry was thought to have been written only in the metropolis, seen as the center and arbiter of culture and taste. In the last ten years, regional publishing has begun to produce excellent books of literature. One of them is Antisipasyon asin iba pang Rawitdawit sa Bikol asin Ingles, written by Victor Dennis T. Nierva and published by Goldprint in Naga City.

Images of the poet’s Bicol Region are luxuriant in this book. They are memories, presences, and forebodings. But always, the poet’s pen is restrained, the images and lines chiseled. This is a young poet’s book, but some of the poems in this collection—whether in their original Bikol or translated into English—are already some of the best poems of his generation.

For the lapidary quality of his poetry, the National Book Award for Poetry is given to Antisipasyon asin iba pang Rawitdawit sa Bikol asin Ingles.

With Dr. Isagani Cruz.

Fr. Andrew Recepcion, NBA nominee for Theology and Religion, myself, and Kristian Cordero.

Jun Balde, NBA for Poetry winners Vic Nierva and Marne Kilates, Danton Remoto, and Kristian Cordero.

NBDB and MCC announce winners of the 27th National Book Awards

The best published books of 2007 were given special recognition when the National Book Development Board and the Manila Critics Circle announced the winners of the 27th National Book Awards last November 15 at the Yuchengco Museum.

The Ateneo de Manila University Press bagged the Publisher of the Year Award. Among the writers who won awards for their books published in the Philippines in 2007 were Senator Edgardo J. Angara, Senator Juan Flavier, Carmen Guerrero Nakpil, Conrad de Quiros, Fr. Joaquin Bernas, and Tony Perez.

This year’s trophies were designed by young sculptor Glenn Cagandahan.

List of Winners

Anthology. Cordillera in June: Essays Celebrating June Prill-Brett, Anthropologist, edited by B. P. Tapang (UP Press); Mga Piling Dulang Mindanao, Unang Aklat, edited by Arthur P. Casanova (UST Publishing House).

Art & Best Designed Book. Salvador F. Bernal: Designing the Stage, by Nicanor G. Tiongson, designed by Brian Tenorio (NCCA).

Biography/Autobiography. From Barrio to Senado: An Autobiography, by Juan M. Flavier; Legends & Adventures, by Carmen Guerrero Nakpil (Circe Communications); Maria Kalaw Katigbak: A Charmed Life, by Monina Allarey Mercado (Anvil).

Children's Literature. The Boy Who Touched Heaven / Ang Batang Humipo sa Langit, by Iris Gem Li, translated by Roberto Añonuevo (CANVAS and Adarna House).

Drama. Tatlong Paglalakbay: Isang Trilohiya ng Mahahabang Dula, by Tony Perez (UST Publishing House).

Essay/Creative Nonfiction. Pagmumuni-muni at Pagtatalak ng Sirenang Nagpapanggap na Prinsesa: Mga Piling Maikling Sanaysay, by J. I. E. Teodoro (Imprenta Igbaong); Tongues on Fire, by Conrado de Quiros (Anvil).

Fiction. Mga Gerilya sa Powell Street, by Benjamin Pimentel (ADMU Press).

History. Kolonyal na Patakaran at Nagbabagong Kamalayang Filipino: Musika sa Publikong Paaralan sa Pilipinas, 1898-1935, by Raul C. Navarro (ADMU Press); The Saga of La Naval: Triumph of a People’s Faith, edited by Lito B. Zulueta (Dominican Province of the Philippines).

Journalism. The Rulemakers: How the Wealthy and Well-Born Dominate Congress, by Sheila S. Coronel, Yvonne T. Chua, Luz Rimban, and Booma B. Cruz (Anvil).

Law. A Living Constitution: The Troubled Arroyo Presidency, by Joaquin G. Bernas SJ (ADMU Press).

Literary Criticism. Sipat Kultura: Tungo sa Mapagpalayang Pagbabasa, Pag-aaral at Pagtuturo ng Panitikan, by Rolando B. Tolentino (ADMU Press).

Medicine. Bone Tumors in Filipinos: A Collection of 876 Cases from the University of the Philippines Philippine General Hospital, by Edward H. M. Wang and Ariel Vergel de Dios (Bookmark).

Poetry. Antisipasyon asin iba pang Rawitdawit sa Bikol asin Ingles / Anticipation and Other Poems in Bikol and English, by Victor Dennis T. Nierva, translated by Marne L. Kilates and H. Francisco V. Peñones Jr. (Goldprint); Mostly in Monsoon Weather: Poems New & Revisited, by Marne L. Kilates (UP Press); Passages: Poems, 1983-2006, by Edgar B. Maranan (Bookmark).

Sciences. Living with Nature in Our Times, by Abercio V. Rotor (UST).

Social Sciences. Colonial Pathologies: American Tropical Medicine, Race, and Hygiene in the Philippines, by Warwick Anderson (ADMU Press); The Dynamics of Regional Development: The Philippines in East Asia, edited by Arsenio M. Balisacan and Hal Hill (ADMU Press).

Theology & Religion. Investing in Miracles: El Shaddai and the Transformation of Popular Catholicism in the Philippines, by Katharine L. Wiegele (ADMU Press).

Translation. Lagalag sa Nanyang, translated by Joaquin Sy from Nanyang Piaoliuji, by Bai Ren (UP Press).

Travel. Baler, Aurora, by Edgardo J. Angara, Jesus T. Peralta, Domingo Madulid, Jose Maria A. Cariño, Xavier Brisset, Enrique Quezon Avanceña, Manuel L. Quezon III, Ricardo T. Jose, and Juan Edgardo M. Angara (Rural Empowerment Assistance and Development Foundation).

Publisher of the Year. Ateneo de Manila University Press

A citation was given to Vocabulary of the Kapampangan Language in Spanish and Dictionary of the Spanish Language in Kapampangan, translated by Venancio Q. Samson from Vocabulario de Pampango en Romance, y Diccionario de Romance en Pampango (1732), by Diego Bergaño (Holy Angel University Press).

The finalists were chosen by the following professional organizations and academic institutions: American Hospitality Academy, Ateneo Institute of Literary Arts and Practices, Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center, DLSU Business Management Department, DLSU Department of Communications, Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Kuwentista ng mga Tsikiting, NBDB, National Historical Institute, Philippine Economics Society, University of Asia and the Pacific Filipino Department, UP Institute of Creative Writing, UP College of Fine Arts, UP Department of Psychology, UP-NCPAG, UP-NISMED, Philippine Literary Arts Council, Philippine Travel Agencies Association, and Women’s Studies Association of the Philippine.

The winners were chosen jointly by the Manila Critics Circle and the National Book Development Board’s appointed judges. Aside from members of the Manila Crtiics Circle, the following were the NBDB’s appointed judges per category: Dr. Mario Miclat (Anthology), Cid Reyes (Art/Architecture), Dr. Priscelina Legasto (Biography/Autobiography), Usec. Elmer Hernandez (Business and Economics), Neni Sta. Romana-Cruz (Children’s Literature), Chef Richard Cordova (Cook Books and Food), Alvin Yapan (Drama), Dr. Nona Ricafort (Education), Wendell Capili (Essay), Jun Cruz Reyes (Fiction in a Vernacular Language), Charlson Ong (Fiction in a Foreign Language), Prof. Ambeth Ocampo (History), Malou Mangahas (Journalism), Ret. Supreme Court Justice Santiago Kapunan (Law), Dr. Pamela Constantino (Linguistics), Prof. Gary Devilles (Literary Criticism), Dr. Francisco Altarejos (Medicine), Dr. Gemino Abad (Poetry), Dr. Merle Tan (Science), Dr. Zosimo Lee (Social Science), Quinito Henson (Sports), Dr. Dennis Gonzalez (Theology and Religion), Marne Kilates (Translation), Emily Abrera (Travel), and Francisco Doplon (Design).

The 27th National Book Awards is sponsored by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Yuchengco Museum, Manila Bulletin, Galerie Joaquin, Fuji Xerox, and Senator Mar Roxas.

Photographs courtesy of Kristian Cordero

Politika asin nomenklatura

2008-11-17T00:28:00.001+08:00

HAROS sarong taon na an nakakaagi kan nagsurat ako dapit sa pagpapangaran. Kun pâno kitang mga Filipino minatao nin ngaran sa mga mahal sa buhay, ini igwa nin sadiring poetika o estetika na propyong Filipino sana. Halimbawa an pagliwat-liwat nin tanong siring sa Bongbong, Tingting, Raprap, Wewe, asin iba pa. Nasambit ko man an pagsurusurumpay kan mga pangaran kan mga magurang, minsan apôon, minsan paboritong artista, arog kan Jumelmor na hali sa sinumpay na Junefrimor asin Imelda, o an pinaka-ehemplong Luzviminda na báse sa tolong isla kan satong arkipelago. Nasambit ko man an pagiging úso kan ibang pangaran, siring sa Aiza na tundag kan kasikatan ni Aiza Seguerra kaidtong 90s, o Jennifer na girà man kan dialogue sa sarong TV commercial—“Mommy, nawawala si Jennifer....”

Kun hihilingon sa lado kan estetika, igwa kitang mga nangogorog na padron, igwa kitang mga sinusundan asin reglamento na girà kun sain an ‘ngunyan’ may anino kan nakaagi, kan may kapot nin poder, kan orog na midbid, asin iba pa. Igwa kitang sinasarigan na ehemplo na minamâwot tang magin buháy man sa satong mga nginangaránan, tawo man sinda o bako—mga aki, ataman na hayop, maski mga kawatan pang-aki, asin mga gamit sa aroaldaw.

Magayon kutâ na. Huli ta may katuyuhán na sundan an kun ano pa man na karakter kan ginikanan kan ngaran, asin an pagsunod para sa karahayan o kagayonan. Alagad mansayan ta an sarô pang klase nin nomenklatura sa satong nasyon.

Pira daw saná an mga klasrum, barangay hall, covered courts, sports complex, asin iba pang edipisyo kan estado an daing ngaran kan politikong subuot kag-donar? Pira daw an mga bagong tinampo an binunyagan nin ngaran nin politiko? Pira daw an mga edipisyo kan estado na may tinimbrehan na nin pagkadaradakulang pangaran kan politikong nagpapintura man saná ngani kan edipisyo? Ini an nomenklaturang panlansí tanganing maromdoman ta sinda sa panahon kan pirilian, igwang retention power, igwang marketing value, iyan an saindang estetika—kun estetika pa an apod diyan.

An siste kan nomenkaturang ini iyo na an minaluwas kadakol an magka-pangaran o tukayo. An klasrum sa Buhi asin klasrum sa Tapayas, Nabua, puwedeng pareho an pangaran. An barangay hall sa sarong barangay sa Ragay asin man an barangay hall sa Pamplona, puwedeng magkapangaran. An waiting shed Lagonoy kapangaran man kan waiting shed sa Tigaon. Pati scholarships, medical missions, spillways, town squares, singing groups, dance troupes, banda musika, asin iba pa, nangangaranan man. Garo baga brandnames nin mga produkto dawa sain mahihiling mo.

An nangyayari, ini si sinasabi tang: “makauyám ka daw, dawa sain nahihiling taka!”

An makamundô kaini ta dapat nakapangaran an gabos na ini sa mga tawo, mga konstituwentes na iyo na nagbubuwis. Halimbawa, dai man maninigo an siisay man na magbotog na igwa siyang scholarship na pinagbabariwas, o igwa siyang pinatugdok na klasrum, o igwa na maabot an saiyang mga dancers, huli ta an gabos na ini hali sa bulsa kan mga namamanwaan. Dai maninigo an sarong politiko na tiktikan an lanob kan sarong edipisyo kan saiyang ngaran asin pinturahan pa ini nin naglalaad-laad na kolor. Siring man na dapat garong parâon kan mga namamanwaan an mga apelyidong minaukupar kan lakbang kan mga atop nin mga eskwelahan na garo baga ini tugpaan kan saindang mga helicopter.

Ano daw kun gabos kita maghiro para digdi? Ano daw kun i-claim ta bilang satong mga rogaring an mga bagay na ini? Poon sa simple palta-rason arog baga ngaya kan ‘nakakaraot na nin paghiling’ sagkod sa katotoohan na an mga ini satô asin nasa ngaran ta gabos. Puwede gayod kitang maggibo nin komisyon na mahiling digdi, tanganing mahiling ta man an satong edipisyong pang-estado na malinig asin bakong garo mga krismas tree sa panahon nin tag-init. Mahihiling ta an mga plaza, cultural center, poon sa stage sagkod sa mga monoblock chairs na mayong mga selyo—minsan kyutiks—na mga ngaran nin siisay man na subuot kag-donar. Huli ta an siisay man politikong mag-claim kan siring na bagay bilang bunga kan saiya subuot na paglapigot dapat na masupog sa mga namamanwaan. Huli ta an ngaran dapat na ‘namamanwaan.’

Kaya ngani para sako magayon na an ngaran na Maharlika Highway, botogon an ngaran huli ta asul an dugo, alagad minapamidbid sa karakter ta gabos.

Ergonomics

2008-11-12T10:14:00.002+08:00

BARACK Obama won. The world came to know it in less than twenty-four hours. In no time, we Filipinos will be joking about our honorable plebiscites compared to that of the US. We are a developing country and there’s something with my using ‘developing’ instead of ‘third world.’ It was our initial reaction to compare how the process of our elections had been far slower than snails crawling on their own slime. Before we knew it, it will have become an Aunt Sally slowly creeping in and then cliché-ing in our system.

The keyword is ergonomics. It is something how our office corners position us in such a way that we can reach for everything we need,from paper clips to computer keyboard, during office hours. It is something how our kitchens are so convenient that we can negotiate with the stove and the fridge at the same time no matter how oriental our cooking place may be. We, Filipinos, however, are not very keen about convenience in working. Take note of our offices—government halls in particular—and how they are in utter mess. How many of our town or city halls have their registry, revenue, and cashier’s offices in different floors or—worse—different buildings? Or hospitals where the medical supply stores are blocks away from the pharmacies? In UP, for example, the cashier is ridiculously a jeep-ride away from the registrar’s office when in fact the two offices should have been housed in one building. Next time, don’t ever wonder why our government buildings are cramped up with people lining up for documents, appeals, medicines, endorsements, permits, name them.

Even most Filipino homes are not ergonomic in structure. Trust me. How many homes have kitchens that are not actually being used because the owners have had ‘dirty kitchens’ made up in extension rooms. People I have spoken with about these things would assert that ergonomics are for more developed societies where homes and workplaces are constructed with built in magnet-locked cabinets and paneled with fancy wallpapers. But haven’t we thought that we, the poorer ones, are in direr need of ergonomics. Think of the cost, time, space, energy, and other essential things we can save for more valuable matters.

Our crime investigating bodies boast of modern facilities and yet we have tons of unresolved crimes, from the pettiest to the most complicated. We are awed of how crimes are solved in the CSI series on TV with the investigators sporting sleek aluminum cases with all the gadgets that get evidences. They even got mobile labs. Of course, CSI is half-fiction but nonetheless are hints how ergonomics may help us more in crime busting. I believe we can afford it, considering the figures some police authorities would have spent in Moscow had de la Paz did not mess up.

Our government have already splurged big amount of money for the so-called modernization of our elections. Yet, until the last elections, what we have seen were aged ballot boxes, extra-large brown sheets for the canvassing, bottles of indelible ink that were not really effective, and pencils, felt-tipped pens, and padlocks with the acronym ‘Comelec’ branded on them. I should have not mentioned candlesticks and matches in case of brownouts. Before voting, tedious were the classroom-hopping sprees just looking for one’s precinct. Thus, Philippine elections last for months at most. Here is where most fraud are made.

It’s time I think for us to consider ergonomics as one criterion for everything we do especially now that the whole world is deep in economic trouble. If employers are now looking for employees who are capable of multitasking, the government in its acquisitions should also think of equipment that are long-lasting and have multiple purposes. It’s time to think a little futuristic while other countries no longer think of our futuristic things as futuristic. Think of election computers, electronic canvassing machines, online transmission of votes. Consider eBidding to prevent ghost bidders. Consider the three or four or five-in-one machines instead of buying three or four or five separate machines. Less materials and shorter time, less corruption. Think of these before it’s too late.

Oh, and yes, Barack won, and the world knew it all before the clock ticks twenty-four hours. Perhaps, ergonomically speaking, we should strongly consider bringing back the two-party system.

Finalists of National Book Awards 2007

2008-10-26T12:58:00.000+08:00

(Thank God! This entry was taken from Isagani R. Cruz's blog. It also appeared in his column 'Mini-critiques" in The Philippine Star, Thursday, 23 October 2008.)

According to the Manila Critics Circle and the National Book Development Board, these are the finalists for the National Book Awards for books published in 2007:

ANTHOLOGY. A la Carte, edited by Cecile Manguerra Brainard and Marily Ysip Orosa; At Home in Unhomeliness, edited by J. Neil C. Garcia; Best Filipino Stories, edited by Gemino H. Abad and Gregorio C. Brillantes; Cordillera in June, edited by B. P. Tapang; Ang Dagling Tagalog, 1903-1936, edited by Rolando B. Tolentino and Aristotle Atienza; Mga Piling Dulang Mindanao, edited by Arthur P. Casanova; Very Short Stories for Harried Readers, edited by Vicente Garcia Groyon.

ART / ALFONSO T. ONGPIN PRIZE. Philippine Church Façades, by Pedro G. Galende, OSA; Pinoy Dressing, by Barge Ramos; Salvador F. Bernal, by Nicanor G. Tiongson.

BIOGRAPHY / AUTOBIOGRAPHY. From Barrio to Senado, by Juan M. Flavier; Legends & Adventures, by Carmen Guerrero Nakpil; A Man and His Music, by Angel M. Peña; Maria Kalaw Katigbak, by Monina Allarey Mercado.

CHILDREN’S LITERATURE. The Boy Who Touched Heaven / Ang Batang Humipo sa Langit, by Iris Gem Li, translated by Roberto Añonuevo; Dalawang Bayani ng Bansa, by Rene O. Villanueva; Sampu Pataas, Sampu Pababa, by Russell Molina; Tight Times, by Jeanette C. Patindol.

COOKBOOKS AND FOOD. Cooking for Health, by Cris C. Abiva, Luz S. Callanta, and Atel E. Jazmines; An Introduction to Coffee, by Pacita U. Juan and Ma. Regina S. Francisco.

DRAMA. Psychedelia Apocalypsis at Iba Pang Dula, by Nicolas B. Pichay; Tatlong Paglalakbay, by Tony Perez.

EDUCATION: Magaling ang Pinoy!, by Queena N. Lee-Chua, Ma. Isabel Sison-Dionisio, and Nerisa C. Fernandez.

ESSAY / CREATIVE NONFICTION. Into the Country of Standing Men, by Rey Ventura; Pagmumuni-muni at Pagtatalak ng Sirenang Nagpapanggap na Prinsesa, by J. I. E. Teodoro; Tongues on Fire, by Conrado de Quiros.

FICTION / JUAN C. LAYA PRIZE. Mga Gerilya sa Powell Street, by Benjamin Pimentel.

SHORT FICTION. The Kite of Stars & Other Stories, by Dean Francis Alfar.

HISTORY. Assembly of the Nation, by Manuel L. Quezon III, Jeremy R. Barns, Emmanuel A. Albano, Ricardo T. Jose, and Manuel F. Martinez; Forcing the Pace, by Ken Fuller; Kolonyal na Patakaran at Nagbabagong Kamalayang Filipino, by Raul C. Navarro; Occupation, by Benito J. Legarda Jr.; The Saga of La Naval, edited by Lito B. Zulueta.

JOURNALISM. Dateline Manila, by Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines; Exposé, by Boy Villasanta; The Rulemakers, by Sheila S. Coronel, Yvonne T. Chua, Luz Rimban, and Booma B. Cruz.

LAW. A Living Constitution, by Joaquin G. Bernas SJ.

LINGUISTICS. (Re)making Society, edited by T. Ruanni F. Tupas.

LITERARY CRITICISM. Ang Bayan sa Labas ng Maynila / The Nation Beyond Manila, by Rosario Cruz-Lucero; A Handbook of Philippine Folklore, by Mellie Leandicho Lopez; Sipat Kultura, by Rolando B. Tolentino.

MEDICINE. Bone Tumors in Filipinos, by Edward H. M. Wang and Ariel Vergel de Dios.

POETRY. Antisi*Pasyon asin iba pang Rawitdawit sa Bikol asin Ingles / Anticipation and Other Poems in Bikol and English, by Victor Dennis T. Nierva, translated by Marne L. Kilates and H. Francisco V. Peñones Jr.; Dissonant Umbrellas, by Angelo V. Suarez; Malagilion: Sonnets tan Villanelles, by Santiago B. Villafania; Mannahatta Mahal, by Luis Cabalquinto; Mostly in Monsoon Weather, by Marne L. Kilates; Passage, by Edgar B. Maranan; Pusuanon, by Kristian Sendon Cordero, translated by Marne L. Kilates and H. Francisco V. Peñones Jr.; Textual Relations, by Ramil Digal Gulle.

SCIENCES. Living with Nature in Our Times, by Abercio V. Rotor.

SOCIAL SCIENCES. Colonial Pathologies, by Warwick Anderson; The Dynamics of Regional Development, edited by Arsenio M. Balisacan and Hal Hill.

SPORTS. Sports @ Far Eastern University, by Manolo R. Iñigo, Mark Molina, and Gloria R. Aligada.

THEOLOGY & RELIGION. Body and Sexuality, edited by Agnes M. Brazal and Andrea Lizares Si; God’s Global Household, by Andrew Gimenez Recepcion; Investing in Miracles, by Katharine L. Wiegele.

TRANSLATION. Lagalag sa Nanyang, translated by Joaquin Sy from Nanyang Piaoliuji, by Bai Ren.

TRAVEL. Baler, Aurora, by Edgardo J. Angara, Jesus T. Peralta, Domingo Madulid, Jose Maria A. Cariño, Xavier Brisset, Enrique Quezon Avanceña, Manuel L. Quezon III, Ricardo T. Jose, and Juan Edgardo M. Angara; Iloilo, edited by Anita Feleo.

BEST DESIGN. Dissonant Umbrellas, designed by Angelo V. Suarez, Constantino Zicarelli, Keith Dador, Sandra Palomar, Mark Salvatus, Stephanie Yapnayon, Macy Cruz, Mike Mendoza, Julie Grafia, and Dwein Trahata Baltazar; Cebu, designed by Norrino C. Hernandez; Lola Puti, designed by Vanessa Tamayo; Pearl of the Orient, designed by Felix Mago Miguel; The Saga of La Naval, designed by Bong Bundag, Florentino Bolo OP, and Robbie Villegas; Salvador F. Bernal, designed by Brian Tenorio; Sol, designed by Farley del Rosario; Tight Times, designed by Sergio T. Bumatay III.

The book entitled Vocabulary of the Kapampangan Language in Spanish and Dictionary of the Spanish Language in Kapampangan will be given a citation.

Lupi, sa edad na 282

2008-10-12T14:55:00.001+08:00

IGWA pirming paghidaw pag minasurat ako dapit sa banwaan na Lupi na sakong dinakulaan. Huli ta an mga giromdom garo doros na minabalik dara an mga nakaagi, na dai nanggad dapat malingawan tanganing orog na masabotan an ngunyan. Sa kagabsan, magayon an Lupi sa pastoral kaining kamugtakan—agrikultura an mayor na hanapbuhay, simple an aroaldaw na buhay, tuninong, mapresko an palibot, simple sana an mga pangangaipo—harayo sa komplikado asin magastos na buhay sa siyudad. Kun hihilingon, progresibo an Lupi sa mga yaon nang mapagkukuahan kaini nin sadiring pagbuhay. Siring man, an historya kan banwaan na saro sa mga suanoy na banwaan kan Bikol minapasabong kuta na an Lupi igwang mayaman na nakaagi. Mga bagay ini na puwedeng pag-ugatan nin darakulang bagay, orog nang sa halabaon na panahon an Lupi minadanay na bontol an pagtalubo sa lado kan ekonomiya. Tibaad kulang sana kita nin pagtanaw sa mayaman na nakaagi kan banwaan na nangaki kan nagkakapira pang banwaan kan Ambos Camarines sa mga enot kaining panahon.

Kaya magayon an proyekto ni P. Marco ‘Macmac’ Asoro, kura paroko kan Lupi, na balikan an historya kan banwaan sa pagpintakasi kaini kan ika-282 taon (1726-2008) bilang parokya sa Oktubre 17, Biyernes. Saro ining paghiro pasiring sa orog pang pagkamidbid kan mga namamanwaan kan ‘pagkabanwaan’ kan Lupi. Inaagda kan parokya kan Lupi (San Pedro Bautista) an gabos sa maghapon na aktibidad na inapod na ‘Banal na Paglakbay (A Pilgrimage to the Old Church Ruins),’ asin may temang ‘Lupi church ruins, a window to the past,’ kun sain babalikan an lumang simbahan kan Lupi sa balyo kan Salog Sulóng sa Barangay San Pedro. An minasunod iyo an mga nakatalaan na aktibidad: a. pagbaklay pasiring sa lumang simbahan/banwaan, b. lecture sa historya kan Lupi, c. pagselebrar kan Misa sa lumang simbahan, asin an d. pag-dedicate asin pagbugtak kan rebulto ni San Pedro Bautista sa mismong altar kan lumang simbahan. Dakulang bagay ini huli ta sa halawig na panahon, ngunyan sana magkakaigwa nin siring na mga aktibidad sa Lupi na katakod kan mayaman kaining historya.

An nababásang historya kan Lupi limitado sana sa monograpong nasa Souvenir Program kan 1990 Lupi Town Fiesta asin sa libro ni Jaime Malanyaon na Kabikolan: A History. Sa mga pagkalap ko nin mga datos dapit sa nakaagi kan Lupi, kadakol an puwedeng ikadugang digdi. Sosog ki P. Jesus Esplana a monograpo niya dapit ki Jorge Barlin, nagin pastor suboot ini kan Lupi sa pag-ultanan kan mga taon 1875 asin 1877. Alagad sa listahan kan mga nagin kura kan Lupi, nagpoon ini ki P. Martin Balmes kan taon 1877. Tibaad an mga siring kaining pagkalap datos orog pang agyat sa mga taga-Lupi tanganing isihon talaga an dakol pang detalye kan nakaagi kan banwaan.

Kadakol an mga ginigikanan kan kolor kan historya kan Lupi na minapoon sa sa pag-abot ni Fray Juan de la Hos kan taon 1701 asin pagkadukáy sa lugar na ini sa pampang kan salog kun sain nginaranan ini hali sa mga doot na lupis na marambong sa gilid kan salog. Anom na beses man na nagpalipat-lipat nin lugar an kabisera kan banwaan huli naman sa mga politikal asin kistorikal na mga pangyayari sa paglaog kan 1900. An presenteng poblacion (Lupi Viejo), asin an mga barangay kan Tapi (Lupi Nuevo) asin San Pedro an nagin mga lugar. An paglaog kan serbisyo nin ferrocarril (railways) sa Kabikolan dakulang gayo an epekto sa Lupi. Naenot ko nang nasambit kaidto sa column na ini na sa halabang panahon, an tren an nagin lunadan palaog asin paluwas sa Lupi.

Magin an lumang simbahan sa San Pedro na sentro kan aktibidad ngunyan na taon igwa man nin mga istorya. Sarong beses ko sanang nadumanan an simbahan na ini huli ta abandonado, garabâ na, asin nasa puwerang lugar. Nasa elementarya ako kaidto asin an pagkaduman ko huli sana man sa kasutilan kan sarong aki. Huli ta an simbahan nasa balyong salog, delikado an dalan, tibaad madisgrasya, malamos sa salog, o matukâ nin halas. Alagad nakaduman ako agyat naman kan mga kapwa aki na boot sana man magdayán-dayán. Mahibog an mga balagon asin doot na minatambon sa lumang simbahan, madiklom asin makahoy, asin tinutubudan na sa dating altar kaini igwang nag-eerok na dakulang sawá na kayang maghálon nin mga aki. Kun kaya kan naabot mi si lugar, biyong patipupulì na ako, huli sa saralak na takot asin sa posibilidad na maanggotan asin mapákol.

Sa pagbalik ngunyan kan mga tawo, taga-Lupi man o bako, sa lumang simbahan kan banwaan, horop-horop nin pagtanaw liwat sa nakaagi an pangapodan, siring man an orog pang makosog na pagmakulog sa banwaan na nangangaipo nin pagtarabangan asin pagtulod siring sa kauswagan, sarong bagay na orog na mahamis gibohon kun igwang pagtubod na an mga ini mga balaog kan Kalangitan asin kaipuhan nanggad na pagyamanaon. Duman kita sa Lupi!

Osipon (asin) banwaan

2008-09-28T18:19:00.001+08:00

MINAKILING kitang daing ontok sa teknolohiya sa anuman na aspekto kan satong kontemporanyong buhay. Garo baga hinihiling ta ini bilang sarong panacea na may kapangyarihan bolongon an gabos tang kaolangan asin mga depekto kan kinaban. Poon sa mga bayolohikal tang kakundian, sagkod sa pang-aroaldaw tang agi-agi, kaiba na digdi an pagtalubo kan satong mga kaakian. Itinotogot tang magin surrogate parents an mga digital games, TV shows, internet, asin iba pa. Igwa pa nganing mga aki na bakong ido, ikos, sira, o gamgam an mga ataman na hayop, kundi mga digital pets na digital man an pagkakan, digital man an paghangos asin pagturog, digital man an interaksiyon, kun siring digital man an pagkabuhay. Sa siring na paagi, nabubuhay an kadaklan sa satong kaakian na mala-teknolohiya man; minasarig sana sa ginigikanan kan kosog, arog kan kuryente asin teknolohikal man an ikinakabuhay siring sa mga instant noodles asin powdered fruit juice.

Naroromdoman ko ini mantang naroromdoman ko an mga suanoy na osipon banwaan (folktales) na inagihan ko kan ako aki pa. Siring man na dai ko sinasabi na an mga osipon banwaan na ini mga panacea na kaomayan man kan gabos na helang. Alagad nagtutubod ako na dakula an implikasyon kan padagos na pagkawara kaini sa ekonomiya kan pagtalubo kan sarong tawo. Kun paghohorop-horopan, tibaad may koneksyon ini sa pagpaorog sa mga teknikal na disiplina sa satuyang mga unibersidad. Tibaad man na yaon man sa penomenon na ini an kasimbagan.

Sa mga osipon banwaan, an aki amay na nabobotong sa pamimilosopiya. Amay niyang nanonôdan an maghapot kan ‘tano?’ An Marxistang karakter kan mga osipon banwaan an minapasabong kan pagkasabot na ini. Poon sa mga katutubong osipon banwaan, alamat, asin mito kan Ibalong, sa mga istorya ni Juan Osong, hanggan sa mga sinublian tang osipon siring kan mga pabula si Esopo, mga pantastikong obra ni Hans Christian Andersen, mga koleksiyon kan magtugang na Jakob asin Wilhelm Grimm, sagkod sa ‘mga kuwento ni Lola Basyang’ ni Severino Reyes, asin iba pa, an mga osipon banwaan mga pangatorogan pasiring sa utopia, kinaban na minasûpay an katanosan, pantay-pantay an lambang saro, sosyudad na maogma asin matiwasay, marhay an buhay—perpekto.

An karakter mismong ini an minadara sa siisay man na paradangog o parabasa kan osipon banwaan pasiring sa sadiring pagmâwot na makisaro sa paghaman nin matanos na sosyudad. Siring man na an pagmâwot na ini dai nawawâran nin paghapot—tano? Huli ta an pagmâwot dai suhay sa pagsabot niya kan saiyang sadiri asin man kan mga bagay-bagay sa saiyang palibot na tinatakod niya sa mga alegorya asin mga representasyon na nasa mga osipon na hineras saiya kan saiyang mga magurang o mga matûá. An mga osipon banwaan na ini panô nin mga ironiya o parikála na orog na minapakosog sa kakayahan kaining mang-agdang himohon an katanosan na pangaturogan. Romdomon sa saro sa mga osipon banwaan kan mga Grimm, sarong ina an nagdusay kan haros gabos na importanteng parte kan saiyang lawas tanganing mahanap niya an nawawarang aki. Siring man sa mga istorya ni Juan Osong kun sain manlaenlaen na sakripisyo an dapat gibohon tanganing maabot an anuman na minamâwot.

Naenot ko na nasambit na tibaad yaon man sa penomenon na ini an kasimbagan. Kaya tibaad kun papadanayon ta an pagpalakop kan mga osipon na ini, kaáyon na sa paglakop kan mga teknikal na disiplina kan kontemporanyong panahon, magkakaigwang panibâgong resulta an edukasyon. Huli ta minsan teknikal an pag-aadal, an tawo kaya man na maghorop-horop, bako sanang maghaman o maggibo o magin lábot sana sa resulta, kundi pati sa paagi man. Sa liwat, bako man na panacea, harmoniya kan kongkreto asin abstrakto, an teknikal asin an arte. Tibaad, magkaigwa kita nin mga nurse na minatabang magpaomay bako sana kan pisikal na helang kundi pati naman mga kakundian kan ‘laog’ kan tawo; o mga inhinyero na bako sanang paratogdok nin harong kundi minatogdok nin posog asin maogmang harong; o mga programmer na minahaman nin mga programs na bako sanang minapagian sa agi-agi kan tawo alagad minadara nin totoo asin dayaday na kaogmahan sa gabos. Sa puntong ini minabalik an suanoy na esensiya kan gabos, an katanosan sa ‘laog’ kan tawo, na kapinônan kan maogmang kinaban.

Romdomon ta na lambang osipon banwaan minatapos sa ‘...asin poon kaidto sinda nagin tunay na maogma.’

Nostalgia: Railroad ads of the past

2008-09-25T15:07:00.003+08:00

I wondered what happened, but for sheer awe about things now gone, I wept when I saw these ads. I wish I were there aboard the tourist cabin.

Manila Railroad Company Ad, 1928.

Manila Railroad Company Ad, 1923.

Manila Railroad Company Ad, 1921.

Facsimiles courtesy of the Railways and Industrial Heritage Society of the Philippines, Inc.

Real figures (laptops in DepEd Cam Sur)

2008-08-23T14:45:00.008+08:00

THIS MORNING, Mother showed me a piece of paper the procurement office of DepEd Camarines Sur issued her earlier this week. Encoded on the paper were the specifications of an Acer TravelMate 4320-10050(8)Mi. Mother was actually happy because it would mean she will soon have her own service laptop—something which a headmaster of a public high school must have because of voluminous paper works. I think I actually spoiled her excitement when I discovered the price of the item at the bottom of the page. The December 2007-release Acer notebook costs Php 49,980! Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the notebook will be delivered with a free Acer Targus bag, and Linux—which is open source—for OS. My daily companion MacBook still costs around Php56K, and even lesser on promo days. But what’s the 6K difference when with the package you won’t have to worry about OS, drivers, warranty coverage, after-sales services, and computer viruses.

Fool me about Pythagorean Theorem, standard deviation, analysis of variance, and Euclidian Mathematics, I won’t even budge; but you can’t mess with me about computers.

The thing is, there’s corruption somewhere in this matter. And if this is happening in the division level, how much more in the regional or even national? What’s worse is how these procurement officers capitalize on the poor teachers’ innocence over matters of technology. The bastards knew—and so did their cohorts of agents and suppliers—even the 286 IBM computers could be worshipped in the barrios without letting them know it had already long been shelved.

To make things clear, here are the exact specs of laptop DepEd Cam Sur provides for requesting schools and school heads:

Acer TravelMate 4320-10050Mi

Intel Celeron® Processor
Celeron® M Processor 540SR (1.86Ghz, 1MB Cache, 533Mhz FSB)
Mobile Intel® GL960 Express chipset with integrated 3D graphics
512MB DDR2 RAM (Upgradable to 2GB)
14.1” WXGA TFT color LCD, supporting 1280 x 800 pixel resolution
Intel® Graphic Media Accelerator (GMA) X3100 with up to 358/3845MB of Intel® DVMT

8MB of dedicated up to 350MB of shared system memory
80GB SATA HDD
Integrated 8X DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive
2.4kg, 331(W) x 248 (D) x 29.7/41.08 (H) mm
Linux

Integrated 56Kbps modem & 10/100/1000Mbps LAN
Two built-in Acer 3DSonic stereo speakers
Integrated Acer Crystal Eye webcam, supporting enhanced
Acer PrimeLite Technology
Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Wireless Connection

Built-in Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR Technology
Built-in New Acer Crystal Eye Webcam supporting
6-cell Li-ion Battery Pack
3.0 hour battery life
Card slot (Type III)
5-in-1 card reader (SD™, MMC, MS, MS PRO, xD)
Four USB 2.0 ports
IEEE 1394 port
1 Local Limited Warranty & 1-year International Traveller Warranty

FREE ACER TARGUS BAG (in upper caps)

Php 49,980.00

See, it’s not even using Intel Dual Core! Its RAM isn’t even figured in GB! Why would I spend Php50K for a 2007-release Acer TravelMate 4320-10050Mi when I can be better off with an Acer Aspire 4710-3A1G08Mi, using Intel Centrino Duo and with a 1GB RAM for around Php40,000—add Php5K for a licensed Windows XP.

The truth is, no non-Dual Core laptop today costs higher than Php40K or to some extent even 30K. The Php49,980 price of this TravelMate is too much, already one-year old, and must have already been lowered, considering the thousands of newer models that came between the date of its release (December 2007) and now. I doubt if these procurement officers knew that market prices of certain products lower after some time, except for land, gold, and few essential constants.

At eBay Philippines, a brand new Acer TravelMate 4320-1000508Mi can be bought at Php27,900.

At notebookreview.com, Acer TravelMate 4320 costs $889, which is around Php43K. This was the 2007 release price.

At filgifts.com, this model costs $711.62 (Philippine price), which is around Php34.5K.

Why would I opt for a 2007 Acer at Php40K when I can actually have a better laptop in a Lenovo Y410 at the same price? Lenovo has a sturdier name being associated with IBM. Y410 has Intel Dual Core processor, 2GB RAM, 160GB Hard Drive, and has a face recognition capability—which sounds fantastic—for access security.

Or why would I rest for these brands when I can have the sleek MacBook with Intel 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo, 1GB RAM, 13.3-inch glossy widescreen display, nearly 1-inch thickness at Php56K. It has already its built-in Leopard OS X. Mine came with a free Klipsch Pro Media Ultra 2.0 speakers worth Php6K. You'll get the speakers if you bought your Mac from Ynzal. You'll get a free iPod if you bought it from PowerMac Center.

Now, enough of the technical terminologies and acronyms, which could have been the reason why teachers requesting for mobile computers didn’t complain. Nobody recognized the overpricing. Probably many did not understand much in the specs. Who would? It’s all jargons and abbreviations that sum up one six-letter name: laptop. Computer technicians and sales persons could have been there to explain things to us children of the lesser gods of the modern world. But of course, biddings had already been closed—or worse, prearranged—and contract signings done, and grinning suppliers are just waiting for job orders to come. Where are the procurement officers? I really don’t know. But wherever they maybe, the poor teachers from the barrios can and must always question them on matters like the one we’re singling out right now. In the end, as radicals, activists, democratic thinkers, honest leaders—not to exclude chronic complainers, explicators-on-podiums legislators, and, of course, El Presidente—say, “it’s taxpayers’ money, it’s public money.”

As for Mother, I really don’t want to frustrate her. She’s having my old laptop refurbished. I, on the other hand, am thinking of saving more to buy Mother the fashionable yet inexpensive ASUS Eee PC 4G, which very much befits her work.

Tano ta makangangalas an Mayon?

2008-08-22T17:02:00.001+08:00

PAÏNÍT NA nin païnít an kompetisyon para sa Seven Wonders of Nature—na mátápos sa pito sanang representante kan mga natural na mga kangangalasan kan kapalibotan sa bilog na kinaban. Maogma saná ining pagsundan huli ta igwang apat na entries an Pilipinas sa ralaban na ini: an Chocolate Hills, Mt. Mayon, Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, asin an Tubbataha Reef. Lataw na napapaboran kan mga turista asin mga siyentipiko an satong mga pambatò, láin pa iyan sa pagbabalangibog na ginigibo kan mga organisasyon na nagtutulog kan lambang entry (an gobyerno probinsyal kan Albay an nasa likod kan nominasyon kan Mt. Mayon). Masuwerteng gayo ta an apat tang pambatò pirming nasa top twenty (top ten ngani kan mga enot na bulan), na kun iisipon lalantupan sana kan bilyones na bóto, halimbawa, kan mga taga-India, an bóto kan mga Pilipino. O bako daw na mas internet-savvy sana an mga Pinoy? Arog man kan Tsina na igwa man nagkakapirang lista sa mga nominadong lugar. Tibaad kaya sa nakaaging walong taon inatupag nguna ninda kanigoan alagad magayon na Beijing Olympics, na nagtugdas man nin dagdag pang modernong kangangalasan: an Bird’s Nest asin an ‘masabóng’ National Aquatics Center.

Kun hararom na hihilingon, marhay an mga siring na proyekto, bastang sa katapusan dai saná komersyalismo an mangorog. Sa pag-recognize kan mga wonders of nature na ini, natatâwan nin focus an pagpadánay sa mga espesyal na lugar na kaipuhan na gayo nin pangangataman. Sa lampas 300 na nominado, nasa top ten an Cox’s Bazar Beach (Bangladesh), Sundarbans Forest (Bangladesh), Galapagos Islands, Iguasso Falls, Cappadocia Rock Formation, Mekong asin Ganges Rivers, Al-hasa Oasis sa Saudi Arabia, Amazon River and Forest, Ha-long Bay sa Vietnam.

Sa huring live ranking kan borotohan, luwas na sa top-seven an mga pambatò ta. Huli kaiyan, napahapot ako, ano man baya talaga an sarong wonder of nature?

Sosog sa diksiyunaryo, an ‘wonder,’ 1. sarong pagmate nin pagkakubhan may kasalak na pag-omaw, huli sa sarong bagay na magayon, o dai linalaoman, dai pamilyar, o dai maipaliwanag, 2. ini kalidad nin sarong tawo o bagay o pangyayari na kakaiba, asin maninigong omawon. An ‘nature’ man iyo an natural na kapalibotan asin an manlaenlaen na penomena kaini.

Boot kong mansayan an Mayon, bako huli ta ini nasa Bikol, kundi ako nagtutubod na orog pa sa ibang nominado, ini sarong totoong natural na kangangalasan kan kapalibotan. Uya an sakong mga dahilan:

Mayò ining kabaing na anupaman na bukid o bulkan sain man sa bilog na kinaban. Dawa an Fujiyama kan Japan natatamongan nin niyebe, an maka-hadeng tindog kan Mayón minahaman kan saiyang pagiging lain sa iba.

An daing-kabaing na kagayonan kan Mayon nahaman kan paliwat-liwat na pagsabog kaini sa laog nin rinibong taon. Daing anuman na interbensyon na ginibo—o magigibo—an tawo tanganing magin siring kaiyan an lawog kan Mayon.

An kangangalasan kan Mayon orog na mahihiling sa orog na peligrosong mga panahon—kun tano ta minadakol an mga tawo sa Albay sa mga panahon na minatúga an bulkan.

Kadakol an mga bulkan sa bilog na kinaban, kadakol sa mga ini an bantog, sa ngirhat kan pagtúga o anupaman, alagad an Mayon bantog na igwang kabilogan an pagiging bantog: magayon an lawog, madetalyeng nakaagi, makolor na literatura, na minasagom sa mga tawong nasa paligid kan bulkan.

Kun iisipon, an pagbóto bako an pinakamarhay na paagi tanganing mabilog an Seven Wonders of Nature. Kun ini sana an susunudon, siguradong matatambunan an bóto kan Pilipinas kan mga darakulang nasyon. Sa mga kategorya, halimbawa, kan mga sálog, bukid, gubat, mga natural formations; kadakol sanang magkakaparareho, arog baga ngaya kan Ganges (dai ko man minimenos), an salog na ini dakula an importansya sa relihiyon kan India, siring man an Mekong, alagad kadakol sindang kapareho. Kun kayâ an elemento kan wonder napaparà, marhay na sana kun an satong hinahanap Natural Sites with Great Significance to Culture and Human Activities. Alagad bako man. An hinahanap makangangalas na kalidad kan kapalibotan, daing kabaing, maninigo nin dakulang pag-omaw.

Iyo ini an dahilan kun tano ta nangangagda ako na magboto kita sa Mayon asin sa iba pang pambato kan Pilipinas. An gabos tang pambato mga totoong kangangalasan kan kapalibotan, daing kapareho sain man sa kinaban. Sa satong pagboto, igwa kitang naitatama, an pagkasabot kun ano man nanggad an wonder of nature. Dai ta nanggad na uliton si nangyari sa Banaue Rice Terraces na dai nakalaog sa New Seven Wonders of Nature, dawa ngani ini kwalipikadong marhay, asin functional pa sagkod sa ngunyan! Natahuban sana ini kan higanteng estatuwa sa Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, na bako man nganing relihiyoso an nangongorog na function ngunyan, kundi panturismo.

Kaya, para sa Mayon asin sa iba pang pambato kan Pilipinas, magboróto kita. Para sa pagboto, dumanan an www.new7wonders.com.

Of and in Bikol

2008-08-18T12:25:00.004+08:00

IT IS already official, the Aréjola Foundation for Social Responsibility, Inc. (AFSRI) will be conferred with the Gawad Pedro Bucaneg, a recognition for organizations promoting advancements in Philippine literature, by the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL). Former director of UP Institute of Creative Writing and UMPIL President Vim Nadera says that Gawad Bucaneg had not been awarded in the recent years, only this year when Arejola Foundation reached their knowing and proved itself to be worthy of the prestigious recognition.

Juliana Arejola-Fajardo Workshop sa Pagsurat-Bikol

Not too widely known to many Bikolanos, The Arejola Foundation runs two of the most essential components of the contemporary Bikol literary scenes: the Juliana Arejola-Fajardo Workshop sa Pagsurat-Bikol (JAFWPB) and the Premio Tomas Arejola para sa Literaturang Bikolnon (PTALB). Without these two projects by the Foundation, Bikol literary scene could have been less animated and still somehow Manilacentric in many things.

Gone were the days when our young creative writers took chance solely in the literary workshops sponsored by Manila universities like the University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila, and University of Sto. Tomas. A few of our writers even went island-hopping to Iligan, Bacolod, or Dumaguete for their works to be workshopped by some of the country’s best writers. None of the mentioned literary workshops, however, offered slots for Bikol literary works. I was a fellow of the 44th UP National Writers Workshop to which I brought in poems—ráwitdáwit—in Bikol, but my batch was the last UPNWW accepting literary works in the regional languages. UPNWWs thereafter have been devoted to mid-career writers. When I became a fellow of the 5th JAFWPB two years ago, I recognized a big difference between UPNWW and JAFWPB panelists critiquing works in Bikol. In UPNWW, only Jun Balde and co-fellow Jo Bisuña could write in Bikol, everybody else wrote in either English or Tagalog. In JAFWPB, we had panelists, teacher-participants, and co-fellows who were also writing in Bikol, and thus, we were able to look into each other’s works with whole heart and spirit.

Premio Tomas Arejola para sa Literaturang Bikolnon

In the realm of national literary awards, the prestigious Don Carlos Memorial Palanca Awards for Philippine Literature still has no category for Bikol. This is despite the obvious emergence of Bikolano writers writing in Bikol, a movement that is recognized by almost every Filipino writer. A number of Bikolano writers are already Palanca awardees—Maryanne Moll for short fiction in English, Carlo Arejola for screenplay in Filipino, Kristian Cordero for short fiction in Filipino, and some more—both those who are either in Bikol or Manila or in any other part of the globe. But what about works in the languages of Bikol? Thanks to the Foundation the Arejola family established, we have for the PTALB. In PTALB, literary works in every possible ethnolinguistic group we have in Bikol can have the chance to be recognized as an outstanding work of art. In one of the recent PTALB, there was an entry of poems in Buhînon. In this case, PTALB is no longer a mere literary contest, it becomes a venue for Bikol languages, especially those that still have no written literatures, to be recognized in the field of literature and culture. It is indubitable then, that the institution is sincere and active in its efforts toward advancements in Bikol literary and cultural qualities. Not to mention that the funding for these projects mainly come from resource of the Arejola family despite its tie-ups with some civic organizations and government agencies.

In a greater scheme of things, the Gawad Bucaneg which Arejola Foundation will receive at the end of the month is a recognition of something good and beautiful in Bikol. It is a testament that in the contemporary Ibalóng, native literature and culture is being taken care of, studied, developed, made known to its real owners—very much of and in Bikol. Then, this is something to celebrate for not just by the Arejola family and their cultural chums, but by all of us Bikolanos.

Let me end by quoting UMPIL’s citation for the Gawad Bucaneg awardee: “For the special support and attention to, and the resources it has given and reserved for, the development and promotion of Bikol literature and culture.

“During the past five years, the Foundation has initiated and pursued two major literary projects: the [JAFWPB], Bicol's only annual creative writing workshop, and the [PTALB], the last now widely regarded as the region's premiere literary prize. It has, moreover, collaborated with civic organizations in literary campaigns by distributing books and reading materials to public elementary schools in remote barangays of Camarines Sur. From its own heart and coffers, therefore, the Foundation has done no small part in the current resurgence in Bikol writing, and in the end enriching Filipino literature.”

A time for Bikol music

2008-08-10T18:19:00.004+08:00

TWO WEEKS ago, I flew back to Naga for a musical presentation entitled HimIg (Himig Ignacio) featuring the Ateneo de Naga University Choir (UC) which was in time for the celebration of the feast day of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order. The performance, which choirmaster Joseph Reburiano asked me to conceptualize into a prayer-concert, lasted for about two hours. The choir performed twenty-three songs, mostly—and expectedly—were Jesuit liturgical hymns portraying the spirituality of the Jesuit founder.

The Ateneo de Naga University Choir sang prayers in HimIg (Himig Ignacio) last July 30, 2008.

I write this with an objective proposition and strong belief that UC is perhaps Bikol’s best choir today. And yet it still remains hidden and underrated; having not entered any competition and not much gaining popularity even in Naga. I have been with the UC since the year 2000, still in its Music Ministry years; since then, I have been a witness to how this choir developed in its musical craft, which were mainly due to its choirmaster’s formal studies in choral conducting at the University of the Philippines. Through the years, I admit I have developed this kind of hardness on choral performances; my body reacts when a choir screams out a piece or when it goes out of the parlance. I would narrate jargons if I continue with this. Nevertheless, I am impressed when a choir delivers a piece, from the lowest to the highest notes, with a zephyr-like ease and fluidity. Sadly, most choirs in Bikol, or perhaps those that I have heard before, are still in their screaming days.

Choirmaster Joseph Reburiano played the piano while Donna Dychinco provided thicker texture with her cello performance.

After the UC’s latest concert, I concluded that finally this choir has somehow reached a level of maturity in its musical skills. I was moved by their rendition of Lucio San Pedro’s “Isang Pagkain, Isang Katawan, Isang Bayan,” Manoling Francisco’s “Ama Namin” and “Daan ng Bayan,” and Paulo Tirol’s “Aba, Ginoong Maria.” Showcased also in the concert was the magnificent quartet composed of Donna Dychinco (cello), Joseph Reburiano (piano), James Reburiano (flute), and Jaymie Rebustillo (violin). The quartet produced for the evening a kind of sublimity in Fruto Ramirez’s music for Francisco Soc Rodrigo’s translation of “Panalanging Maging Bukaspalad.” The deep husky voice of bass Erdie Arriola was just perfect for the song. Similarly, Francisco’s “Your Heart Today,” which was based on one of Ninoy Aquino’s letter to Cory while he was in prison, left the audience touched with the sweet and soothing rendition by the guest performer and Joseph’s niece, Maria Fe Caña, accompanied too by the quartet. Jesuit scholastic Nono Ordoñez also performed in the concert; I also sang three songs including my personal favorite, Francisco’s “Take and Recieve,” which is a translation of St. Ignatius’ oblatory prayer Sume et Suscipe.

Ever-enthused, violinist Jaymie Rebustillo adds color to the music.

In several occasions, I have heard Joseph’s politics in running the choir: he wants the choir to sing the madrigal way. This is not to get us confused with the world-renowned Philippine Madrigal Singers. Madrigal singing is characterized by an obvious ease and serenity in performing music despite arrangements of high-degree difficulty. I personally believe that throughout the ages, it has become a kind of philosophy. It is now a way of living out music, seeking for more ways to make the act of singing new. If this is the choir’s school of music, then we can expect much from them.

James Reburiano played the flute. Scholastic Nono Ordoñez SJ (seated) also performed a number of songs.

Personally, what the choir lacks which I have been trying to fill in by proposing to them over and over again—sometimes with a trembling heart—is a preferential focus on Bikol music. Latest exchanges are hopeful though. I insist on this because nobody can do it but a Bikol choir. This is also a challenge to all other Bikol choirs, that vis-à-vis development in the craft of singing, Bikol music also needs to be given attention. We have been in drought of authentic Bikol music, not even in the popular scene, except of course for some pop bands whose longing is to perform their genre in the local language. Further, we are also in drought of researches and studies in this area of art.

Imagine a concert of a repertoir entirely in the Bikol languages. There is the possibility of reviving the ancient folk songs of Bikol, then we can also initiate changes and innovations in terms of musicality. Imagine “Ano Daw Idtong sa Gogon?” sang the madrigal way. Imagine an avant garde choral piece on eating sili or an erupting Mayon volcano.

The thing is: we have much more than “Sarong Banggi” and those Bikol songs in habanera tradition, which is actually not natively ours. And with the emergence of more cultured developments in Bikol music, a vast new arena is offered to us, and this is a challenge to all of us. It is just a matter of passion.

Photographs by Kenneth Pornillos.

5th Premio Tomas Arejola

2008-07-30T02:34:00.001+08:00

Contest rules for the Ika-5 Premio Tomás Aréjola para sa Literaturang Bikolnon (PTALB) are out. The rules are available in the news section of Balangibog: Online Updates on Bikol Culture. You may access it directly HERE.

OPM?

2008-07-27T22:50:00.000+08:00

NAKALIGTAS AKO sa kakulangan nin paghangos pagkababâ ko sa jeep. Näomáyan sa pagkäuyam sa labà kan biyahe, bako huli sa trapik, kundi huli sa tugtog sa laog kan nasakyan na jeep na hale sa sarong FM station sa Manila. Poon Edsa-Shaw sagkod Kalentong, garo paliwat-liwat na pinapalagatob an daghan ko kan kusog kan ritmo nin electronic drums na naghahale sa loud—very very loud—speakers kan jeep. An orog na nakakabaldê iyo na sa likod kan lagatob na ini, yaon an maluyang tugtog kan nagkakapirang mga dinakulaan na mga awit, mga nakaayon sa inaapod na klasikong Original Pilipino Music.

Naglalagatob na an musika kan ako magsakay. Inabútan kong nagtutugtog an ‘Can’t We Start Over Again’ ni Jose Mari Chan. Dinakulaan ko an awit na ini. Naroromdoman ko kun pano nagkagarasgas an bála kan album na ‘Constant Change’ ni Jomari Chan sa casette player mi kaidto, nasa elementary pa ako. Alagad ngunyan orog na makapungaw kun madadangog ta na sana ini sa bersyon na inaapod na remix kun sain ini klase nin remix na an epekto iyo an hayagan na pagratak sa mga awit na sa sadit nindang paagi nakatabang sa pagbilog kan kontemporanyong musikang Filipino.

Sunod na nag-segué an awit na ‘Closer You and I’ ni Gino Padilla. Alagad bago an awit pinasakalyehan nguna ini nin edited na transition kan ‘Can’t We Start Over Again’ kun sain paliwat-liwat na kinanta ni Jomari Chan an linyang “can’t we start... can’t we start... can’t we start over again...” kasabay an sarong siwit na garo naghuhulog nin bomba sa mga pelikulang giyera. Nagtapos an ‘Closer You and I’ siring man, sa paliwat-liwat na pagsambit ni Gino Padilla kan “we’ll be together... we’ll be together... we’ll be together... you and I.” Pawatara baya.

Nagsunod an saro sa mga enot na awit ni Jamie Rivera. Lingaw ako kan titulo, alagad romdom ko ini bilang house music kan kataid ming klase kan ako nasa Grade 5 sa Lupi Central School. Ito si kanta na pag pinakanta si saro sa mga estudyante duman, ito an kakantahon niya. Nostalgia kuta si dapat na pagmate para sako. Alagad natambunan ini kan ritmo kan electronic drums.

Nagsunod an ‘Everlasting Love’ kan The Company. Kan nadangog ko si bersyon sa jeep, nawara bigla si uyam ko sa bersyon kaini ni Rica Peralejo. Biglang naging less complicated an bersyon ni Rica. Saro ini sa mga signature songs kan The Company, saro sa mga nagpabantog sainda. Inda ko kun anong sasabihon ni Moy Ortiz kun nadangog niya si bersyon.

Medyo bago pa an “Kailangan Ko’y Ikaw” ni Ogie Alcasid, asin bako man akong fan kan nasabing kanta, nanghinayang ako na garo baga ini dai pinaglanganan kan siisay man na naglapat kan percussion na sa hiling niya marahay-rahay. Nagsunod an saro pang Jomari Chan song, an ‘Please Be Careful With My Heart’ na sa hiling ko saro sa mga awit kun sain marhay pang performer si Regine Velasquez—patawad sa mga fans niya—huli ta dai pa digdi pinipirit an boses niya na magbirit. Alagad, okay na si Regine, kisa sa ‘Please Be Careful With My Heart’ na igwang kasabay na nakakabongog na drums.

Pagbaba ko sa may Kalentong, ‘Ligaw-Tingin’ ni Sheryl Cruz ang nagtutugtog. Sayang. Saro man ini sa mga awit na nadadangog ko mantang papuli ako hali sa eskwela pagkaodto kan elementary pa ako.

Ano na baya nanggad an nangyari sa musikang Filipino? Gururang na sana an mga miyembro kan APO Hiking Society na saro sa mga nangongorog na para-tulod kaini. Bihira na, kun bako man na mayo na, sinda Mitch Valdez asin Nanette Inventor sa industriya. Si Ryan Cayabyab na sana asin nagkakapirang parakanta asin musikong Filipino an nagmamakulog sa kagayonan kan satong mga popular na awit.

Siring na kaini an nangayari asin kun dai man kita magigin sensible sa mga ginigibong pagbabago sa dalagan kan musikang Filipino, tibaad padagos na ining mawaran nin sadiring identity. Maski digdi sa Bikol, an satong mga radyo na minapatugtog kan mga awit na siring kan mga nasambit ko, kaipuhan man gayod na magin likay sa mga remixes asin mga editions na ginigibo ninda sa mga kanta. Igalang man an kompositor asin an orihinal na paraaawit.

Tibaad an enot na kaipuhan tang gibohon asin rimposon sa satong mga daghan iyo an mensahe ni Ryan Cayabyab na ‘Kayganda ng Ating Musika.’

A few elementary lessons

2008-07-12T02:26:00.003+08:00

THERE ARE THINGS that remain adherent to memory despite ardent psychotherapy and years of forgetting. They are like tealeaves deposited at the bottom of every teacup; only after consuming everything will they reveal themselves to us. Western diviners, however, would only warn us of the images that tealeaves might conjure. While a few might come as messages of good fortune, the rest will surely be auguries of woe. And they will leave us with the counsel that we can no longer do anything about it.

Well, for this issue, I want to share a few lessons from the past, these were actually some of the things I have learned during my elementary years in a public school. I have learned to unlearn them after all these years. Here they are:

(1) I remember one of my teachers trying to lead us into a visualization of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. She was describing something very big, an edifice that stretched from Lupi down to Libmanan; that Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo can house a whole city, and that the CCP was a world renowned structure. Surely, this Leandro Locsin creation is world renowned. But I am wondering why the greatness I have seen of CCP based on my teacher’s description failed to make the structure into the list of the new seven wonders of the world. When I tried to go back to my elementary textbooks—each of us had a textbook for each of the subjects—I found a very rough photo of the CCP, something which would surely fail to create a more precise imaginative idea of what this place all about.

(2) I was in grade two—yeah! grade two—when our teacher showed us Lotlot de Leon and Monching Gutierrez’s Prinsesang Gusgusin for a movie analysis. I managed to find a rare copy of the film from a professor of mine in UP and I watched it again. I enjoyed the film, with occasional laughs and puzzlement because of cinematic lapses and the ridiculous performance of the actors. But that’s not the main point. After Prinsesang Gusgusin, we were made to watch an action film entitled ‘Kidnapped.’ No, it was not the one by Robert Louis Stevenson. It was something full of shootouts, ambushes and drugs, and we were in grade two. Those were the betamax days in Lupi. Those who had betamax sets would let others watch for a fee of about one or two pesos. In the class next day, my teacher asked us, “Anó nganì si pigdálan ta suudmâ?” The class replied in chorus, “Prinsesang Gusgusin!” She asked again, “Anó pa?” Only a few answered, “K-kid-ná-ped...” Our teacher confirmed the answer, “Alright, kid-ná-ped.”

(3) I loved History as a subject, no matter how we were made to memorize all the names, places, events, figures, etc. In the end, studying History somehow helped me discover my sense of self as a Filipino or a Bikolano. Elementary History popularly known as Heorapiya, Kasaysayan, at Sibika or Hekasi was always devoted to studying Philippine History. Our textbooks usually covered history from the time Ita, Indones, and Malays came over up to the assasination of Ninoy Aquino. One of my History teachers reprimanded me for insisting that Aquino was a martyr-hero. Likewise, I almost got a spank on the palms for insisting that Hare, Hawes, Cuttings Act should not be pronounced as Há-re, Há-wes, Katings Akt.

(4) Perhaps, the thing that still haunts me to this day was the pilósopong remark of one of my Math teachers that the railroad tracks are not an example of parallel lines. The whole class laughed at me, I felt humiliated; I believe they all agreed with our teacher. Until today, I would still ask myself if indeed railroad tracks are an example parallel lines. A little part of me is skeptical. Sigh. If they are not parallel lines then what are they?

It’s already been 17 years since I graduated from the elementary school. These things have just become points of ridicule, sadly, during my solitary moments. However, I wonder if things like these still happen in our schools. Or did it even get worse? Did CCP expanded enough and outdid Glinton Ervas’ elusive political platform of literally placing Naga under one expansive roof? Or perhaps, are our students being hol-dá-ped (if only there is holdapped for robbed) of the proper is-pé-ling and pro-náwn-syey-syon? Or did Jean Jacques Rousseau after all transformed into a woman because his name is pronounced as ‘jean’ as in gin já-kes? And, yes, what really then are parallel lines?

Where do we go from here?

Photograph courtesy of Kenneth Pornillos

Pag-abót ni Fray Juán de la Hos sa Lupí, 1701

2008-07-09T23:09:00.001+08:00

Nápaturog sindang mga énot
na dáyong nápadigdi sa Lupí,
húli man sa tabyón kan baróto.

Pagmuklát kan saindáng mga mata, nagsírang
an lanób kan kinâban—bérdeng kadlagán
na nagsarà sa nakákasílaw na saldáng,

asín sindá nag-aráng kasabáy kan burâ
kan mga gamgám sa daíng digtáng
kalangítan. Sininyasán nindá

an pilóto na rikasán an pagsagwán
sa paghonà na úya na digdí an totóong bulawan.
Por Diós y por Sántos, ta sa pagrekúdo

kan baróto sa nagsísirilyab na sulóg
kan sálog, abáng gagáyon na mga linaláng
an saindá liwát nagpa-aráng—

mga áking nagkakaráwat sa túbig,
mga babáeng maogmáng nararalabá,
mga laláking tunínong na nagsísirâ.

Kaidtó saná nagpoón mabasâ an gáyad
kan saindáng malulumhók na abíto—
malípot an túbig, asín an sulóg makusóg.

Mga dóot sa pangpáng saná an mga saksí:
mga lupís na matatárom na nagturúsok
sa saindáng mga daghán, asín dai na sindá pinaháli.

Pagtukdo asin pagsurat

2008-07-06T16:44:00.001+08:00

“HÚLI TA sa mga banwâ sana kun sain an imahinasyon inaataman asin biyóng buháy an kalág asin pangatorógan kan tao makakatagbô nin kongkretong ekspresyon asin kosóg na máláen sainda sa iba alagad magtótokdô sainda na makisarô sa mga táong nagmakulóg na isurat an saindang mga pangaran asin hanápon an saindang lugar sa kinâban kan imahinasyon nin tao.”

Ini an pahayag asin agyat kan dating Chancellor kan UP Mindanao asin premyadong pararawitdawit na si Dr. Ricky de Ungria sa natapos pa sanang ‘Pagtukdo, Pagsurat Bikolnon 2008: A Teacher-Writers’ Conference’ na ginibo kan Hulyo 2-4, sa Naga College Foundation. An aktibidad pinadrinohan kan National Commission for Culture and the Arts, NCF, Kabulig-Bikol, asin man kan Gobyerno Lokal kan Naga. Maabot sa sanggatos na paratukdo asin estudyante nin literatura gikan sa manlaen-laen na parte kan rehiyon an nag-atendir kan nasabi nang kumperensiya na an katuyuhan iyo na buháyon asin ipadágos an kagayonan kan literaturang Bikolnon. Ini sa tahaw man kan pagpasipára kan mga dapat na nanunungdan sa pagpalakop kaini.

Sa kumperensya, lataw na marhay an pagigin agit-agitan kan mga nag-aráyon sa pagtukdo asin pagbalangibog kan literaturang Bikol. An balákid sana iyo na an mga institusyon na dapat namamahala kaini, bako ini an pinapaorog. Sa lado kan mga paratukdo, yaon an makusog na pangapodan sa mga ahensyang arog kan Department of Education asin Commission on Higher Education na patotoohan na an mga memorandums asin circulars na nagsasabing kaipuhan itukdo an mga rehiyunal na literatura sa mga akademya sa nasyon, minsan ngani an mga ini pinagnumbrahan haros sarong dekada na an nakakaagi.

Malinaw an pagpasabot sa nasabing kumperensya na igwang pagpapabayâ an gobyerno sa mga bagay na ini. Siring man, dai man ini láin sa nangyayari sa dakol na mga pribadong eskwelahan kun sain hinarale na sa saindang mga kurikulum an programa sa lokal na literatura minsan pinapahayag ninda an pagtulod sa lokal na kultura. Magin an nagkakapirang mga estudyanteng yaon duman, tinaas ninda an saindang pangapodan sa mga eskwelahan na i-ayon man an satong literatura sa saindang mga pag-adal.

Mahiwas na natad an hinawan kan nasabing kumperensya. Nagkaigwa nin mga sesyon na nagtukar sa kamugtakan kan literaturang Bikol asin an kun ano man an mga puwede tang gibohon para digdi. May sesyon sa paggibo nin mga modyul sa pagtukdo. Igwa man mga sesyon dapit sa pagsurat. Naghaman nin mga kongkretong planong makakatabang sa pagpalakop kan literatura. Sa katapusan, pinûnan an pagbilog kan Bikol Literary Arts Council na magmamangno sa pagreyalisar kan mga planong nahaman. Sa kabilugan, pinukaw kan kumperensya an sa hiling ko haloy nang nakaturog na pang-kulturang agimadmad kan mga paratukdo dapit sa pagheras kan literaturang Bikol sa mga kaakian, agimadmad na haros paráon na kan hilaw na kurikulum kan satong sistemang pan-edukasyon. Lain pa kaiyan, orog pang pinakusog an saindang pagka-Bikolano. Binuksan kaini liwat an katotoohan na igwang pangangaipong itokdô an sadiring literatura huli ta sa paaging ini bilog na mamimidbidan kan siisay man an saiyang sadiri, sa pagrurip niya kan sadiri niyang kultura asin nakaagi.

Kadakol na hapot, pagririlinawan nin punto, pagririribayan nin ideya, asin pagheras nin mga eksperyensiya an minapahiling sana na dakol an nagmamakulog sa satong literatura. An kaipuhan sana iyo an pagtulod na puwedeng gibohon kan mga institusyon na imbwelto digdi. Siyerto sa mga panahon na ini, kaipuhan na kitang maghapot, dinadara ta daw an satong mga namamanwáan pasiring sa makusog na pagkamoot sa Bikol? Sa mga pangaturugan ta nin kauswagan, kaiba daw an padagos na pagpayaman kan satong kultura? Huli ta ano man nanggad an saysay kun mapanô kita nin yaman kun dai bilog an pagkamidbid ta sa satong sadiri bilang sarong ronâ? Lain sa satong mga iniisip, huli kaiyan, magkakaigwa nin pagkakaiba an mga inhinyero, doktor, nars, arkitekto, padi, soldados, paratukdo, parasurat, asin iba pa, huli ta igwang sarong bagay na dara-dara ta—na kita mga Bikolano, gikan sa dagang linakawan ninda Handyong, Bantong asin Baltog. Kita mga apoon ni Daragang Magayon; mga kadugo ninda Panganiban, Ola, Arejola, asin iba pa. Kita mga namamanwaan kan Ibalong.

Sa kumperensya man nagluwas na kadakol sanang puwedeng gibohon. Kadakol sanang mga kongkretong lakdang an puwede tang mahaman. Ini mahihimo sana kun gabos kita nagtatarabangan. Klasiko-romantiko an siring na mga pahayag; siring sa pahayag nin sarong namomoot hararom asin makusog na naglalaom. Alagad ano man kayan, kun sa huri iyo an pagbúhay sa kaidtong mga pangaturugan saná.

Rembrandt

2008-06-29T17:41:00.005+08:00

Bakô daw na makaribaráw kun pâno kamí nag-íirinotan
pasíring sa tingráw asín arín man na maliwánag?
An daí mi nanggád pagpilì sa madiklóm na párte

kan chiaroscuro tibáad húli man saná sa samóng kapaslôán
asín kanigôan na pagmâwot na mámansayan an gabós.
An samóng labi-lábing pagbôót na kuahón asín sadiríhon

an arín man na nahíhiling, nagbúta sa samô pagkatápos
kan gabós. Daí nanggád na kamí nakánood
sa gabós mong giníbo, Rembrandt.

Daí mi náhiling kun pânó mo kinupkóp an diklóm
asín iká nabúhay digdí na panô nin kaogmáhan.
Kamí, sa mga panahón na iní,

minásikwal sa mga madidiklóm na kwárto, daíng ílaw
na mga erokán, mga banggíng daíng bitôon,
asín mga nangíngitom na láwog.

Diklóm. Nagín kaoragán kan saímong árte
an kadiklomán asín nagpâísi samúya
kun gurâno kagayón an mga línya

sa láwog kan táo, kwinádro
sa lumlóm kan lugár kun saín an buláw na bangráw
minahílig gíkan sa haralangkáw na bintána.

Sa saímong mga kamót,
iníng kaitumán na síring sa diklóm kan Hádes,
inôómaw, minámâwot, asín namómôtan,

tibáad húli sa pag-agdá
kan saímong mga matá. Anó bayâ
an saímong iniísip?

Ay, kamí na nabubúhay na may tákot
sa samóng mga aníno asin labí ka-puláng dugô,
kinákaipúhan pang makaáram.

Rembrandt

Is it not disquieting how we race
toward the light and anything bright?
How we never opt for that dark

area of chiaroscuro is perhaps because
of our greed or lust to see everything.
Our desire to own and keep the visible

for ourselves have blinded us
after all. We have not learned
from what all you did, Rembrandt.

We did not see how you took
shelter in gloom and
delighted in it. We, in these times,

abhor dingy rooms, unilluminated
apartments, starless evenings,
and purpling faces.

Darkness. You have mastered
darkness in your art and revealed
for us how beautiful are the creases

of a human face, framed
by a shadowy precinct where yellow
sunlight diffuses from upper windows.

In your hands,
this Hadean blackness becomes
admired, desired, and loved,

perhaps upon the allure
of your eyes. What was it
you were thinking about?

Oh, we who are fraught with fright
of our shadows and dark red blood,
still must know.

Stressed

2008-06-29T00:59:00.002+08:00

DETALYE AN DAHILAN kun tâdaw ta pag minapublikar ako nin sarong obrang Bikol, importanteng pirmi an stress marks. Kun bako man an bilog na obra, dawa idtong mga importanteng tataramon saná: magkakaagid alagad magkakaiba an kahulugan. Kun an ibang lenggwahe, siring sa Espanyol asin iba pang lenggwaheng Romansa, pinapadánay an siring na tradisyon, tâno ta kita dai? Orog nang gayo kung an katuyuhan ipasábot an satong tataramon sa ibang kultura o ibang banwaan; orog na sa panahon na ini na an panânaw pang-kinâban nang gayo. Dikit-dikit na kitang pinag-sásararô kan daíng pinipiling sulog sa ládo kan teknolohiya, ekonomiya, asin iba pang darakulang istrukturang pansosyudad. Kun dai ta lalangánan an lenggwahe, dai kita magkakasinarabotan.

Nagpoon an sakong pagrúrip sa importansya kan stress marks huli sa Heswitang si Fr. Michael Rooney na nagtalikod sa kinâban duwang taon na an nakaági. First year high school ako kan namidbid ko siya, sa irárom kan mga poón nin niyog na barisbisan na ngunyan kan simbahan kan Ateneo. Sinasarô-sarô niya kaming mga estudyante, nagpápatukdô kan tamang dóon asin pagtaram kan Bikol na Misa, sa pagboót na minsan an Bikol biriríbid sa saiyang Amerikanong dilà, ini saiya man logód máitarám nin tamà. Kun dai naglapígot si Fr. Mike kaidto na arámon an támang pagtarám nin Bikol, dai kutâ na siya masasabótan kan mga presong minimisáhan niya doro-Domingo.

Sa mga parasurat, agyat an bagay na ini. Huli ta an presenteng teknolohiya minadara sa satong mga panúrat pasiring sa manlaén-láen na banwaan asin kultura, nasisîrip kong igwa kitang responsibilidad kan tamang pagpapasabot sainda kan satong tataramon. Kun baga an satong katuyuhan sa mga panahon na ini iyo na iapón an literatura asin kulturang Bikolnon kaiba kan iba pa man na kultura sa labi-kahíwas na kinâban, minapoon ini sa mga saradit na detalye kan pagpasabot. Asin an tamang pagtaram kan Bikol kaiba digdi.

Sabi ngani kan orágon man na si Dr. Carlos Aureus na sakong propesor sa UP ngunyan, na puwera sa laman asin porma, an sarô sa mga bagay na nagustuhan niya sa sakong mga panúrat sa Bikol iyo na igwa ining stress marks. Nagpapahiling suboót ini na igwang katuyúhan an parasurat na ipasabot sa unibersal na lebel an Bikolnon na agimadmad. Sa simpleng paagi kan pagtiyaga na bugtakan nin tamang kuwit an mga tataramon na Bikol, nagbobótong an iba, orog na an mga bakong Bikolano na pûnan na intindihon an satong tataramon. Sa enot na hiling ,sadit-sádit saná ining bagay alágad para sa ibá, sa mga bakong katutubong paratáram nin Bikol, ini orog kaimportante.

Kun ika Tagálog, an iyó saná puwedeng magin iyó sána, boot sabihon saímo kutâ. Siring man na an akò puwedeng basahon na akó, o an túyo magin tuyô, an alágad magin alagád. Makaherak man nanggad kun an mga dayô basahon na dáyo. Tibaad magkaigwa nin kariribukan. Kita nganing mga Bikolano minsan dai pa nagkakasinarabótan sa satô na sanáng lenggwahe, pâno pa daw an ibang tao? Sósog ngani sa istorya ni Fr. Wilmer Tria sa mga may edad nang padì na nag-uurulay tungkol sa pamasaheng baráto asin mahál, idto palan ta si namamahalan an pagkasabot pamasaheng plete, si nababaratúhan, an pagkasábot pamasaheng hílot.

An stress marks importante bilang tábang sa orog pang pagsabot kan Bikolnon na tataramon. Pinapahiwas kaini an dalan kan satong lenggwahe, dalan na puwedeng mapangyaring agíhan man kan ibang kultura o banwaan na magkakainteres sa satong agi-ági. Pinápadalî kaini an proseso nin pagkakairintindíhan asin pagkakasararo. Pinápakusog kaini an lenggwahe bilang sarong lenggwaheng nakasurat. Sa sadit alagad nakakapúling na paági, pinaparà kaini an parokyalismong pagtratar sa tataramon—bakô nang Bikol na kitá-kitá sana an nakakataram, alagad pati naman an iba.

Sa énot may kasakítan an pagbugtak nin mga stress marks, naromdoman ko si Kristian Cordero sa saiyang Pusûánon. Alagad an stressful na gíbong ini, ano pa man kaiyan, kun magbubunga nin darakulang bagay para sa satong tataramon.

New place

2008-06-22T11:46:00.024+08:00

Last Friday, Abby, Jerich, and I moved in to our new place in Mandaluyong. It's a very convenient urban abode. We're on the 7th floor, which provides for us a really good ventilation. The unit has 2 bedrooms, a small kitchen, a living room, 2 toilet-bathrooms, and a laundry area.

We haven't got fixtures yet since we are still deliberating about the motif. Here are some of the pictures:

The stairs lead to our rooms.

This is the living room area. We shall be getting furnishings soon. For now, we have a very cheap imitation of a persian carpet I bought for Php250 in Tutuban.

This is our small kitchen. Nothing's in it right now, but Abby has plans.

My bed for now. We're all sleeping in the sala downstairs. It's been a wine-ful weekend. Next week things might be in their better places.

Books and wine bottles.

Some of the books I've left here in Manila. Most of which are poetry and fiction books.

Abby brought some real food and few bottles of a not-so-inexpensive wine for a kind of housewarming. I consumed one bottle on Saturday evening and was really drunk. That's why I emailed my Vox Bikol column very late. Sorry, Erick. See, there are still three bottles left.

This is my bedroom window upstairs. It has a rather narrow and limited view of Mandaluyong and Makati skylines.

There's peace somehow in this new place. Perhaps, it could be the cool wind entering our windows and making loose doors tremble. It could also be with the quiet neighbors, mostly out during daytime. It could be what Bayani Fernando calls urbanidad: the security guards, the clubhouse, the pool, and the attitude. Whatever it is, I know many new things will start here. Perhaps, another book, another world view, or another life.

Dágos kamó. Come.

Detalye

2008-06-22T03:42:00.007+08:00

KI MÁNAY JAZZ LLANA ko enot na nadangog an linyang “artists are masters of details,” pirang taon na an nakakaagi. Pinapatotoohan ini kan mga parabayle na minabalô-balò kan saindang pasali nin ginatos na beses tanganing magin perpekto an hiro asin tyempo kan bayle. Siring man na ini mahihiling sa mga pintor na labi-lábing gayo an pagmâwót na an saindang dibuho magtao nin hustisya sa kun ano man na subject na saindang pinili. Kaiba naman an mga parasurat na pusûánon an pagboót na an saindang sinusurat minahiling sa gabos na bagay, asin ini an kabilugán kan saindang literatura.

Kun paghohorop-horópan, gabos man kita inaapod tanganing magin masirî sa mga detalye. Ini saradit na mga bagay na minsan iisipon tang dai na importante, bako nang esensyal nap arte kan anuman na satong ginigibo. Alagad sa kahurihuríhan, mahihiling na dakula palan an saindang kontribusyon tanganing an sarong bagay mahaman na may kahusayan. Sa mga relasyon ngani, pag mináabot na an panahon na nagibo na an mga darakulang bagay, napanindugan na an pinangako, asin tapos na an panahon nin kilig asin hagbáyon na panânaw, an relasyon minatindog na pusog sa saradit na detalye kan pagsásarô.

Kaagid ini kan gawè nin pagsábot. Minapoon kita sa pagsábot sa mga darakulang istruktura, institusyon, kaaramán, doktrina, asin iba pang esensyal na bagay. An gawè nin pagsábot na ini mináagyat sato na dai mag-ontok, na an gawè nin pagsábot sarong dai natatapos na paghiro. Asin an satong kaaraman sa sarong bagay orog na maliwanag kun ini midbid ta sa puso.

Kan Huwebes, nagtaó nin lecture an National Artist for Literature na si Virgilio S. Almario o Rio Alma dapit sa mga Panliteraturang koneksyon ni Rizal sa Alemánya. Sa sakong pagtubod, an lecture ni Almario magdadara nin dakulang pagbabâgo sa dalagan kan Rizal scholarship, orog na sa pagbasa kan duwang bantog na nobela ni Rizal—an Noli Me Tangere asin El Filibusterismo. An anomalya minágamot sa kapabayaan sa detalye kan mga naenot na para-dakitarámon kan duwang nobela.

Kasuarin man nanggad tinokdô an Noli asin Fili sa mga eskwelahan bilang mga nobela? Bakô daw na an mga ini tinotokdô bilang mga komentaryong pansosyudad, alagad dai nanggad bilang mga gibong arte? Sosog ngani ki Almario, sa halabang panahon na inadalan sa eskwela an Noli asin Fili, dai nanggad na naipamidbid si Rizal bilang iskolar o nobelista. An aram kan sarong ordinaryong eskwela, si Rizal sarong bayáni na nagadan para sa nasyon. Alagad si iba pang importanteng parte kan saiyang pagkatao bilang pangangarogan na Filipino dai nanggad naipaluwas.

An mamundô iyo na an anomalya sa pag-adal kan Noli asin Fili minapoon sa sarong sadit na detalye, sarong epigraph na yaon sa orihinal na Espanyol na manuskrito kan nobela na dai nailaag sa arinman na dakitarámon kan Noli na mababakal ngunyan, puwera na sana si dakitarámon ni Almario. An epigraph gikan sa ráwitdáwit ni Freidrich von Schiller na “Shakespeare Shatten” o “An Anino ni Shakespeare,” puwede man na “An Multo ni Shakespeare.” Ano an dará kan epigraph na ini? Sosog ki Almario, kun ini dai napabayaan asin naitokdo sa mga eskuwela, sarong pintûan an mabubuksan kan epigraph na ini: an dakulang impluwensiya kan literaturang Alemán sa mga panurat ni Rizal. Siring na maluwas na gayo an pagigin iskolar ni Rizal; si Rizal na paraadál, madúnong, asin parabasá. Alagad mayo an detalye kan epigraph sa mga bersyon na inaadalan sa mga eskwelahan. Siring man na mayo man sa mga bersyon na ini an pagbanggit sa “Gotter im Exil” o “Mga Diyoses sa Destiyero” ni Heinrich Heine na nagluwas sa pagpamidbid ki Padre Dámaso sa enot na kapitulo kan Noli.

Binásol ni Almario an mga paradakitarámon sa mga bagay na ini. Poon sa mga bersyon kan Noli ninda Mariano asin Guzman-Laksamana-Guzman, an mga detalyeng ini, kaiba pa kan kadakol pang detalye sa Noli asin Fili, an dai nakaiba. Lain pa kaiyan, an mga nagsurunod na awtor na may bersyon kan Noli asin Fili, dai man talaga nakakasábot nin Espanyol asin minabáse na sana sa mga naenot nang dakitaramon sa Filipino.

Kabilang kita sa mga nag-aradal kan Noli asin Fili sa satong sekundarya. Asin nakakamundô na kun iisipon dakula an kakulangan sa satong nadukayan sa mga brilyanteng nobela ni Rizal. Dai ta naaraman an mga ginatos na imahen sa mga nobelang ini na hinâwas ni Rizal hale sa “Faust” na sarong importanteng harigi kan literaturang Alemán. Dai ta bilog na namidbid an maórag na iskolar ki José Rizal. Dai ta bilog na nakua an baláog na dara kan mga nobela, na dakol pa palan an mga babasahón na nagin interesante kutâna huli sa pagbasa kan Noli asin Fili. An nangyari, pigparapadrowing sana kita kan San Diego, hitsura ni Maria Clara asin ni Ibarra, iwal kan alferez asin ni Doña Consolacion, asin sa sadit na talinga ni Kapitan Tiago. Alagad pâno ta man nanggad maiiguhit an mga ini na man kahusayan, kun enot pang sa satong pag-adal, kulang sa detalye an mga esensyal na nobelang ini?

Photograph courtesy of Bigberto

Pagluwás

2008-06-16T22:30:00.007+08:00

Dinádara kitá pasíring dumán kan pulá
o bérdeng karátula—daí nanggád malumlóm,
pirmíng maliwánag—garó bagá náenot
nang itinaláan na manínigô kitáng alingón
bágo an pagluwás. Kun daíng karátula,
igwá satóng magíya: an magayón na darága,
an maórag na laláki, na sarô saná man
pámpaogmá bágo an búhay sa luwás.
Pusúan an pagluwás kun an pintóan gíbo sa salmíng—
nahíhiling pa an laóg minsán kitá nakaluwás na.
Alágad kun an pintóan gíbo sa káhoy o bákal
o kun anó pa man na bakóng silág, magián
an pagluwás húli ta daí nang sásalingóyon na laóg.
Kadákol an mináluwas sa tag-inít, kadikít man
sa tag-lipót, húli ta oróg na marháy na halì
sa lípot pasíring sa ínit an pagluwás.
Daí na mahídaw nin kógos, daí na mahánap
kan dáting kaibáhan na nása laóg pa.

Exit

We are commonly led into it by a red
or green signage—never dull-colored,
always vibrant—as if by a precondition
that we should be entertained first
before going out. If without signage,
somebody shall surely usher us: a pretty girl
or a handsome man, who comes nothing
more than a consolation before the life outside.
Coming out through a glass door is a bold act—
we still clearly see what’s inside from the outside.
Coming out is easier if it’s through a wooden or iron
door or if the gate is not see-through
so that there’s no more reason to look back.
Many comes out in summer, a few does
when weather is cold, because it is better
for the coming out if done from cold to warmth.
There will be no more yearning for embraces, no more
searching for the old companion still inside.

Photograph courtesy of Wild Wend

Road trip

2008-06-12T19:04:00.017+08:00

SITTING ON the bus traveling for more than eight hours has always been insightful for me. Ever since I was a wee toddler and even when I had no choice but puke because of motion sickness, I was always awake the whole trip. Motion sickness ceased to cripple me when I was in high school at the Ateneo, when during weekends I would go home to Lupi and back to Naga on Sunday afternoons. A few years later, Naga-Manila route had already become ‘peanuts’ for me. What remaines was my curiosity about the places and people we pass by along the road. I take extra sensitivity for bumps and sudden dives of the bus along Andaya Highway. How these bumps and dives manage to produce butterflies in my stomach is just as wonderful a feeling as shameful testaments to a poorly and hastily engineered road. But I tend to ignore the latter condition, leaving the wonderful feeling treasured as an essential part of the road trip. Just the same, I like the sensation of the bus negotiating a noteworthy dangerous curve between barangays Malaguicó and Manángle in Sipocot.

Last week, I traveled back to Manila for the last year of my graduate studies. I took the air-conditioned Raymond Bus not because all the other bus companies were fully booked and that Raymond offers the cheapest trips to Manila, but I just simply trust this company. Contrary to what others would say of it as a third-rate, accident-prone, cockroach-filled, Raymond aircon buses for me are one of the cleanest fleets we have in the Manila-Naga route. They also have polite personnel who are always ready to attend to your needs. Their drivers are even more careful than those drivers of the more expensive bus companies in Naga. My father once left his N73 mobile phone on a counter of Raymond terminal in Legarda, Manila, and managed to get it back—something which is not very common nowadays.

We left Naga at around 7:30 in the evening, a few minutes later I texted Mother and told her we were around Pamukid area, just to let them know I was already safely traveling. Quite amusing to think about was that I never get tired of seeing these places over and over again—the two bridges of Duwang Niog, Libmanan; the scenic view of Manángle, Sipocot; the idle junction of Lupi; the twin bridges of Maucà in Lupi and many other places. Kilbay bridge in Del Gallego is noteworthy itself as on this part the railroad joins the highway.

I don’t usually eat while on a bus trip for fear of bad stomach but since the first time I took the Raymond bus, I have been a suki of one of the tahô vendors in Calauag, Quezon. For ten pesos per plastic cup, tahô in Calauag is served hot and is unusually more curdy and a bit sticky than any other tahô I have ever tasted. It is moderately sweet and a slight feeling of creaminess makes it more delightful to consume as a midnight snack. When the bus leaves Calauag, that’s the time to anticipate for the midnight view of the Lamon Bay—the lighted bancas, lantsas anchored in the distance, then the port of Atimonan deserted and yet still bright with all the security lights on. When the bus reaches Atimonan junction, that’s the time I would force myself to sleep. I hate being awake when the bus starts climbing Quezon National Forest Park with all the intolerable curves and slow cargo trucks that demand patience.

Lucena is a point of no return. Here poet-passengers may compose a poem of being in between hope and hopelessness. One can never choose to return back to Bikol, and yet, he or she is still far from Manila. Here is the start of counting towns… Sariaya, Candelaria, Tiaong, San Pablo City… and Alaminos is still Alaminos with all the old houses there even after how many light-years of the bus trip. Sto. Tomas, Batangas, is a relief. One can be moved to pray to Saint Cabrini (note Saint Cabrini Hospital in Sto. Tomas junction) to intercede for a faster speed to Manila. Turbina in Calamba is a wake up call. It is when the conductor calls the attention of everybody to take note of his or her own drop off point.

And the winding road down to the South Expressway is accompanied with fanfare, followed by another exit-counting—Mayapa, Canlubang, Cabuyao, Sta. Rosa, Biñan, Carmona, San Pedro. Alas, it’s Metro Manila. From this point passengers vanish by trickles. Then by bulk starting in Mantrade, Ayala, Guadalupe, Shaw. Everyone may seem to get off in Cubao. In the case of Raymond, the final destination is Sampaloc.

After a few years, I believe I came to perfect this road trip; know its contours, places, familiar people, and more so, the feelings, emotions, and memories each of them evoke in me as my bus passes them by. And no matter how things were just the same as they were the last time I saw them, there are differences, surely, and these I keep on looking for.

Photograph courtesy of Andres' Blog.

Agimadmad

2008-06-10T00:43:00.001+08:00

Bikolnón na Agimadmád / Bikol Consciousness

(A New Anthology of Contemporary Poetry in the Bikol Languages)

Now accepting contributions of one to three poems from each poet, unpublished, exploring Bikolano memory, experience, reality, and imagination.

Poems shall be in any of the Bikol languages, with translations into English. Editors have the option to edit translations. Accompany your contribution with a short, one-paragraph, bionote.

Editors: Kristian S. Cordero, Marne L. Kilates, and Victor Dennis T. Nierva.

Send contributions to bikolit@gmail.com.

Deadline for submission is October 30, 2008.

Sindáng Nangíngirhat sa mga Kalág

2008-06-09T22:30:00.004+08:00

An gabós na nangíngirhat sa mga kalág
bakóng mga matataktón. Sindá
mga bíhag nin katotoóhan.
Húli ta inaakò nindáng igwáng mga bágay
an daí bílog. An mga tásang
pasâ an kakaptán mahuhúlog,
mapápasâ kan siisáy man na máinom.
An mga gamgám na daí nakákalupad,
an saindáng mga bitís daí nanggád minásuhay
sa dagáng linálakawan.

Síring kaiyán an pag-akò nindá
na magín an kinâbán man
igwáng mga kakundían
síring sa mga maurán na tag-aláng,
o madidiklóm na aldáw.

Sindáng mga nangíngirhat sa mga kalág
nakákasábot na magín an táo
minsán kúlang, síring sa kalág
na garó saná asóng minasáyaw.
Nangíngirhat sindá
asín iní an pagpintakási nindá
kan katalingkásan sa háwak
na tampalásan.

They Who are Terrified by Ghosts

All those who are terrified by ghosts
are not coward. They are
captives of the truth.
Because they believe in things
that are wanting — teacups
with broken handles fall
and break when someone drinks from it.
The flightless fowls,
their feet never leave
the earth on which they saunter.

And oh, they accept that
even the world
is not spared from diseases
like the rainy summer
or those dark days.

They, who are terrified by ghosts
understand that even man
sometimes is incomplete, like a ghost
of dancing mist.
They are terrified
and this is their jubilation
after having been delivered
from the prodigal body.

Arte asin istruktura

2008-06-02T12:28:00.007+08:00

SIRING SA MUSIKA asin literatura, an disenyo kan mga istruktura minasunod man sa mga suánoy asin institusyon nang kalakawan kaini. Maroromdoman na an mga pagbabago sa disenyo kan mga istruktura dukot na marhay sa mga pagbabago sa historya kan kinaban; kasugpon na ini kan mga paghirong kultural, pulitikal, sibiko, relihiyoso, kaiba naman an klima asin mga materyal na makukua sa sarong lugar, asin iba pa. Sa mga namamahala nin pagtugdok nin mga istrukturang minasunod sa mga tradisyon nin disenyo asin arkitektura, magin ini Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque, Modern, o iba pa, mahalagang aramon an kun ano an mga karakter na minakumpunir kan mga ini. An punto: consistency. Kun an sarong istruktura sinasabing Baroque, importante an pagrespeto sa tradisyon na ini; kun dai, hilaw an disenyong minaluwas, sabi ngani kan mga hoben dapit sa saindang pagbado, tibaad diskumpasado, maalsom sa paghiling, asin garo igwang diperensya an istruktura. Igwa ining epekto sa negosyo kun an istruktura pang-negosyo, o sa restoration kun an istruktura antigo na asin sarong heritage building siring sa mga simbahan.

Halimbawa, nahiling ko an renovation na ginibo sa Basilika ni Iná sa Balatas. An orihinal na disenyo Modernist—palangkaw an istruktura, mapapanas an mga puro, de-kanto, malinig an mga bintana, asin puti an nangongorog na kolor, berde an atop, asin malinig na marmol an salog. Huli kaini, nakakadisganar an paglaag nin capitals sa itaas kan mga harigi kaini na nakasunod sa tradisyon kan Corinthian columns, an punto dai angay an columns sa sarong Modernist structure. Siring man an off white na pintura kan luwas na nagpaati kan dating malinig na lawog kan Basilika. Kaiba naman digdi an stained glass windows na ngunyan kupas na.

An Katedral kan Naga na nakasunod sa tradisyon na Romanesque, medyo na-preserve an orihinal na karakter kaini—an mga arko na abot sa kisame, an darakulang harigi, an mga dome sa atubangan, kaiba naman an restored paintings sa mga harigi, lanob asin kisame na mga gibong trompe l’oeil o mga dibuhong nandadaya sa paghiling siring sa garo mga nakaukit na disenyo sa Katedral alagad pininta sana man palan. Magayon man an mga pagbabago sa patio, siring sa Via Crucis na stained glass, asin sa mga tinanom na orog pang nagpapagayon sa palibot. Alagad tubod ako ki Dr. Doods Santos na an Quadricentennial Dome sa atubangan nakaólang sa magayon na ladawan kan Katedral na nahihiling sa Barlin Street.

An Romanesque na simbahan kan Nabua na abang gayon, igwang retablo na sa hiling ko iyo an pinakamagayon sa Bikol. Magayon man an stained glass windows na minapahiling kan eklesyastikong historya kan banwaan. Malinig an simbahan na ini asin igwang marhay na acoustics huli ta bakong pa-arko an kisame. An siste sana ta ginamitan nin naglalaád-laád na mga kolor an frescoes na nasa kisame—ini si mga kolor na orog na midbid sato bilang neon colors. Kaya an bado ni Birhen Maria, malaád-laád na blue.

An repainting na ginibo sa bantog na Four Pillars kan Ateneo de Naga garo man dai inadalan. Nagdiriklom ini asin weird an kolor na garo light sienna o light brownish peach. Harayo na ining marhay sa inspirasyon na Greek Acropolis na yellowish off-white an kolor. Kadakol an nasasalang apodon an pillars kan Ateneo bilang Corinthian columns, alagad an totoo, Ionic ini huli sa mga volutes o itong garo mga scrolls na nasa tuktok kan mga harigi. Pag minalaog ako sa Ateneo, ini an hinahanap kan mga mata ko. Binabawi na sana kan gayon kan Simbahan kan Kristong Hade sa Ateneo na sinasabing Baroque-Bikol. Ini an ehemplo kan pinag-agom na mga tradisyon, asin an karahayan ta inadalan asin orog na importante, pinanindugan. Minasunod ini sa Baroque na tradisyon kan kururikot na columns na Corinthian an disenyo, alagad indigenous an karakter huli ta sa tuktok kan mga harigi igwang mga inukit na pinya na produkto kan Bikol. An mga dibuho ni Bong Peñera na Vic Crucis, Baroque man an sinusunod alagad dai dududahan na mga Pilipino asin Bikolano an mga tao asin an gawe-gawe; siring man ini sa stained glass na Windows of the King. An kaoragan kan simbahan na ini asin man kan Katedral kan Naga iyo an detalye. Kun an Katedral pigtiyagaan na panoon nin mga trompe l’oeil designs an mga harigi asin kisame, an simbahan kan Ateneo madetalye man an mga nakaukit na niyog, pili, asin natong, sa mga panel kan kisame asin gilid kan church pews.

Ngunyan na mga panahon nin restoration nin mga suanoy na istruktura asin panahon man nin mga pagtukdok nin mga buildings na risang marhay an pagsunod sa Europeong disenyo (kadakol ngunyan an Mediterranean type), likayan ta man logod na magin diskumpasado an maluwas na gibo. Adalan, aramon, tanganing makahimo nin mga istrukturang pino asin tama; itong siyerto sa negosyo asin sa anuman na katuyuhan. Ini an bunga kan pagsunod ta saindang mga dayuhan. Agyat man kaini an paghaman ta nin mga disenyong maaapod na satuya.

Kitá, síring sa mga tren, mga lunadán nin pagkámoot

2008-05-30T23:58:00.004+08:00

ki M

minairárom kitá, mapagkúmbabâ,
sa mga kadlagán kun saín dai namámansayan
alágad nahíhiling an padúdumanan;
minadalágan sa mga abága kan kabukídan,
bontól sa mga rekúdo nin pagsákit, minamatè
an gabát kan goyód-goyód na pagláom,
asin minákaskas sa darusdós, kun saín
sinásabat kita nin malípot na dóros, pasabóng
sa pagraní sa namómôtan;
dai ta hiníhiling an mga siyudad o sítyo
asin óontokan an lambáng estasyón
húli ta an gabós minámakulugan;
nakákabungog an silbáto, síring sa makusóg
na dagubdób kan daghán, tangáning
daíng makulgán o abtán nin kagadánan.

Síring kitá sa mga tren,
mga lunadán nin pagkámoot ---

minalúnad kitáng igwáng pagkadayúpot
sa namómôtan, síring na dayúpot an mga ruwéda
sa mga ríles na dai man lámang niya namatéan
nin lípot minsán sa kataháwan kan tag-urán;
minalúnad kitá na igwáng dakúlang pagkámoot,
pagkámoot na minapúkaw sa mga bara-banwaán,
sa túrog na mga haróng, asin minápoon
sa bâgong aldáw.

Síring kitá sa mga tren,
mga lunadán nin pagkámoot ---

kasubâgóng pagkaága,
minâwot kong mágduman sa estasyón,
sa kinatûdán na lulunádan,
daíng táo, daíng ribók,
nátadâ na saná an paísing
kasubanggí palán iyó na an
húring biyáhe kan mga tren.

Real (in defense of the Bikol writers)

2008-05-25T01:22:00.001+08:00

IN Alec Santos’ feature article last week, “Bikol Oral Narrative—surviving the odds,” we were informed of the exemplary efforts of Ateneo de Naga University professor Dr. Cyril Conde in preserving Bikol oral literature. In this case, these ancient folktales leave the ever-threatened circumstance of our oral tradition to finally find its way to the pages of a published literature. What Dr. Conde does is similar to the tedious yet rewarding wanderings of Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm that produced for the world an anthology of folk tales that delighted generations since the Brothers Grimm published it in 1812. Indeed, efforts such as this are very much needed today, which Mr. Santos described as a situation “where reality is nothing more than the daily grind of life.” Tracing back our traditions to its possible earliest period and acquiring something from it for the sake of learning and preservation allow us to understand more ourselves as a people and as a culture.

Quite interesting and actually wonderful to think about was the oral literary contest which Dr. Conde’s group initiated on May 19 in Villaflorida, Ocampo, Camarines Sur. I wasn’t able to attend the event, but I can just imagine how exciting it would be to witness local folks contest each other in telling stories intimate to our culture and personal experiences. Imagine the wit and utter display of our very own philosophies in the numerous stories, legends, myths, and other folk tales of Bikol. Dr. Conde’s efforts actually assure for our children the great opportunity of the joy of reading the stories our forebears themselves created. These stories, as artifacts of our culture, provide for us a rich material where we can acquire our own sense of Bikol-ness.

I remember my father narrating to me as a child the tales of Juan Tiñoso, who I have learned later that he was also the same character of a more indigenous name of Juan Osóng. The Juan Tiñoso stories were among the tales I grew up with. They were among my first kickoff points toward greater curiosity. Up to this day, nobody really knows where these Juan Osóng came from. Nobody knows if Osóng is an indigenized Tiñoso or that the latter is actually a Hispanic version of the former. Literary historians could only make conjectures. Regardless of such confusions, these stories need to be documented and archived. And we are fortunate to have a devoted scholar in the person of Dr. Cyril Conde.

But while Dr. Conde’s outstanding literary research is really worth emulating, Mr. Santos’ way of ending his article was irresponsible and quite unfair to the contemporary Bikolano writers. Everything was admirable until his dicto simpliciter in the last sentence: “In an age where modern Bikolano literature is nothing more than the creation of egoistic urban writers (which I will not name), it is good to know that REAL literature still exists in our land.”

What is modern Bikol literature in the first place? Is it really modern? If Mr. Santos refers to the contemporary Bikol literature, then he should be more aware that contemporary literary works comprise only a few pages in the thick compendium of Bikol literary creations. Contemporary writers never claim ascendancy over Bikol literature. In fact, we never fail to recognize the influence on us of the past as well as the present-day culture that we have. Mr. Santos could have instead named who these ‘egoistic urban writers’ are so that we could have just talked to them as colleagues. Not naming them brought forth vagueness, which means anyone if not all of us could be full of ourselves. This is unfair because no Bikolano contemporary writer today really earns from writing, not even our colleagues who have published books. They write for passion, they write for Bikol, despite not getting recognized. Bikol literature is still making its way to be formally thought in the classrooms, and Bikolano writers are laboring hard for this; neither for prestige nor wealth, but just so that Bikol literature lingers in the consciousness of the next generations. It is quite unfair to them to be cheap shot without deeply looking into the real worth of what they do.

Much more, I think it was thoughtless and lacking in discernment to discriminate the contemporary literary works as NOT REAL literature. What then is REAL? Mr. Santos should have looked more closely into the contemporary works where traces of oral narratives—REAL literature according to him—are very much visible. We do not set indigenous literature aside. Rather, we are also in search of it. We want to put constancy to it in our artworks. In our hearts is a Bikol literature formed and shaped along the course of history. We are in a period where post-colonial hunger for everything pre-colonial is deep. While we turn to the past and get inspired by its wonder, we live and write in a world of a different circumstance. There are many good contemporary Bikolano writers, writers who never get known, writers who write well for the sake of writing. To call their works as NOT REAL literature is a great blunder.

Rapsák (complete)

2008-05-05T01:38:00.007+08:00

Published in two parts in the Bikol newspaper, Vox Bikol.

AS OF WRITING, I don’t know if this will get into print lest be perpetually labeled profane and thus, alas, a trash. If that is the case, then my journalistic career is over; more sadly, it will be short-lived. But no. Maybe I can just appeal for a rating of R-18; heavens, save my soul.

A few days ago, while living up to Bikol summer traditions, I was in Pasacao with the Ateneo de Naga University Choir for a two-day spree. Once, while the choir members were swimming, I strolled along the beach for some good photography. I stumbled upon some fish vendors talking to one another in a language that was very distinct—living humor and candidly sincere vocabulary. I surmise they were actually gossiping.

“Buráy ni inà niyá! Anó man daw an giníríbo sa laóg, anó?” a female vendor asked with a malicious look in her face.

“Málay ko man. Péro sigurádo ‘ko baralbágan ‘to!” the first vendor exclaimed followed by a loud roar of laughter.

“Iká man mánay, bakà máhiling mi man iká dumán!” the first vendor taunted the woman.

“Daí ‘ko kayán ay. Daí ko ipápahámak d’yan an buráy ko!” the woman vendor said in a loud voice. Another chorus of laughter followed.

One notable about the conversation was the straightforwardness of the so-called vulgarities. Had the conversation happened somewhere in the nook of the society’s learned—those who have mastered what social arts mean, that could have been the lesser form, the uneducated, nasty, impure, immoral. The elderly would have frowned while the young would have grinned; the moralists would have elegantly displayed their enthused didacticism. That is if reflection is one-sided. For I think we never have really considered the question: why? Why such language exists?

In Bikol, vulgar or profane language is known as rapsák. In the outskirts, where life is sustained by farming, fishing, and other livelihood solely relying on the gifts of nature, rapsák is more observed in daily conversations. Siestas in the fields on hot afternoons, lull market hours, are commonly accompanied by conversations on village life. These conversations are often heavily laden with humor and pranks. Quite obvious, most known Bikol rapsák in contemporary conversations are almost always of sexual overtones. I was once asked by a Manileño on common Bikol vulgar expressions and I couldn’t give him any rapsák which was not sexual in nature other than lintian!. I believe rapsák in Bikol is more than profanity; it is deep in the Bikol language itself. While rapsák in other languages might just be a set of expressions of surprise and astonishment, in Bikol, it is our own colloquial, a colloquial which is faithful to its native Latin colloquium or conversation. Rapsák could actually be the language spoken on the ancient saúdan, dálan, baybáyon,etc. of Ibalong villages. And my conjecture is that rapsák has ever been present in Bikol.

Bikol historian Dr. Danny Gerona had actually dived into the depth of the word órag. How órag has come out from the battering of history is óragon itself. In his monograph, Órag as a Bikol Virtue, Gerona followed the course of history and examined how the word changed every now and then in the face of the colonizers. The órag as the exploits of the pre-Hispanic male has become the lustful órag created by the Spanish friars. In this case, the nobility that was in the ancient órag was downgraded to the profane—the rapsák. Is the profanity of rapsák a creation in the advent of Catholicism? Is pre-Hispanic rapsák actually an amoral language?

In the eyes of Mikhail Bahktin, rapsák is our own culture of the carnivalesque. The early rapsák had Bahktin’s carnival characters who were blasphemous, rugged, dirty, hungry, drunkards, perverts, and the likes. In the case of the fish vendors of Pasacao, their rapsák was a manifestation of the natural folk culture of humor which takes place despite full knowledge that some social entities are in fact powers that approve what should and could be rapsák. For Bahktin, carnivalesque was there even before the existence of the Church and governments.

In this case, rapsák is no longer confined to the concept of the profane as laughable matter, but rather, it goes back into the possible truth that rapsák was not profane until powers labeled it as such. In Gerona’s monograph, órag was not profane until its first published definition in 16th century in Fray Marcos de Lisboa’s Bikol-Spanish lexicon as “dishonesty or lust.” Órag as “lust” also appeared in Fray Domingo Martinez’ Doctrina Christiana. Why do then some of us still tremble lest be damned after muttering the word órag? Or can we actually say: Si inà n’ya! P’wéde ko iníng yamutámon dáwa nuarín!

Even if Bikol rapsák is seemingly spoken in different parts of the region, it still remains a subject of social criticism, a taboo. This prohibition mainly came from what Mikhail Bahktin called powers that entered Bikol along history, such as church, schools, foreign cultures, among others. These institutions consequently—whether intentionally or unintentionally—provided substitutes for the so-called rapsák. The Rinconada generic expression másimut, no matter how Bikolanos are amused hearing someone utter it, is still considered a grave totónglon (curse). Children are reprimanded by adults whenever órag or any of its suffixed variations is said, advertently or inadvertently. These powers, instead proposed another set of vocabulary which could be expressed instead of the native rapsák. And thus, Bikol, like any other place where Spaniards set foot on, have: Diós ko!, Susmaryósep!, Santísima!, Patawáron!. These expressions, religious and reverent in character, took the place of the indigenous rapsák, and thereafter, provided sharp contrast for the rapsák to be eventually labeled profane. Western influence, however, did not just bring religious and reverent expressions. They have also shared with us sharp scornful vocabulary in: híjo de púta, imbecíl, estúpido, cabrón, índio, and many more.

This overturn of the rapsák is actually seen in Gerona’s paper as the logic behind the colonizers’ desire to sexualize the word órag. Orágon, which was mainly attributed to the dominant pre-Hispanic male, had to be recreated into a word which was unlikable and unpleasant in nature. This is true in many things. The Spanish colonizers gave the impression that almost everything we had was not good, and thus, enforced upon us a change in everything, including culture, and yes, even language. They were picky however. They did not teach us everything, but rather, taught us what would leave us in guilt, what would not allow us to enter heaven, what would leave us in endless scruples. They did these so that the seemingly ignorant race they found on this part of the East Indies would be easier to conquer. They succeeded, at least, in giving us a life in borrowed malice.

I remember two persons while writing this article. One was the late Governor Nonoy Bulaong who we used to laugh at for his humor. But we laughed at him more because of his nasty language. Now, something inside me reacted writing the word nasty. The second person I remember was the late National Artist for Dance Ramon Obusan, also a Bikolano, who got into trouble with MTRCB for mentioning the word titì in the documentary program I-Witness of GMA 7. Obusan caught in film Lukáyo, a pre-Hispanic wedding ritual still practiced in the outskirts of Laguna. In the ritual, the old women of the village had wooden penises tied on to their waists as they danced the couple to and from the church for fertility and fortune.

As I further, I am tempted to reflect whether we are made sincere or not as a people negating a very essential characteristic of our language and culture. Again, this is a matter of language. This is a matter of conquering our tongues and accepting that every word is essential and meaningful, including our líntian, orágon, másimut, and the likes. In fact, I believe that our vocabulary of rapsák is richest in terms of meanings. How many times we resort to them when we are out of concrete words and yet we are fully understood by others? How many of us resort to them in times of greatest and strongest emotions?

My point is that we control rapsák as we control our language; we are its owners. I do not say we utter it unreasonably all the time. I say let’s try get in touch with our language and know its contours so that we can manage it fully and responsibly. We are the best judge as to whether our language is good or bad, and not some colonial power or foreign culture or any establishment. Many times, we can learn from the candid ones like the fish vendors or Bulaong and Obusan. What they did not have was the foreign malice for our indigenous thoughts. And thus, the beauty of our language, sincere and actually respectful, was revealed.

In “Rabelais and His World,” Bhaktin tells us that “true ambivalent and universal laughter does not deny seriousness but purifies and completes it. Laughter purifies from dogmatism, from the intolerant and the petrified; it liberates from fanaticism and pedantry, from fear and intimidation, from didacticism, naïveté and illusion, from the single meaning, the single level, from sentimentality. Laughter does not permit seriousness to atrophy and to be torn away from the one being, forever incomplete. It restores this ambivalent wholeness.”

Líntian! Rapsák does.

Kapalibutan

2008-04-27T19:01:00.007+08:00

SA pagpintakasi kan bilog na katawohan kan Aldaw kan Kinaban o Earth Day, minarhay kong alokon an gabos na maghorop-horop dapit sa kamugtakan kan satong kapalibutan. Kanigoan na gayo an mga programang an kapalibutan atamanon; igwa nin mga sarabay na paglinig kan mga natad, pagtulod sa paggamit nin mga natural o organic na paagi para man maibitaran an padagos na pag-ati kan satong duros, igwa man mga paghimong ginigibo na linigan an satong katubigan. An mga ini gabos para man mag-ambag sa pag-ataman kan sarô-sarò tang kinaban.

Alagad, kun hihilingon sa lente nin pagmakulog, asin paghohorop-horopan na gayo, kadakol na proyektong ginigibo pang-madalian o kun bako man na sagin-sagin sana. Kadakol na mga proyekto an minaruluwas alagad bigla na sanang nawawara pagkatapos kan halipot na panahon. Kadakol man mga grupo asin mga paghiro na daing ontok na sinusulsol an siisay man, dakul na beses an gobyerno, sa pagkaraot kan kapalibutan. Igwa pa ngani akong nahiling sa telebisyon na mga rallies kun sain iginapo na ki Gloria an gabos, pati na an pagbaha, pagtupag kan daga, pagkagadan kan mga sira, asin iba pa. Bako man akong suportador ni Gloria, alagad makangiring paghilingon an siring kaining kamugtakan. An sakong pagtubod, kulang sana kita nin totoong paghorop-horop, idtong hararom asin lipotok.

Kun mapadron kita sa mga ispiritwal na hapot ni San Ignacio de Loyola, mahapot kita: Ano daw an naginibo ko na para sa kapalibutan? Ano daw an padagos ko pang ginigibo para sa kapalibutan? Ano daw an magiginibo ko pa para sa kapalibutan? Ini huli ta mayo, o kun igwa man didikit sana asin mayong maako, na sa satong mga sadiri kita mga para-ambag man sa pagratak sa kinaban. Huli man kaini, sa limitado tang kakayahan, inaapod kitang maki-ayon sa pag-ataman kaini.

Romdomon ta na an nangyayari sa sato ngunyan sa lado kan kapalibutan nagpoon sa saradit na bagay. An salog na maati nagpoon sa enot na basurang inapon. An bukid na nagtupag nagpoon sa enot na kahoy na pinukan. An pagkawara kan mga linalanganan na gamgam nagpoon sa enot na gamgam na dinakop. Kun kaya sa sakong paghiling, kaipuhan na an pagmakulog mapoon sa kairaroman kan sadiri. Aram ta man ini gabos, huli ta an mga tataramon na ini bako naman bago. Kaipuhan sana kitang pagiromdomon, sadolon, o kun dai man, piriton. Siring sa mga aking pirang beses kun pagiromdomon kan saiyang ina kan saiyang mga nakaatang na gigibohon. Sa lado kan kapalibutan, kita gabos mga aki, inaapod tanganing kamotan asin pangatamanan an inaapod tang Inang Kalikasan.

Importante an macro o mahiwas na paghiling, alagad sa kamugtakan na kritikal an elemento kan panahon, labi ka-esensyal an personal na kontribusyon. Kadikit sana man an hinahagad. Enot, na imuklat ta an satong mga mata na igwang pangangaipong atamanon an kinaban. Panduwa, an aramon kun ano an satong mga personal na maiaambag, sa satong makakaya. Halimbawa, kun kita minabakal sa tindahan, kun saro o duwang items man sana puwedeng sa bag na diretso asin dai na iplastic. Sadit na bagay ini, alagad mahalaga.

Igwang mga katotoohan na magpapahorasà sa sato, mga bagay na kaipuhan tang ipagsakripisyo o ipaghorasà man tangani sanang magbalik an dating kamugtakan. Sabi ngani ni Al Gore, ini an “inconvenient truth” na mina-alok sato na maki-ayon, mamatean nguna an satong mga personal na inkumbinyensya tangani ining mapara asin makabalik man an kinaban kun sain entero an satong kaginhawahan. Dikit sana man ini, siring kan pagtipid sa kuryente, tubig, paggamit nin mga organikong paagi asin iba pa, na minsan matao sato nin “inconvenience,” alagad ano man an inconvenience na ini kun ini makakatabang sa pagbolong kan kinaban hale sa pagkaraot—an orog na dakulang “inconvenient truth.”

Makanood man logod kita sa mga klasikong parasurat, siring ki Gerard Manley Hopkins o ki Rio Alma, asin sa Bikolanong environmentalist na si Dr. Lina Regis. Nahiling ni Hopkins an Diyos sa burikbutikan na sirang naglalangoy sa sapa asin sa nagmamaris-maris na pagkaaga. Si Rio Alma inatangan nin mga rawitdawit an saiyang mga pagkangalas sa manlaen-laen na mga hayop asin iba pang nilalang na nabubuhay sa kinaban. Sa saiya man na makusog na pagmakulog, sinurat ni Ma’am Lina an mga premyadong pasaling pang-entablado na naghuhurot sa gabos na magin mapag-ataman sa satong kinaban. Asin, minsan ngani iginigilid kan mga kritiko nin literatura an “Tree” ni Joyce Kilmer, totoo an sinasabi kaini: “…only God can make a tree!”

Nagtutubod ako na an pagmakulog minapoon sa paghiling sa halaga kan bagay na kaipuhan pagmakulugan. Magayon an satong kinaban, asin sa saradit man na paagi, logod padanayon ta an kagayonan na ini tanganing, siring sa sabi kan awit asin kan kadakol na mga pahayag, maexperyensya man ini kan mga masurunod sato. Inaapod na kitang magpoon sa satong mga sadiri.

Beautiful words

2008-04-18T02:49:00.007+08:00

TO emphasize my point, I am writing in a language not natively mine. Because to write in my native Bikol in admiration of the language itself may only make me find myself in the end lacking in expression. For example, I feel awkward saying how magayón is magayón, rather than enunciating ‘beautiful’ or the Latin ‘amoenus’ for the adjective itself. Aside from the utter insufficiency of meaning, and even despite the possible changes when suffixes or compounding words are attached to it, the word magayón itself cannot suffice a passionate Bikolano’s desire to describe the very word which he or she uses to express passion. It can be perhaps what I consider as humility of every language—or of the people speaking it—that makes it unable to optimize the articulation of respect of itself. In many ways, using other language to describe our own vocabulary entries suggests recognition of linguistic differences. It only shows that our language is indeed a language, and thus, it is an entirely established cultural entity and that it is worthy of respect from any other cultures. This is different however from the respect a language gains when one uses or speaks it.

Adrian Remodo has the best way of articulating it: paghubà sa magayón (undressing beautiful)—where magayón is the ‘other’ or better-half of maórag and where both magayón and maórag can stand on their own respective terra firmas. In many of the world’s major languages, the consideration of gender identification is still present in their manners of declension. A gapô or a rock may come out as a female or a male entity based on usage, situation, and other factors. Alas, the use of guápa and guápo in Spanish is even more complex than the way we think it is. Those who are familiar with any of the Romance languages know this.

We do not have this complexity in our own Bikol language. Magayón, which we use to admire the feminine, does not change when we describe Gotâ Beach or Mayon Volcano with it. Much more, our maórag had already gone through innumerable tests, even damnations, it has been bruised by our own history, only to come out more maórag than it should actually be. Ask a contemporary Bikolano what does maórag really means and you will end up hanging out together for the rest of the day. Our language is a strong and beautiful tongue, and I am proud of it, perhaps you are too. I remember a Visayan friend who once candidly told me that our magayón is perhaps the most beautiful word for the word ‘beautiful.’ Now, think of that.

Our kamálig nin tatarámon is as rich as any other vocabulary. But we, native speakers, who love the language and who are passionate about it to the point of trembling, may even declare it as the most beautiful language in the world. This may also be true of course with the Japanese, Yucatans, French, Kenyans, and others, who love and are proud of their own respective tongues. But much as I want to consider them, I cannot but single out the language I first came to know as a human person. And as I write this, I can only imagine the ancient people of Ibalón who had put Bikol language together. Some naughty questions on vocabulary formation razzed my mind: who invented the word makanós (ugly)? or kitô, the Bikol word for sexual intercourse? or angsúd (body odor)? or hurínghuding (rumor)? magayón? maórag? For they seem to be, and I think they indeed are, perfect representations of the entities they respectively represent. I remember Fr. Wilmer Tria’s pag-aláman for ‘impending danger’ when Kristian Cordero, Carlo Arejola and I were actually considering katibaádan. There is erokán and haróng for home or abode; dapóg for stove; ratâ or tikrág for drop or fall; hapíhap for caress; agyát for challenge; súgok for egg; sungó for firewood. The list is endless.

The famous Jesuit philosopher Roque Ferriols perfectly puts it: kahulugán. It could be a better way of expressing than saying the English ‘meaning’ or the more definitive ‘definition.’ For Ferriols, kahulugán is when everything of that something falls—húlog—into its proper place. Our forebears, the inhabitants of Ibalón long before the Occidentals arrived, were geniuses in their own way to have set what kahulugán is for us and thereafter provided for us such a sweet yet solid language.

To discover this, one has to be intimate with the language itself, speak it by heart, and learn to discover with a childlike sense of amazement how beautiful a language can truly be. To discover this, one has to reflect as a child reflects and grins on foliage dancing by the easterly winds. For language is not just a requirement for survival; it something that we live, more like the air we breathe. To become aware of language as an essential component of one’s culture, then to stumble on it as something that is majestically beautiful, is to discover an unlimited way of discovering oneself. And what such great things come after the conquest of the self? It is only when we are able to conquer the world of words when we can move on to transcend to other dimensions, silence, perhaps, the look of the eye, the beating of the heart—the very same thing that happens to a lover after discovering his own perfect way to articulate love.

Photography by Rarinda Prakarsa