Nonfiction by Christian Cabagnot, Karlo Antonio David | March 21, 2010
(Remembering The Lost Sultan’s Mansion)
The Mansion in Kidapawan designed and built by Sultan Omar Kiram II, locally known as the Kiram Building, was a testimony to the life and artistic merit of a great man of history. With its distinct Roman-Torogan design, it was arguably Kidapawan’s greatest link to its Mindanawon roots. Yet its destruction, and the Kidapaweño’s indifference to it, painfully reveals how unconcerned the people are for their heritage.
Nonfiction by Josie Carballo Tejada | March 14, 2010
When I was a child growing up on Mt. Apo Street, there was a dark, turbaned man in brightly-colored trubenized togs, who came to call on our neighborhood every now and then. He peddled all sorts of goods, from woven mats to Matadujong – a strong-smelling eau de cologne.
At first, I thought he was a Muslim, but my mother corrected the misnomer. “He is an Indian.” The man spoke a curious blend of Filipino and English with a funny accent. I always wondered why he wore long sleeves. Later, I learned that he wore on his arms all the wristwatches he was selling.
Nonfiction by Fe Maloloy-on | February 21, 2010
In finding a job in the Philippines, many feel that the palaksan system always prevails: it’s not what you know, but whom you know. But I have come to learn that sometimes, things can come in their own time. As Kuya Kim on TV says: “Ang buhay ay weather-weather lang.”
In the summer of 1997, I applied for a job at the Department of Education in Agusan del Norte. After the competitive exam, the interviews, and the teaching demonstration, I emerged sixth among the more than two hundred applicants from the entire province.
Three months later, I still didn’t get a position while those who ranked lower than me had already been assigned as substitutes in our own town, Nasipit. My co-applicant, a neighbor of mine, said knowingly: “Bisan unsa pa ka kataas sa ranking ba ug wala’y lakas, ‘la man jud.” No matter how high you rank in the exam, if you don’t know anyone, it will all come to naught.
Nonfiction by Katrina Angela Castro | February 7, 2010
I had it with me since then. It was what kept me sane from all those cynic thoughts I couldn’t prevent. It was my intense fondness for drawing. I was too obsessed with it. I couldn’t stand not doing it even for just a short while. It seemed as if my childhood days revolved around my sketch book. Drawing was my passion, my shock absorber.
I used to be very languid back then, more than what I am now. I was so sensitive that I had to pin my ears back on what others might be saying and doing behind me. I became very conscious of my words and actions because I did not want people to criticize me. I was a silent detective, collecting even the little signs of spitefulness. I admit that I had those irrational suspicions. I just couldn’t avoid them.
Nonfiction by Karlo Antonio David | January 31, 2010
Aaron Jalalon’s play “Red Wine for Teddy” is an excellent work of literature because of its demonstration of refreshing humour, its ability to ironically reveal Philippine realities and its nature as a work that is uniquely Filipino. It is both entertaining and profound, a helpful tool in bringing the masses back into the path of intellectualism they have for a long time strayed from.
The play, which consists of just one scene, is about four meat vendors: the eponymous Teodor, Lydia, her daughter Ji-ji and Ardong. It is revealed in the four’s dialogue that Gary, an American who was a patron of Teodor, had been found murdered in a dump site. The four express the possibility that theft was the motive for the murder, and, in a light hearted sequence of dialogue, they fondly lament his death.
The play’s strongest aspect is its humour. It seems superficial, but on closer reading, it reveals the attitudes of its characters.
Continue reading Revelation in Humor: A Review of “Red Wine for Teddy”
Nonfiction by Sergei Reyes | January 24, 2010
Unlike others who preferred creating nonsensical doodles, I fancied writing my thoughts on paper using my left hand, but due to my awesome talent to do continuous cartwheels, I broke it when I was six.
I was excited to show off; my arms were extended as if reaching for a tree branch, and my feet were giddy to come off the ground. My friends were aghast as I did one cartwheel after another. When I was about to finish my third, a female with huge hips and bouncy ass passed by and unconsciously bumped me, so I fell. I never felt anything until my friend who had been awed at first was horror-stricken, and he shouted, “Hala Sergei! Ang kamay mo!”
I looked at it, and saw that my left arm had formed an “L” shape.
Nonfiction by Aldory Gevero | January 17, 2010
As I reflect on my life, I have come to appreciate how paper has shaped my personal life. My parents were bound by a legal paper called a marriage certificate. This marked the start of my life in this world. My birth certificate strengthened the legitimacy of my citizenship after my birth. We know how important this paper is. We need it in all our legal transactions.
When I was still young, I remember how my mother would drive away my sadness by making origami birds. She would give me paper birds of different designs and colors. And how I enjoyed playing with paper planes! Another source of my pleasure was expressing my feelings through drawings on my notebooks. I drew anime and cartoon characters. My self-esteem would increase when my classmates expressed their appreciation of my drawings. I also felt delight in looking at different pictures in books, magazines, and comics even without understanding the written texts. Later, I started to find joy in reading beautiful stories and informational selections from any reference papers. Then, I found recreation in writing my own papers that serve as my ultimate self-expression.
Nonfiction by Mucha-Shim Quiling Arquiza | December 20, 2009
The tiny crescent island in Sulu where I was born and learned my name is unknown and hardly even visible in a map of the more than 7,000 islands of the Philippine archipelago. In the sixties or even earlier, when it started getting the attention of some anthropological researchers, it occasionally got briefly written about or sometimes mentioned in passing by Western authors in some ethnological studies for its famous pandan [reed] mat of exotic designs and riot of colors or else for the katakata, stories and story-tellers of never-ending amazement and deep mysticism. Allegedly, weavers and chanters fell into trance and met their muses in dreams.
Continue reading Communion with the “Presences” in Lami Nusa