Poetry by Fatima Zacaria | September 6, 2009
Lami kaayo matulog
Kay tugnaw man god.
Ay! Kalain!
Late na diay ko.
Unsaon nako pagligo?
Perteng tugnawa sa tubig
Dili na ko kakaon
Kay kinahanglan moadto na.
Paggawas sa balay,
Nawala ang mek-ap
Kay gibasa sa ulan!
Fiction by Rosalia Gajo | August 30, 2009
“Tabang, Hon! Tabangi ko! Nabukog ko!” Naghilak akong nagsiyagit nga naggunit sa akong liog.
“Giunsa man nimo pagkaon? Unsay nakabukog nimo?” sunod-sunod nga pangutana sa akong bana sa tonong alanganing suko ug taranta. “Nagdalo-dalo tingali ka,” dugang pa niya.
May katinuoran ang gisulti sa akong bana. Sa bus pa lang daan gigutom na ko. Gikan ko sa pag-eskwela sa summer class ug usa ka oras ug tunga ang akong biyahe. Wala na nako mapilian og bukog ang bulad nga akong gisud-an. Basta kay mikaon ko nga nagkinamot. Mao na lay akong nabatyagan sa akong pagtulon nga dunay hait misangit sa akong tutunlan, dako ug lig-on nga bukog.
Fiction by Nelly Tagupa | August 23, 2009
“Dali! Dagan!” naghangos nga daw maputol na ang ginhawang singgit ni Greg. Ang pikas mata niini namurot ug ang iyang wait namudlot. Nagsunod kaniya si Lito nga daghan kaayog bukol sa ulo ug nawong. Pareho silang nagkabulingit sa lapok ang tibuok lawas.
“Naunsa mo, Bay? Asa mo gikan?” sunud- sunod nga pangutana ni Nestor nga nahingangha dihang miabot ang duha sa iyang gamayng tindahan.
“Gi-gi-gigukod mi, Bay!” tubag ni Greg nga nagsapid-sapid pa ang dila sa kakuyaw.
“Ha? Buanga! Kinsay migukod ninyo? Misunod ba?” pangutana ni Nestor nga nataranta.
Poetry by Arman Neri | August 23, 2009
Batang bulingit, daw piso
Nagpaulan, nagpainit
Sip-on ug lapok nangumbabit
“Piso, Kol! Piso, Te!”
Sangpit sa batang bulingit
Aron tiyan masudlan og init
Balay ang karsada
Karton iyang kama
Tun-og gibukot niya
Mga ginikanan hain na
Ang inyong mga piso
Nanginahanglan og alima
Poetry by Prince Gerard Magdaleno | August 23, 2009
Ang ulan samok panagsa
Basaon ka, padagan-daganon ka,
Patago-tagoon ka.
Kon magbaktas ka sa yuta
Mahugaw-hugawan pa ka.
Pero ang ulan diay panagsa maghatag
Og maayong resulta
Pag ikaw manguyab tabon-tabonan dayon
Ang ulo sa dalaga
Para makabalo siya
Nga ga-care ka sa iya.
Panagsa pod kon ikaw ra usa
Makahinumdom ka sa moment ninyong duha.
Gakson ka, pakiligon ka, palipayon ka
Tungod sa katugnaw nga anaa.
Abi nako sa una samok ang ulan
Pero dili diay.
Ang ulan nagahatag pod diay
Og kalipay sa mga naghinigugmaay.
Nonfiction by Aida Rivera Ford | August 16, 2009
Now that the Cory Fever is sweeping the country pandemically, memories of the horrid Martial Law years invade my consciousness.
It was declared soon after my return from a Kyoto Conference on American Literature and my flying over the whole Russian continent without seeing any city or village en route to England, Paris, Greece, Italy, and Thailand. I was Humanities Division Chairman at the Ateneo de Davao University and was Moderator of the ATENEWS, the college paper. The year before, I had discovered a brilliant freshman—Evella Bontia who out-stripped the upperclassmen in my search for ATENEWS editor. A staffmember was a quiet girl with the surname Mahipus. In my literature class, a senior—Tiny de la Paz—was expected to receive summa cum laude honors.
What greater shock it was when the ATENEWS office was raided because of an article entitled “Portrait of the Atenean as Activist.” Ms. Mahipus and Mr. de la Paz were incarcerated at the PC barracks. Evella Bontia escaped to the hills and later was reported killed in an encounter with military forces. What a loss!
Nonfiction by Arvin Antonio Ortiz | August 16, 2009
There will come a time in our lives that we have to make a big decision—a decision whose consequences we are uncertain of. It is not easy to make such a decision, so we’ve got to really admire those who have mustered a mammoth of courage and made that decision.
History is strewn with great men and women who bravely made a big decision even if that meant putting their lives and other people’s lives at grave risk. On a wintry day in December 1776, George Washington decided to cross the Delaware River. The supplies and provisions of Washington’s Continental Army were fast running out. The soldiers were hungry and destitute. Some of them were sick; others were dying. And many more would die, including their fight for independence, unless they crossed the Delaware River into the garrison of the Hessians where stores of food, clothing, blankets, and munitions, run aplenty. On Christmas Day, Washington and his men embarked on a bold move that would, historians say, alter the course of the revolution the Americans waged against the British Empire. They successfully crossed the river, swiftly defeated their enemies, and resuscitated the revolution.
Corazon Aquino, “Cory” to many, made hers when her husband, the former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., was killed. The feisty senator was among those who were imprisoned when former president Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law. Ninoy spent many years in prison, but was soon allowed by Marcos to go abroad for a heart operation. There, the Aquinos experienced a glint of peace. But Ninoy was a man who always wanted to be on the battlefields. Though he lived comfortably abroad, away from the claws of the dictatorship, he decided to come home. And he came home, only to be killed.
Poetry by Krisini Nanini | August 16, 2009
(Para sa ating lumipas na pangulo na naging simbolo ng kababaihan, pag-ibig, katapangan at pag-asa)
tulad ng halik
ng unang sinag ng araw
sa mga matang
kay tagal na
nalugmok sa dilim
niyapos ng dilaw na laso
ang perlas ng silangan
at ikinumot ang pag-asa