grab this week's philippines free press now

Yes, the one with the faces of people running for Philippine presidency this year, buy that in the nearest magazine or newspaper stands. It won’t hurt your wallet, it is worth P50 only. Leaf through the magazine until the last page, and there you are, discover the reason for this ultimately shameless plug on this corner of the blogosphere:

My poem “Traffic” is published alongside the works of Jan Paulo Bastareche, Alfred Casipong, and Bron Teves, and a piece of fiction by Dean Francis Alfar. If literature is not for you, well, just wallow in the editorial pages and other articles for your desired consumption. Thanks.

no longer safe

I have always read online privacy issues in all forms of media, with the recent being this article entitled “Tell-All Generation Learns to Keep Things Offline”, but the days, like the rest of the days, simply move on their usual route. The possibility of me stumbling into a trap of cyber clandestine issues, I consider, is laughable. Until today.

One centralized department email account in our office is suddenly receiving numerous messages from different employees, from different departments of the company: confidential memos directed to the president, conversations on delays of progress reports, gossips on absences, and even my planned trip to Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte. My trip to Pagudpud! The last one made my heart skip a beat. Even our IT personnel are dumbfounded. Automatically retracing all the conversations made in my email account, my mind hits a ringing realization: with computers (especially the internet) nothing is really private.

This episode may only be a problem within our company’s computer systems, for now, but in all likelihood, our everyday Google or Yahoo could go bonkers sooner or later. With this being said, let us be careful with what we are saying (or posting). You know, words are sharper when they are out of their sheaths.

something that came up on election day

Heard Before

You heard it before:
the whorls of our fingers
construct a convoluted maze
where our feet trace the fate
of our country’s face.

You heard it before:
promises are meant to be broken
like shells of the pearls of the orient
crushed under the bellies of crocodiles
promises of turning the crows white.

You heard it before:
mercy is in our fingertips
or the carpals of our hands
or the intermetatarsals of our feet
with the help of spikes digging our skin.

You heard it before:
science has a way
of explaining matters
no wise man of the wisest
can enlighten with the birth of stars.

You heard it before:
there is no such thing as the wisest
not even that man hung in beads
hung in rear-view mirrors of taxis
With radios turned on an afternoon soap.

You heard it before:
Precinct volunteers in T— City threatened with gunshots
Brownout hits D— City… PCOS machines not working
Teachers ran out of indelible ink… G— Mall bombed, three dead
Drama Actress, handa sa paglabas ng sinasabing sex scandal!

Abangan…

*
words taken from the top of my head after hearing news about his brothers being threatened with gun shots early this morning, when they spotted some men trying to mark voters waiting in line with indelible inks way before they can get hold of their ballots.

for mother

A mother is a desert,
the sway of her hips
the changing hills of sand,
as days rise and fall,
curves shift from slopes to dunes,
sometimes warm,
sometimes parched;

a mother is a desert,
vast,
embracing,
cupping an oasis
no mirage
can ever fool.
May 09/10 (10:59am)


No one could carry so much love other than a mother.

This isn’t exactly an argument on which role of parenthood does best, since this will only beat the bush like determining which comes first, the hen or the egg. The very bottom line of that premise is this:

Our mothers bring us all into this world. Just imagine such responsibility.

That is why in as early as the days of ancient Greece mothers are esteemed in highest regards, festivals being commemorated for her. Through time, the importance of a mother finally finds its day of celebration indelibly marked on the second Sunday of May in almost all calendars across the globe.

But being a mother is no easy job. Aside from giving up her curves, she endures all forms of pain from the birthing of a child to the last aching sight of a grocery list. The coming and going of her children must also be one of the most trying times in her life, but like everything else, she handles this with grace and endurance. Beyond the usual façade of vulnerability is a character of strong will.

Whether this day does or doesn’t have any special bearing to some people, there’s no denying that there are many days for men and about men, accounting to the numerous holidays of our heroes and won wars. That’s why on this day, let us show our gratitude to our mothers for bringing us into this world, for giving us a chance to love them the way they love us through the years.

To all mothers, mommies, mamas, and nanays, thank you.

how writing grows: after the 10th iyas creative writing workshop

I was excited being the first to arrive at 6:30am in Balay Kalinungan at La Salle Bacolod two Sundays ago, and all of a sudden, cheerless next being the last to leave the place, seeing people you’ve grown to like packing their bags and leaving the doors with a hesitant wave inside their taxis. It was a sad image, recycled over and over in my head.

Like any gathering such as the 10th Iyas Creative Writing Workshop held last April 25-May 1, leaving each other’s familiar presence is but the final untold session of all: the parting tests the strength of bond.

For practicing writers, this bond is what keeps the craft going: the exchanges of ideas, the developments of verses, the first drafts of stories, or simply the never-ending swaps of rumors, both humorous and not.

I hope my co-fellows—Anne Abad, Elsed Tongonon, Gino Francis Dizon, Jesus Insilada, Vernan Jagunap (for fiction), Alyza Taguilaso, Arbeen Acuña, Gian Paolo Lao, Glenn Muñez, Noel Fortun, Paul Gumanao, Roselle Ibabao, Sim Gadugdug, Charmaine Luzano, and Rogerick Fernandez (for poetry)—will soon realize this. But I am sure they will.

Humility aside, I have been to two writing workshops already (one in Dumaguete and another in Iligan) and I can attest that constant communication with fellow like-minds brings out the best of anyone. And being in the tenth installment of Iyas, thereby approximately affirming and reaffirming the birth of a hundred or so budding writers in the country, is one proof that that really is no lie.

In retrospect, I came in prepared for the workshop, considering that this would be my third, but the keen insight and dissecting skills of Dr. Elsa Coscolluela, Dr. Danilo Francisco M. Reyes, Dr. Anthony Tan, Dr. Dinah Roma-Sianturi, Dr. Genevieve Ansenjo, and Prof. John Iremil Teodoro—our formidable panelists of varying literary discipline—never fail to resonate the fact that I was there to learn, to be immersed in their knowledge and talent that could blow anyone’s mind away.

Though all fellows had their fair share of the spotlight in the workshop sessions, special mention should still be made to the fellows for the regional languages (Hiligaynon, Kiniray-a, Cebuano, and Boholano). Their showcase of promising discipline, mastery of language and technique put more weight on the fact that talent and the ability to relay an insight no matter what locality it is based from do not revolve around the English and Tagalog languages only.

And here’s another reminder: No matter how far you’ve gone, with Iyas, the seed that promises a canopy of wisdom and a trunk for the pillars of our future praises, there’s always room for improvement.

To all fellows, I’d like to say that writing and its results are like taking care of a bonsai—to see its startling beauty, one must endure the aching and hard steps of trimming, bending, wiring and rewiring.

Since all beautiful things start with a seed, it is only fitting that by the time we see the point of going back to revising our entries in the workshop, if time permits, let us pull our manuscripts from the envelope, study the branching comments that peek out from a sentence, the erasures that seem tentative in their repose in one specific verse, and keep the writing grow.

That is how our writing will grow.

10th iyas creative writing workshop fellows

After submitting the same (sort of) kind of works (like those from my 47th Duma) to this workshop in the past year and getting rejected through e-mail, the only sane thing to do is to get out of my niche and send something entirely beyond what I have been heavily influenced in college. I think I have done the right thing for risking a little bit. I made it—this time, for fiction naman! Here’s the official statement released by University of St. La Salle Bacolod's website:

*

The IYAS Creative Writing Workshop proudly announces its roster of Fellows for 2010.

Fellows for Fiction
Fred Jordan Carnice (English)
Roselle Jimeno (English)
Vernan Jagunap (English)
Gino Francis Dizon (English)
Anne Carly Abad (English)
Jesus Insilada (Hiligaynon).

Fellows for Poetry
Gian Paolo Lao (English)
Alyza Mary Taguilaso (English)
Charmaine Carreon (English)
Arbeen Acuña (Filipino)
Noel Fortun (Filipino)
Rogerick Fernandez (Filipino)
Paul Randy Gumanao (Cebuano)
Glenn Muñez (Cebuano)
Elsed Togonon (Kinaray-a)
Simplicio Gadugdug (Boholano)

The panelists for this year are Dr. Dinah Roma-Sianturi, Dr. Elsie Coscolluela, Dr. Genevieve Asenjo, Dr. Danilo M. Reyes, Dr. Anthony Tan and Prof. John Iremil Teodoro.

The IYAS Creative Writing Workshop is sponsored by the University of St. La Salle and the Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center of De La Salle University and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

The 10th IYAS Creative Writing Workshop is set on April 25- May 1, 2010.

fellows of the 49th silliman university national writers workshop

Fellow Iligan Hipon and Cosmo Girl Samantha Echavez got in the workshop--just a year before it turns golden! Like any proud acquaintance, there's only one important thing that I can impart, "Inuman na!" Before I let out the party poppers, since she have yet to encounter the slicing and dicing of the panelists, here's the official statement of the list of fellows:

*

National Writers Workshop Director-in-Residence Rowena Tiempo Torrevillas, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and Silliman University are pleased to announce that the following young writers have been accepted as fellows for the 49th National Writers Workshop scheduled on 3-21 May 2010:

For Poetry

Gian Paolo Simeon Lao (Ateneo de Manila University)
Dominique Allison Santos (University of Santo Tomas)
Jacob Dominguez (University of Santo Tomas)
Oscar Serquina Jr. (University of the Philippines-Diliman)

For Fiction

Aaron James Jalalon (University of the Philippines–Mindanao)
Jenette Ethel Vizcocho (University of the Philippines-Diliman)
Gilda Ysobel Galang (Ateneo de Manila University)
Anne Carly Abad (Ateneo de Manila University)
Gino Francis Dizon (Ateneo de Manila University)
Jose Carlo Flordeliza (De La Salle University)
Ida Anita Del Mundo (De La Salle University)
Samantha Echavez (University of the Philippines-Diliman)

For Creative Non-Fiction

Kelly Marie Tulio Conlon (University of the Philippine–Mindanao)
Miro Frances Capili (University of the Philippines-Diliman)
Christina Mae del Rosario (Ateneo de Manila University)

trips to two provinces

A question made my eyebrows raise a bit when I was frolicking in the shallow waters in an islet that was a short boat-ride away from the shores of Caramoan: “Which is better, Bohol or Camarines Sur?”

I do not know how to respond but feebly say that the attractions of my home province tend to project a more relaxed and soothing atmosphere while CamSur, as it is famously known from across the globe by now, goes for the edge, the adventure fix of anyone’s needs.

Finally reaching the arc after nine hours

Yes, Bohol may be sporting new offerings lately—like Danao’s extreme activities such as the semi-bungee jumps, ziplines and numerous spelunking tours—but overall, what makes the land of Tarsiers, Loboc River Cruise, and Chocolate Hills a destination for the much-anticipated vacation is its quite charm. Like its neighbor, Negros Oriental, Bohol basks in a laidback setup that ironically calls attention to its natural undisturbed beauty.

For example, there are the beaches of Panglao. Like anyone who has stepped onto the blue seas and the wide stretch of white sand, the feeling of contentment is unmistakable. No need for bars muted by house music, no need for celebrities, just the things that are simply provided.

Dumaluan Beach in Panglao

Suislide in Danao

Café Lawis in Dauis

Camarines Sur, on the other hand, is one vast arena to make use of those dormant energies—especially for those who drill themselves into the seats of their offices five days a week. Though the long travel hours between the best spots around will definitely crush all forms of human feelings from numbness, these will all be forgotten once the destinations are reached.

Wakeboarding in Camsur Watersports Complex (CWC)

Visiting one of the islands around Caramoan

Sunset at CWC Obstacle Course

There is no need elaborating the differences between the two. Both are beautiful in their respective uniqueness, just like the rest of the provinces all over the Philippines that I have yet to visit. (This thought in particular makes me wonder why some people have to get out of the country to spend their vacation in shopping centers. The sundry places of our country do not only feed our eyes, they feed the soul. That is why it not surprising quite a number of scribes write about our country’s falls, mountain ranges, seas, and cities).

Now back to the question: Which is better, Camarines Sur or Bohol? I do not want to be biased. After all, I am from Tagbilaran, Bohol. I would let the photos speak for themselves, which will all honestly scream that I have enjoyed equal portions of the greats.

17th iligan national writers workshop set

[I know this is a little too late but I still go for the idea that this tiny promotion could help...]


The 17th Iligan National Writers Workshop will be held on May 24-28, 2010 in Iligan City.

The Iligan workshop is one of three national writers workshops in the country institutionalized by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

Founded by Jaime An Lim, Christine Godinez-Ortega and Anthony L. Tan, the workshop opened in 1994 with Bienvenido Lumbera as its first keynote speaker.

The Iligan workshop accepts entries in English, Filipino and the regional languages: Sebuano (this is the correct spelling of Sebuano according to Philippine linguistics professors/researchers), Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a, Waray and Chabacano.

Each year, the Iligan workshop chooses a keynote speaker to deliver his address during its opening program that also features the MSU-IIT resident theater company, the Integrated Performing Arts Group, it gives a quota of five writing fellows per region and it is the only national workshop that publishes its proceedings. The proceedings contain the works submitted by writing fellows, their photos and bionotes and the commentaries of the panelists.

The panelists this year are: Ma. Rosario Cruz Lucero, Leoncio P. Deriada, Merlie M. Alunan, Victor N. Sugbo, Steven P.C. Fernandez, German V. Gervacio, Bro. Karl Gaspar, CSSR, the workshop director, Christine Godinez-Ortega and this year's keynote speaker, Lawrence Ypil of Ateneo de Manila University.

This is a unique year for the Iligan workshop however because there is no regular funding from the NCCA therefore, qualified writing fellows will have to either look for sponsors or fund themselves to enable them to attend the workshop.

The Iligan workshop would like the guidelines below to be posted in panitikan.com.ph so more will know about them.

Guidelines for Applicants

I. Application Form

Submit filled up application form. Download form at: www.msuiit.edu.ph

II. Sponsor

A qualified applicant has to have a sponsor this year to pay for his round trip transportation to and from Iligan City and for his board and lodging totaling P10,000.00 for the duration of the workshop.

III. Cash/check deposits

All payments should be deposited in the Mindanao Creative Writers Group, Inc. checking account no. 000-322-1107-07, Landbank, Iligan City . Please inform the MCWG Treasurer, Pat Cruz when the cash or check has been deposited. Tel. (063) 2232343 or cell no. 0917-716-2822.

IV. Qualification requirement

1. An applicant shall have attended a local or regional workshop before joining the INWW but this may be waived by the evaluators in meritorious cases.

2. Applicants should submit any one of the following [or one genre per applicant]:

· Poetry – 5 poems

· Short Story – one short story of not more than 30 pages, double spaced on regular bond paper

· Play – one, one act play

· Novel – one chapter of a novel or novel-in-progress. This must be accompanied by a background and a summary of the novel.

3. Entries should be encoded in Word Document, Times New Roman, font 12, double spaced on regular sized bond paper.

4. Entries accepted are: English, Filipino and in the regional languages – Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a, Sebuano, Waray, Chabacano. Translations in English should also be submitted with the manuscripts in their original languages.

5. One hard copy and a soft copy in CD [Word Document] of each entry are submitted with the application form and cover letter.

6. Address cover letter to:

Christine Godinez-Ortega
Director, 17th Iligan National Writers Workshop
c/o Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research & Extension
MSU-IIT, Iligan City

Tel. (063) 2232343

Contact Pat Cruz or Alice Bartolome

7. Deadline for all submissions: April 15, 2010

8. Qualified applicants will be notified by the INWW Director.

V. For other queries or details

Please call Pat Cruz or Alice Bartolome, MSU-IIT, OVCRE, tel (063) 2232343

twenty plus

“In this hour of acceptance...
I am not seeing what I wanted to see.”
29 March 2008 (SMS sent at 03:14am)

It is just one of those days in each year when one reflects occurring changes around: How does it feel? How do they taste now? What is that scent? Seeing things? Hearing voices?

Pardon for crushing your assumptions on mental struggles, but this is not a case of dementia. I may have numerous outbursts on matters both interesting and not, but I am too young for that. Young. Ah, the word…

How does it feel now?
“Young” seems to be a hobby these days rather than a natural stage in life. If one wants to feel a rush of thrill, go zip-lining. Or if one wants to feel nostalgic, check hundreds of albums in Facebook and satiate those longings. Youthfulness is available right then and there, pronto.

How do they taste now?
If the differentiation is based between the infant days and the now, of course, the distinction is epic. The tongue is an iconoclast now—sweet, sour, salty, and bitter are passé—there are umami, tangy, spicy, and the considerable sixth taste receptor for fat now. And if there’s one thing about taste right at this moment that is deeply relevant, it is the taste of success. Like wine, it enhances as it matures.

What scent is that?
It must be the stink from the cloud of pollution that aims to annihilate the lungs. The practicalities of making a living, after the episodic years of being sheltered in schools, from elementary to college, enforces the privileged man to find his own privileges, five days a week, nine hours a day, in a forest of smoke and scum.

Hearing voices?
Conversations inside the head just keep getting louder and louder. If the ruckus is not enough, another voice joins in from out of nowhere, and the overlapping discussions on pros and cons persist. Day by day, the fight between the logical, the irrational, and the safely unconditional grows bigger. And at this time, it is already Round 28,999.

Seeing things?

Youth is but a chunk of biceps here, a continent of a chest there, and a wad of cash somewhere. Wrinkles? Pond’s age defying cream or Nivea anti-aging skin care can take care of that. With consumable income at hand, one can see the bounties of youth in a blink of an eye (or if it’s through Pond’s or Nivea, in seven weeks). Never has the sin of vanity so highly esteemed and germane, I find the idea cute but strange.

* * *

Year after year, the senses become susceptible even to the littlest details. I do not want to assume that this is brought about from being a year wiser now—I still find that pompous. A year doubtful, perhaps, because I think it is better to be questioning at first than being ostentatiously sharp then outwitted next. Nothing beats the inquisitive mind.

And by the way, birthdays are birthdays. Digging up a glorified meaning in my annual numbers game will always be debatable and subjective. Whatever the turnout is, I am on the affirmative axioms of the optimist side.

Cheers.


(this entry is posted three days earlier since this account will be deactivated on the Day of Taking Another Step on the Flight of Stairs)

a bright idea: turning it off

Soon, the world will be swallowed in darkness.

Thankfully, it is not the end of the world. In fact, this seemingly bleak picture could stretch the lifespan of our world if it ensues in the next years to come. Yes, it will, if we bear in mind Earth Hour.

First launched on March 31, 2007 in Australia, Earth Hour is a global event organized by World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature, and is held on the last Saturday of March annually, requesting households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change.

Our participation as a third world country may be small but our efforts will always be big. In fact, our country is the top participant in last year’s event, with a record of 650 cities switching their lights off for 60 minutes, beating the country where it originated, an official from the WWF said for the Philippine Daily Inquirer (issue March 30, 2009).

“More than 15 million Filipinos in 650 major towns and cities from distant islands participated,” said WWF communications officer Gregg Yan in the same interview mentioned earlier.

Reports say that the electric grid figures in that year show that 386 Megawatt-hours were saved in Luzon, 150 Megawatt-hours in Mindanao, and 75 Megawatt-hours in Visayas for that blackout. Imagine the bulk of energy we have saved, and as a result, successfully reducing our power plants’ utilization from natural resources.

Even if the official Earth Hour is a couple of minutes away from now, here are some ways we can do every single day in the office to somehow start little by little an Earth Year:

1) Set The Thermostat Lower. The Philippines is a tropical country and “hot” will forever be an everyday feature, but keeping the office extraordinarily cold is not a good idea though. It hampers people from being awake and more productive, and they would go to the pantry to heat water for coffee or tea, heat another thing in the microwave for eating, thus, crunching more numbers in the bills.

2) Replace Old Bulbs. Change incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lights or CFLs (example: the picture above). They are a bit pricier, but here’s the logical catch: a 14-watt CFL produces the same amount of light as a 60-watt incandescent bulb.

3) Print Wisely. There’s what we call as Print Preview. Before printing any documents, check files in it for errors or corrections so that nothing would end up in waste, that is 1) the electric energy exploited by the whirring printer, and 2) the paper coming from cut-down trees in some balding mountain. Remember, Paper-Less Management?

4) Simply Unplug. Anything that’s connected to outlets eats up energy, off or not. This usually disregarded fact leads to “phantom energy use” which accounts for about 10 percent of an individual home’s electricity use. One layman tip: check all devices are unplugged before leaving the office.

5) Turn It Off. If “unplugging” is for long-term purposes, like leaving a computer unplugged for the holidays, there’s “turning off” for short-terms, like switching a computer off or powering it down when going out for lunch. It is as easy as a toddler’s A-B-C.

With these being said, there is no need to further expound why this special hour on the last Saturday of the month is our vote for our planet’s sustenance. Come March 27, 2010 at 8:30 to 9:30 in the evening, let’s switch off our lights and other electric devices, open the windows to welcome the wind, and see the stars shine in a different light.

[originally written for the company’s online newsletter so pardon all the references to work]

shook

After that occurrence that lasted for approximately five seconds (just my estimates), here are some interesting accounts from people that popped up in my cellphone, Twitter and Plurk accounts. These were people who were so immersed in their respective works, not so mindful that some parts of Luzon experienced a 6.1 magnitude quake at 1:29pm this afternoon:

“I was playing a video game while talking to one of the directors of the commission of human rights, and then I felt dizzy.”
- Robert

“…naalis antok ko!”
- Yas

“While listening to Black Eyed Peas, my chair shook back and forth, thinking my officemate was kidding around again, when I saw everyone standing up confused, and I thought, I am in the 38th floor!”
- Jordan (Ako)

“Woot! Earthquake! And I thought it was just me tapping my foot to Telephone.”
- Marck

there's something about this work

Last week, an idea struck me on my way home: I should be writing more about the workplace and the work itself.

It was, at the back of my head, a good idea. Since I have been wallowing in unexplainable distress the very first second I gambled my ideals, just to immerse in the curious sterility of the corporate world, why not capitalize on this emotion and get something fruitful from it?

In fact, way before the epiphany, I have produced one short fiction that revolves around an executive, a staff member and a blue-collar worker. All it needed was a workshop for polishing, I guess. Also, I have two drafts set aside because they (not me) don’t know where to go next.

These days, in between breaks and rest hours at home, I am trying to complete them. What could have been a very promising self-imposed project is now a little bit shaken when I read an article two days ago with this sentence inserted somewhere in between: “many contemporary writers are notably silent about a key area of our lives: our work.”

What a serendipitous moment.

The essayist Alain de Botton has written that statement, and his blow-by-blow pointers hit a lot of realities especially in the state of modern Philippine literature. When was the last time people have read something about a farmer or, for the sake of timeliness, a nurse or a call center agent?

Botton’s study is hilarious yet worth quoting:

“If a proverbial alien landed on earth and tried to figure out what human beings
did with their time simply on the evidence of the literature sections of a
typical bookstore, he or she would come away thinking that we devote ourselves
almost exclusively to leading complex relationships, squabbling with our
parents, and occasionally murdering people.”

Botton shares that many novelists in the past have this goal of capturing the working life, such as Dickens, Steinback and Kafka, with the latter’s collection of short stories The Office Writings. I know little (or maybe none) of Filipino writers steeped on writings about work—especially that many of them serve it as a “décor” or, as how fictionist Ian Rosales Casocot puts it, “the wallpaper treatment”—but I am sure there is a rich heap out there.

Casocot pondered that Arturo Belleza Rotor could be an example for his “doctor writings.” I tried thinking for myself who else could be a practitioner, and F. Sionil Jose entered my mind, but later on, I realized his are peppered with lots of politicism even if many of the details in the narrative are distinctly Filipino chores of the working middle class.

And today, writers seem to veer away from the most relevant thing in the world.

But then I consider this could be an issue of escapism, what with the dourest clouds hovering above the heads of many unemployed men these days. This assessment of work absent in recent literature is then brought up again in an essay written by Jennifer Schuessler in The New York Times.

Especially for those working in a corporate setup, one would ask, as written by Schuessler, “how much do we really want to read about what goes on at the office? Don’t most of us spend far too much time there already? The specifics of modern-day labor are, in many cases, utterly dull…”

I can attest to that that it rings all the bells. Why should a student read the mechanical routine of, for example, a restaurant manager when he or she can read the romantic tribulations between a glittering vampire and a sleepy girl, right? Wrong.

This must be the reason why most people, especially the student sector, are so detached from current affairs. We have been busy accumulating too much fantasy in our lives that we have forgotten how the machine works.

The thought of escapism as a means of momentary comfort is all right, but the tangible just keeps on drifting away from us because we have fastened ourselves to the idea of “anything happens,” disregarding the pinch of lesson one could get from stories about the luxury of retirement, the dedication in overtime, or the pitfalls of resigning one’s position.

That’s too much drama; however, to echo Botton, it is just ironic that critics praise a novel by Joshua Farris, saying it tracks “the antics inside a corporation… tackling the fresh and entirely unexpected subject matter of going to the office” when all the while most, if not all, people are laboriously working for days on end. Haven’t people noticed it yet?

It is true that the realm of work is a tedious vacuum but, on the whole, to grasp the reality is to grasp the fundamentals that establish all things as real. And anyone’s job is one of them.

Thus, I will go back to my two drafts now and finish them.

nothing's elusive to the desperate man

It seems to me that whenever the lethal mix of stress, boredom and routine strikes, there’s the need to completely vanish from the picture, go out of the radar.

Yes, it has been a while that I have not mingled with my usual partners-in-crime, to pursue the usual rounds in a drinking hole, chat the usual fantasies, and walk back to the usual dwelling only to wake up the following day to a dreary Sunday, or worse, a usual Monday.

My mind is completely cluttered lately that I can’t even determine what the fun in watching a movie is.

It is a momentary choice I’ve made, this detachment. I have been missing a lot of things since the start of the year, and the opportunity to get out of the metro—the city tangled in many electrical wires, drowning in dusty PUV’s—is like the most beautifully-cut diamond in all the trash I have been seeing.

After living in a concrete jungle for almost eight months, I’ve thought that the waves, the sand, the cheap sumptuous food, the sunrise, and all about calmness, will be an elusive dream of an intoxicated employee. I’ve made that notion wrong.

One day, with everything all set to go, I venture onto a six-hour travel to find peace, along with three of my Hipon fellows Sara Sebastian, Sam Echavez, and Yas Ocampo. Slap me in the face, but what a peace we found! The escape is worth it.

The stunning details are too vast to word in a paragraph that is why I will just post some shots here, and insert some bits of our conversation that will never be heard in our offices:

I need a break.
[at hindi pumasok ang tao on a workday]

‘Prolific’ is the word of the day.
[feelerette pa rin]

Nauubos na yung Ding Dong. Talaga namang nothing is forever.
[lasing ka na yata]

You are my trophy and trophies don’t talk.
[about handsome no-brain boyfriends]

At the end of the rainbow, there is a pot of bro’s.
[the beach is a sight to behold nga!]

Avant-garde pose tayo!
[at kailangan magmukhang matamlay na talangka tayo?]

Ayoko ng ma-repeat yung ‘Don’t say that’ line ko.
[winking at Mars, Pilipeh and Budjkins]

Risks are needed to complete the adventure.
[muntik ka ng malunod, leche!]

mandatory may nakatulog sa biyahe shot.


mandatory pre-Friendster heads up shot.

mandatory dalampasigan jump shot.

mandatory emo shot.

mandatory sunrise shot.

mandatory nakahiga circle of 'friends' shot.

mandatory nakatayo sa mga matutulis na bato shot.

help this year's edition of the iligan national writers workshop

For the first time after 14 years, the NCCA will not support the Iligan National Writers Workshop because of a technicality: the proponents failed to meet the August 31 deadline. Perhaps an oversight on the organizers’ part, but, the failure to meet the deadline was anchored on the presumption that the Iligan workshop, already institutionalized by the NCCA together with the U.P. and Silliman workshops, did not have to go through the process of an Open Grants competition.

The situation frustrated the organizers and panellists and was a letdown for the many aspiring writers who expected the workshop to be an opportunity to hone their craft.

After unsuccessfully appealing the NCCA decision, I tried to convince my peers during a meeting of the NCCA Committee on Literary Arts that the mandate to develop writing in this country was not ours but government’s through the NCCA. If the NCCA did not wish to support our advocacies, why stress ourselves in forcing the issue? After all, scratching off the program will be the country’s loss, not ours. I tried to convince my peers to consider Commissioner Ricky de Ungria’s suggestion to postpone the workshop to next year but meet the deadline for proposals.

But the tenacity and relentlessness of a Christine Godinez-Ortega and her company refused postponement and moved the proverbial heaven-and-earth to realize this year’s workshop.

Writers and friends have come to the rescue willing to spend personal funds for transport, board and accommodations. Personal funds have been pledged to support the fellows and the workshop’s operations. There may not be enough resources from our donors for support, but one thing is certain: the workshop will push through on May 24-28.

I have joined her advocacy and appeal, and will donate my services gratis and perhaps, if personal resources allow, sponsor a fellow or two.

Attached here is her letter of appeal for support. This advocacy is contagious. I hope it infects your spirit too. Please help writing and our writers.


STEVEN P.C. FERNANDEZ, DFA
Member, NCCA Committee on Literary Arts


*

Please email Christine Godinez-Ortega at cgodinezortega@gmail.com if you can help. Any help, any amount is welcome in order for the INWW to be realized once more this year. The following have pledged their support to fund the travel, board and lodging of a writing fellow from their respective schools, regions and organizations for the duration of the INWW: Phil Harold L. Mercurio and Voltaire Oyzon, Hope Sabanpan Yu,Elsa Victoria Martinez Coscolluela, Leoncio P. Deriada, Carlo Arejola, Ricardo Jorge S. Caluen, Maria C. Buenafe, Chari Cruz Lucero, Servando Halili, Rebecca Anonuevo, Glenn Sevilla Mas, and John Iremil Teodoro.

The INWW will likewise ask for representatives and funding support from the following institutions: Ateneo de Manila University c/o Christine S. Bellen, Ateneo de Davao University c/o Macario Tiu, Ateneo de Cagayan-Xavier University c/o Hobart P. Savior, University of Santo Tomas c/o Lito Zulueta, and Capitol University c/o Atty. Jun Juarez.

The panelists and keynote speaker have likewise pledged to spend their own transportation, board and lodging, and, they are, like the staff, giving their services for free: Chari Cruz Lucero, Macario Tiu, Merlie M. Alunan, Leoncio P. Deriada, Karl Gaspar, Victor N. Sugbo, Lawrence Ypil, Carlo Arejola, and Steven Fernandez.

[post originally taken from Ian Rosales Casocot]

mandatory post-valentine blog entry

This is not supposed to be an obligatory post, especially about that date when bouquets of flowers are much more expensive than my workday lunch, but seeing that I haven’t written anything in here for a long time I might as well get into the fair.

If there’s anything significant on the 14th of February, it is simply the fact that it follows my father’s birthday. He’s turned 56 today. And on the fourteenth itself, it is also the birthday of someone I know who I’ve tagged along with to participate in a college Valentine songwriting competition three years ago only to fail right at the very start of the screening period. Aside from these, there’s nothing else I could think of.

I am neither dense nor jaded not to notice its sugary presence with Hallmark messages crisscrossing the country (or all over the world), or tearjerker primetime telenovelas raking up ratings from the masa with their supposed universal theme, or endless songs of lost and newfound love serenading many jeepneys. Heck, it is even linked to “Up to 70% Off” mall sales and discount packages in hotels (and motels).

My nonchalance to the whole festivity is a—hold your breath for the coming word—choice.

Yes, it is my choice not to entertain sudden appearances of “attic acquaintances” (people casually linked to your social web for a while then left in a corner for good out of ennui) in my inbox, unanswered calls and messages in my phone, or even seedlings of short talks in some gatherings. Someone might call me lackluster, or even conceited, but I guess I am through with those things. For me, they are like rain in a sunny morning; they are arresting at first and instantly draining next.

As the last ray of light from the sun took its last wave yesterday in the horizon, I left the open window and went downstairs to watch Simpsons. It was just another day, only a little bit different because many people were just too caught up with Cupid’s consumerism. As to how an acquaintance puts it, the 14th of February might as well be Singlehood Awareness Day.

I know what I’ve said may paint a bad picture of me but, I like to share, I still keep them coming: the appearances, the messages, the calls, the short talks.

No harm’s done anyway.

call for entries to the 10th iyas creative writing workshop

Be One of the 15 Fellows of the 10th IYAS Creative Writing Workshop. This will be held on April 25-May 01, 2010 at the University of St. La Salle, Bacolod City.

• Applicants should submit original work: either 6 poems, 2 short stories, or 2 one-act play using a pseudonym, in five (5) computer-encoded copies of entries; font size 12, bound or fastened, in separate folders, and soft copies in a CD (MSWord).

• These are to be accompanied by a sealed size 10 business envelope with the author's real name and pseudonym, a 2x2 ID photo, and short resume, which must be mailed on or before March 12, 2010.

• Entries in Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a, Tagalog, or Filipino may be submitted. Fellowships are awarded by genre and by language.

• The grant covers board and lodging and a partial transportation subsidy.

PANELISTS
Prof. John Iremil Teodoro Dr. Genevieve L. Asenjo
Dr. Elsa Coscolluela Dr. Dinah Roma-Sianturi
Dr. D.M.Reyes Dr. Anthony Tan

Submit your Application to:
glofuentes2003@yahoo.com Dr. Gloria Fuentes
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Academics Affair
University of St. La Salle, La Salle Avenue, Bacolod City

call for submission of manuscripts to the 49th silliman university national writers workshop

The Silliman University National Writers Workshop is now accepting applications for the 49th National Writers Workshop to be held 3-21 May 2010 in Dumaguete City.

This Writers Workshop is offering fifteen fellowships to promising young writers who would like a chance to hone their craft and refine their style. Fellows will be provided housing, a modest stipend, and a subsidy to partially defray costs of their transportation.

To be considered, applicants should submit manuscripts in English on or before 19 March 2010 (seven to ten poems; or three to five short stories; or three to five creative non-fiction essays). Manuscripts should be submitted in hard copy and on CD, preferably in MS Word, together with a resume, a recommendation letter from a literature professor or a writer of national standing, a notarized certification that the works are original, and two 2X2 ID pictures.

Send all applications or requests for information to Department of English and Literature, attention Dr. Evelyn F. Mascuñana, Chair, Silliman University, 6200 Dumaguete City.

the rainbow has no color

Just when I thought nothing could have been more primitive than the mindless Ampatuan murder in Maguindanao, I’ve read an article in The New York Times last Sunday on the proposal of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill of 2009 in Uganda.

In a country where it is considered that “the gay movement is an evil institution,” fully backed up by police officers, politicians and even teachers, it is appalling to know such collective understanding that is not only discriminating but atrocious.

Atrocious is a strong word but there’s nothing more apt than this if the proposed bill imposes death sentence on everyone who exhibits homosexual behavior.

This would obviously lead to homosexual Ugandans to go back to their agonizing closets but that is another story. What would be my concern here is the fact on how little the majority of Ugandans see now of human life.The United States government sets forth human rights, hoping to stir up some minds of the principles’ presence but, as mocking as the title that is linked to its name, minister of ethics and integrity James Nsaba Buturo have simply said in conviction: “Homosexuals can forget about human rights.”

Well, there goes reasoning.

The statement is starkly cruel, and this must explain the hate stoked in many families of Uganda, which subsequently leads to many beatings, blackmails, death threats and all forms of discrimination to Ugandan gays and lesbians. And purporting that the only goal of homosexuals is “to defeat the marriage-based society and replace it with a culture of sexual promiscuity” is not helpful.

This hatred has even lead to horrendous incidents. In the same article mentioned earlier, one gay rights activist said that “she was pinned down in a guava orchard and raped by a farmhand who wanted to cure her of her attraction to girls.” With this so-called correctional rape, she was only impregnated and infected with H.I.V. She approached her grandmother, perhaps for consolation, but she got this answer: “You are too stubborn.”

Injustice is not only the Ugandans’ concern. It is also in our country. Late last year, Commission on Elections (Comelec) has once again refused to register the party-list accreditation of Ang Ladlad—an organization of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders led by college professor and writer Danton Remoto—for the coming elections. No issue could’ve ensued if the basis for rebuffing is deficiency of requirements or the likes, but the ruling is based on the list as follows:

“The ‘ANG LADLAD’ apparently
advocates sexual immorality as indicated in the Petition’s par. 6F: ‘Consensual
partnerships or relationships by gays and

“(2) serve no other purpose but to
satisfy the market for violence, lust or pornography; (3) offend any race or
religion; (4) tend to abet traffic in and use of prohibited drugs; and (5) are
contrary to law, public order, morals and good customs, established policies,
lawful orders, decrees and edicts;

“(3) Those who shall sell, give
away or exhibit films, prints, engravings, sculpture or literature which are
offensive to morals. (As amended by PD Nos. 960 and 969).”

It is not hard to imagine that the Comelec deems no importance to human rights too. Article 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) points that, “All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.”

Because of this, I can only gather that the Comelec shares the same brain cells with the seething Ugandans.

The news on Uganda and the Comelec has struck a wrong chord in me. After all the merrymaking during the yuletide season, I have only fathomed the fact that our lives in this very sad world is like a stubborn lint—you keep on pushing it off your sleeve but it is still there.

One day, I sent a message regarding the situation in Uganda to people I know would have a take on this. There’s one who responded in an instant, saying “These things are happening to keep the fight going.” I commend her for a half-full glass perception.

The trajectory of enlightenment is already at its peak, yes, but I have forgotten that like many trajectories it goes down, plummeting into the depths. Is this the happening we are facing right now? I could only hope it is not, thinking this could just be an airplane’s flight encountering an air pocket.

For now, I can only sense that nothing is certain. But in all likelihood, the rainbow would surely lose it colors soon if this blindness pervades.

some sense

I’ve gathered from a news report that incidents of victims who are shot from the poetic-sounding but nonetheless dangerous ligaw na bala have risen, from 17 cases across the country (2008-2009) to 26 (2009-2010).

The missing number between the two data is still big.

There must be logic behind these happenings. My guess is simple. Various organizations have strengthened their campaigns against setting off firecrackers when anticipating the coming new year, or at least burn money with the lesser evil like a fountain, so people opt to go for the most sensible form of celebration: drinking. Yes, the activity that involves lots and lots of alcohol that ranges from 6.5 to 7.2 per bottle, or depending on what kind.

After this semi-mandatory family-slash-friends affair, the pivotal reason to the rising number of deaths and wounded from the lost bullet (because it’s called ligaw na bala, diba?) comes next. People, in the end, get drunk. Obviously, those with guns, licensed or not, especially those who go beyond their sanity’s control, reach for their guns and pull the trigger. Bang!

In simpler words: No putok. Gets drink. Gets drunk. Big putok.

I say the precautionary measures must be lifted a notch higher.