Leoncio's Little Lies

BOOK REVIEW
Leoncio P. Deriada, People on Guerrero Street
Seguiban Publishing and Printing Press
Iloilo City, 2005
2004 Juan S. Laya Prize for the Best Novel
The Manila Critics Circle

The issues of how writers “commemorate the biographical past and how the sense of self is constituted in the act of narration” present themselves in Leoncio P. Deriada’s People on Guerrero Street, the author’s first novel insistently profuse with memory.
 
It is said that storytelling is an essential feature of how we remember things; and remembering plays an important part in the way we conceive ourselves. Gaining prominence in recent years, autobiographical fiction has provided a medium for investigating personal identity in relation to the social world and to past experiences—¬¬¬¬sad or otherwise.
 
Memory—specifically of the past—forms part of Deriada’s fictions, The Road to Mawab and Other Stories (1984), and The Week of the Whales and Other Stories (1994), culminating in his autobiographical novel titled People on Guerrero Street (2004), which the author considered too personal to be fiction. Stories such as “Coming Home,” “The Ride” “Rabid,” “The Road to Mawab,” and “Of Scissors and Saints,” the author utterly declares mostly autobiographical. On “The Road to Mawab,” for instance, Deriada as youth practically experienced the stark poverty in the rural parts of Davao. Looking back, the author says he has drawn a familiar, formidable character in Manang Atang, his relative, whom he drew to epitomize the plight of the poor in the Philippine countryside in the 1970s. Deriada’s own exposure to the other members of the cultural minorities in Davao had enriched his knowledge of them, and such found their way in some of his award-winning pieces such as “Dabadaba,” Ati-atihan” and “The Coin Divers,” in which Bagobos, Aetas, and Tausug face the challenges of living with the people who are not like them. His experiences with these people have afforded him the necessary lenses with which he can scrutinize and explore their realities.
 
Lush with his memorable past—such that his fictions are practically autobiographical, Deriada’s autobiographical tract declares that the author’s memory is worth the beauty rendered in literature. They mirror a beautiful life, something that is full of anticipations, as the “I” narrator’s prospects at the end of People on Guerrero Street. Such tendency affords us the idea that the literary author is predominantly a diarist—one who chronicles his own life and its realities.
 
People on Guerrero Street is Deriada’s first novel in which the narrator “I” essays in 55 chapter-episodes his experiences with the people of Guerrero Street in the 1950s Davao City. Set in Davao City’s Guerrero Street during the school year 1953–1954 when the author was a junior in Davao City High School, People on Guerrero Street tells a good lot of realities in Davao City at the time. Deriada says that many characters in the novel are real people just as many are pure inventions or merely transplanted from other times and other neighborhoods. Regardless of which is real or fictional, he says, these characters all belong to the realities insofar demanded by the novel.
 
Deriada demonstrates this very well in his fiction. His protagonist boy character is simply growing up; the fact that his consciousness is engendered by the People in Guerrero Street attests that. All his experiences consist the very sensibility he will have in the future. The character in the novel acts more like an adult than an ordinary boy growing up.
 
The narrator’s sensibility even appears to be that of a grownup man, cautious and wary of life’s harsh nature and sarcastic and cynical about life’s funny nature. Reminiscent of J. D. Salinger’s Houden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye, his character is in their cynicism against the harsh modern world but promises more hope for himself when after the death of his brother’s brother-in-law Pepe, he realizes he needs to go on—for he sees that the new year beckons for him better, brighter possibilities.
 
He displays utter disgust for the usual, inane, unruly or ridiculous behavior of people in his neighborhood. By and large, the events happening in the growing up boy affords for us the culture itself, the society that ridicules and supports him.
 
In being constructed as a subject—being a student in the Davao City High School, being a brother to their household’s breadwinner, being a friend to some other characters, he assumes a number of personas, masks which make him sociable and facilitate his existence in the society.
 
The narrator “I” clearly displays how the Philippine society subjects its constituents to behave in manner that he himself will either abhor or acquire willingly. It is clear that he yanks away superstition and fake religiosity, as much as he abhors his rivals for his crush.
 
He expresses—through vivid recollection of things past and present—his utter liking for a male figure, perhaps being with no father figure in the household he is sharing with his brother. Hewing a verbose reportage of events, faces, things, and realities, the novel unfolds before the reader as it unfolds to the eyes and ears of the narrator “I.”
 
He is also “subject” to the immorality of some other characters—Carna and Luchi, who afford for him the promiscuous and lascivious character and tendencies of a woman—while still being able to hold Terry as his chalice, his prized possession.
 
            People on Guerrero Street portrays a colorful childhood only someone with vivid memory and lush recollection of the past can muster and afford to articulate. The myriad details and countless images, colors, and sounds in each reminiscence altogether work for a sensible whole—one which says that growing up in those places in those times is not just living in an idyllic setting, or it is so? For the characters and possibilities in that part of the world are worth the memory of the author himself.
 
Deriada stresses on the factuality of some parts of his novel, “Of course, nothing could be truer than my first love letter or my misery in helping dress Mr. Baldado’s 200 chickens on Saturdays,” accounts for his nostalgia, the willingness to go back to some events in his life which he considers worth mentioning, “…the Baldado family were as real as Ren’s serenading Rosing and Leoncio Buang’s taking off his clothes and marching behind the Davao Chinese High School band on July 4 (Deriada, 2004).
 
However, Deriada considers that the biographical novelist has to tamper with reality for the sake of fictional reality. He says his remembering of the past was sweepy and holistic, while the parts he needed for the novel he had to choose carefully. At some point, he recognized the need to be factual, and in some instances, he needed to be fabricate. While the girding or the main structure of the novel is factual, inventing or “fabricating” was necessary only when the real past needed the unity demanded of fiction. This fabrication entails tampering with the temporal succession of events, transplanting characters and incidents from other times and neighborhoods and the outright inventing of characters and incidents.
 
Expectedly, most of the dialogue was pure invention according to the personality of the real or the “fabricated” characters. Deriada admits that—playing the fact and fiction game by ear—he realized that whenever the conception of the structure was clear, it was easy for him to decide which part needed the “fabrication.”
 
Deriada declares that the “autonovelist makes use of one or more of these unrealized possibilities and integrates them with the real past by arranging both the constructed reality and the reconstructed reality in the order demanded of fiction.” Always, the writer must employ careful selection by removing splurges of the real and controlling the unlimited potentials of the constructed parts.
 
According to Deriada, the blurring of the boundaries between fact and fiction is necessary in writing an autobiographical or historical novel. The writing must be good if the boundaries between the real and the invented are blurred. A less skilled writer would not be capable of doing so.
 
“For instance, objective events, like a rainfall chart, did not develop in an ascending, climactic manner as demanded by fiction. I had to rearrange the chronological sequence of many events. Davao oldtimers would remember that the big Santa Ana fire was in 1952, not in 1953, and that the first taxis in Davao City came in 1955 or 1956, not earlier” (Deriada, 2004).
 
Deriada recalls fondly, “likewise the big theater production on the college grounds of the Ateneo de Davao was not in 1953 but in 1954. It was in celebration of the International Marian Year,” and even says, “Certainly, Purico’s famous amateur singing derby was called Tawag ng Tanghalan, not Tinig ng Tanghalan.
 
Deriada shares the sentiment that the “past is distorted,” primarily because it is given existence by memory. “Reality does not have the discipline of fiction. So the writer has to tamper with reality” for them create their craft.
 
Memory is said to be a construct created by the individual but not independent of the social environment. The individual memory of a certain person results from his/her participation in the communicative process.
 
Deriada’s freedom to play around with his facts in order to back up his literary purpose—aided him to turn in some durable portraits of people, places, and events,” which can’t be done if it were pure facts alone. Through this, Deriada immortalized his friends, classmates and even loved ones in his works of art.
 
If this novel were indeed his autobiography, it, then, almost always “exceeds the individual who writes it, exceeds the life and the subjective experiences of the writing subject”— autobiography will also be about the others who surround the writing subject and whose experiences are enmeshed with those of the writer (Braziel, 2004).
 
Virginia Woolf is said to have taken hold of the past—being affected and inspired by it for the rest of her life—in her lifetime she generated durable portraits of her own family members: parents, brother, sister, husband and friends. At her strongest, Woolf did not wish to dwell on death itself, but to paint durable portraits. In her lifetime she wrote most of the time and when she did, the prolific Woolf transformed people whom she loved—parents, brother, sister, friends, husband—into figures fixed in attitudes that could outlive their time. These portraits were not photographic—for it is said she would distort her subject to fit private memory to some historical or universal pattern (Gordon, 1988).
 
Deriada has perhaps one of the clearest memories—an exceptional ability to remember the past and recollect facts in order to portray significant characters that exist for a purpose. The narrator “I” even remembers words when he encounters images and events which he is narrating. He swings from the present back to the past when some characters remind him of certain things in the past. By simple remembering, Deriada employs his memory in including facts into the “fiction.” Maybe, he says he has what is called the photographic memory. “Until now, I have a very clear picture of past incidents in my life, from childhood to the most recent, and Deriada says, “I was born in 1938 but I can remember incidents when I was three. I remember practically everything that happened to my family from the first day of the War [World War I] to the last days of the Japanese in 1945” (Deriada, 2004).
 
Even in the novel, the treatment of things that happened in the past is equally lengthy—as if the entire purpose of the narrator is to remember everything, and when he does he becomes an anti-character, one whose existence in the novel is questioned because of his very sensibility which sounds like the author’s himself.
 
A number of authors share insights and ideas about how memory—particularly of the past—plays critical roles to defining the beauty of literature—or to the very least construct the human subject. British literary icon Virginia Woolf considers the past beautiful, such that the literary mind cannot at all ignore. It is something on which the author thrives and with which the author starts to exist. “The past is beautiful,” she said, because “one never realizes an emotion at the time. It expands later, and thus, we don’t have complete emotions about the present, only about the past.” As a writer, Woolf took hold of the past, of ghostly voices speaking with increasing clarity, perhaps more real for her than were the people who lived by her side. When the voices of the dead urged her to impossible things they drove her mad but, controlled, they became the material of fiction. With each death, her sense of the past grew. Her novels were responses to these disappearances. To such extent was her “creative response” to such memories (Gordon, 1988).
 
On People on Guerrero Street (2004), his first novel which he considers autobiographical, Deriada says that “the past is beautiful” because distance—a writer’s physical and emotional remoteness from the things, peoples, and events in the past, colors, and gives varied and fresh perspectives to them. In writing the autobiographical fiction, Deriada simply wanted to share certain experiences which appear interesting to him and probably other people, “especially those who know me or [are familiar with] Davao City.”
 
Quite wary of the delayed publication of his work, Deriada hopes the readers—especially those in Davao, about which the novel highlights, will “enjoy going back to half a century earlier and feel how it was to live at that time… on the Guerrero Street of my memory and the Davao City of our affection.”
 
Both Deriada and Woolf, along with the plethora of authors intimating memory in their “life’s fictions” are enamored by the beautiful past—the grandeur and glory that was the past—that they have drawn durable portraits of them. Free from human malice, any author’s rendering becomes innocent, pure as childhood, naïve as youth, and free as detachment.
 
Memory has created varied subjects in Leoncio P. Deriada’s autobiographical novel profuse with real-life characters whose stories are even larger-than-life. Through memory, the author has constructed ‘realities’ in his characters, placing them and situating them in particular events, places, and hewing their lives in different stories.
 
Deriada’s People on Guerrero Street is more than about teenage puppy love; rather it illustrates a young man’s initiation into the harsh realities of the world, which he is soon facing as an adult. Pepe’s literal death supplies the persona’s first encounter with tragedy. This is the first step in toughening the persona as he faces figurative and real deaths in the immediate future.
 
In his work of “fiction,” Deriada says he has virtually written his life—with some “beautiful, little lies.”
 

Sarong Agang Mapamahaw

 

 

Maski an matarumon na kutsilyo sa kusina

kuminuldas sa lemonsito kan ginigiris niya na ini.

Aalsoman niya an bahaw na bangus,

tada kan kinakan niya sa carenderia

pag-duty kansubanggi.

Gurusod na an pang-alsom—imbis

na magiris, kuminurupsit na sana an tagok kaini.

Ralapa’ na an ibang lemonsito

sa ibabaw kan lamesa; minsan lang magamit

kun ipinapan-alsom niya sa sirang malangsa;

minsan ipinipiris kan agom niya sa tawyo

o suka, panpanamit sa binakal

na fried chicken sa luwas.

Gusto niya man apodon an agom

para magluto sinda nin panira,

pero pa’hot, dai nagbabangon—

ta pagal-pagal daa

ta nagbiyahe sa harayo kan sarong aldaw.

Kun hahapoton niya kun

anong gustong kakanon

baad pu’ngot lang an simbag.

Tama man daw sabihan niya na

an agom—“Mag-urulian na kita nin kandila!”

Garo habo niya pa man.

 

Maray pa logod kaidto—

pag naghaharong-harong sinda ni Nora,

grabe an gama-gama niyang maka-uli man daa

sa saindang payag-payag sa likod kan bubon

ta may naluto nang pamanggihan

an agom-agom niya.

Tapos siya may dara man daang

kuwara-kwartang itatao niya ki Nora

panggastos sa harong—pambakal

bagas-bagas na mga pisog kan ipil-ipil;

sira na mga dahon-dahon sa may gilid kan kali;

may pambakal pa nin lana-lanang pinuga sa gumamela

ipinapabakal na Lala sa balyong harong-harong.

Makakan-kakan man daa sindang sabay

kan linutong mga dahon sagkod kahoy.

Siya mapahiran-hiran kaupod an babaying kakawat—

Pag sinarum, aapodon na si Nora kan tugang niya—

ta masakdo pa daa sinda nin inuman; siya man

mapa-uli na sa harong ninda—arog ka’yan, aram niyang harabuan na.

 

 

Sa Oras Na Arog Kaini, Sa Oras Na Ini

Obra Ni Mentz para ki Mama, Enero 12, 2005

 

 

Ginugurumos an sakong puso.
Gusto kong maluha alagad ogma ako
Maogma asin mapungaw rumdumon

An mga nakaaging panahon.
Lalo na pag an oras hapon:
Malanit an saldang alagad presko an amihan.
An imbong kan duros tamong asin ulunan

na minapaturog sa pagal kong hawak.

Dinuduyan ako kan maimbong na duros,
        dinadara ako sa lumang panahon,
        sa lugar na ako, na kami pa lang an nakaabot,
        sa lugar ko sa natad asin likod kan lumang harong.

Duman sa natad, sa oras na arog kaini...
namamarong an antod kan mga payo kaidtong anom,
        ta haloy nagbatad,
        nagtutururo an ganot,
        nagnununo an sipon.

Naghaharapagan na nakasangkayaw.
Nagdadarakop nin alibangbang—taba-tubol, niwang igit.
Napupurulot nin duliduli sa poon kan sampalok.
Nagkakarabayo sa palapa nin niyog.
Nagbabaradilan nin dahon kan batag.
Nag-eerespadahan nin bala.
Nakiiwal na gamit an ginibong pana.
Naghaharanap nin kurumbot—may luno,

may dikolor, masiram surupon.
Nagririligid sa oma na na-anihan pa sana,

an hibo nagsaralak sa ganot kan hawak.

Sa mga oras na ini, kaidto
masiwit si Mama,

        maluya sanang siwit,
        halawig na siwit,
        imposibleng dae mo madadangog.
Dae siya kaipuhan magluwas sa harong,

masiwit lang siya.

Masaginsagin kang dae mo nadadangog

ta habo mong maistorbo

Nababangit ka ta habo mong maglaog,

habo mong magdangog.

Minasiwit si Mama, nagpapagirumdom,
        na magluway-luway,
        na magpahid ganot,
        magsirong ta mainit,
        magmirindal nin linabunan na kamote,

o sa’ba, o kun minsan saludsod.

Kaidto nababangit kang madangog

an siwit ni Mama sa oras na arog kaini.

Pero sa mga oras na ini ngonian,
gusto mong madangog giraray an siwit ni Mama.
Gusto mong giraray mamate

na may magpagirumdom saimong
            mag luway-luway,

 

magpahid nin ganot

magpahingalo,

magsirong ta mainit o mauran,

magmirindal.

Gusto mong mamatean giraray,

sa siwit ni Mama
            na yaon siya sa pagpagirumdom
            na dae ka makulugan,

na mapagal, o magabatan.

Gusto mong may madulukan,

tanganing makapahingalo an hawak mo, an isip mo.

Gusto mong mamatean giraray

na mayo nin kagabatan

madangog an siwit ni Mama
Duman sa natad kan harong, sa oras na arog kaini.

 

Malanit an saldang alagad presko ang amihan.
Sa oras na arog kaini, sa oras na ini.

 

 

Kan Ako Sadit Pa

 

 

Kan ako sadit pa, pitong taon o labi pa

nagasakat na sa bulod, sa bitis kan Isarog.

makua nin omlong, sungong panggatong

pagka-pangudto ásta nang mag-hapon.

 

May bayawas na hinog, an iba inuulod;

kurumbot na hubal, minsan daing laog.

Santol na Bangkok dakul sa may ba’bul;

manggang maalsom, abot pag tinukdol.

 

Langit mayong panganuron,

sa itaas kan bulod maduroson;

hiling an banwa, dagat na mahiwason.

 

Dakul nauusipon ki Nene na maugmahon,

kaibahan maglabar pag abot kan sinárom.

 

Malipoton na tubig sa hararom na bubon,

nagwawaswas hibo kan amor seco saka gogon.

Kun haloy magbuntog, an tubig minalibog.

 

Parehong mahaha’dit, tibaad mahagupit;

listo an dalagan pasiring sa kusina

linilikayan an gihoy ni Mama.

 

Pero kun an bado ba’gong bulos na

kinua hali sa mga ba’gong laba,

si Mama mayo nang masasabi pa—apuwera

apodon an gabos para mag-bendisyon

sa Sagrado Corazon na minsan milagrohon.

 

Sarong aldaw nag-agi na naman

pagmate ko garong kinarigosan—

dawa baga naglabar lang.

Sa ugma kan buhay ako nabubu’lusan,

yaon an tugang, yaon an magurang.

 

 

Sa Pinsan Kong Taga-Dayangdang Pagkatapos Kan Bagyo

Ki Bembem

 

 

Nabasa mi ni Manay mo—sa Bicol

inaratong  daa ni Milenyo

an  kabuhayan kan ribo katawo.

Sana dai man kamo

Nalantop diyan sa Dayangdang.

Maski para-pa’no

sana nakakadungan man

kamo ni Nonoy saka ni Jun.

 

Samo na Manay mo,

pag-uuran na ‘yan

nagtutururo an kisame

ano pa minarugi

an minsan ming pag-ibahan,

pasalamat ako ta

pagkakatapos kan uran

may nasasalod kaming

tubig sa banyera

sa gilid kan sagurong,

nagagamit ming

pambagunas sa dalnak

na natipon sa salang

linalantop nin baha.

Masa’kit ta minsan an tubig-baha

minaabot sa may hagyanan

pirang pulgada na sana

an langkaw kan samong turugan.

 

Katatapos pa sana kan

sarong makusog na bagyo,

sabi sa radyo, igwa na naman

nagdadangadang.

Mag-andam kamo, Ne,

dai nanggad pagpaapgihi si Nonoy;

Maglikay na dai magpukan

an saindong iniidung-idungan—

ta dai man kamo puwedeng maatong

na sana pag an uran sige-sige na.

 

 

Ano Daw Idtong Sa Gogon?

 

Ano daw idtong sa gogon?

Bulawan bagang paghilngon;

Kan su sakuyang dulokon

Ay, ay, burak palan nin balagon!

 

Kan su sakuya nang ki'kua

Sarong tingog ang nagsayuma

“Hare man ako pagkua-a,”

Ay, ay, burak palan ni Maria!

Mhentz & Ching

Mhentz, my fourth brother, and Ching, my only sister—in our brood of six—are the two stars that shimmer and shine on a field called my life.

 

It is said that when we were younger, Mente [Mhentz] and Nene [Ching] always played together—they shared many moments together, and they excluded me from their games, horseplay and other kids stuff. I hardly remember that.

 

But if at all, theirs is a friendship worth emulating. Theirs is a partnership that always makes me feel out of place. Whenever I disagreed with Nene, or quarreled with her, Mentz was there to defend her. Mentz always collared me if I didn’t show any respect for Nene.

 

Mhentz always proved to be Ching's knight in shining armor—and I was the villain that rendered her damsel in distress.

 

Years from now I will establish a printing press named after Mhentz and Ching. Mhentz & Ching™ will be a successful printing press specializing in academic and sensible publication. It will publish poetry collections, anthologies, and manuals about friendship, about love, about life.

 

Like the renowned apparel brands in the country folded and hung, Plains and Prints, and the fashion tandem Dolce & Gabana, or the international publisher Hill and Wang, Mhentz & Ching will be a name to reckon with, and it will thrive, I know; and it will sell.

 

For it is hinged on life; and it is grounded on love.

 

 

March 2005

Ciudad Pasig

Margarita

Nonoy Remembers Lola Eta

 

Nonoy’s grandmother, whom he and other cousins would fondly call, Lola Eta, is the grand dame of the wonderful San Andres clan, Nonoy’s clan.

 

She had a personality uniquely her own. Among others, she is respected by all people in their village, a peaceful town where Nonoy and his cousins, all her grandchildren, grew up. This was during the early 1980s.

 

As a child, Nonoy would see her dealing with their tenants in a mighty but friendly voice, speaking sensible words, full of witty jokes and all—traits that would make anyone think she has the making of a future president. But she had not become one, not even of Nonoy’s own country.

 

In more ways than one, she had been a major influence to most members of their clan. Through old age, Nonoy’s grandmother has remained a strong-willed and generous woman who preserved her own dignity and honor.

 

In her eighty-one years, Margarita and her husband Emiliano had lived long and well.

Mga Nagkapirang Bansag sa Bagacay

 

 

Pasintabi [Dispensa]

Dakul an mga maaanggot sa gibo kong ini. Alagad hinahagad ko sa siisay man na mabasa ka’ni na an minasunod sarong personal na horophorop sana asin minsan man mayo ning dakulang katotoohan, kundi gibogibo lang kan imahinasyon kan sarong kalag na pirming naroromdoman an pantalan sagkod Sabang kan saiyang pagkaaki—an saiyang nakaaging haloy nang nabayaan, asin ta gusto nanggad balikan, ta’nganing siya ‘baad makaantos man sa saiyang padudumanan.

 

Ta'no ta uso an baransagan sa lugar na arog kan Bagacay? O mas maray gayod hapoton, ta'no ta may bansag sa kulturang Pilipino?

 

Sarong blog an may maation na paliwanag manongod digdi. Bako lang nganing wholesome. Tibaad sa panduwang parte kan osipon tang ini, makasurat kita nin mas malinig-linig na paliwanag.

 

Mientras tanto ngonyan, basa:

 

"Yang pag-bansag ay tunay yan sa Pinoy barkadahan. Tulad ng “Boy Negro, Totoy Riles, Junior Siga, Erning Sak-sak, Nonoy Palos, Pepen’g Toma” at iba pa…Yan ang ilan sa mga bansag sa mga tigasin sa amin nuon. Meron din naman’g bansag duon sa medyo mga tigas titi ika nga, tulad ng: “Berton’g Kanal” (dahil bad breath itong batang ito palagi!)” Don-don Kuliti” (mahilig manilip sa banyo ng mga babae!) “Boy Tisoy” (Albino itong si Boy!) “Nestor Pari” (anak daw si Nestor ng pari) “Etoy Pasilat” (suki ng mga bakla!) “Boy Kabayo” (mahaba ang kanyang pang ihi!) “Temyong Banyera” (balitang hinampas daw ng banyera ng asawa niya nuong mahuling pina-pakialaman ang babaeng katulong nila!) at siyempre naman si “Teresan’g Mapagbigay..a.k.a. Generous Tessie”! (pag napili ka ni Tessie Generous pag kayo ay nag-iinuman? I-handa mo na ang katawan mo at uubusin niya ang iyong lakas sa magdamag na…..!) Nuong maliit naman kami, pag na-tae ka sa pantalon mo dahil may nakain kang di mabuti sa eskuwelahan?……. “Boy Ta-e na ang bansag sa iyo hanggang lumayas ka sa lugar niyo para mag-OFW sa ibang bansa…ipagdasal mo lang na wag mong makasalubong sa kalsada ng Stuttgart, Germany, ang isa sa mga kababata mo, habang akbay mo ang gelpren mo at isigaw niya ang bansag mo nuong bata pa kayo na “Boy Ta-e! kamusta na!”. Harinawang na-aliw ko si Papsie mo sa mga ala-alang istambay na mga kalambogeysion’g nabanggit ko"

 

Udo’

An bansag sarong pagpakaraot kan siisay man na nagpa-uso kaini—tibaad may dakulang kaanggotan sa binansagan. Maski siisay man siguro, dai maoogmang apodon nin sarong tataramon na nungka magiging mahamot. Mamondo, ta an pamilya na Tio Moises bihirang makingirit sa tawo—nin huli na sa bansag na ini, alagad maski para’pa’no, nakakakua man giraray sindang trabahong maghawan sa may eskwelahan o sa libod kan dating kapitan.

 

Turo’turo

May uno-singkwenta ka lang, makakapabolog ka na sa may Baybay sa may kataid kan tindahan ni Molata—tapos pag kalbo ka nang maray, masusupog ka, masusuya ka kaya makutipas kang pauli sa Banat. Tibaad mahiling ka kan crush mong may tindahan saka karihan sa pantalan. O susurugoton ka kan mga kaklase mong taga-Baybay arog ni Jonel. Dai naghaloy naghali na an mga Jurado sa Zona Doz; si aki kan parabolog na kaklase mo dai mo na nahiling giraray. Kan magbalik sa lolahon, daragahon na siya; ika supot pa man giraray.

 

Tu’lang

Naroromdoman mo si kagubay ni Nene sa grade 1, na kakolor ni Mente, na may alternative na bansag na Bones. Iningles lang. Daing duda ta maroromdoman mo an garo kalaberang parti daryo kan mga Tagilid sa atubang na Molata. Ngonyan iisipon mo na an mga aki ni Bones siguro may kadikit na man na laman.

 

Tampa’wak

Malaen an bansag mas lalo kun dai mo naintindihan an kahulugan kaini. Naaarog na man lang an pag-apod kan sarong pangaran base sa kinaugalian o sa natu’dan nang pagkabisto sa personalidad o pamilya. Minsan man nanggad an bansag, naisasambit, naipapalakop nin huli sa grabeng kaanggotan o pagkasuya. Inda.

 

Talapang

Maski ngonyan dai mo pa maintindihan kun ta’no ta an daing hwisyong aki na si Roderick—na ngonyan gurang na man ta kuta’ na kagubay mo siya sa eskwela—iyo an maroromdoman mo sa bansag na ini. An makaherak na estado kan saiyang pag-iisip—na dai mo manenegaran mas lalo kun matukaw ka sa enotan pagsimba mo sa kapilya—mas mapararom lang kan saimong pagtubod sa daing-kabaing na misteryo asin kaomawan kan satong Kagurangnan.

 

Tagilid

Taragilid an harong na maaagihan mo pasiring sa Baybay, siguro sa posisyon kan mga harigi kaini. Maski gayod bakong side-view hali sa tinampo an kiling mo sa may ka-Analyn, kan pigtugdok an harong tibaad may nakabalagbag na gapo an sarong harigi kaini, dangan sa pag-agi kan panahon dai na nahira pa. Sa istorya ni Joan na sarong mahuyong aki, nahihiling mo an capacidad kan tawong maging matanos nin huli ta siya nakakanood nin tama. Nin huli ta aram niya an tama. Kaya nungka nuarin man an buhay niya malalaag sa tagilid. Hilingon an Balagbag.

 

Singaki’

Mayo kang gayong madadangog manongod sa ama kan kaklase mong taga-Banat sagkod sa matuang aki kaining naging aktibo man na hoben sa barangay, nin huli na siguro ta an tuninong na buhay nakukua sa mas tuninong asin hipos na pakikiiba. Hilingon an Amid.

 

Pating

May pamilyang nag-estar sa dating harong na hinalean kan tiyaon mo. Kun mahihiling mo an ama nindang malungsi na halangkawon na tawo, maiisip mong dai tatao an nagbansag sainda—o tibaad sa ibang pagkakataon, an malangsion na kinunot [ta dai lina’ganan nin bastanteng la’ya] na tininda sagkod kinakan sa saindang karihan bakong pagi o tabangungo kundi balyena.

 

Pa’sit

Madaling ipaliwanag an bansag na ini na nagtutuyaw sa ugali kan tawong minsan bagla ta aki o pusngak pa man nanggad na kaipuhan pa an tabang kan magurang para maging malinig sa saiyang hawak. Pero kun an pagkaaking arog kaini napapabayaan asin dai nagigiyahan kan magurang, siisay man baya an nadadamay kan danyos kundi an gabos na katungdan? Iba pang apod, pa’siter [sarong tawong namama’sit o trabaho an pag-pa’sit].

 

Onabis

Tibaad hali sa kantang Espanyol na may lirikong, Solamente, Una vez. Sa Ingles gayod, one time only. Yaon sa memorya mo an pagtandayag kan damulag na guyod-guyod kan ama ni Junior hali sa oma ninda sa Banat. An gurang may ugom na mama’, kolor kamagong an ngaragngag nin huli sa tabako sagkod bunga, puti-puti an buhok dahil sa kolor bali’gang na kublit, alagad an dungo niya mestizo. Una vez, Senior. Una vez, Junior. Una vez, tisoy.

 

Maleta

An ama paratambal an sideline. Kaya kun nakagat ka kan ido sa libod, dumalagan ka tulos ki Pay Elis, mayo ka nang problema. Pero nata’ maleta? Tibaad an sarong aking nag-istar na ta nakaagom nin taga-Naga pag-uli pag pista may darang sangkaterbang maleta. Pero para sa gabos na aking babayi kan mag-agom na Bago, may most eligible bachelor na taga-Baybay na driver kan halabaon na jeep ni Magan saka sarong CAFGUng nadestino sa checkpoint sa Banat an nagpatuyatoy magdara man kan mga maleta ninda para magdagos dangan mag-estar nang haman sa harong ni Pay Elis asin kan saiyang mga kadaragahan.

 

Lupig

Naipagamiaw sa gabos an bansag na ini huli sa dakulang pagpapakaraot. O nin huli sa libog kan tawong binansagan—an tataramon pano nin karigsokan, pano’ nin karara’tan. Pero an realidad sa barangay kaidto—bibihira an istoryang panlulupig o panlulugos. O tibaad mayong kaso ta mayo man nagrereklamo. Baga man igwang kaso, magayon sabihon sa mga kahobenan na an babayi sagkod lalaki nag-pakro’ man lang.

 

Langoy

Yaon sa memorya ta an itsura kan haralangkawon na mag-arama, o mag-irinang taga-Iraya—mga Yao Ming an pagka-langkaw. Six-footer maski an nguhod na aking sadit pa—haralabaon an kalamias.  Siempre sa paturungkadan hanggang sa Mauban, ultimong mga kabuhan ni Diaz an nakaantos. Siisay man baya sainda an malalamos? O ano daw ta bakong Sangkayaw?

 

Laki’

Sa tradisyon na ipinaorog sa mga bansag na Amid, Irago, Singaki,’ o minsan Buaya, an bansag tibaad nakua sa itsura kan lalaking an buhay-buhay sa barangay prominente nin huli ta kun kadakul-dakul an aki. Sarong dosenang aki, oragon man nanggad. Kun lampas anom an aki mo, listong minakuldas an isip kan ibang tawo na ika mahilig, o matinik sa sex. An mga bansag na animal, o supernatural minasabi kan superhuman mong capacidad. Dawa ngani an agom na si Tia Sining bihirang magngirit kun masasambitan mo an manongod sa saiyang maboot asin trangkilong agom.

 

La-hot

Simple an recipe mo. Urubaki an kabangang latang tres colores na hali pang Buyo. Siriakon mo an kamoteng katamtaman an pagkadarakula. [Amay pa lang, suguon mo na an aking maghagad nin tanglad sa kataid—siguradohon mo lang na dai maglantuag.] Mag-ga’ga nin tolong tabong inuman na tubig sa kawa. Kun nagkakala-kaga’ na an tubig, ilaag na an mga kamote. Dai paglingawing asinan an tubig bago ga’gaon. Tama lang an tinungod mong sarong kilong asukar na 99. Dai dapat ma-lu’nok an kamote—daing data man an rurunot na kamoteng nagralataw-lataw sa lasaw na sabaw. Si tanglad, garo dai mo pa nailaag. Ano an namit ka’yan? Kun masala’ ka sa pagluto kan simpleng lutoon na ini, sa sunod na hapon baduya na man an lutuon mo. Baka mas masiram. Bakong may singilon ka pa sa mga nag-eentre-kuwatro ka Langoy?

 

La’bunok

Magayon magkawat sa mahiwas na oma ni Tio Berto harani sa may tinampo. Pag-uuran nin makusog, an tubig minadalihig hali sa ba’bul na Absin. Kaya kun marawraw ka sa oma—maguma nin talusog sa may imburnal o mapaatong nin baru-baroto—maluway-luway ka lang ta aram mong pirang beses nang nag-ralabunok si Tiong Berto sa sadiri niyang laboy, kaaarado, kahihilamon—kababantay kan saiyang paroy. Hilinga, an mga muro niya sa bitis bararikig na sa pirang taon nang pag-ooma. Dugay na man siyang nagtatanom nin paroy. Nag-aani. Naggiginik. Nagtatahop. Nagbubu’nag. Nagpoponpon. Nagpapamolino. Siempre kaibahan kan mga makuapo niyang aki ni Tiang Cely. Daog ka lamang ni Judita sa paghilamon.

 

La’ya

Dai ka magngalas kun ta’no an mga Saavedra binansagan la’ya. Derivative ‘yan kan la’yab, o pareho kan ilad. An mga aki ni Eta sagkod ni Miling natural na mala’yabon [negatibong basa—marugi, mainartehon; positibong basa—karinyoso, romantiko]. La’yab! La’tog! La’tog, la’yab! Yan! Puwera suba, maray-rahay na agom an mga Saavedra. La’ya. Dawa saen na lutuon sa kusina, pirming may panpanamit an mga Saavedra—hinahali an langsi kan dilis-Pasacao o turingan, pinapana’gom an matayam na sabaw kan gina’gang karne. Maski girison, o mas maray pulpugon, an tagok na maharang-harang, lintian na siram!

 

Kulatid

Naitatak sa sarong kaklaseng maniwang an tataramon na ini na siguro pirang Bikolanong doctor lang an may aram. Siempre pag nagtaba na an maniwang na lalaki pagkatapos mag-agom, an pagbansag siguro mapopondo na. Dawa an mga ulod-ulod sa bituka kan mga aki yaraon pa.

 

Balo’og

An apelyido kan sarong dakulang maestra sagkod an maray-rahay na niyang impluwensyang naipasabot sa gabos na ka-rabuz asin kabarangay, naging sarong dakulang balaog,o biyaya sa Bagacay. An maestra amay na nabalo, kaiba an anom na nailong mga aki; nagtios an pagbuhay kan pamilyang ini. Sa simpleng buhay sa barangay nakanood an magturugang na maglapigot nin huli man lang sa saindang ina. Higos, tiyaga sagkod pagka-magalang sa tawo dai nawara. An magturugang nagdarakula asin nabuhay sa gusing hali sa dagat—bugitis sagkod tiad-tiad na tinatakad sa Veedol, dangan an pinatos na tiniktik, tahong, saka baloog na tinatangro kan taga-Baybay paboritong gisahon o minsan sabawan para sa mainit na pangudtuhan o pamanggihan sa malipotlipot na banggi. Duwang bagay man nanggad an buhay—pagtios saka sarong tasang sinabawan na baloog. Puwede man an Balaog. Hilingon an Balaw.

 

Balaw

Hiniram man o la’bas, pirming masiram an ginisang balaw sa kadakul-dakul na kamatis na tina’wanan pa hali sa libod. Nin huli ta mayong sogok na pang-omelet, bastante na an kapeng tutong na bagas para dai mo malingawan na nagpamahaw ka bago mag-larga pa Naga para mag-eskwela. Dai baya pag lingawi an balon na balaw para sa entirong semana—pwedeng pambangot sa alang na natong; pang-duwa sa sa’bang gaga’gaon para sa pamahaw. Dai ka magsuba sa nagkakakan nin balaw ara-aldaw—iyo iyan an nagpapalisto sa mahigos mag-adal. Dai mo pa siguro nadangog si istoryang kan aking matali na aki kan Balaw.

 

Balagbag

Bakong tanos. Pero bako man suwi. Nakakaulang lang. Iba man idtong ulang-ulang. Mas lalong harayo na an buru-budlangan. Sa propesyon ni Gasoy ngonyan, pirmi nang siya an dakulang ulang-ulang sa buhay kan mga may morosong consumedores kan Casureco na talaga man nanggad consumido na sa electric bill nindang bulan-bulan naglalangkaw. May PPA na, may E- VAT pa!

 

Aswang

Dawa an mga mata ninda bakong diretso an hiling sa tawo, nin huli siguro ta dakul an aram na sikreto—dai ka tulos matubod sa pagpapakaraot nin huli ta an aking matua magayon-gayon na maboot-boot pa; an matuang lalaki mainadal, matali dangan mahigos. An pamilya mayo man problema, siguro ta’ an tawo mas nagtutubod sa dai nahihiling. Ignorante sa Diyos, natatagalpo siya sa sadiring gawi-gawing dai diretso. Pero kan maaraman mong pirang aki sa tulak an nawara kan mga inang nagpabaton, maduwa-duwa ka; asin ta kan mahilot kan misteryosang babayi an helangon mong tiyuon, mangalas ka ta naparahay siya. asin ta kun masasabotan mong an mga bados na nasambit daing tultol na pagkakan, asin ta an tiyuon mo marigsok nanggad sa laman—sa rarom kan eksperiensyang ini, tutubudan mo asin tutungkusan an duwang bagay—sciencia sagkod paciencia.

 

Amid

Basi’ an kolor kan kublit ninda an dahilan, pero mas orog diyan, an pagkompara sa saindang pamilya sa sarong oragon na hayop sa kadlagan, dai na kaipuhan pang ipaliwanag. An pamilya ni Boboy saka an ama niyang si Tio Lino pirmi nang yaon sa list of major figures sa Bagacay, nin huli na man kan saindang kaisugan, kan saindang kasarigan. Bistado si Elino bilang kagawad kaidto. O Siisay man baya an makakalingaw sa mag-agom na albularyong lakop-lakop an pambobolong sa mga ka-barrio nindang may helang o na-anayo—magpoon sa naingas hasta sa natuka nin halas. Dai makangangalas kun ta’no kuru-kulambitay an saindang popularidad sa kada kabarangay sa Bagacay.

 

Agap

Mayo kang gayong maromdoman sa sarong kaklaseng si Jaime sa Grade 1 kaidto, ta siguro mabooton siya. Daing gayong girong, bara’gohon an gamit niya kan naglalaog sa klase. Buru-budlangan ka pa man ngani sa klase ni Nene kaidto kaya garo saling-pusa ka na, maski kadto pa. Terno pa an short sa t-shirt niya sagkod an mga gamit sa bag makolor sagkod garo bagang maogma. Garo man lang ika. Pero an amay niyang pagkagadan kan siya malamos sa tanga’—ta dai nasalbar kan mga kairiba niya—mapatunay na an buhay saro man nanggad na irony, o kabalintunaan. May you rest in peace, Jaime.

 

Da Vinci Code

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Other

I
Risks and Payoffs from Altering History

“The book is not well-researched,” bestselling author Anne Rice is quoted as saying, when reached for her opinion about Ron Howard’s upcoming film “Da Vinci Code,” a much anticipated film thriller largely based on Dan Brown’s 40 million copies-seller.

Famous for his Vampire Chronicles, Rice has to say that Da Vinci Code is “fiction”—yet, still, people the world over might have the dilemma of accepting anything they’re presented as truths even if it were largely fictitious.

In fact, Da Vinci Code has so far sold 40 million copies worldwide and Dan Brown is said to get some 6 million US dollars for the book’s rights alone. Meanwhile, film director Ron Howard, endorsed by Brian Grazer and backed up by sensible screenwriter Akiva Goldsman, will have his own paycheck this next weekend when the much anticipated movie opens worldwide.

Like any other fad, perhaps, it is useless that this Da Vinci Code mania might just fizzle out misconstrued and misunderstood—or becoming either—famous or infamous.
Like William Shakespeare, Dan Brown must have sought his own fame by writing and rewriting history through hodgepodge literary work.

As is obvious, Brown borders sensationalism just—such desire to only sell, or obtain fifteen minute of fame—by disproving and discrediting Christianity his vital material to thrill his readers.

The use of real-life characters to be immersed in otherwise imagined realities borders sensationalism—not much different from such attitude that wants to sell at the expense of the lives of people who have established truths for themselves for a long time.

For example, the Opus Dei sensibility shall always be marred when they are portrayed as the clandestine hierarchy that intentionally concealed Jesus Christ’s marital relationship with Mary Magdalene and their eventual children.

As a sensible tool of history, literature is a vital instrument to influence people about what really happened in the past, especially when the matters involved is one of their faith—which, for a significant number of people, has been the essence of their existence.

Now with their faith being debunked, disproved or discredited because of one imaginative work of the mind, what is there to live for? After all, genuine faith is one that needs no questions—because they are never needed—faith is simply faith, and it alone can suffice.

With her own new book Christ the Lord out in the bookstands Anne Rice recognizes Brown’s talent as an author, saying the book is a page-turner, one that thrills anyone to no end because of its riveting suspense elements.

Furthermore, according to Rice, the Church is not one entity to be alarmed—since, for years, the motion picture industry has been one of its most useful media—insofar as their worldwide evangelization is concerned. This is where Rice takes on to say that the most interesting thing in the Da Vinci phenomenon is the overwhelming response by readers to the matter of their faith—which reflects their keenness in knowing better about the relationship with Christ.

If there’s one thing that meritorious about this work, it is its ability to awaken a lot of audiences about their relationship with the Savior, Jesus Christ.

Aside from audience’s mere curiosity, what is apparent is that most people, probably, mostly Christians at that, would want to really know much about the real Christ.

The mere fact that 40 million copies were sold worldwide attests that Christian believers the world over might need to reaffirm their faiths about the real, or the otherwise unfounded humanity of Christ.

Having existed for some 2,000 years, Christianity seems to face a question it might not have to truly answer categorically.

Too inane that in this age of modernity, man always has to [read: needs to] look at and even swim to [extremely] the other side [where they are] to only see how he himself is.


II
BrownMan Revival

In the midst of this brouhaha and crazy and varied reactions to Ron Howard’s adaptation of Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code, talking about it seriously still merits our full attention. With his controversial opus, Brown has posed a number of issues.


It throws open the issue whether Jesus Christ is ultimately divine—read: He had had no marital relations with a fellow human being, or had sired children.

This is nothing new—but to most people, offensive. Such perceived reality of course, is a far cry from their perennial knowledge of Jesus’ divinity,
Yet, in fiction, we are said to be bound to believe in any truths—as per the term, suspension of disbelief.

In reading a book as Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code or watching Ron Howard’s pathetic haphazard adaptation, we readers and audience, are thrown into the realities of the work itself.

Our disbelief—call them traces or hints of doubt about life in general—is literally “suspended” the moment we become passive audience, because we are predisposed to lounge into the realities, truths and fictions combined—being thrown to us by the author or director.

This is where and why and how so many people raise hell about showing the film to the public. This is because the literary work—either the book or the film—gradually becomes a powerful medium that works in the audience subliminally, creating mental associations in the individual mind, altogether forming truths in our consciousness.

Grading the movie R-18, MTRCB’s La Guardia, et. al., at least, have this to say: “The thematic, verbal and visual content of this fictionalized drama thriller requires mature discernment…”

Why so? Certainly because the film addresses the dilemma on one’s faith—by making the audience choose whether such Priory of Zion—which concealed shocking truths about Jesus Christ—ever existed. Minors are assumed to be less than age of reason, thus they are still being molded to become worthy and faithful, quote and unquote. Moral discernment is the job of a mature person—although most grownups—if at all—have hardly discerned any good thing in the society.

“Sub-themes involving corporal mortification and self-flagellation, as well as clerical assassinations, violent images and a fleeting sexual ritual—as well as thematic elements questioning the basic [Catholic] beliefs…need adult maturity to distinguish fact from fiction—to discern good from evil.” Minors, highly impressionable as they are supposed to be—should not be allowed [to watch].

Such tall order only poses more curiosity, isolating matters of faith into the realm of the mysterious, or extremely otherwise something which the young faithful have yet to work for all their lives.

Pathetically, it also discredits the image of the long-standing prelatures of Vatican, tactlessly [though indirectly] depicting Opus Dei as one sinister organization that for so long a time having to with concealing truths about the Holy Grail—er, the truths of Mary Magdalene’s [participation and even] primacy in the Church.

From such perceived truth in fiction, people will easily be made to believe that Mary of Magdala was indeed one person to reckon with as far as Christianity is concerned.

Here, Dan Brown preaches like a stanch feminist when he highlights Mary Magdalene’s vital role in the life of the Savior Jesus Christ. From here, then, Code somehow reads like Church herstory—still highlighting how the patriarchal male-dominated Vatican used its power to stifle the women’s role in the propagation of the faith, never at all allowed to take center stage. Dan Brown’s way of altering history—through fiction—is not at all pleasant, because it seeks to debunk established dogmas of the Church.

But the MTRCB at least, further recognizes the film’s poor elements, as follows: “It [the film] does not constitute a clear, express, or direct attack on the Catholic Church though some critical issues on generally accepted dogmas are raised.”

Arguments on Christ’s divinity and celibacy are tackled within academic discourse or theoretical contexts by the characters. De-mythologizing the very nature of an ascetic Christ has never been controversial as this one.

This, however, only seems to say how we human beings are limited—we constantly question and doubt—not being able to fathom the divine mystery. Why so? Again, because maybe the Church for all these time have been so doctrinaire, dogmatic and not so practical and attuned to the ways of the world—despite the desperate attempts of the religious to prove otherwise.

With Howard’s The Da Vinci Code, perhaps understood by more people than those who bought or read the sensational opus, Brown must have provided some of us to these questions, which we ourselves, only ourselves can hope to answer, if at all.

Therefore, as it is thus stated in the film’s rating sheet: “The owner is responsible to MTRCB for the publication of the film’s rating in all publicity ads,” we the audience are equally liable to what beliefs our hearts [will] suspend or, retain.

Gus Van Sant's 'Elephant'

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Documentary

Ignorance is darkness; innocence light.

Sometime in August this year, I happened to watch Gus Van Sant’s Elephant, a Palme d’Or winner in the 2003 Cannes Film Festival. Based on the 1999 Columbine school shootings in Jefferson, Colorado, the film documents the facts, fictions, and similar realities in US high schools. The camera panned out to the typical day in high school where ordinary and working students, high-class family members converge in an academic institution to study, play, work, or simply endure the day.

The film outraged my sense of normalcy and sanity when it showed how one student in the school entered the school and started killing students, teachers, staff and everyone else in the campus, as if he is in a Counterstrike game. Together with a classmate, the rebel student barraged the classrooms and school buildings with his high-powered firearm that he ordered through the internet and was delivered to his home when his parents went out to work.

The other students who are the main characters in the story would either survive or end up dead—depending on the circumstances they were in. In the end, the boy killed his own partner when he did not have anyone else to kill. In fact, the movie ended with the same boy cornering a boy and a girl who sneaked into the cafeteria’s kitchen to escape the terror, to no avail.

According to a source, the Columbine High School massacre occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School , in Jefferson County, Colorado, near the cities of Denver and Littleton. Two teenage students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, carried out a shooting rampage, killing twelve fellow students and a teacher, as well as wounding twenty-four others, before committing suicide. It is considered to be the deadliest school shooting, and the second deadliest attack on a school in US History.

A website source cites that the massacre provoked intense public debate on gun control laws and the availability of assault weapons in the United States. “Much discussion also centered on the nature of high school cliques and bullying, as well as the role of violent movies and video games in American society. Several of the victims who were mistakenly believed to have been killed due to their religious beliefs became a source of inspiration to others, notably Christians, and led some to lament the decline of religion in public education and society in general.”

As a consequence, the shooting also resulted in an increased emphasis on school security, and a moral panic aimed at goth culture, heavy metal music, social pariahs, the use of pharmaceutical anti-depressants by teenagers, violent movies and violent video games.”

The movie accentuates some points in Frank York’s “Soul Murder.” This world of ours ever witnesses a culture of violence every single day. Watching the movie, though, has made me think how our simple acts of indifference and apathy creeps into the souls of people around us; and how, in fact, such acts affect them to do something worse than how they perceived such indifference.

The whole scenario has sent me into securing materials that could otherwise promote love and cooperation among us around here in the school. Consciously I started using class-motivation materials which can more literally instill a sense of teamwork, self-respect and love.

For one, I used Blessid Union of Souls’ “I Believe” to help seniors in their pronunciation exercises. It’s a second look at racism and how we can help trash such stale, prejudiced attitude. To discuss ballads with the juniors, I used Cesar Verdeflor’s “22 Años” and Noel Cabangon’s “Lea,” two modern folk ballads that highlight the lives of men and women in the Philippine context. I also shelved Roman Polanski’s Macbeth [1971] produced by Playboy Productions. I willingly did so because of its violent content—the decapitation of the king as he succumbed to the consequences of his own greed and vainglory.

On the other hand, I used Asin’s “Ikaw, Kayo, Tayo” in order to promote to the West Waves staff members their social responsibility as future journalists who are critics of the present society. The song inspires in them they have to recognize their own roles in order to effect change in the society—which is I think—why we are teaching high school students in the first place.

More important, I contemplate using Noel Cabangon’s “Awit para sa mga Bata.” In that song, Noel Cabangon does make a staunch statement on having to destroy the barriers between youth of all classes in society. Social realities make it clear that people exist on social classes; they sometimes live their respective stratum in society, its respective needs and wants, its sense of values or the lack of them.

Today’s young people are the chances of this present generation to redeem itself from tyranny, moral degeneration, and the indifference of its constituents. They are indispensable aces in life’s poker game—so to speak—where players by the name of ignorance, gross lack of knowledge and immorality have everything destined for them.

Today’s youth are the opportunities in life that rather pass unnoticed because of the grownup’s shortsightedness and self-absorption. Such dismal realities are driven primarily by guilt for its past sinfulness and misguided militancy, efforts wrongly directed and motivations largely by angst and malice.

Let the children’s free will and intellect do much of the reckoning. Let their freedom allow them to be themselves—happy and free.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.

The moral degeneration of today’s youth is determined by where—what environment, forces, influences, temperaments—they are situated, where they live. By and large, they just live the culture that imposes itself on them.

Life is indeed darkness save when there is urge,
And all urge is blind save when there is knowledge,
And all knowledge is vain save when there is work,
And all work is empty save when there is love.