Affairs of the heart these are too, what I’ll detail below. If only because they involve those who wear their hearts on their sleeves, by putting their efforts down on paper.
Again, literary namedrops are the order of the day. The following chronicle covers a hectic, sosyal calendar of events in the past weeks leading up to this hallowed eve.
November 28 marked a one-night stand in Bacolod for several poet-professors involved in the Philippine Literary Arts Council’s monthly lecture series billed as "Homage." Flashback: PLAC initiated this year-long project as its 20th anniversary tribute to the late great masters of Philippine poetry and fiction. It started last July at the Center for Creative Writing and Studies of the University of Santo Tomas, with this writer conducting a reassessment of the lifework of Jose Garcia Villa. Followed lectures by Gémino H. Abad, Cirilo F. Bautista and Jaime An Lim at De La Salle University, Far Eastern University, and UP Mindanao in Davao City, on Amador T. Daguio, Oscar de Zuñiga and Manuel Arguilla, respectively.
Now it was Ophelia A. Dimalanta’s turn to deliver Lecture No. 5, initially titled "Revolt from Hymen: The Poetry of Angela Manalang Gloria," at the University of St. De La Salle. And since it was our dear babe the "Love Woman" herself daring to step out of Luzon, she just had to be rendered full escort service by Marjorie Evasco, Cirilo, and yours truly.
Our university hosts were led by Palanca Hall of Famer and culinary wiz Elsa Martinez Coscolluela. Regina Groyon emceed, with Dean Gloria Fuentes giving the welcome remarks, Marjorie introing the speaker, and Elsa Streegan rendering the closing remarks.
Ophie had changed her lecture title to "Poetics of Angela Manalang Gloria." Arguing that the controversial 1930s‚ poem "Revolt from Hymen" could not be regarded as erotic verse, Dimalanta proceeded to regale the large audience of faculty and students with a superb technical and contextual assessment of over a dozen of Gloria’s fervid, quasi-feminist poems. These were serially projected, with Marj doing the mellifluous readings.
It was a tribute to Ophie Dimalanta’s drawing power that her audience had given up seats at the nearby gym where all other Negrenses seemed to gather for the MBA best-of-five opener between the Negros Slashers and the visiting Cebuana Lhuillier Gems.
Later in the day, a "Night of Poetry" was the offering at the capacious lanai of the universty’s Balay Kalinungan, where both the visiting poets and basketball players stayed. Here we were joined by Agnes Reyes, Dr. Cecilia Locsin-Nava, Irene Gaston, and several other faculty members and students who essayed their own poems before a mic. Came a local ABS-CBN crew, too, to interview Cirilo and Ophie on their dietary habits.
We missed artist-in-residence Peque Gallaga, who was supposed to give the closing remarks. But after a delectable Japanese dinner, an exchange of recipes with Elsie Coscolluela, and even more delectable promises of her own paella treat early next year, the multi-awarded poet-fictionist-playwright took us to the wake for Peque’s younger brother Mike. Offering our sympathies to the still sprightly Luzurriaga-Gallaga matriarch – our godson Wanggo’s lola – and the widow "Inday" Pilar, we couldn’t help but recall Mike’s robust smokes and laughter, shared at a sugarland farmhouse all of a quarter-of-a-century ago.
Early the next morning we bade Cirilo goodbye and started on the three-and-a-half-hour road trip to Dumaguete by hired van. Time was, back in the ’70s, when we’d emerge dust-blonde after the eight-hour bus trip along the coastal road linking the two Negros island capitals. But now the trip can only be pleasant, zigzagging over the Kanlaon volcanic range until one emerged to savor a breathtaking vista of the southern part of the island, before the descent is made toward Bais City.
So why were Ophie, Marj and I conducting another pilgrimage to Dumaguete, when summer wasn’t even around the corner?
There was the PEN 2001 National Conference on the last day of November, where both Ophie and Marj were to figure in a women’s voices panel. There was the time-honored Jose Rizal Lecture, this time to be delivered by no less than our Manila Critics Circle headman Isagani Cruz. And we’d get to break bread and rub elbows with National Artist for Literature Frankie Sionil Jose, our MTRCB chair Alejandro R. Roces, and Conference chair Elmer A. Ordoñez.
The conference theme was "Return to Literary Art." And everyone seemed to have returned to Dumaguete for the grand reunion of writers.
At South Sea Resort, we were clued in by Charlson Ong on his latest triumph: the top prize in this year’s N.V.M. Gonzalez Short Story Awards.
But since the hefty cash prize of P50,000 smackeroos was still forthcoming, the best he could do was to share his suite with Baguio-based Zamboangueño poet Francis "Butch" Macansantos.
Ran into fellow Philippine STAR columnist Domini Torrevillas too, as well as Mindanaoans Tony and Joy Enriquez, who were still enthused over having Nobel prizewinner V.S. Naipaul for company when Tony received his SEAWrite prize in Bangkok last year.
Among those who flew in from Manila were the esteemed biographer Erlinda Panlilio, Giraffe Books’ Gloria and Ralph Rodriguez, Anvil’s Karina Bolasco, ADMU Press’s Esther Pacheco, and Philippines Free Press literary editor Paolo Manalo.
The Davaoeños were in full force, led by Aida Rivera Ford, Don Pagusara, Macario Tiu and Tim Montes, the last representing UP Mindanao. Top-class fictionist Carlos Cortes hopped over from Cebu, while Palanca Hall-of-Famer Leoncio Deriada came from Iloilo City.
The keynote address was delivered by no less than National Artist for Literature and Dumaguete’s megastar writer and poet, "Mom" Edith L. Tiempo.
The first literary session, billed as "Women’s Contribution to Philippine Literature," was chaired by Marj Evasco, and featured a sterling panel of writers: Mila Aguilar, Ophie Dimalanta, Susan Lara, Menchu Sarmiento, Fe Aldave Yap, Lakambini "Bing" Sitoy, Domini Torrevillas and Edna May Landicho. Gadfly, er, gadabout Nid Anima livened up the proceedings by interjecting his objections as a chauvinist provocateur, and succeeded famously in provoking one of the ladies to dismiss him as a "bitch."
Followed the Jose Rizal Lecture by Isagani Cruz, who made sure to deliver it in Filipino. We share brief excerpts from "Ang Kritikang Pampanitikan ni Jose Rizal":
"…At kung ang ika-apat na tuntunin naman ng kritika ni Rizal ang ating ilalapat sa dalawang Pambansang Alagad ng Sining (referring to the two N.A.’s in the hall: Jose and Tiempo), mapapansin kaagad natin na makatotohanan ang nobela ni Jose at ang mga tula ni Tiempo. Hindi lamang ang mga detalyeng inilalarawan sa nobela ang hango sa totoong-buhay kundi, mas mahalaga, ang mismong puso ng nobela (Ben Singkol) – ang sakit sa loob at laman at kaluluwa na naramdaman ng bayang Filipinas noong panahon ng Hapon, noong panahon ng batas militar, at sa kasalukuyang panahon….
"Napakaraming nangyari sa buhay ni Ben Singkol, sa buhay ni F. Sionil Jose, sa buhay ng bayang Filipinas, na hindi dapat nangyari pero nangyari at kailangang harapin pero hindi hinarap o hinaharap nang lubusan at sapat.
"…Kapag binabasa naman natin ang mga tula ni Tiempo, nabubuo muli sa ating alaala ang magagandang araw ng kalikasan sa ating bayan, at nabubulabog ang ating mga konsyensya sa pagkasala natin sa pagtalikod sa kalikasan...
"Sa pagbuod ay masasabi nating nasa likhang kritika ni Rizal ang pangunahing tuntuning sinusunod ng – at maaaring gamiting panuri sa – mga likha ng ating mga manunulat sa kasalukuyan. Kung ang Noli Me Tangere at El Filibusterismo ang pinagmulan at patuloy na pinagbabatayan ng panulat-pampanitikang Filipino, ang kritika naman ni Rizal ang pinagmulan at patuloy na maaaring pagbatayan ng kritikang Filipino.
"Kay Rizal natin kunin ang huling salita. Mga salita lamang ang bumubuo sa literatura, pero ang mahalaga, ayon kay Rizal, ay hindi ang mga salita, kundi ang gawa, hindi ang panulat, kundi ang tunay na buhay...."
The second literary session, titled "Literature from the South," was jointly chaired by Lilia Ramos de Leon and Rosario Cruz Lucero, and had panelists Aida Rivera Ford, Antonio Enriquez, Leo Deriada, Victor Sugbo and Butch Macansantos.
The third and last session, "Writing as Liberative Art," was chaired by Charlson Ong and had the distnguished Magsaysay Awardee for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera, Don Pagusara, Carlos Cortes, Macario Tiu and Domingo Landicho as panelists.
Plenary Session Chair "Anding" Roces summed up the proceedings at the close of the day, and the assembly barely had time to gather as gladhanding groups before everyone was ferried to Mom Edith’s hilltop retreat at Montemar in Sibulan, with its splendid view of Tañon Strait and Cebu island’s southern tip.
Dinner followed the launching of two books: Marginal Annotations and Other Poems by Edith L. Tiempo (Giraffe Books) and Tribute: An Anthology of Contemporary Philippine Fiction, edited by Timothy R. Montes and Cesar Ruiz Aquino (Anvil Publshing). The last was in tribute to the late "Dad" Edilberto Tiempo, whose portrait Edith held close to her breast during the proceedings.
And then of course the writers partied, caroused, caterwauled. With local poet and concert pianist Ernesto Superal Yee shunning the sticky-keyed upright, UST’s conservatory performer Ophie Dimalanta and Xavier University’s Museo diva Joy Enriquez took turns coaxing the ivories back to life. Helping them along with bleated songs were singer wanna-be’s Macansantos, Ong, Enriquez, Cortes, Lumbera, Landicho, Bobby Villasis and E. O. Constantino.
Bien Lumbera tried a tango with Ophie, but wound up protesting her feminist stance in refusing to be led. It was that kind of writers’ party, far into the night, with shuttle vans finally relieving Mom Edith’s thankfully remote neighbors of the nocturnal turbulence.
And the next morning, before parting, the PEN and Silliman Writers Fellowship and Luncheon had everyone gathering again at the Silliman Assembly Hall Grounds. The Campus Choristers led by Prof. Elizabeth Susan Vista entertained the writers with legitimate musical numbers at Silliman Hall, after which a tour of the elegant, hundred-year-old building was conducted by no less than the leading spirit behind its rehabilitation, Architect Manuel Almagro.
Concern was expressed over a typically asinine plan by the Philippine Ports Authority to conduct another questionable reclamation project that would deprive Dumaguete and Silliman of its age-old boulevard view. Environmentalists, led by former DENR Sec. Angel Alcala, have already initiated protest action against the dubious plan, but it seems the PPA is hell-bent on carrying out its secretive undertaking. Well, let’s see.
Now that writers from all over the country have been informed of the threatened anomaly, this controversy should come to a close soon. For one, the project needs an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) from the DENR. And knowing how Sec. Heherson "Sonny" Alvarez respects Dr. Jose Rizal’s injunctions as expressed by Dr. Isagani Cruz, and convinced that dear Sonny remains a friend to writers and naturalists both, this ECC ought to remain a futile wish for the PPA.
In any case, the fellowship lunch hosted by Silliman University was served right on the grassy lawn sheltered by acacia trees, where the postcard view of the old building, and the esplanade and the sea beyond, capped a gratifying weekend for writers in good ol’ Dumaguete.
On Dec. 11, NCCA Chair Jaime Laya launched his first book, Letras y Figuras: Business in Culture, Culture in Business (Anvil Pubishing) at Filipinas Heritage Library.
A couple of nights later, writers gathered again in full force for the seventh UP Writers Night, hosted by UP President Francisco "Dodong" Nemenzo at the Executive Residence in the UP Diliman campus.
A fine tradition continued by the UP Likhaan: Creative Writing Center, this yearend activity draws over a hundred writers, publishers, patrons and supporters for a grand hoe-down. Director Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo ensured that the night would be meaningful with a presentation of honor certificates to a number of writers who had distinguished themselves with publications and awards, or manifested their generosity by supporting UP-CWC’s activities.
Roll call: the Palanca Awards‚ A.B. Battung and UP Professors Randy David, Preachy Legasto and Arnold Molina Azurin joining Dodong Nemenzo and UP Veep Pepe Endriga at the presidential, whisky-buddy table; emcees Googoo de Jesus and Ed Cabagnot; UMPIL’s Rio Almario, Mario and Alma Miclat, Teo Antonio, Mike Bigornia, Bobby Añonuevo, Mike Coroza and Vim Nadera; the Ateneo Heights contingent, including Alwynn Javier, Naya Valdellon, Mookie Katigbak and Cristine Alindada; senior Atenistas Beni Santos and Ruel de Vera; Diliman Docs or would-be Docs Butch Dalisay with lovely Beng, J. Neil Garcia, Thelma Enage, Wendell Capili, and Sarge Lacuesta; Erwin Castillo wth buddies Recah Trinidad, Danny Dalena and a ’60s guitar; the ever-sprightly Nieves Epistola...
And who else? More of the usual suspects from out of town and our fellow-revellers at Dumaguete: UP Mindanao Chancellor Ricky de Ungria, again Leo Deriada, Butch Macansantos, Charlson Ong, Mila Aguilar, Bien Lumbera, Ralph Rodriguez, Esther Pacheco, Karina Bolasco and Erlinda Panlilio...
Begging your and my indulgence, but more namedrops: Pete Lacaba, Rene Villanueva, Fidel Rillo, Mo Ordoñez Rillo, Tony Hidalgo, Sylvia de Guzman, Issy Reyes, Caroline Howard, Kris Lacaba, Lilledeshan Bose, Angelo Suarez, UP videographer Ernie Enrique, amateur videocam operator Migs Villanueva, who had just bagged the N.V.M. Gonzalez Prize for first Published Story...
Okay, that should do. Memory and whisky are a great combination for provoking tampo among the rest whose bylines remain undropped. Suffice it to say that a merry time was had by all in this last great writers’ party for the year that was.
Oh, but some addenda: Alma Miclat celebrated her 40th birthday at their Antipolo aerie on Dec. 15, and again UMPIL and friends showed up, this time with the ravishing Celina Cristobal. A day later Clinton Palanca launched his book of essays, The Mad Tea Party: The Pleasures of Taste, published by Black Book, at Estilo in Power Plant. The night of UP’s Lantern Parade, a writers-painters‚ party took place at Migs Villanueva’s residence at Ayala Heights. The last time we saw Charlson Ong, he was still hogging the videoke mic, a nude model behind him.
Happy holidays!