Under the volcano (Part 2)

Last week, I wrote about the Taboan 2012 Literary Festival in Clark, Pampanga, and what a great opportunity it was  particularly for the best of our new, young writers from outside Metro Manila  to get together and share experiences among themselves and with their elders, including National Artists Virgilio Almario, Bienvenido Lumbera, and F. Sionil Jose.

An important side-benefit of the Taboan roadshow (which started in Manila in 2009 and moved on to Cebu in 2010 and Davao in 2011) is that, for the participants, it provides a chance to see the country on an adventure we can call literary or cultural tourism. Those of us of the age and with the means to get around the archipelago from transportation-rich Manila may have gotten blasé about taking another plane or bus ride to the countryside, but let’s not forget that a place like historic Pampanga isn’t all that accessible to, say, a journalist in Zamboanga or a professor in Eastern Samar. Even for most Manileños, Central Luzon isn’t a destination, but a pit stop on the way to Baguio or Vigan. Taboan literally gave us pause to appreciate Pampanga beyond the stock images and impressions of the province afforded by the former military base and its PX goods, the lahar, and the political legacy of PGMA.

Thankfully, our hosts saw to it that the out-of-towners would see and enjoy the best of Pampanga and its culture. The festivalgoers were treated to the songs of local minstrel Ysagani Ybarra, to a zarzuela in Kapampangan, and to the crisotan, a verbal joust named after Juan Crisostomo Soto. Angeles City Mayor Ed Pamintuan also toured us around the historic Pamintuan House where President Emilio Aguinaldo celebrated the first anniversary of Philippine Independence in 1899.

I’m sure, however, that the visitors will remember their Taboan experience best in their tummies, which were the happy recipients of the best of Kapampangan cuisine, thanks to a Saturday food tour that capped the festival.

Breakfast was served in a lovely old home in Mexico, Pampanga, where “Atching” Lillian Mercado-Lising Borromeo shares her family’s culinary traditions with fortunate guests. The robust menu included chicken galantina, asado, tidtad (dinuguan Kapampangan style, i.e, soupy not thick), longganisa, and pacsing damonius (pickled native vegetables or paksiw na isda minus the fish).

Lillian’s nephew Francis Musni, a local historian and natural raconteur, regaled us with stories behind the delicacies  suman bulagta, for example, is steamed sticky rice previously soaked in lye, which gives it a unique flavor and its typical green color; it’s called bulagta, because when the two halves of the suman are untied, they suddenly come apart). Francis also explained why Mexico, Pampanga has nothing to do with Mexico across the Pacific  the pre-Hispanized name used to be Masicu, which can mean either the elbow or the bend of a now-lost river, or, according to other sources, a reference to the proliferation of chico in the area.

The charming Atching Lillian walked us through her kitchen, which featured such cherished old implements as the carved wooden molds on which the famous saniculas biscuits have been made down the generations. One of them was carved by a Mercado in the family related to Jose Rizal.

Before moving on to lunch, the party took a short walking break at the nearby Gintung Pakpak resort, an idyllic retreat on the foothills of Mt. Arayat, perfect for a weekend getaway (and, I was thinking, for a writer’s workshop or retreat, were it a little more accessible to us Dilimanians). A brief drive off the main road is rewarded with a restful view of a lagoon, and cottages and living quarters where as many as eight guests can share a big room for P4,500 for 24 hours. We savored freshly made ice cream in the shade of the tall trees  looking forward to lunch, which took place less than 20 minutes away in Magalang, in Abe’s Farm.

Abe’s Farm is a culinary tribute to its founding spirit, the late Emilio “Abe” Aguilar Cruz (1915-1991), the writer and painter who was born in Magalang and some of whose ashes were scattered there, according to his wishes. The three-hectare compound is a restaurant, a museum, a spa, and a hostel all in one. The centerpiece, of course, is the restaurant, a veritable symphony in wood. As expected, the buffet spread was fabulous, from the paco fern and tomato salad to the binukadkad na pla-pla  fare that you needn’t go to Magalang for, as the same menu is available in the Abe restaurants in Trinoma and Serendra (my favorite has always been the baby squid and the crispy tadyang).

I had to return to Manila that afternoon and so missed dinner at the Holiday Inn sponsored by the Clark Development Corporation, but I think I can speak for the whole group when I declare that we’ll certainly be back  like the boy Oliver said, “Please, sir, I want some more!”

Again, my thanks to our hosts and sponsors, and congratulations to my colleagues in the NCCA’s National Committee on Literary Arts (NCLA) for another successful festival.

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Speaking of the NCLA, my old buddy Krip Yuson took it to task last week for seemingly dropping the ball on funding for this year’s Silliman Writers Workshop, but I feel some clarifications are in order. I can understand Krip’s great disappointment, not only because he’s one of the workshop’s most stalwart supporters but also because Silliman has acquired iconic status as the country’s first and premier creative writing workshop in English. But to be fair to the NCLA, on which I sit as a representative of the NCR, I know for a fact that we made a strenuous appeal as a body to the NCCA Board to fund the workshop, even if the workshop’s caretakers in Silliman had sent in their proposal late, for various reasons that we took into account.

Unfortunately, the board stood its ground and denied the appeal; that’s why Silliman received final notification of the denial rather late, as an appeals process was underway. The members of the NCLA, who come from all over the country, will attest that while vigorous discussions did take place within the committee on the merits of relaxing the rules to recognize the uniqueness of Silliman’s circumstances  the workshop founder and National Artist Edith Tiempo just having passed away as the proposal deadline loomed  in the end, all the members and officers of the committee acted as one in appealing the case to the board in Silliman’s favor. I have a copy of the NCLA’s letter to NCCA chairman Felipe P. de Leon, dated November 24, 2011, signed by NCLA head Dr. Priscilla Macansantos, urging the NCCA board to reconsider its denial of funding for the Silliman workshop.

I myself was deeply saddened by the board’s decision, which had been based on a recent precedent, when the MSU-IIT workshop in Iligan lost its funding because it had missed the NCCA deadline for submitting proposals, notwithstanding the fact that it had been running for nearly two decades (the Silliman workshop started in 1962). I’m all for rules and fairness, but sometimes the draconian interpretation of the rules  while being fair within the particular moment  can be unfair in the context of history and of the fundamental reasons why cultural agencies were set up in the first place.

In the meanwhile, I’m certain that resolve, resourcefulness, and the goodwill of many friends will see the Silliman Writers Workshop and SU’s gracious and energetic president Ben Malayang through this momentary trial.

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E-mail me at penmanila@yahoo.com and check out my blog at www.penmanila.ph.