MANILA, Philippines — Last time I checked, the real world was still the real world, and everyone can’t seem to overstate it these days. You’ll see your friends left and right, leaving their jobs here to hunt either SGD or HKD — either way, it’s roughly triple the pay working jobs OFWs would have a go at. Or, maybe, resorting to further studies right after college — either out of career anxiety or course compensation, all in the hopes of adding that significant zing to your CV. Or, maybe the old “starting a business” plan to get away from corporate stress and employ your own self.
However the real world appears to you right now, it still pays to take note (and actual Cattleya notes) as to how some people have still managed to rise above career staleness and go after the life they want – most simply because, you can have the life you want early on.
Here are eight kids — from the most current of menswear designers to an 18-year-old film director whose film got recognized at the Manhattan Film Festival — and one stranger-friendly rock band, all of whom aren’t fresh for freshness’ sake, but evidence that the real world can also be the stuff that dreams are made of as long as your work ethic is bold and won’t fold.
Bibo Reyes
21, Rising theater actor for Atlantis Productions’ In the Heights (Sonny) and Rock of Ages (Franz)
When I was a junior in high school, I was given the lead role in a Palig play. It was about a boy who found magic water. Really bad show but we won first place and I won something like pinakamagaling sa pagganap and I guess my interest and respect for theater began there but I never pursued it ‘til college.
In my first year of college, I applied for different orgs like the Ateneo Musicians Pool and Ateneo Glee Club but then my blockmate was like, if I register for Blue Repertory, you should register, too. I ended up passing the auditions with Blue Rep and stuck with it. Now I love what I’m doing, so much so that I’m still doing theater even after graduating. I’m actually pretty much booked for the rest of the year, that’s if things pan out properly.
I don’t like saying you’re flexible as an actor. I don’t think the mark of a good actor is to be able to play anyone; I think the mark of a good actor is if you’re able to take who you are and apply it to whatever material comes your way.
It’s no secret that it’s kind of hard to make a living off just theater so you really have to expand yourself and do commercials or anything that makes use of your talent. I’m open to things like television and movies.
I wear my favorite underwear and socks on the day of my shows just so I feel comfortable.
I’m also looking into comic books. There was an open call for Marvel and since I draw a lot and my dad’s an artist, we submitted our portfolios and I’m actually waiting for the reply today. I hope they call us for an interview — even though I’m more of a DC fan.
Never The Strangers
New wave rock band, whose song is No. 1 on the MYX charts
PJ La Vina (22, drums), Ace Libre (21, vocals and keyboard), Francis “Vicious” Victa (22, bass), JP Del Mundo (20, guitar)
Well, right now, it’s really funny to have that Close-Up commercial out. I was asking our helper how often she sees the TVC and she said per teleserye, about twice per show. So it’s crazy. Especially when I see these guys’ faces? It’s not that bad. (Laughs) Through the years, we were mostly an audience to Close-Up commercials and now it’s unreal to see ourselves in one. –ACE
Having that commercial was tangible proof of a big step for us as a band. Ever since it came out, there was more of a following on Facebook and Twitter, which was surprising because it was such a short clip. Our song was played for only 10 seconds out of that 30-second video but people still liked the song and searched for us online. –PJ
We were at the Warner Christmas party and nakilala namin yung brand manager ng Close-Up and he listened to us cover some songs, liked us, and took a gamble on us. Grateful naman kami that we have this opportunity. –JP
All this is more of an opportunity for us to show our music to more people. Siyempre, ‘yun naman yung gustong gawin ng isang banda, to gain a greater audience. –Francis
For some bands, labels want to adjust their sound to make them more mainstream. The beautiful thing about the music we’re making is we didn’t really have to change anything about it because may pop sensibilities na ‘yung songs namin, to begin with. When Warner came into the picture and we started recording our album, they didn’t change anything creatively. They only suggested we write more Tagalog but we were going to do that anyway. –PJ
Mostly, I’d write songs for myself and for the band ‘cause we really enjoy jamming. But my dad hammered this idea that if you want to succeed in the Filipino setting, you have to think locally also. You have to be able to connect to the masses in some way. I think we might be able to do that with the songs we have so far and at the same time still sound NTS, kumbaga. –ACE
As a songwriter, I thought life experiences were the only things I could draw from but later on, I learned as you listen to other things, or watch movies, you can also be inspired by that. It doesn’t necessarily have to be about you ‘cause you can put your shoes—I mean feet (Laughs)—in the shoes of anyone. Creativity doesn’t need inspiration to work. It can work as a muscle that you exercise. The more you do it, the more you master it. –ACE
I was exploring different decades and it just so happened that ‘80s ‘yung pinakauna and I try to incorporate that style, whether consciously or not, (to our music). It’s easy to bop my head and groove to the synth-drenched songs of A Flock of Seagulls. I also listen to U2 because Coldplay were influenced by them. I just go back to the heroes of my heroes. –ACE
If a young band were in their early stages, playing in high school fairs, and their parents get mad at them for going out late, wasting their time practicing, I guess I would say we’ve all been there. Napagalitan na kami. But just keep at it. Keep playing, practicing, listening, and educating yourselves. And I think each gig matters ‘cause you learn and you get to meet people from the industry. Just don’t give up even if you think your chances are slim. –ACE
Natashya Gutierrez
24, Yale-schooled journalist and multimedia reporter for rappler.com
I went to Poveda for grade school and International School of Manila for high school, where I worked in publications. In Yale, there wasn’t a journalism program so I took up psychology but did journalism on the side. I was editor-in-chief of a couple of publications. I did anything I could do to get my hands dirty. Oh, Tagalog? Siyempre, marunong ako mag-Tagalog.
The biggest challenge as a journalist right now is explaining to readers and viewers why the news is relevant, like why you should care about it.
I’ve learned how to anchor certain events live and it’s nerve-wracking. But I love the adrenaline of news and the privilege to tell people what is happening and create conversations. I feel really blessed. As a multimedia reporter now, I do everything. It’s not like in TV where you report and there’s someone else who edits the video for you. I shoot, edit my video, write my script, voice my package, and put it up on the web. So it’s really everything.
Bloopers? I guess during the impeachment trial I was so nervous I just kept saying “uh” a lot. But so far, nothing crazy. I’m a perfectionist and I want to do things well.
The first thing I do in the morning is read. You have to read. You have to be aware of what’s going on in the world. Personally, I’m glued to Twitter, which is all my reading material in one thread. It’s the best thing since sliced bread.
I’ve always been patriotic and I wanted to come home and do news here. And I was inclined towards television because it’s a medium that reaches the most audience here. But after college, I did fellowships in New York and Dallas, which made it harder for me to come back. I met Maria Ressa, though, who made me realize how much I love the news and why I love the Philippines. Ultimately, I decided to turn down a job in New York to come back and work with Maria, who was starting Rappler – the first social news site in the Philippines. I’m grateful to be able to do what I’m doing at such a young age and to be at the forefront of something that is the future.
17, Palanca winner
When I wrote the Palanca essay, it wasn’t under any romanticized solitary setting, where someone goes away to Sagada to write. It was more of a typical kid during summer trying to find something to occupy their time with.
When I got the letter from Palanca, I thought it was something like “thanks for participating.” When I opened it, the fact that I won and was congratulated for it didn’t really process because I had just taken a nap.
I was surprised when it happened because I don’t really write. It was during summer and my English teacher told me to join and I was like “yeah, right” but I decided to right anyway because the topic was interesting — what was the best, most relevant thing I learned from the Internet. I wanted to prove to myself that I could write something about the way people cope with Internet dependency.
Because of the Internet, you don’t get to speculate what a song means anymore ‘cause you can just look it up. And I guess there’s a good and bad side to having the Internet. You don’t have to remember certain things anymore because you can Google it but at the same time there’s dependency.
When I went to the Palanca awards, it was so humbling and I was star-struck. F. Sionil Jose was there and I sat beside Batibot’s screenwriter.
In the future, I’d like to focus on writing songs for a band and join a music org. That’s more of my passion.
21, Photographer whose work will be published in Vogue Italia
Vogue Italia wanted to showcase new photographers so they had a call for entries around the world. I submitted photos for a line from The Artisan Clothing that hasn’t been released yet. I told Chris of The Artisan I’d submit something and they were okay with it, then suddenly it’s getting published in June. It’s surreal and I’m thankful. (Laughs)
I think going to art school and being away from home changed the way I view photography. It’s so much clearer now why I do it. Because before going to school, I’d take photos and they were great but empty and surface-value pretty. Now I appreciate the process of shooting more. When I shoot for personal use, I feel more honest and I connect with the (subject) more.
As a young fashion photographer, you tend to want to make it look good and have this vibe but it never really comes out sometimes because you’re trying to do a shadow of what it’s supposed to be versus really understanding how it works.
I draw inspiration from daily life, the city, Hong Kong. I love the Philippines, how different it is. I love the little things. Actually, everything but photography inspires me.
I used to want to become a fashion photographer but now I don’t know. Maybe I can do travel photography or draw all over my work. I want to experiment. I don’t see myself sticking to one medium. I admit I don’t know where I am but I love what I’m doing.
Those kids with SLRs around their necks, I used to hate them before. I hate to say it but some people have hidden motives (for reasons like) “I just want free stuff” or “I want to get famous.” But I guess people can see through that and want something more substantial – which is what I aim for, though I’m not there yet. Now it’s just more about knowing why you take photos. I want to relate my personal experiences to other people.
The future of photography locally is getting better and will get even better. The fact that it’s so accessible makes it easy for people to get into photography. People are bringing film and other media back as well. And you can see that there’s a community. People just want to help each other out.
Lance Katigbak
18, Film director whose film Fine Dining won People’s Choice Award in the Manhattan Film Festival
I made a film when I was 17 in high school. It was summer and I wanted to do a short film for fun. It was about a boy who wanted to take a dump but his friend wouldn’t let him. Next year, I wanted to do it again but something more seriously so I took a class in film-making, where I learned how to use the equipment properly. ‘Cause I was just planning on renting the equipment and shooting, which in hindsight was a stupid thing to do ‘cause there was no way I could’ve used it properly if I hadn’t taken this class. Fine Dining turned out to be my final project, which I submitted to schools like NYU. They took me in but I’m not there now because well, it was really expensive.
People ask me if I consider Fine Dining as poverty porn and I say it’s nowhere near it because in poverty porn, you show poverty as the end-all and be-all. I wanted to show that even though the background was a poor setting, you never really see these people complain. Poverty was used a means to show that even though you’re materially poor, if you’re rich in dignity and personality, you can go a lot further with that.
Poverty shouldn’t be a hindrance to show your love for someone, to show that you’re proud or happy. When you go out to the slums, you wouldn’t see them crying; they’re happy and I wanted to show poverty in a positive light. The theme was more of human dignity. Poverty was just my background, like my canvas. The colors I used to paint it with were different things. I also want to be universal in terms of my films’ messages. There was this one person who made a comment on my film, that even though he wasn’t from our country, he could relate to the character.
I think it’s a natural drive that I have to do all this. I remember our religion teacher in grade seven wanted us to make videos so I put together some stuff and although it was technically terrible, he liked it and I realized I loved what I was doing.
I think Filipino viewers are so conditioned to romantic comedies and they’re okay but there are so much more they can actually enjoy.
23, Co-owner of The Artisan Clothing (local menswear brand, theartisanclothing.com)
I don’t know how I got into it that far into the game. ‘Cause when I was a kid, I wanted to cook. It was either cooking or the stock market thing, which was weird.
When we started, we were really scared. ‘Cause you know, it was just yourself. I started with shoes, really — selling shoes. And that’s when I met my partners, became really good friends with them. And then, there it happened.
If someone compliments me it’s not like, “Oh yeah, thank you, I got it from Ralph Lauren.” It’s more like, “hey thanks, yeah, you know my pocket was actually manually embroidered. It’s by this guy who was trained in like the camp bases in Subic to do patches for military.” It’s just cool to have that story in one shirt.
Recently, I’ve started making clothes with the story of the progression of my love life. So that’s like an ode to all the girls or women I got hurt by and all. Yeah, I’ve been really known to be the emo kid. I mean, ever since. For the biker jacket, for example, she’s a mountain girl and she’s very rebellious. She’s the young, wild, and free type. I translated it into that.
Right now we’re focusing on supplying for Danish brands. The Artisan’s still gonna be there, but we’re slowly shifting. You know, helping other brands come out.
If you want to put up a brand, for example, we can do it from the look of your collection, to sourcing out the materials and manufacturing it. We can even produce your lookbook if you want. We’re very happy na there are these brands that sort of contacted us. And they flew here. Hopefully we can launch it by July. — KB
23, Creative communications consultant at the office of Sen. Teofisto Guingona III (in charge of the Senate Bill for creating the Design Council of the Philippines), and advocate of creative governance (wanderrgirl.com)
I started with NGOs. Then I met all these different people, like Joey Alvero of Team Manila, and I thought of ways on how to work together — design and government. So I set them up for a meeting with the senator.
The main project I’m working on is a bill called the Design Competitiveness Act of the Philippines. In a nutshell, it’s using design to drive innovation, not just for economic competitiveness, but also to solve social problems and introduce more efficiency in the government.
For the little projects, I use design and creativity to make change-making more accessible to people. ‘Cause when you talk about design and creativity, it’s so easy to get into and people want to be more creative. I’m just using it as a tool for nation-building.?
Design for social innovation can be relegated to thesis topics, like design students might think of a way to improve the airport or LRT designs. But when they get out in the real world, they don’t see it as a viable project or career. For example, the Liter of Light. In the slums, they fill up a Coke bottle with one liter of water and bleach, attach it to the ceiling, and let the sunlight outside refract to provide light inside. The people in those areas don’t have to use electricity in the morning. That’s using product design for social innovation.
I came from St. Scholastica and they were pretty big on the whole women-for-others so as early as 10, we would be having noise barrages outside, telling Erap to resign. They would take us to People Power 2. I grew up with that and for me it would be so unnatural of me to not fight for anything bigger than myself.
I find it weird when people only work for themselves. For me, parang, why? What else are you about?
19, Fashion designer, owner of The Fifth Code (menswear apparel)
It started when I joined this Levi’s Jazz Up Your Jeans competition. My art teacher asked me to be a part of it and when we won, I realized I liked showing off my collection and people actually clapping. I also remember telling myself that if I win this competition, then I might as well pursue fashion design. If the contest didn’t happen I think I’d still be part of the fashion world but more of the advertising part.
Ever since I was young, I wanted to become an architect but it always led to art. Early on, I told my parents that I would commit suicide if they forced me to take up accounting or any business course. ‘Di ko talaga kaya ‘pag math. But my parents saw my passion when I applied for the scholarship and they didn’t contest it na lang.
When I started Fifth Code, my intention was to show people what my aesthetics were as a menswear designer and build the brand right away. I didn’t see the point of delaying it. Now, there’s been a lot of competition in the local menswear industry. It’s good, though, because it gives guys options more than ever. People are more open-minded and I guess I came at the right time.
My brand is a reflection of my personality. I do things my way and people can call it what they want. I also feel like if I design something to wear, there’s a market for it. And luckily right now, it’s been happening. I’m lucky to have friends and family that support my passion.
The thing is I don’t live and breathe fashion. When I’m with friends I don’t talk about fashion that much ‘cause I don’t want them to make them aloof na puro fashion na lang. Fashion design is just one outlet of my creativity. I style, paint, draw, write, and travel. There are other things that interest me and that I would more likely blog or talk about than the latest looks by the designers in the Fashion Weeks abroad.
I feel that nothing is original. Everything is a copy of a copy of a copy of a copy. And for me, I just know how to serve my market. I know what they want.