Seven days to my SKWW Photowalk. In the land of pancit bato and inulas. To lead a pack of photographers I don’t know, whose tongue I don’t speak. If the stars align for me, this walk might give the come-on to some street togs from Manila including noted architect/designer Rolly B. Mercado who posed the … Continue reading IRIDESCENDING IRIGA
I’ve spoken with a probinsyana who’s too ashamed to say where she is from: Balatan. A far-flung coastal town in Bicol; unheard and not much to boast of. She would rather tell people she is from Iriga city. An hour’s drive away and not much, much better off from Balatan. It’s sad when a hometown’s … Continue reading NO PLACE TOO BORING
Marcos is no hero. Otherwise we are just a nation of pocket monster chasers. Marcos is not just a corpse. If put six feet under the Libingan ng mga Bayani, that would be burying Edsa. The revolution that rippled across the globe. Germany. Poland. Chile. Estonia. Latvia. Lithuania. Romania. South Korea. Czechoslovakia. Imagine that. What … Continue reading OVER MARCOS’ DEAD BODY
I brought the Camiguin Circumferential Highway to its knees. From Benoni Port to Catarman to Mambajao and back, clockwise. It takes twenty-four hours to circumnavigate the island by foot, give or take a few. Camiguingnons take this “round” every Semana Santa as a solemn sacrifice or as sacred pact called panaad. They say Camiguin is … Continue reading PHOTOWALK CAMIGUIN
One day I asked the Lord, is there a job that pays people to photowalk? The Lord replied with a Google Street View car streaking past behind me. That was two weeks ago in CamSur. The land of gata and labuyo. Where these two elements come together, that is heaven. Today I’m back in hell. … Continue reading COCONUTS
A Manileño does not live by bread alone, but by every word from the Quiapo Church. Of which, is client to the renowned Maglaqui’s Religious Sculptured Works. Of which, Tadz is an artisan. Eduardo “Tadz” Galera, 54, of San Luis Pampanga. The main man in “Tatay Tadz.” A photo essay by Ateneo Sta. Ines, Adrian … Continue reading TATAY TADZ: POSTCRIPTS FROM A WINNING PHOTOESSAY
Ateneo Sta. Ines is unconvinced I do my own laundry. A domestic art not everyone can dig. Fact is it’s the only chore closely associated with photography: both banks on the glistening sun. The man must be a stranger to the housework as he is alien to the Arrocerros Forest Park — that pocket of … Continue reading QUIAPO INTERRUPTED
I spoke too soon about finally bailing out of Facebook. My abstinence lasted three weeks. Today I’m back on FB. It’s easier to quit smoking than rid myself of this social medium. How miserable we vainglorious souls are, all trapped in the devil’s grid for good. Just how do you keep your hands off the … Continue reading WHITE ISLAND
In the summer of 1521, Ferdinand Magellan found himself in a fight or flight situation vs Lapu-Lapu’s army on the waters of Mactan. He lost to the latter’s home-court advantage. Four hundred ninety-five years today, I sit on the same beach, waiting for the “Battle of Mactan” — a reenactment of that famous victory; the … Continue reading FIGHT OR FLIGHT
In Cebu, where there is smoke, there is STK. S is for sugba or sinugba — grilled or roasted chow. T for tinola — soup-based chicken. And K is for kilawin — marinated raw fish; the Philippines’ answer to Japan’s sushi maybe. Though Cebu is dotted with these heavenly joints (also clipped as “Su-Tu-Kil”), the … Continue reading PHOTOWALK ‘TIL HUNGRY, EAT ‘TIL SLEEPWALK
NOW is the best time to conquer the Philippines. When nanay, tatay, ate, kuya are torn apart. The national election left a country divided today. Split — as seven thousand one hundred islands. The newspaper cries HEALING PROCESS. How could friends and families unfriend/block/disconnect each other in and out of socmed in the name of … Continue reading NOTES FROM COLON STREET
