Pagsulat sa Filipino - Photo Essay














“Ang pagpapakamatay ay hindi pumapatay sa mga tao,
ang kalungkutan ay siyang pumapatay ng mga tao.”

Pagsulat sa Filipino sa Piling Larangan, September 2017

 Hindi ko pagmamay-ari ang lahat ng larawan na ginamit sa akdang ito. Kinuha at ginamit lamang para sa pang-akademikong layunin. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Unspoken VI

Image
It’s been days… weeks actually. It has been weeks since the day I discovered, and I shall expect more weeks to pass before I recover. I am yet to accept the choice you made. I am yet to accept your decision. I am yet to suffer –a little longer.  As days and nights have passed, I admit that there were a few breakdowns. Even simple things could trigger me and I couldn’t help but be emotional. I’m not saying this to get your sympathy… because I don’t actually need it. Because even I manage to, will you do something about it? Will you make things right?  I expect you to make things right, and I would want to hope that you’re trying to. I will keep hoping and I will keep being disappointed if you fail. It’s okay though, at least you tried. Maybe I just have to be grateful and accept what you are willing to do. Maybe I just have to appreciate what you can do for us. Maybe I should be content with what we have now and not ask for more. Perhaps that’s the only way we can be a...
Read more

Far From Over

Image
I heard those words. I realized I have been using the lines that I hear as my titles - be it from music, movie, conversation, and common expressions. ( Back to Square One ,  Cigarettes After Sex ,  Whatever Helps You Sleep at Night ,  10 Things I Hate About You ,  You Reap What You Sow ...) "Pain is a perfect ingredient for poetry," they say. But I decided not to make poetry anymore. At least not for now. Yet this is poetic. Writing is always poetic. As it must be.  Among all things, why is pain still poetic? What is so poetic about pain? Is it the emotion that expresses what it is like to be human? Is it the beauty of ugly things? Ironic. We have agreed that pain isn't always dull but of the essence. We have perfected the narrative of turning such agony and remorse into motivation and change. How exhaustive is that? Can you imagine? Always learning from a loss. Almost yielding into ordeals. Far from over We are far from over repeating such an unend...
Read more

5 LESSONS OF A GEN Z: Full Speech JILS Graduation 2026

Image
I was invited by my alma mater to be the guest speaker at their high school graduation and moving-up ceremony last March 30, 2026. Below are the introduction they wrote and edited for me, and the edited transcription of my full speech with the slides I used as part of the presentation.  [Pasasalamat kay Tr. Justine for all the assistance at kina Daniel A., Marc A., Cath A., and Nics B. sa critique at input] Photo from JILS Facebook Page INTRODUCTION (by Earla Mari D. Isidro) Classmates, parents, guardians, JILS faculty and staff, administrators, and our special guests, good evening.  Our Guest of Honor and Speaker this evening is a distinguished writer, editor, and film producer who graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Film from the University of the Philippines Diliman. During his college years, he demonstrated exemplary leadership as Secretary-General from 2020 to 2021 and later as President from 2021 to 2022 of UP Cinema, a premier student film organization....
Read more

Essay: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Image
A world without Science is like Facebook without friends, YouTube without videos, Twitter with no trends, Instagram with no followers and Google without results. A world without technology is like a song without notes, a phone with no contacts, a movie without a plot, a pen with no ink and a book without writings. Science is the study of everything. Technology is the application of Science. Science helps our daily living. Technology improves our existence.  My classmate once told me, “Imagine a world without Science.” I need to think about it. While I’m imagining, my Mind starts to laugh. “There’s no world without Science,” teased my Mind. Yes, that’s right. Science is a natural matter in this world. Everything in this world is observed and tested through Science. We have to base our life on it. It will help us to learn new things. Science can give us a better way of living. Technology is using Science for the vantage of this world. It is made to help others, to assist lives a...
Read more

Wala ka pa sa realidad #02: 3 YEARS AFTER GRADUATION

Image
[The following is lifted from WHAT HAPPENED IN 3 YEARS SINCE I GRADUATED? in 5 years in UP —just posting the particular section as a separate entry for the  Wala ka pa sa realidad  series I want to continue. This version has additional yaps and edits.] I didn’t go home to Laguna after my graduation in UP Diliman. I stayed in Quezon City and started looking for jobs. I remember applying for a management trainee position at an oil company, which did not work out even after passing various interview stages, an aptitude test, and a random concept presentation before a panel. I used to share that journey on my Twitter account, which was naturally deleted after I missed reactivating it within the allowable time.  I took a social media detox as soon as I became officially unemployed, deactivated my accounts like logging out was not enough, and uninstalled them as well for my sanity. It was almost depressing, as my allowance had stopped; my parents were no longer obligated s...
Read more

Stranger

Image
I was sitting on a bench in my favorite spot when a girl sat beside me. I didn’t mind her at first because I was busy looking at the view in front of me. I turned my head to see her face and learned that she was crying.  “Miss,” I called as I offer my handkerchief. She accepted it and thanked me.  “Are you okay?” I asked.  She answered that she’s not fine and started to cry a little louder.  “I just broke up with my boyfriend,” she started.  “ I knew that I’m not the only one, but I loved him!” she cried.  “December 15, it was my worst birthday. I saw him with another girl. They were eating at our favorite place. He used to surprise me with Camote cue. It’s my favorite. Damn! I miss him.” She emphasized.  “We used to watch volleyball in his house. He said that I’m obsessed with it. I really am!” she snapped.  I moved closer and tried to comfort her.  “He always teases me that I’m ambitious. Well, ...
Read more

Courage

Image
I learned to take 20 seconds of courage to do something. It works; every time I feel unsure and I lack strength, I’m going to count 20 seconds before having courage to do it.  The thing that I have observed from people is that they lack courage. Most people are not courageous enough to do what they want, to speak what they wish, and to take what they need. Does not having courage show cowardice? If it does, then we are all cowards.  We are likely to miss the chance because we don’t have the courage to take it. We are likely to miss the opportunities because we are not courageous enough to seize it. That’s the thing about us, we are more likely to regret the things we didn’t do over the things we did. Why? It is simply because we didn’t take the courage we need to do things.  Do you know what we lack? It’s the will to do something. We lack it, that’s why we miss things. At the end of the day, we blame ourselves. “Why didn’t I do this and that?” “Did I just ...
Read more

The Sociological Imagination

Image
“Neither the life of an individual nor the history of a society can be understood without understanding both.”  In chapter one: The Promise, C. Wright Mills has situated the ‘troubles’ and ‘issues’ that burden man and his world. As he identifies the problem, Mills is able to set an impetus for a better world – even it is yet to be realized. A better world has always been the goal, or is it? History proves that humanity tried and failed; history then teaches the posterity to try again. One has to understand the significance of learning from history and applying certain changes personally for the dream to materialize. It takes a personal evaluation for a collective salvation. Man cannot be isolated from society as a society cannot isolate man from it. And grasping this idea, recognizing the relations between time and people, and being aware of the mechanisms of societal structures and individual dispositions are what drive the sociological imagination. As a premise, the already-...
Read more

Tangled

Image
I am attracted to laughter.  If someone smiles often, thinks positively, and can enjoy the small things in life; I am naturally enticed by who they are. I admire someone who can put their cynical and pessimistic thoughts aside and bear through with a sense of humor. To me, that is everything. I think I'd fall in love with a compassionate person who can laugh through their own tears. You asked me to speak my mind. So here, my mind. Do not penalize me for not being one of those flowery people who shoot their feelings in a spray like a fire hydrant on a summer day. (Aloha, 2015 Film) When we are speaking about love, it is never too late. (Letters to Juliet, 2010 Film) Love is indeed complicated, everything will happen in the least you expect it.  No, she’s not perfect. She’s human and she’s flawed. But she is perfect to me and she is perfect for me. And that’s all that matters.  We’re both strangers to love. You know the rules so do I. A full commitmen...
Read more

Analysis: Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa

Image
Profound, complex, and beautiful.   The 2011 drama film of Alvin Yapan is an acclaimed motion picture that uses dance, poetry, and emotion to symbolize a deeper meaning about gender, sexuality, and character. The narrative involves a love triangle between Marlon (Paulo Avelino), Karen (Jean Garcia), and Dennis (Rocco Nacino). Dennis has started to invest emotionally on Marlon upon teaching him to dance to impress their literature teacher/dance instructor whom the latter is infatuated with. The film, however, does not focus solely on the romance of the characters but with the meaning behind every delivered poem, every dance routine, and every subtle projection of emotions through visual portrayal and effective sound. Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa is wisely created as there’s more than the movie plot – there are reflections of gender sensitivity and fluidity, paradoxical representation of sexuality, and philosophical insights about feminism, affection, and devotion.  ...
Read more