essays
TO HONOR THY MOTHER
A tale inscribed in ancient history tells of a creation manifested from human clay. Endowed with an impeccable capacity to love, the animated mold graced the earth in silence. Her existence, spanning eras of evolutionary pathways, borne a legacy untarnished in the...
THE POLITICAL GAMBIT
Recent numbers bred hope. Recent visions bred conviction. High hopes of concluding The Filipino’s battle against himself, his circumstances, the system, and the ‘other’ people in the system are now a common song. Collective apprehension rules the spectators on who...
NATIONAL PORTRAIT
This is definitely not an apology for outright ranting. This is a fact that The 2007 Juan dela Cruz* had a certain change of mind. The obvious reality of his country’s sentiments defeats statements of denial and lies. That glint of hope he was optimistic about has...
THE 2007 JUAN DELA CRUZ
The changing frontiers of Juan dela Cruz’s mindset have been prevalent since the sharp political changes were made by pure will. As the year closes, a glint of hope is seen anew for his country especially that indifference has become a customary reaction to the...
THE ROCKING CHAIR
For my grandfather, the late Paul Mapangdol, Sr. Some of the best conversations in life happen when it’s the last. At twenty, he was able to have the best one to leave an imprint in his life. It was with his grandfather. On the shore, they were facing the setting sun....
THE SEDENTARY LIFE OF JUAN DE LA CRUZ
An ordinary eye cast upon this country’s common people yields a conclusion that we are all unconsciously tired. We may even be depressed at the conscious thought of being tired. These are our storylines: ignorance to wisdom, sadness to happiness, emptiness to meaning,...