Tag: No. 6

FOR THIS Thomasian pre-school teacher, self-study pays off.

After obtaining degree in Psychology from the University in 2011, Paola Jane Esteron opted to make a name in typography after two months of watching instructional videos uploaded in Youtube.

It was in 2013 thay she started teaching herself how to create artworks using nib pens while working on her master’s studies in Early Childhood, which she eventually finished in St. Joseph’s College in 2014.

The 25-year-old preschool teacher from Lourdes School in Quezon City, however, diverted from nib pen to brushes because it was more convenient.

FROM black and white city walls, a Thomasian can turn grays into vibrant colors.

After graduating with a degree in Advertising from the College of Fine Arts and Design in 2012, Ana Korina “Kookoo” Ramos immediately found her heart drawn to plastering portions of Metro Manila with murals, which she considers as a calling beckoned upon her.

She has done live art for Globe Telecom at the Bonifacio Global City, The Sweet Spot Pasig, and for Jack TV’s Kimbra Concert last 2014. She also painted commissioned graffiti murals in Tuscany McKinley Hill, Lift Hard Philippines, Melody Restaurant, and SM Fairview, as well as personal paintings in Ortigas and Quezon City.

THREE Dominican heritage structures have obtained the recognition of the National Museum of the Philippines, in a circular released last Dec. 23.

The Minor Basilica of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary of Manaoag in Pangasinan was declared a “National Cultural Treasure.”

The church, a national pilgrimage site under the Order of Preachers, is home to the ivory image of the Blessed Virgin Mary and is affiliated with the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.

The National Museum also declared the Diplomat Hotel ruins in Baguio and the Angelicum School in Iloilo as “Important Cultural Properties.”

THE FAMILIAR scraping of wooden outriggers against damp sand along with discordant voices awoke Tatad, who squinted as a ray of morning sun seeped in through the gaps of his bahay-kubo. The speed by which those pump boats were being dragged filled him with unease.

He grabbed his towel, hurried himself outside and followed the drag marks of fishing nets across the beach. He came across his friend, Dua, who hung his net by the rim of his boat. An infectious feeling of dismay and dread spread from Dua to Tatad as ten gasping tunas flailed in the metal barrel beside the boat.

“That’s all there is today?” asked Tatad, as he leaned down to inspect the measely catch.

“Same as every other day,” Dua replied.

SHALL I really believe

that a shepherd rules the sky?

Or that stars collect each night

into celestial sheep?

As they wind to and fro,

my own life unfolds

in his star flock.

The newborn lamb,

cradled among fellow stars

caught in a milky haze,

coddles a boastful young ram,

refusing to be sheltered?

raising its hooves

and showing off its horns.

Another limps one leg,

while the last mourns

a broken horn

as stars lose their luster

along its waning coat.

And at last the dawn

leaves nothing to be done

but ponder a fate

sketched in starlight:

THERE was nothing alluring

about crackling rays

that could shift his own apathy

toward the old filled with wishful,

wistful thinking,

inebriated with regret,

cramming their desires

on the day of terminus.

He hated the room for its tiring stench

of recycled vows and cheap theatrics.

He finished his drink but lit again a cigarette,

still in the vice grip of flame

refusing to be extinguished,

yet in transit of extinction,

for old habits don’t die

easily as years do.

Josef Brian M. Ramil

PASADO alas nuebe na nang makahiga si Ernesto at tanging ang bukas na telepono na lamang niya ang nagbibigay liwanag sa kaniyang kulob na silid.

Dahan-dahan niyang itinataas-baba ng kaniyang kanang hintuturo sa screen upang masulyapan ang laman ng kaniyang Facebook: mga bidyo ng makukulit na Corgi, mga meme nila Bill at Juan at mga galit na reklamo tungkol sa mga drayber ng taksi.

“Paulit-ulit na lang,” ani Ernesto sa sarili.

Nakaramdam na siya ng pagbigat ng kaniyang mga mata at dahan-dahang naglaho sa kaniyang paningin ang liwanag ng limang pulgadang screen ng kaniyang telepono.

IGINALA ni Aida ang mata sa langit

na kanlong ang mga talang noon nakakubli

sa hamog ng makukulay na baga.

Umihip, umihip,

ang batang nakasilip.

Bumulong nang marahan

at sandaling lumangitngit,

Sumumpa sa tala

na sa taong sasapit,

mag-iipon, mag-aaral, magpapakabuti.

Umihip, umihip.

Nakaalpas sa torotot ang tunog na impit

kagaya ng pangakong inusal na rin dati.

Tinangay ng hangi’t samyo ng pulbura

ang hinahapong hininga,

at bulong sa mga tala.

Bernadette A. Pamintuan

KABILANG ang mga Tomasino noong 1981 sa mga mapalad na nakapanayam ang hinirang na icon ng demokrasiya dahil sa kaniyang di-matatawarang papel sa pagpapabagsak sa diktadura ni Ferdinand Marcos tungkol sa kalagayan ng press sa demokrasya.

Ika-13 ng Agosto 1981 nang magbahagi ng leksiyon si Letty Jimenez-Magsanoc para sa simposyum na pinamagatang “Press Freedom, Myth or Reality” sa audio-visual room ng St. Raymund’s de Peñafort Building.

Sinabi nito na, “kung ibabalik ang malayang pamamahayag, ang mga alagad ng press ay higit na magkakaroon ng pananagutan na ‘di tulad ng press freedom bago magkaroon ng batas-militar, dahil naranasan na nila ang kapaitan ng isang sikil na press.”

Known as the Brains of the Revolution, Apolinario Mabini's contribution to the Philippines as both writer and revolutionist perhaps finds its beginning in one of his bequeathals to his fellow Filipinos—El Verdadero Decalogo or The True Decalogue.

The 10-item decalogue comparable to the Ten Commandments was intended as a form of instruction for all Filipinos even after his death in 1903.

Commemorating Mabini's 150th birth anniversary, the Philippine PEN (Poets, Essayists, and Novelists) used his decalogue as an inspiration for its annual conference titled, "Writing, Writers, Moral Regeneration and National Renewal." It was held last December 2-3 at the Henry Sy Hall of the De La Salle University, Taft.