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Showing posts with label Literature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Literature. Show all posts

Saturday, August 31, 2013

Trese Series: Twist and Shout

Yes I read the 5 books in the Trese series created by Budjette Tan and illustrated by Kajo Baldisimo about two months ago. I was introduced into the series by one of my students last year when we were discussing Pinoy Pop Culture, particularly Filipino Komiks.

When she brought the 5 books and showed them to me, I simply nodded to show her that I do approve her reading the series but I never read it nor even touched any of it. I thought this was another thrashy-time-wasting-publication that National Bookstore was propagating by having so many stocks on display all over the Philippines.

Then I chanced upon one of our school librarian and IT guy discussing about Alexandra Trese and how almost everything in the stories are very Filipino. Something ticked and I said I should start reading Trese.

Then one Friday afternoon, the universe opened and before I knew it, I was reading Book 1 and could not even put it down. Thanks to Mr. F for lending me his 5-volume collection of the series, I managed to read it everything in one weekend.

And my daughter did the same thing, she read after me and beside me on the sofa. She would ask me which book I' have read so that she can read too. And we were in awe! Filipino mythology in twisted form that will leave the readers screaming, shouting for more.

Where's Trese Six?

Thanks Budjette and Kajo!

And today I chanced upon Rappler's interview of the creators of Alexandra Trese, Budjette and Kajo:

   

Monday, January 16, 2012

Mystical City of God

Below is a resource for anyone who wishes to promote the love for the Mother of God, the Queen of Heaven. Happy 54th Anniversary to all the members of the Apostolate of the Queen of Heaven!!!

Friday, October 21, 2011

Alamat ni Mariang Makiling

Hello there!

It has been weeks since our last post and I think the trending for our blog will stay that way for awhile. One post in two weeks or a bi-monthly notes from me. So far my existence have been filled by thoughts of Teaching Filipino among middle school students who share one commonality, they happen to live here in the Philippines but has English as their mother tongue.

I teach Filipino within the framework of Humanities curriculum with emphasis on language learning. So far I have had the chance of breaking-through the complexities of teaching a whole class of teenagers who'd rather not learn the language if given the chance not to. Sorry guys but he who doesn't know of foreign languages doesn't know their own, that according to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

We used three reading materials for this term and the latest one is about the mysterious diwata named Mariang Makiling:

ANG ALAMAT NG BUNDOK MAKILING
Sa isang mataas na bundok ay may mag-asawang Bathalang naninirahan. Sila ay may isang anak, si Maria. Si Maria ay kaisa-isang anak ng mga bathalang sina Dayang Makiling at Gat Panahon. Ang kagandahan ni Maria ay sadyang kahali-halina, lalo na sa paningin ng kanyang mga magulang. Siya ang tanging ligaya’t kayamanan nina Dayang makiliing at Gat Panahon.

Kahit na isang diyos, malayang nakakahalubilo ni Maria ang mga ordinaryong tao. Noong panahong iyon, ang mga bathala’t diyosa ay malayang nakikipagkuwentuhan at nakikisama sa mga taong mortal. Ang mga tao ay nakakahingi ng tulong sa mga bathala. Sila ay tinutulungan naman ng mga bathala.

Nakaugalian na ni Maria na mamili sa Talipapa. Ang kanyang kasuotan ay naaayon sa moda nang mga panahong iyon. Ang kanyang mahabang buhok ay napapalamutian ng bulaklak. Bawa’t makasalubong niya ay bumabati sa kanya dahil sa mapang-akit niyang mga mata. Ang mga kalalakihan ay yumuyuko sa harap niya tanda ng paggalang. 

Kasama ng dalawang alalay, ipinagpapalit ni Maria ang mga dala-dalang luya tulad  ng mga tela at iba pang gamit sa bahay. Hindi pa kilala noon ang pera. Sa araw ng palengke, hindi lamang mamimili ang nasa Talipapa. Naroon din ang mga mangangalakal na taga-ibang lugar. Dumarayo din sila sa Talipapa uang makipagpalitan ng mga kalakal. 

Isang araw ay napasyal sa Talipapa ang mga pinuno ng kahariang Bay. Si Gat Dula. Isa siyang maharlikang tao. Hindi siya namimili sa Talipapa. Siya ay si Gat Dula at ay nagpapalipas lamang ng oras. Nagkataon naman na si Maria ay namimili din ng araw na iyon. Nagkabanggaan ang kani-kanilang balikat nang kapwa nila kikilatisin ang isang pirasong mabalahibong balat ng hayop.Nagkatinginan silang dalawa. Yumuko si Gat Dula bilang tanda ng paggalang at paghingi ng paumanhin kay Maria. Waring nahihiyang ngiti lamang ang itinugon ni Maria. 

Simula ng araw na iyon ay hindi na mapakali si Gat Dula. Nabighani siya sa kagandahan ni Maria. Bumabalik-balik siya sa Talipapa sa pagbabakasakaling magkita pa sila ni Maria. Maraming araw din ang lumipas pero siya ay nabigong makita ang magandang dyosa. Hanggang isang araw, ang kanyang pananabik ay napawing lahat nang masilayan niyang muli ang kagandahan ni Maria. Wala siyang inaksayang sandali. Dahan-dahan siyang lumapit kay Maria at binati ito. Tinugon naman siya ni Maria ng isang napakatamis na ngiti. 

Magmula noon ay naging magkaibigan na ang dalawa hanggang sa maramdaman nilang sila ay umiibig sa isa’t-isa. Nakalimutan ni Maria na isa siyang diyosa na hindi nararapat na umibig sa tao. 

Nagpatuloy ang matamis na pag-iibigan nina Maria at Gat Dula hanggang sa ito ay makarating sa kaalaman ni Gat Panahon, ang ama ni Maria. At siyempre pa, nagalit si Gat Panahon gayundin si Dayang Makiling. Labis na nalungkot ang ina ni Maria sa pakikipag-ibigan ng anak sa isang tao at hindi sa kapwa nila bathala.

Magmula noon ay pinagbawalan na si Maria na bumaba sa daigdig ng tao. Inalisan din siya ng kapangyarihang mag-anyong tao. Sabihin pa, labis itong ikinalulungkot ni Maria sapagka’t iisa lang ang kanyang puso at ito ay walang iba kundi si Gat Dula.Sa daigdig nama’y gayundin ang nangyayari kay Gat Dula. Tapat at busilak ang pag-ibig niya Maria. Madalas ay nakikita niya si Maria sa kanyang mga pangitain ngunit ito’y biglang naglalahong parang bula.

Biglaang nagkaroon ng digmaan sa kaharian ni Gat Dula. Nilusob sila ng mga kalapit na kaharian sa pamumuno ni Lakan Bunto. Buong giting na pinamunuan ni Gat Dula ang kanyang mga tauhan sa pakikipaglaban. Nagapi nila ang mga kalaban at ni hindi lamang nagalusan si Gat Dula. Ang dahilan nito marahil ay sa kanyang inspirasyon, ang kanyang marubdob na pag-ibig kay Maria. Marami pang digmaan ang nakasagupa ni Gat Dula at lahat ng iyon ay kanyang pinagwagihan. Nagtatagumpay siya sa mga kalaban maliban sa kanyang pag-ibig kay Maria. 

Sa labis na kalungkutan, si Gat Dula ay nagkasakit na naging sanhi ng kanyang kamatayan. Lahat ng ito ay nasaksihan ni Maria ngunit wala siyang magawa. Hiningi nya sa mga bathala na ibigay sa kanya ang kaluluwa ni Gat Dula at siya nama’y pinagbigyan din ng mga bathala. 

Nang mamatay sina Gat Panahon at Dayang Makiling, minana nina Maria at Gat Dula ang lahat ng kayaman at kapangyarihan ng kanayang mga magulang. Bilang pinuno, ipinagpatuloy ni Maria ang pagbibigay ng tulong sa kanyang nasasakupan. Tulad ng Gawain ng ina, ikinakalat ni Maria ang mga luya sa bakuran ng bawa’t bahay ng kanyang kaharian. Ang lahat ng ikinasal ay kanyang binibiyayaan ng mga kagamitan. 

Ngunit dumating ang panahon na ang kaharian ni Maria ay inabuso ng kanyang mamamayan. Ang iba sa kanila ay hindi na marunong tumanaw ng utang na-loob. Ang mga gamit na kanilang hiniram ay hindi na naibabalik kay Maria. Dahil dito, nagalit si Maria. Nagpasiya siyang baguhin ang lahat.Nagbigay siya ng ng mga bagong kautusan at batas. Ipinagbawal niya ang pamimitas ng prutas sa gubat. Dahil sa kalupitan sa hayop, ipinagbawal din niya ang pagpatay at pagbihag ng mga hayop. Ang sinumang sumuway sa kanyang batas ay kanyang parurusahan. At bawa’t pagsuway sa kanyang mg autos. Pinaiitim niya ang kalangitan at ibinubuhos ang malakas na ulan. Pagkatapos ay hahagupitin niya ng malakas ang kalabaw upang kumidlat. 

Ngayon ang bundok ng Makiling ay simbulo ang kapangyarihan at kagandahan ni Maria.    


For our class' jump-off activity, we watched the YouTube video of Alamat ng Mariang Makiling which I downloaded on my desktop:





Monday, April 25, 2011

How to Capture Pilandok

Before the Holy Week break, I gave an assignment to the 6th graders in my Filipino Standard class on how to capture Pilandok. Pilandok has been the central figure in our class for the last 3 weeks and it helps a lot that Pilandok has been portrayed as wise, cunning and helpful. This Filipino Class I have is under the Languages Section of of the IB Curriculum grid so the main goal skill is Language Acquisition.

And here is one of the many diverse outputs I got this morning:

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Butch' 2nd Time Around

We reacted and posted our reaction here about Butch Dalisay's  Advise for Top Ten for Wannabe Writers and we're glad the Guru of the Pen gave more time to add to his list of reminders and have to's for writers.

Here it is:

1. Don’t just write, edit.

2. Learn how to take pictures.

3. Understand and learn basic layout and design.

4. Learn to work with other professionals.

5. Be prepared to travel.

6. Back up your work.

7. Register as a professional, and keep proper accounts.

8. Learn how to deal with failure.

9. Give yourself an incentive for doing well.

10. Give credit and give thanks to others. 
Wisdom from the Pinoy Penman himself Butch Dalisay. To read more click here.
 

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Juan Tamad Resurrected


Juan Tamad is alive again and we have to thank Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) for this. Si Juan Tamad, Ang Diyablo at ang Limang Milyong Boto will be staged every Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., until March 14 at the PETA Theater Center, 5 Eymard Drive, New Manila, Quezon City.

Si Juan Tamad, Ang Diyablo at ang Limang Milyong Boto is directed by Phil M. Noble.

For inquiries and reservations, call the PETA Marketing & Public Relations Office at 725-6244, 410-0822, SMS 0917-8044428 or e-mail petampro@yahoo.com.

Interesting enough, I found this Project Gutenberg entry for Juan Tamad: Buhay na Pinagdaanan ni Juan Tamad na anac ni Fabio at ni Sofia. Take note of the use of c instead of k for the word anak. I could still remember when I first encountered the Spanish spelling when I was in grade 1. My aunt showed my mom a Will from her departed father. And in it calligraphy was used ala-speed ball text. Old English calligraphy at it's best.

Juan Tamad may not be a very good addition to Filipino Icons List but then again, we cannot erase his name and character in the books printed as the years passed by. Remember, the works of our forefathers will always have lasting effects on the succeeding generations, good and bad.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

RP Short Stories

I found a site maintained, monitored and moderated by a Filipino which features short stories considered to be the best and it is aptly called The Best Philippine Short Stories.  The site is maintained by a group who calls themselves as RP Literature Group and the editor is Hector O. Santos.

In my previous life, este blogs, I met a man named Hector Santos Jr who maintains a forum called Pinoy Chess Informe. I wonder if the Jr is the son.

Check it out and enjoy reading, proudly Filipino!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

101 Filipino Icons

Yesterday I went home early from work around 5.15 in the afternoon. I got home and was greeted by my two sons with my father-in-law watching TV 5's Spongebob. Since we are literally a stone throw away from Robinson's Imus, I asked them if they wanted to have merienda then visit The Children's Library of the Gokongwei Brother's Foundation.

Of course my sons were "mabilis pa sa alas kwatro" when they learned they would visit the library again. The Children's Library is very close to my heart since I used to be their in house storyteller. During my time there, I maximized my existence there by joining puppet shows and other fun stuffs which made me realize how wonderful life really is.

While my sons were enjoying their computer sessions, I chanced upon a book called 101 Filipino Icons, published by Adarna House. I have seen this book before but never had the time and chance to read or scan for as long as two hours until last night.

In the book you will find the names of Dolphy Quizon Jr, Fernando Po Jr., Gabriel "Flash" Elorde and Robert "Sonny" Jaworksi. The Manugol Jar is a national treasure and the Sarimanok is a creation only in the Philippines. And a lot more...

With globalization truly set in within the borders of the Philippines, I wonder if the younger Filipinos are even aware of such cultural pride. If they are aware of this, are they willing to wear these badges on the world stage?

Scholastic Basketball Camp

1st Founders' Cup

Scholastic Basketball Camp-1st Founders' Cup

16 & Under Division Ranking 2019

School Rank Wins
SV Montessori 4th 0
La Trinidad Academy Champion 5
Charis Christian Institute 2nd 4
La Camelle School 3rd 1

12 & Under Division Ranking 2019

School Rank Wins
SV Montessori 5th 0
La Trinidad Academy-Team A Champion 6
Charis Christian Institute 2nd 5
La Camelle School 3rd 4
La Trinidad Academy-Team B 4th 1