kultura

this book Of Love and Other Lemons

one of the blurbs for this first book asked: what took you so long, ina?

and in truth, i’d like to think i took exactly the amount of time i needed. much of what’s in Of Love and Other Lemons is about refusing to write the way i’m expected to, or at least the way i did when i wrote mirrors. i read too much of the personal essay as it’s written and published in these shores, but also i read poetry in english by our contemporary women poets. i read works in English and Filipino. but more than the reading, i’d like to think i took my time at living: through teaching, some broken hearts, losses large and larger, a career in writing, writing, writing. (more…)

komentaryo

Dolphy, national artist

It’s difficult to imagine childhood without Dolphy, even when all he was to me was the image of a father on television, even as who I identified with was Maricel Soriano or Claudine Barretto playing his daughters in two different sitcoms, across two different generations. At some point this father image became interwoven with that of Enteng Kabisote, father to Aiza.

The images are real to me, the characterization of fatherhood that was protective but had difficulty providing, that was faced with the rich mother-in-law who disapproved, that struggled financially but had a posse who depended on him, underground as the economy was that they all created and fueled. (more…)

kultura

cynthia and the narrative of leaving

which is to say there are many reasons for Cynthia Alexander’s leaving for Seattle. none of them is about the lack of support for her music in these shores. this short essay responds mostly to the Francis Brew piece, which painted a narrative that actually made it seem like Cynthia was upping and leaving, complaining and whining, about nation. all untrue. (more…)

komentaryo

independence, not just freedom

because here is a nation where when you think independently, when you think differently even, when you think to critique because you know you must, when you engage in struggle, the first thing you will lose is your freedom.

(more…)

kultura

Bid Bad Bayo

Lest Bayo think that a short three-sentence apology from its vice president is enough. Lest Bayo imagines that a flurry of memes is good publicity still.

Lest they are ready to milk the noise that has surrounded this “What’s your mix?” campaign for all its worth and spin it by having these five girls Jasmine, Ana, Nikita, Margo and Kharu talk about how Filipino they are, or how much they love that percentage of them that’s Pinay.

Lest Bayo thinks they don’t need to reassess and cancel this campaign altogether, because maybe it’s that long copy that’s the problem here. Lest they will take their sweet good time pulling those ads, given reports that they are taking all of it down.

The answer is no, Bayo. (more…)