ANGELES, Andrew S.

LOCAL LITERATURE
(2009-2018)

Ligu na u, Lapit na Me
Ni: Eros Atalia
Date Published: 2009

Karl Vladimir Lennon J. Villalobos, nicknamed "Intoy", is in his third year in state
university when he meets Jenny, an attractive and affluent transferee from a private
university. Despite being popular among the male students, Jenny chooses to befriend
Intoy, much to his astonishment and confusion as he does not consider himself
attractive. When Jenny asks Intoy about his sex life, he confesses his virginity. Jenny
then seduces Intoy, to which he reluctantly acquiesces. They head to a motel where
they shower together and have sex.

Jenny and Intoy begin spending time together often, which makes their classmates
suspect that they are a couple; Intoy vehemently denies this. In reality, Intoy and Jenny
are "friends with benefits": they go on dates and have sex without any romantic
affections. This agreement goes on until their senior year. They eventually get to know
each other better through their dates and pillow talks.

One day, Jenny decides to end Intoy’s "benefits", which he seemingly accepts without
any questions much to her surprise and exasperation. Intoy secretly refuses to accept
Jenny's condition but nonetheless he pretends to concede; he has already developed
feelings for Jenny and he fears that she will leave him if she finds out.

After a week of ignoring each other, Jenny unexpectedly approaches Intoy and
reinstates his "benefits". They resume their original agreement until Jenny becomes
mysteriously moody, and Intoy vainly tries to console her. As Intoy is about to profess
his love, Jenny tells him the truth: she is pregnant, but assures Intoy that he is not the
baby’s father. Jenny then cuts all contact after that day. After Jenny's disappearance,
Intoy contemplates their relationship and regrets not professing his love earlier.

As a graduation present, Intoy receives ₱3,000 from his parents. He decides to spend
all the money on a prostitute, a transwoman hostess, and plenty of beer: all in a futile
attempt to forget about Jenny. Intoy eventually graduates and prepares to look for a job.
He slowly begins to move on with his life and accept the fact that he will never see
Jenny again.
 Diwata
Ni: Barbara Reyes
Date Published: 2010

In Poeta in San Francisco, Barbara Jane Reyes’ previous book, diwata was someone “elders say” had
once “walked on earth” before the “the nailed god came” (30). These are the traces and rumors from
which the titular Diwata of her latest book is resurrected. Then, like slippery oral art, like slips of the
tongue, creation stories about men, women, and diwata—a god or spirit in Philippine mythology—are
made up and told again and again. The poems in Diwata draw also on, and retell, Judeo-Christian
creation narratives, introduced and enforced in the Philippines by the Spanish colonial regime. These
retellings of myths and folk tales become a modality through which ahistory is rendered into history,
history itself is investigated, and variations of diwatas, their quarries, and their hunters are revealed as
inhabiting multiple narrative, linguistic, and cultural sites.

A globe our size, where migrations, displacements, and diasporas have become fairly common, and
networked space-time has become a given for its globalized areas, is increasingly in need of
transnational, translingual, transcultural mythologies. Diwata is one such transmission, in English,
Spanish, and Tagalog. While most poems in the book take the form of story, it also has songs, couplets,
pantoums that pick up the motifs of repetition and variation, creating a sinuous overlapping sonic rhythm.

Diwata inhabits many temporalities: it goes back in time before time and to the pre-colonial time and the
colonial time; it stays in once upon a time and also strays in the present. By de-colonizing time from its
linear, industrial, western model, it recuperates and liberates mythic, folkloric, and indigenous entities
historically demonized and suppressed by the Catholic church and the Spanish colonial administration.
The deep time of myth and folklore in Diwata is not static; rather, it is like static, a kind of oracular
interference that sharpens the reader’s awareness of acts of wounding as well as acts of resistance
performed during Philippines’ colonization, first by Spain and then by the USA.

The cast of characters that perform these acts (and tell the stories) include the first woman, the bamboo
(according to Philippine mythology, parent to the first man and the first woman), mermaids/sirens, Diwata,
poets, mothers, daughters, old women, young women, aswang, she, I, we. Who tells the story is as
important to understanding it as to whom the story is being told. The reader herself might be being
addressed, and canalized, into some of the myths being recounted.

Then, the reader cannot hope to stay at a distance from or out of this text, to have the ‘other’ tell the
myths and songs, to not be wounded, to not herself become deity, demon, priest, storyteller.

The two strands of myth—indigenous and Christian—come together in the book when Eve demands of
Diwata, Muse, to “Remain with me so that we may keep vigil,”

Connected to Eve’s un-surrendering are Reyes’ own mythicized alter egos: the first, a “strange deity”
taunted by her eldest brother: “¡Bárbara! ¡Que barbaridad!” The second, Saint Barbara, is charged with
protecting “us” from harm and she seems to be quite a lady

But of course “this story lacks proper symmetry.” Symmetry is an anthropometric concept historically
deployed to control and regulate the criminal, the unhealthy, and the mentally deficient; i.e. those falling
within the wrong racial, ethnic, or socio-economic category. Diwata, who is all three, must choose
asymmetry, and her storyteller too cannot, indeed must not, be symmetrical.
 It’s a Mens World
Ni: Bebang Siy
Date Published: 2011

Iba’t ibang karanasan, sari-saring pinagdaanan, ‘yan ang koleksyon ng mga sanaysay sa It’s A Mens
World ni Bebang Siy tungkol sa kanyang paglaki’t pagkabata.

Bago pa man tumaas ang kilay o isiping naduduling ang paningin ng ilan, walang typographical o
grammatical error ang pamagat. Hango at laro ang “mens” — na kilalang dagli at balbal — mula sa unang
pantig ng salitang mens-truation. Kung sasagi sa isipan, malikot ang imahinasyon sa likod ng titulo, gaya
ng isang maharot na ngiting bigla na lang bubungad sa iyong labi.

Buhat ang titulo ng aklat sa una sa dalawampung sanaysay na napakaloob dito na tumatalakay sa (ano
pa nga ba?) kung papaano unang nagka-mens ang batang Bebang o Bebs, na kanyang palayaw, at ang
kanyang nakakatawa at masalimuot na pagtungtong sa pinto ng pagdadalaga at kamalayan.

Ngunit di lang umiikot o tinutuldukan ng “period” o buwanang dalaw ang mga personal essays ng may-
akda. Kinatatampukan din ito ng mga eksena ng drama ng kanilang pamilya tulad ng kung papaanong
kinidanap silang magkakapatid ng kanilang ama, ng kanyang mga masisipag at subsob sa trabahong
tiyuhin, ng karumaldumal na pagkamatay daw ng “isang outstanding na gago”, mga hang ups ng batang
lumaking pinagpapasa-pasahan ng isang nasirang tahanan, kasama ng ilang nakakakilig na mga payo na
dapat gawin sa first date, at ang kaligayahan sa pagkakatagpo’t muli pagkikita ng magkaibigan.

May puntong magaan, matapang, kapanapanabik, nakahihiwa, nakakainis ang mga pangyayaring
inilalahad ni Bebang, ngunit garantiya kong wala kang pahinang hindi hahagikgikan, tatawanan. Waring
mga lumang larawang magpapaalala ng pinagdaang kabataan ang bawat sanaysay; mahirap na hindi
maiugnay ng mambabasa ang sarili sa mga karanasan, damdamin at lugar na nilakbayan ng manunulat,
pati sa mga pagkaing sa isang bahagi ng buhay ay ninamnam, inumit, kinaingitan din ng minsan o labis
na nagbibigay gunita, masaya o mapait man, sa isang mahal sa buhay.

Animong ragasa ng dugo ng unang regla ang mga isinalaysay sa It’s A Mens World, di ko mawari ang
dami ng dugong inilabas din ng pluma ni Bebang Siy upang mailahad lahat ng ito nang walang takot at
buong tapang kahit pa magmukhang katawa-tawa (at lukaret) sa mata ng ilan, sa kung papaanong
paraan natin tinutuya ang babae na di pansin ang namumuong mantsa sa likod ng kanyang suot na palda
at sa mapulang ilog na dumadaloy sa pagitan ng kanyang mga hita.

Ngunit sa pagkakataong ito alam niyang ang mga halakhak ay hangin, walang kabuluhan. Hinubog ng
panahon, karanasan at kamalayan na hindi siya alipin ng nakaraan at kung nalagpasan niya ang unos ng
nakalipas, handa ang loob niyang harapin ang iba pang darating.

Tuli o supot, regular o irreg man ang regla (sa iba nga tumigil na), ang mundong ito di lang pang men’s o
pangkababaihan, di nahahati ng mga ritwal patungong kamuwangan. Dahil hindi nagkakaiba ang pintong
tatahakin ng bawat isa sa tunay na kaganapan.
 Bakit hindi ka Crush ng Crush mo?
Ni: Ramon Baustista
Date Published: 2012

The story starts when a record company, A&A Records, has gone down to the bottom in the
music industry. Miguel Prieto has passed the company to his son, Alex Prieto. Sandy Veloso, an
ugly duck darling who has a boyfriend who is Edgardo Salazar. She becomes brokenhearted
when she saw his boyfriend with a beautiful girl. Sandy is also a worker in A&A Records who is
the personal assistant of Pamela. Alex finds a solution when the workers suggests Sandy
because she has much knowledge in the music industry. First, Sandy suggests a band named
Banda ni Kleggy. Next, she suggests Tangerine, a singer whose career has gone down.
After that, Sandy suggests Jireh Lim. But after their efforts to make the company down, they
failed. Alex realizes that he likes Sandy.
Ramon Bautista states the reasons why your crush has no crush on you. The following are:

 he/she dislikes your handsomeness and your beauty

 your attitude is bad
 he/she didn't like your favorite television shows
 your horoscopes are not compatible
 your age is not suitable for his/her age
 one of you has a relationship
 if there is no relationship, he/she has crush to others
In the end of the movie, Bakit Hindi Ka Crush Ng Crush Mo, Alex Prieto kisses Sandy Veloso.
 Para sa Hopeless Romantic
Ni: Marcelo Santos III
Date Published: 2013

Ang unang nobela ni Marcelo Santos III na Para sa Hopeless Romantic ay parang ‘yung mga taong
masasabing crush ng bayan sa high school at maging sa college. Popular, pinag-uusapan, kinagigiliwan
ng buong campus. Ang pagbabasa ko ng nasabing nobela ay gaya rin ng pagtingin ko rin sa mga crush
ng bayan: hindi nila ako madaling mahahalina gaano man kaakit-akit ang kanilang mga ngiti.

Ngunit darating ang punto na pilit mo man itong iwasan, di mo rin naman matatakasan, dahil ito na rin
ang laging nasa bibig ng mga classmate mo. Di mo man nais sumali sa usapan, mapapasali ka na rin
dahil si crush ng bayan ang pinagkukuwentuhan. Lagi. Sa tuwing magkakatagpo kayo. Labag man sa
iyong damdamin, hindi mo rin naman mapipigilang usisain kung sino nga ba itong pa-charming-charming
na ‘to.

Ganoon naman di ba, masasabi mo lang na gusto o ayaw mo sa isang bagay kung aalamin mo talaga.

Ganito ang pagtingin ko nang basahin ang Para sa Hopeless Romantic, na sa totoong lang ay wala
naman akong balak basahin, kung di lang dahil sa tulak ng pagkakataon. Hindi naman dahil gusto na ng
ilan ay gusto mo na rin agad, di ba? Ika nga nila, there’s no harm in trying, at least.

Ang kuwento ng nasabing nobela ay umiikot sa buhay ng mga karakter patungo sa kanilang journey to
forever. Kinatatampukan ito ng limang tao na pilit na lumalaban sa masalimuot na mundo ng pag-ibig:
sina Maria, Ryan, Becca, Nikko, at Faye. Kahit man nasaktan sa kani-kanilang landas upang makamit
ang ultimate goal na magmahal at mahalin in return, pilit pa rin sila sa pakikipaglaban upang magwagi o
makakuha kahit lamang kakarampot na ligaya o tagumpay sa larangan ng giyera ng mga puso.

Sa pagtuklas ay doon mo malalaman ang charms (so far) ni darling of the crowd. Sa pagbabasa ay roon
ko rin nalaman kung bakit gusto ito ng karamihan, lalo na ng target market nito ng mga kabataang
madaling nakaka-relate sa paglalakbay patungo sa pinapangarap poreber ng mga karakter sa nobela.
Hindi rin stressful basahin ang aklat, kaya keri lang. Minsan nga lang sa sobrang palangiti ni crushie ng
bayan, mapapansin mong nakakaumay din naman pala ang mukha niya. Sa sitwasyon sa nobela, di mo
rin maiwasang mag-eye roll na, bukod sa pangamba na mawalan ng upuan sa classroom at mahuli sa
klase, sa part-time job, o sa kung ano pa mang kanilang appoitment sa kalakhang ruta ng Maynila-
Cubao, 24/7 atang nag-aalala sa kani-kanilang inaasam at naudlot na pag-iibigan ang mga karakter.
Sinasampal ko na lang ang sarili ko at itinutoktok sa kukute na romance novel pala ang binabasa ko.
Ngek!

Hindi naman lahat ay negatrons na sa nobelang ito, ‘no. Kung may nagustuhan ako sa Para sa Hopeless
Romantic masasabi ko ito ‘yung pagkakatahi ng kuwento ng mga karakter na kudos na rin kay Marcelo
considering na first-time novelist siya. Isa rin ang nobelang ito (along with Diary ng Panget and other like
books) sa masasabing nagbigay ng legit cred sa Wattpad writers, kaya dumarami na rin ang tribo ng mga
manunulat na ito lately; patunay d’yan kaya binabaha ang bookstores sa ngayon ng kanilang
masterpieces. At biro mo pa, naging pelikula ito, ha. Not bad talaga. Pero dude, di pa rin talaga ako
maka-get over sa ilang loophole sa plot, to think na na-edit at binigyan pa ito ng extended version.
 Stupid is Forever
Ni: Miriam Defensor Santiago
Date Published: 2014

Stupid is Forever by Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago is a compilation of her speeches, jokes, pick-up
lines delivered or curated by this very famous Filipino public figure. Moreover, this is one of the most
hilarious books that I’ve ever read. It may seem so funny but such hilarity really makes a lot of sense.

It is a very small book which can be read for about 1-2 hours straight. And mind you when you will read it
in a public place, you can never stop yourself from laughing from one of those lines. Putting out that kind
of expression will leave a mark from those people around you; wondering about what you were reading,
and which will also spark an interest from them on how good that book truly is.

Well to be honest, I may seem to be a wide reader, but I rarely got the chance to actually read Filipino
books. So when I saw this book of Sen. Santiago being widely promoted by my fellow friends on
Facebook, that’s when it has gotten me a bit interested; but not to the point of really wanting to buy this. I
think it was a month ago, when I was at a local bookstore waiting in line at the Cashier to pay for a book
that I’ve also recently bought. I was so intrigued by this girl, asking for her reservations of 5 copies! And
then there’s another customer who came to pick up her book reservation! Another 10 copies! Since I’ am
a fan of the Senator. That’s when I realized that I’ve just got to have my very own copy of her book! So
when it was already my turned to pay at the cashier, I did ask if there’s still an available extra copy. And
with only one copy left, luckily I got one! The 175 Pesos (almost $4) of buying it is definitely worth it!

So while reading this, I tend to find this book not just a funny one, but also an eye opener about the reality
and ugliness of how politics is being run in the Philippines. And what also fascinated me is that, Sen.
Santiago is definitely not afraid to bombard it into the whole world on how she feels about these corrupt
politicians, who doesn’t have the real compassion and commitment to serve their fellowmen; but were just
after their “Political Interest”. She was not giving names, but based from her descriptions, it did give us an
idea who they really are.

It is also the perfect book to read by our Filipino readers. Especially now that the 2016 Presidential
Election is on its way. It is something that would really give us a whole new perspective as to why we
should vote as wisely as we can. We Filipinos should vote for a candidate based on their “Qualifications”
and NOT because of their “Popularity”. For a real politician should not only be intelligent, but should also
have the compassion and commitment to serve his fellow countrymen; putting their needs as their biggest
priority, by giving them their 100% public service.

You may think that this book is more likely a publicity. Especially when the Senator herself is very open
about her Presidential Candidacy; but as reader of this book. It’s not. She is just giving us a real idea that
today’s politics is turning out to be a “Frenzy Circus”.
 Si Janus Silang at ang Tiyanak ng Tabon
Ni: Edgar Calambia Samar
Date Published: 2015

Janus Silang, a character dreamt up in the imagination of Edgar Calabia Samar, brought to life in his
published book "Si Janus Sílang at ang Tiyanak ng Tábon,” as well as the theatrical adaptation of
Tanghalang Ateneo, tells the story of Janus Silang, a young man with special abilities he has yet to
unlock. His life unfolds just like that of any teenager: filled with video games, crushes, and fun times with
friends.

However, his world is turned upside down when he finds out that his favorite game, TALA Online, was the
cause of his friends’ deaths, and that an evil entity is attempting to use it to gain control and wreak havoc
upon the world.

The sequel, Janus Silang at ang Labanang Manananggal-Mambabarang, opens with Janus, already
orphaned, his friends and family dead, living with Mang Joey and Isyo, two Pusong, humans with
extraordinary abilities similar to Janus. Struck with grief and loneliness, Janus begins to question his
place and worth within the grand scheme of things—he despairs the loss of his family and friends, his
beloved girlfriend Mica, and the way he used to live his life, all the while clinging to the training Mang Joey
and Isyo put him through, in order to prepare him for his epic battle against the Tiyanak and its minions.

The second Janus Silang production is filled to the brim with references to the Philippines’ rich culture
and folklore, especially when it comes to the magical creatures that supposedly surround us. The
production—from its artistic direction to the portrayal of the diwata living in parallel dimensions to its
characters—remind us that sometimes, the answers we seek are right in front of us, and that all we have
to do is look. A very timely reminder, considering the current state of our beloved country.
 The Gullet
Ni: Clinton Palanca
Date Published: 2016

But what is evident in his newest book, “The Gullet: Dispatches on Philippine Food (Anvil Publishing Inc.,
Mandaluyong, 2016, 185 pages) is that Palanca has situated himself at the parapets of Philippine food
writing. Palanca is, of course, the Inquirer’s resident restaurant reviewer, but his writing goes beyond the
sit-down and what-now aspects of dining.

In “The Gullet,” a gathering of his food writing, Palanca not so much discusses the idea of food as tries to
pass it on to readers, as a highly conductive material would with electricity. He writes about what possibly
happens before, during and long after the anticipated meal.

He discusses the distinct challenges and consequences of being a food writer—something many people
think is a fantastically easy vocation because, dude, anyone can eat, right—particularly in the exquisite
piece “The Art of Criticism.”

In the following chapter about the world of food are fine finds, notably the interview with the great travel
writer Pico Iyer and Palanca’s own recollections of living in London.

But the great focus of “The Gullet” is food in the Philippines, and Palanca circles the topic like an
archaeologist circles something he dug up. He situates Filipino food in the context of world cuisine. He
ponders the origins and influences of Filipino cuisine, traveling back in time to partake of the feast at the
Malolos Banquet in 1898, and then the evolution of our cuisine, all the way to Madrid Fusion.

He says what’s on his mind about what’s at the tip of his tongue, and is unafraid to explore the whole
range of food available to him, writing about all that’s up and down his gullet. His ability to articulate
what’s on his mind and in his tummy makes “The Gullet” shine.

He doesn’t keep anything down; his opinion, whether tart or sublime, cuts through the other flavors. He
channels his restaurant reviewer self to issue this plea: “If you taste mediocrity and feel robbed after a
meal, or you feel you’re eating hype instead of soul, walk away and don’t come back.”

Palanca fuses intelligence and introspection with the sensual and savory: “The respect, devotion, and
attention we give to Filipino food at home, the fulfillment and delight we take in making it and expanding
its boundaries—whether cooking at home or as expatriates abroad, our uncompromising pride in how it is
satisfying as no other food can be: these, more than anything, are what will make the rest of the world
give us the respect and attention that we wonder why we’re not getting.”
 The First Impulse
Ni: Laurel Fantauzzo
Date Published: 2017

On Jan. 20, the Writers’ Centre held a book launch event for Writing Instructor Laurel Fantauzzo. It was a
night where people came together not only to celebrate the individual success of a writer, but also to
rediscover the very struggles that often define humanity.

Fantauzzo’s non-fiction book, The First Impulse: Notes on Love, Film and Death in the Philippines,
explores the miscarriage of justice that occurred when two young film critics, Alexis Tioseco and Nika
Bohinc, were murdered in Quezon City, Philippines. The first thing that struck me when interviewing
Fantauzzo was her stoic demeanor. I wondered how such a gentle person could write about such a
violent crime. As I began the interview, however, I discovered that The First Impulse is about much more
than just the murder of Tioseco and Bohinc—it also carries questions of identity, love and justice. Paul
Jerusalem ’19, who attended the book launch, noted that, “more than anything, this book is a book of
empathy, of trying to understand someone who at first glance has nothing to do with you.” In the same
vein, we try to understand The First Impulse, Fantauzzo’s creative process and her thoughts on literature
in general. Below is an excerpt from The Octant’s interview with Fantauzzo.
 The Quiet Ones
Ni: Glenn Diaz
Date Published: 2018

Without doubt, The Quiet Ones by Glenn Diaz is a lyrical, omniscient articulation of rage over capitalism
and its repercussions to human frailty. This rage, however, is not limited to rants, hiccups, disgruntled
groans and sarcastic chuckles which emanate a weak and unfounded work of art. In every utterance and
dialogue in this 45-chapter entity of interlocking narratives, a social commentary on Filipino lifestyle in the
context of neocolonization and globalization is evident in its immediate resonance, and the reader must
not wait for its soonest explication.

With his gift of language, Diaz enumerates ruminations the characters have aspired to acquire (but as the
plot thickens, they are destined to embrace and live up to) from the ruins of their own transgressions.
With one press of a button, the conflict dramatically surges up to its untamed destination. And the
framework of the telling seems to render the reader a conclusive insight that that conflict regulates all the
movements and life-redefining decisions of the characters. But this "centrality of action"---which is Alvin
Estrada's escape from the police and from a world he mistook for having created and controlled---
provides some spaces for the reader to study the lives of the "conspirators": their past characterized by
monotony and dissatisfaction from a life survived everyday with a churning stomach and a wailing
illegitimate child; their present finding themselves in the realms of seeking pleasures and justifying actions
against morality and norms of living; and their future lost in assurance unless their criminal operation is
put to an end.

It started with curiosity rooted in desperation. And it became a trick of a hand. When the news of it was
shared among colleagues, and when wads of money overwhelmed their drooling mouths tired from
answering eccentric clients, they were out of their leagues. Desires of the flesh soared in varying degrees
and relationships---in the family, in the workplace, between partners and "thirsting" pedestrians---faced
adverse effects. The effects of a deed fueled by unnamed and unmanageable desires, this is what novel
captures with fervor and gracefulness. And this is what literature take on record: our individual and
collective perspectives against the effect of change, chance and choice.

The critically acclaimed novelist, who blossomed in the Philippine literary scene with short stories
anthologized in local and international literary publications, is surely a man of depth and research. The
cadence of every sentence and paragraph of descriptive elegance, bordering on the style of F. Sionil
Jose, Butch Dalisay and Miguel Syjuco, is a product of detailed consideration of a country's geography,
popular culture, modes of consumption and political upheavals. Very few Filipino novelists could master
the defragmentation of personal experiences vis-á-vis bringing to the reader's consciousness and
memory the sophistication of language Diaz has officially poured out in this masterpiece. I believe this
magnum opus is an exhaustion, of draining the energy which would have been, or might have been, left
in the authorial circumstance, so unrelenting that until the form finds itself, until the author's yearning for
completeness is achieved, he will never cease. Indeed, this radical attempt to shift the "serious literature"
lovers' preference for the romantic, didactic, idyllic and representational to the emerging and lately
recognized canon of works working on the themes of cosmopolitan vileness, homoeroticism and eternal
quest for self-love, is a product of rigor evidenced by Diaz's winning the much-coveted Palanca accolade.