Photo taken in Bato, Borongan, Eastern Samar, April 11, 2010.

The sun may set in the west, but it always rises in the east. A sunrise is a symbol of a new day, a new challenge, and a new chance of doing better than we did yesterday.

Eastern Samar is blessed to receive the first few rays of the sun every day. And that is why I decided to take a snapshot of that blessed sunrise one December morning in Borongan. The photo that you see is the result.

Take Eastern Samar’s Sunrise Home with You

Now let’s make it a little more interesting by having a contest. If you’d like to take Eastern Samar’s sunrise home with you, just leave a message on the comments box below and share with us your thoughts about living in Eastern Samar and its perpetual sunrise. I’ll choose the best comment, and the winner will get a massive 10×15 photographic print of this picture.

Deadline: December 21, 2009, Monday, 12nn Philippine time.

Ready? Hit the comments!

buong akala ko’y pag-ibig na tunay
ang iyo sa akin ay inialay
ako naman ay dagling naniwala
pagkat pangako ay walang maliw na ligaya

walang pag-iimbot ikaw ay sinilbihan
dahil yaring puso tunay na nagmahal
wari’y kay tamis pag-ibig na naramdaman
subalit di inakalang ako’y pagtaksilan

ako iyong langit iyan ang tinuran
at walang makahahadlang sa ating pagmamahalan
di nga ba’t sa altar tayo’y nagsumpaan
pag-ibig sa isa’t- isa ay walang hangganan

ngunit bakit iyo akong binigo
nakuha mong sugatan magiliw kong puso
hindi pa ba sapat ang mga nagawa
upang ako ay iyong itatwa

bakit ang puso hinayaan kong mabulag
sa angking ganda ng isang dilag
at ang katotohanan ay di nabanaag
na ikaw ay isang taksil, mapagkunwari at huwad

subalit may bahid man ng pagsisisi
natutunan nang tanggapin yaong pangyayari
kahit na ako ay naiwang sugatan
akin nang ibinigay sayo ang kapatawaran

dearest 26van,

i don’t go with stationeries to add some juice to this letter. no greetings that would make your heart scream. no formalities to please human expectations and standards. this is just a simple shout out to the world, letting myself express a complex reality in man. a reality that this author wants to carve in your stone and closed heart.

it was during the loneliest era of my existence when you accidentally came. it was the fall of my elation from heaven when you brought forth the light of hope. what are you to me? more than words can muster, more than speech can give meaning ; you are more than anything and anyone that i can compare. you are you! and because you are true to yourself my lowly kind of life was enlightened with just your simple smile. that gesture affected my life so much. absorbed with the concept of death you changed my manner of existence and made it into a life accepting and loving. now it has many reasons to beat because you are in it. i know that a glance could not satisfy one’s critical judgement. but yours, revealed so much to me. so much that i am bursting with joy and inspiration. i found you ; a mythical creature searched and even envied by the gods of ancient times. you gave me a chance; a simple creature to adore your mystical beauty. that for me is a sense of pride to boost my soul and continually say that i indeed would want to “love you”.

words have been scribed and itched into human consciousness. but it would only add the greatness that you already have. thus, making the fact that I am a nobody – a strong founded concept.

For me to be closer
to your silence.

This is my English translation from a Waray poem written by Mary Grace Hidalgo Abogado. It is entitled “Lakat” or “Walk” in English.

Incidentally, Miss Abogado lives (and walks on) Abogado Street of Borongan, Eastern Samar. It is a quiet and lonely street of said fog town. And like the loneliness or emptiness of this street, to write is a lonely thing to do.

Contrary to her name though, Miss Abogado (Lawyer in English) is a licensed elementary teacher who graduated in Leyte Normal University. Here in the province, in fact, she was one among those 20 topnotchers in this year’s ranking for applying teachers.

It seems that this year is Miss Abogado’s. For she is fortunate to be one among those 20 topnotchers in this year’s Lamiraw Regional Creative Writing Workshop. Miss Abogado is named as one of the chosen fellows to the 6th Lamiraw to be held in Calbayog City, slated this early November.

Strictly speaking, the Lamiraw is intended for the teachers and writers only. Perhaps the underlying philosophy here is the production and propagation of the New Critics ideas to the mainstream classroom and printed media. And Miss Abogado qualifies both as a teacher and writer. Technically speaking though, she is not a practicing teacher and writer yet.

Miss Abogado submitted three Siday entries which had passed the aesthetic standard of the Lamiraw Selection Committee. This committee includes the notable Waray poet, Dr. Victor Sugbo. These three poems in Waray of Miss Abogado are “Isip”, “Pagpanit hin Pinya”, and “Lakat”.

Two of these Siday will be critique by distinguished writers like Dr. David Genotiva and Prof. Merlie Alunan to name a few.

Like her poem Lakat, Miss Mary Grace Hidalgo Abogado being a fellow will be walking onto this street for her to be closer to her goals in life.

Paglalakaton ko ini nga dalan
tipahirayo ha imo

basi pumahirani ako
ha imo kamingaw.

If you’re interested in joining, click here to download the 6th Lamiraw Application Form.

“6^th Lamiraw Accepts Fellowship Applications

The Lamiraw Regional Creative Writing Workshop (LRCWW) is now accepting applications for the 6th Regional Writers Workshop to be held on November 4-7, 2009 in Calbayog City, Samar.

Panelists invited in said workshop are Prof. Daryll Delgado and Prof. Larry Ypil from Ateneo de Manila University; Prof. Merlie Alunan and Dr. Victor Sugbo from UP Tacloban; Dr. David Genotiva from EVSU (Eastern Visayas State University), Tacloban City; and Mr. Dante Rosales from Calbayog City.

Fifteen slots are at stake for young and adult writers who are willing to improve or develop their craft in fiction, poetry, the essay and drama. As decided by the organizers, three slots are allotted for fellows coming from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao (1 slot per area), nine slots for writers residing in Samar, Leyte and Biliran, and the remaining three slots for Abaknon speakers in Capul, Northern Samar. Applicants will be admitted given that their works pass the aesthetic standard of the Selection Committee. Writers may send entries in Waray, Cebuano, or English. Entries written in Abaknon or in any regional languages spoken in Luzon, Visayas or Mindanao should have a translation in English or Filipino.

This Writers Workshop is funded by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and hosted by the Tiburcio Tancinco Memorial Institute of Science and Technology (TTMIST). A decent housing, a modest stipend, and a subsidy to partially defray costs of the fellows’ transportation will be provided to those who will qualify in the selection process. Walk-in auditors will have to pay a registration fee of P3,000.00 each which cover their meals, accommodations and workshop materials.

Consider submitting to us a collection of any of the following: 3 poems, 2 short stories, 2 essays, 1 one-act play, or any reasonable combination of the above in hardcopy and on a CD containing the manuscripts and your application form in Microsoft Word (Windows 2003, font 12, Arial) and two 2×2 pictures. Sending your entries together with other requirements (scanned) through email at lamiraw@yahoo.com is also accepted. Include in your submission a statement from one person of authority attesting to the originality of your works. Use the application form posted at Panitikan.com, the NCCA website or simply google it.

Evaluators of Lamiraw RCWW manuscripts this year are Dr. Victor N. Sugbo, NCLA Regional Coordinator; Harold L. Mercurio, Lamiraw Project Coordinator; and Mr. Dante A. Rosales, member of Ibabao Arts Council of Calbayog.

Send applications on or before September 30, 2009 to Harold L. Mercurio, Project Coordinator, Lamiraw Regional Creative Writing Workshop c/o Office of the Arts, Social and Cultural Affairs of TTMIST, Calbayog City, Samar, 6710.

For inquiries, call at 09177982781 or email at lamiraw@yahoo.com.”

Image courtesy of typofi.

The group from the Eastern Samar State University(ESSU)-Maydolong Campus bagged the top prize, followed by the Rayhak Han San Julian Group which won P75,000, with Sta. Fe National High School claiming the 3rd place with P50,000.

ESSU-Maydolong also won the Best in Musicality Category, and the Karasikas Dance Group won the Merrymaking Category.

You can preview some of the photos taken during the competition by clicking on this link.

ako in nagtubo’
ha bungto nga minayuyo
bisan ak pumakain akon igdadayag
taga borongan la gihap hi mayo’

nag-ngunguyngoy it akon dughan
kon ikaw in akon nahinunumduman
an pamilya nga ginbayaan
sugad man an kasangkayan
dire ta kamu hingangalimtan

magpakisasangkayon didto it katawhan
mag-upay it babtasan
sanglit ikaw sangkay, bisita ha borongan
namumutang hit kasin-kasing hit sinirangan…

muah..tsup tsup!

hin  ka bata pa ni neneng
sugad hin saging nga dire pa lahing
An iya nanay ngani siniring
uday paghinay kay bangin ka tumambling
kon it tawo manggud in naabat na hin gugma
ha iya huna-huna in usahay nawawara
an sagdon han kag-anak in ginbabaliwara
kay an iya la uyab an ginpipinan huna-huna

Ada uday ikaw in paghinay nala
bangin hit sunod ikaw in maghinaya
kay wara ka laanay pag huna-huna
Nga ikaw in usa pa nga bata

Then, an uncle of mine from Tarusan came in, looking for his brother my father. He handed him a compact disk (CD) and said that he was part of it. The fact that my uncle mentioned that he was part it brought about gazillion of questions in me, one of it if he was singing considering that it was an audio CD.

Out of curiosity I opened up the CD and it was labeled as “Banat Reprezent”. The label jerked a bone in me because of how it was presented – unique I would say.

Anyways, continuing on with my bewilderment as to the CD’s content, I played it. The feeling was like this. I was one time in my pad in Intramuros, Manila spending a boring Sunday when suddenly out of nowhere a familiar tune hit my ears.

Guess what, it was the “Kuratsa Mayor” being played nearby.I rushed to locate the source of the music and then eventually met my neighbor who was from Samar too. What was the feeling then? It is basically like being in a far away place – missing everything about home then I heard the beat.  The song melted away my longing of Borongan and resurrected in me the pride in being a Waray.

Listening to my uncle’s group was like that. I know that there is a group called “La Familia” but they are from Tacloban, not from Borongan. I like the fact that they are just from the neighborhood and that they are rapping it with a true Boronganon accent.

It is a known fact for everyone in Eastern Samar that, the whole province is in a situation that I call “cold chaos” brought about by a lot people dissatisfied. We actually need not to go to Samar to experience it.

Nowadays, all you have to do is sit and check iborongan.com, and in there you would see and experience for yourself how the I define discontentment, turmoil and disunity.

Basically, everyone is disgusted as to how the province is run today. For my part I have seen a lot of people with many reasons to loose their pride in being a waray or for that matter a Boronganon.

To add to that, a lot of us would not even want to go home and suffer the rugged roads – undermining the beauty of our town. We all hope for a knight in shining armor to rescue all of us. However, that is not the solution!

This is situation that we have right now a”social volcano” (quoting the words of the Chief Justice)  waiting to erupt if I may add.

But in spite of this here is a young group shouting to the top of lungs a phrase like “kaupay hit Borongan”. Their CD contains phrases that would remind us how  beautiful is it to be a Boronganon. Their rap let me reminisce my afternoons in “pantalan” with my friends. The unforgettable love affairs that I had in there that would still draw a smirk from me remembering how funny it was.

These guys are the boys from the neighborhood that is continually shouting in waray that they love Borongan and she is beautiful. The funny thing is, they lit in me the dying flame of pride (of being a Boronganon) for that fact, that I came from where they are.

A task that the politicians failed to do. Their songs touched me so much and I can really say that they can compete with others. They are simple dudes who had a simple plan and that is “to let us know that we should love our hometown”.

Basically their chant solved a mystery in me, it answered the biggest question that I had. In their CD I realized that if you aim for the betterment of your place, one has to love it first and from that point on you would know what to do!

Well, to finish this one let me put it this way. Buy their album now because it is affordable before they become famous and you cannot.  Kudos to all of you!