The Spatiality of Rosario Cruz Lucero
Negros is an island of injustice. It’s one place, but it tells the story of a nation. Nelson Turgo examines how a collection of short stories can make this narrative a physical reality. Among contemporary Filipino writers, Rosario Cruz Lucero has the most acute sense of place, which manifests in her use of biography,...
The Saddest Story
Teddy Locsin, Jr. discovers that while it’s too early to call Liz Jensen’s new novel perfect, it is definitely the saddest story he’s ever read FORD Madox Ford opens his novel, The Good Soldier, about the infidelity of a perfect English couple, with the now most famous first line of any novel: “This is...
Fever Dreams
True escapist films lie at the fringes of our film culture. Don Jaucian explains why these aren’t just barrages of boring images for cinema aesthetes Judging by the box office returns and the consistent profitability of the Metro Manila Film Festival—a film festival that brands itself as a showcase of escapist cinema—Filipinos tend to...
Titles and a Good Heart Ain’t Enough, Bapak
Hagiographies can be annoying. Disgraced MNLF leader Nur Misuari’s is no exception. Patricio Abinales examines the lengths a biographer will go to conjure tales of victory amidst a story of defeat Can you convince a reading public that there is merit to buying the hagiography of a failed revolutionary? Tom Stern, the official annalist of...
Palakasan: Getting Philippine Sports’ Gameplan Together
Paolo Monteiro talks about how palakasan is not only about athletes besting each other in sport but also an issue of power struggle at the highest levels of sports authorities Palakasan is a two-sided coin. One can view it as athletes trying to best each other in a sport, bringing out man’s most admirable qualities: skill,...
Telescoping Empire and Diaspora: Revisiting U.S.-Philippine Dialectics
Nicole CuUnjieng evaluates the colonial assumptions involved in keeping up with the Joneses, and questions how much the postcolonial perspective informs the realities of Philippine-American relations Under the current transnational shroud, in which the Filipino diaspora stretches far beyond American shores and a half century of American-dominated global capitalism has shaped the international cultural landscape...
Rascals in the Barracks
“The military has entered the period of normalcy that public attention has shifted away from attempted coups d’etat to mansions and designer wear,” argues Sheila Coronel. What do the recent cases of military corruption say about contemporary politics? It used to be said that the phrase “military intelligence” is an oxymoron. That was back in...
On Privilege in Independent Cinema: Every Cloud has a Silver Spoon Lining
Philippine cinema has never had a tradition of depicting characters from privileged classes as protagonists; if they are depicted as such, they are usually placed within the context of subaltern desire: rich boy meets poor girl and through her, changes for the better. This notion has been popularized by the romantic comedies of Viva or...
War by Other Means: Filipino Migrants and Nativist Americans, 1906-1946
Following on the heels of Chinese and Japanese exclusion, Filipino immigration to the United States in the first half of the twentieth century was often referred to by American nativists as the “third Asiatic invasion.” Rick Baldoz’s book explores the ramifications of Filipino immigration understood as a kind of ongoing war on white society. The...
Adolf’s Boys: Marginal Notes on Southeast Asian Fascism
At the height of the bloodiest coup attempt against President Corazon Aquino in 1989, my graduate adviser, Ben Anderson, found himself crouching along the wall of the Mormon Tabernacle down the block from the besieged military headquarters. He was seeking safety from possible gunfire, and beside him was a rebel junior officer “shouting imprecations” at...
Chick Lit and the Art of Arte: Millennial Anxieties of the Pinay Feminist
Tweet Sering knows there is nothing calm about the eye of the storm. Her self-published collection of essays, speeches, and blog entries Astigirl: A Grown Girl Living on her Own Terms finds her standing at the confluence of opposing forces—her Gen X birthright to aimlessness and her Millenials’ Special Snowflake syndrome, the western drive for...
The Totalitarianisms of the Marcos Era
The past year—the fortieth anniversary of Ferdinand Marcos’s declaration of martial law—saw the release of three joint memoirs by former anti-Marcos activists. Their publication occurs amid a political rehabilitation of the once disreputable Marcos family. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos is now a senator of the Republic, Imelda Marcos occupies a seat in the lower house, and...
Love Trouble
Last Valentine’s Day, I was searching for a book on love. No, it’s not what you think: I just needed a title to promote for the holiday, for my marketing job at UP Press. One jumped out at me: Fourteen Love Stories, edited by Butch Dalisay and Sarge Lacuesta. In its pages I discovered pieces...
