Mindanao Creative & Cultural Workers Group, Inc.

The 𝟑𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 announces this year's writing fellows for 𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗟𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗡'𝗦 𝗦𝗛𝗢𝗥𝗧 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗬 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 —

• Hay Mar Oo | Yangon, Myanmar
• Noemi Ferrer Vidal | Sibulan, Negros Oriental

PAIRAAN and LAKUB

The artistic expressions of the Meranaw are hardly topped by other tribes in Mindanao.

Sure, each tribe has its own cultural icons that express their values because all of them reflect a culture and tell us how community members live harmoniously with one another.

The pairaan is carved from wood and to***co was also kept in it. Those who owned a pairaan come from the Sultanate or the elite of the community.

In my own post earlier, I identified this piece as a lakub since that was what I was told, and I immediately wondered how it has morphed into the tube-shaped bamboo craft that we know today (see photo below).

My good friend, the anthropologist Dr. Linang M. Cabugatan, Aga Khan Museum Director and Curator corrected me about it.

She said the lakub is made of bamboo with colorful designs. There are tall and bigger versions of the lakub kept in the museum. The pairaan in photo has innovative designs if compared to the one displayed in the museum (see photo).

The pairaan and the lakub are cultural icons that the new generation must know about. -CFGO, mccwg

Photos courtesy of the Aga Khan Museum, MSU Marawi and CFGO

MCCWG 2023
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The 𝟑𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 announces this year's writing fellows for 𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗡𝗢𝗡-𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡—

• Norhan B. Kudarat | Zamboanga del Sur
• Jerald Alpe Bermas | Bula, Camarines Sur

The MCCWG shares the speech of Bai Norhata Macatbar Alonto
with our followers and friends she delivered during the International Council of Women Empowerment Assembly in Peace and Development Conference held on November 6-9, 2023 at the Manila Prince Hotel, San Marcelino, Manila

For the first time the Philippines hosted the International Council of Women and the National Council of Wonen in the Philippines and Women Global Peace “Women Empowerment Assembly on Peace & Sustainable Development Conference”.

The keynote Speaker was Senator Charito Villar followed by other speakers who spoke on different issues about women.

There were over 80 foreign delegates who came to the assembly and more than 200 came from the different parts of the Philippines.
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Delayed post
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An Empowered Woman is the heart of her family, community and society

by Commissioner Bai Norhata Macatbar-Alonto

Vice President, National Council of Women in the Philippines (NCWP); President, Philippine Muslim Women Council, Inc. (PMWC); UNAP President for Mindanao; and Chairperson, B’tiara WIM RAMP

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Bismillahi Rahman ir Raheem.
In the name of GOD, the most merciful, the most beneficent.

Distinguished delegates from the International Council of Women…”Bienvenue Aux Philippines”,,,,welcome to the Philippines; honored guests, Friends: Ladies and Gentlemen.

Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu. May the Peace and Blessings of GOD be upon us all.

With a sense of collective pride for the women who stand for peace, family and nation building, I am most honored to be with you today to speak on pand why Women if capacitated could very well be an instrument of peace at home, in her community and for the nation as well.

I shall dedicate every word I speak today to every woman, who believes and is content with God and obeys the teachings of her religion; to every girl, who follows the path of truth and honesty, while carrying the message of sincerity; to every mother burdened with worries and sadness, yet brings up her children to fear God, internalize good virtues, and keep on with life; and to every female Teacher who strives by means of her words to convey knowledge and values and has purified her soul.

Salaam… Peace… Serenity…three words we often hear but which offer different contexts and offsprings of aspiration; and to this day, remain seemingly elusive and unattainable. We all want Peace; the kind of Peace that could lead to stability and happiness, and in turn, kindness to man and nature.

In Islam, the highest form of ideals and ideas is for a man to be at Peace with his fellowmen, his environment, himself and above all, his Creator. Islam is rooted in the Arabic word: Salam, meaning Peace.

In the Bangsamoro community, where I belong. women are taught by their elders to learn Patience from Asiyah (the wife of the Pharaoh); Loyalty from Khadija (the first wife of Prophet Mohammad, peace be upon him or pbuh); sincerity from A’isha (the foremost of the wives of the Prophet, pbuh) and steadfastness from Fatimah (the youngest daughter of the Prophet, pbuh).

While mankind pursue advancement, and embrace new technologies, at its core remains the creature that binds life and growth, that brings family as one, that binds the nation under a common name ---mother…..a woman.

Mama…Umie….Maman….such sweet word that is first heard from the mouth of a suckling baby; music so profound but linked with almost everything tangible around us.

That word is used to describe Nature, as…Mother Nature; Mother Earth for Earth; Mother land for homeland albeit it sometimes alternates with fatherland.

The word mother, if you should look closer, allow us the attribution of strength, power, morality, honesty, sincerity, resiliency, and courage. In essence, mother is at the core of the cultivation of civilization and the preservation of societies.

It is within us women: the strength to sacrifice; the patience to listen intently; the energy to design; the capacity to decide and if need be, implement.

And if I may describe further: an empowered woman is one whose morals and attitudes are more beautiful than a garden, one who does acts of kindness; and one who achieves things by means of her conduct and righteous deeds.

Traditionally, Women were relegated to the confines of their homes and neighborhood, and we now understand the reason why, because it is the most critical institution in the creation of mankind.

Businesses and governments may come and go, any other establishment may plummet and resurrect but not a family. Once good values, morals and Love are not instilled in every member, their future becomes opaque.

More than 4 decades ago, peace was defined to us as silence, despite the news of conflicts, regular in coming everywhere. However, at the ground level, in every household, women continue to strive for peace and harmony within the family so that their children may laugh, may care, may make friends, may build a life, and pursue their dreams. Women continued amidst chaos and confusion to make Peace at home work and help build a future.

At this juncture, allow me to share my journey in a capsule:

I am a Muslim, a Bangsamoro woman, who had lived through the Mindanao War of the seventies. I survived while building a family, registering my presence in our community, and reaching out for a space in the Philippine Society.

Time has passed and we are now in the process of healing with the establishment of the BARMM, yet the words of my husband when he left me to answer the calling of the BangsaMoro Revolution still reverberate in my soul. Abul (as I fondly call him) said: ”from this day onward, you have to stand as the mother and father to our children. Tell them that I went to war for them -- a war we did not want but we must join in defense of their future.

Teach them Islam and peace, for only when they have understood what Peace is, will they be able to embrace my absence in their lives. You are their first lap of their civilization, and you are their peace as you are mine.” That very moment defined to me what my role was. Leaving my eldest daughter, Ayesha, with my parents in law, and my second daughter, Remah with my parents, I accepted a Post Graduate Scholarship at the University of the Philippines albeit heavy with my third child.

I survived on my stipend alone in Manila, for I was sending my salary as College Instructor at the Mindanao State University to my husband and his men, as my contribution to our Jihad (struggle). I would also send him reading materials: the TIME Magazine, Far Eastern Economic Review, Reader’s Digest, Newsweek, and books written by his favorite writers.

Overnight the Bangsamoro women like me became brave, courageous, and fearless; and we took our roles with nary a tear nor complaint for we were expected to show strength and not to shed a tear in front of our men. We took it as our compliance, our own JIHAD (struggle) and our contribution to the Bangsamoro Cause. We transformed into being the breadwinners for our children.

We tried to maintain normalcy in our respective households, despite anguish and anxiety in the silence and solitude of the night, but earnestly praying and hoping for a better tomorrow.

In our darkest moments we held on to HOPE for hope in Islam is a form of worship. And it was in the silent fortitude of our women that the BangsaMoro Men drew strength to fight a state sponsored war, where most of them never came back.

The women assumed the role of being Peacemakers in their society. They were at the forefront of Peace Advocacy, in the fight against illiteracy, poverty and debilitating diseases as well as social malaises. I learned to be entrepreneur, political, social and public servant. I have held three national government positions.

Empowered women like everyone of you in this room, and those joining us virtually via zoom, have the natural qualities of passing logic, decisiveness, resiliency, intuition and compassion – attributes that make them as best instrument for creating Peace even in Conflict Situations. They are perceived to be soft yet strong. Most Conflicts or “Rido” are ended by women and not the Datus or Men; or in some instances, they work behind the scene. Being Peacemaker is inherent in our species.

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher said: “any woman who understands the problems of running a home, will be nearer to understanding the problems of running our country.”

(And the world indeed have witnessed Women Leaders who excelled in Nation Building; the likes of “Mother Theresa” of Calcutta, India, who personified peace, and helped the poor and downtrodden; Eleanor Roosevelt who headed the 15 Man Commission that wrote the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; Justice Cecilia Munoz Palma, who chaired the 1987 Philippine Constitution; and served as Secretary General of the National Unification Council or NUC in the 1986 Snap Presidential Election (my late husband was her Deputy); Rosa Parks who changed the course of Civil Rights Movement in the US and world over (1960s); Benazir Bhutto, first and only female Prime Minister of Pakistan, a Peace & Democracy Advocate; Aung Sung Kyi of Burma; Shirin Ebadi of Iran; and I can go on and on.

Women can end wars; in Liberia in 2003, A Women’s Peace Group became pivotal in ending the bloody civil war in Liberia; that lead eventually to the election of the first woman President in Africa, Ellen Johnson Sisleef – a Nobel Prize winner in 2011).

The words pf UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2000 still resonates to us women leaders: “For generations, women have served as Peace Educators, both in their families and in their communities, they have proven themselves instrumental in building bridges and not walls.”

Let us therefore speak, work, and preach---the triumvirate of courage, trust and truth: The gentleness of truth cuts superficiality of intentions; the sturdiness of trust is love; and the primacy of courage helps a nation to link with the chain of global Peace that connects all other countries that also clamor for Peace with Justice. Let us ignite Transformative Change in our respective communities.

In closing, I am reminded that “women who believe in each other can create an Army” ---I hope and I pray that through the International Council of Women, Empowered Women the world over will take the challenge of standing steadfastly, arms entwined in a chain of love and understanding and create an Army for Global Peace, so that Genuine Peace with Justice (the goal of every noble war) will finally reign here in the Philippines, in your beloved countries back home, and most especially in the Arab Land of Palestine. The Heart of Peace is the Peace of Heart, so let our hearts beat unconditional love for humanity.

Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu.

Contributed photos

MCCWG 2023
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The 𝟑𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 announces this year's writing fellows for 𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗖𝗲𝗯𝘂𝗮𝗻𝗼—

• John Rolly Villareal Son | Iligan City
• Gerwin Vic Evanetta Bhuyo | San Jose, Mahayag, Zamboanga del Sur

The 𝟑𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 announces this year's writing fellows for 𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗼—

• Doren John Melancio Bernasol | Koronadal City, South Cotabato
• Jevin Oceda Astillero | Bonifacio Misamis Occidental

A Day of Magic and Value in Marawi City’s Antique Shops
Text and photos by Christine F. Godinez Ortega, MCCWG

If you’re in for uncertainty, surprise, magic, and value, the bazaar atmosphere of Marawi City’s antique shops is for you.

In one of my shortest trips to Marawi from Iligan yesterday, Saturday, November 18, my friends, Dr. Helen S. Tejero, the engineer Husnie Malik and I left Iligan at a little past 8 in the morning and we got back to Iligan at about 2 in the afternoon.

Iligan is about 38 km to Marawi, and it takes about an hour by car to get there if traffic is light for the streets are narrow for the stream of vehicles going up and down a hilly highway at any time of day.

While on your way to the Islamic City, try to enjoy the scenery between tarpaulins that dot the winding path.

In Marawi, Salman D. Ibrahim and Hanif Andy of Tugaya were already waiting for us at Alkhair store in Lancaf. Helen was buying agongs and debakan while I was looking for a malong and a clasp for a pinalot for Yuko Olga Kirsten’s kulintang recital. After having picked the malong, I also ended up [again] getting more langkit than I needed.

The Marawi-born and raised Helen who is the expert on the study of the gong ensembles of Mindanao, picked the agongs, listened to how they sounded first before closing the deal. Indeed, there is no substitute for any expert who has an ear for sound and who knows what she is buying.

I guess anyone can eventually be like Helen as well through observation and experience plus her humility that rubs off on you, somehow.

At the antique shop, when you’ve set your eyes on an item, you must use a lot of psychology if you know what I mean.

The various crafts on display and how gingerly one needs to get inside a store bursting with items, small to big, intricate, well-crafted, colorful, and simply exotic was the adventure that anyone would want to experience.

The agong stands, baul and other items inlaid with broken shells, a golden kris, kampilans, daggers, lances and other sharp objects of various sizes and colors, saronay, agongs, debakan, Maranao umbrellas, an antique kulintang set of gongs that emitted pure, melodious sounds, a must have for a musician or university to own for that matter, carved frames for clocks and other items, a wooden boat with brass sails and another with a dragon head for its bow, jars of all sizes and other woodcraft and brassware, textiles, and the rare find, a mounted cannon fashioned from ivory were all awesome to behold.

No, am not drunk. But if you think am going overboard about the items displayed in at least the two shops we visited in that long strip of Marawi’s business establishments at Basak Malutlut (marshland) is a good sign that there is peace and calm within the city contrary to popular belief by outsiders of the island.

The owners of these shops are welcoming, and one shop even gave Helen and me kombongs for free without us buying anything at the time.

Now a few tips:
Dress casually and put on sneakers or a good pair of rubber shoes, bring a cap or hat or kombong and a jacket. And Marawi being an Islamic City, don’t wear shorts or skimpy clothing if you don’t want to be stared at.

Ask a Maranao friend to accompany you when shopping in Marawi and bring cash because it is rare if you can use your credit card in that part of Lanao.

Haggling is an important feature when buying at these shops. Turn on the charm and haggle or, better still, ask your Maranao friend to haggle for you and the prices dramatically go down. But be sensitive. When the Maranao seller gives an anxious laugh and shakes his head, it means you have reached the limits of haggling.

Of course, this Oriental trait is not found in most western countries, and this is one thing that makes a bazaar exciting or a challenge to visit.

After a few minutes inside and after you’ve had a visual survey of the place and after you’ve “acclimatized” yourself, you get used to such disarray of items displayed you remember the cliche, ‘there is method in [his] madness’, you’ll now feel you’ve just been transported to another world. The feel is different when you get to malls where stores classify and keep items for sale in neat piles with price tags that also seem to say, “no haggling over here”.

The store owner later was offering me a few items demonstrating how a langkit could be used on a blouse, but I would shake my head often because some of those I’ve acquired through the years for my planned Maranao room where I see myself writing and listening to music at any hour of the day.

After our ventures at the antique shops, and to complete our feel of the ambiance of the day, we proceeded to have an all Maranao lunch at the Sarimanok turo-turo eatery feasting on budi (fish roe), inaliban a tilapia (tilapia in coconut milk and dulaw – turmeric), pyaparan a udang (shrimp in grated coconut), kinilaw with plenty of sliced fish meat and cucumber and spices drowning in pure coconut milk, beef randang and badak (nangka dish) -- all washed down with soda and mineral water.

So, what are you waiting for?

Visit the antique shops of Marawi and know what the meanings of ‘wonder’, ‘magic’, ‘marvelous’ and ‘value’ are!

MCCWG 2023
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The 𝟑𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 announces this year's writing fellows for 𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 —

• John Ray Albidas Pucay | Baguio City
• Nelson Dino | Tawi-Tawi

To all Mindanawons affected by the recent earthquake with General Santos as epicenter, we pray for your safety!

Take care everybody.

The 𝟑𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 announces this year's writing fellows for 𝗣𝗢𝗘𝗧𝗥𝗬 𝗙𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗼—

• John Dave Boc Pacheco | General Santos City
• Rene Boy Esmundo Abiva | Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya

The 𝟑𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 announces this year's writing fellows for 𝗣𝗢𝗘𝗧𝗥𝗬 𝗖𝗲𝗯𝘂𝗮𝗻𝗼—

• Marianne Hazzale J. Bullos | General Santos City
• Juvanie S. Ambayic | Clarin, Misamis Occidental
•. Pebert Clyde Gabayos Pabayo | Zamboanga City

The 𝟑𝟎𝐭𝐡 𝐈𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩 announces this year's writing fellows for 𝗣𝗢𝗘𝗧𝗥𝗬 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 —

• Michael John Otanes | General Santos City
• Kelly Camille Galit Alair | Cagayan de Oro City

A novel by John Dante
30th Writing fellow INWW

Surumawa is about the world of Balmaya, a fantastical planet separate from ours, where warriors ride upon the backs of giant birds and each person acquires tattoos of power.

The surumawa is akin to a bakunawa, but as the bakunawa eats the moon, a surumawa eats kingdoms.

The book is about that battle: the kingdom's finest heroes against a dangerous and gigantic monster, as the narrative centers around a warrior named Ardalyan, and his servant named Marabi, amid the chaos of battle.
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About the author:

Si John Danté (natawo sa Lanao Del Norte, 1995) usa ka Sugboanong magsusulat. Nagsulat siya og mahiladmong sugilamat (high fantasy) sa Binisayang Katitikan pinaagi sa mitikanong kalibotan sa Balmaya diin gipang-asoy ang iyang mga sugilanon. Ang una niyang libro mao ang Gasubang nga mga Suginduraw Kabahin sa Balmaya (ebook). Nakadawat pod siya sa unang ganti sa Gawad Bienvenido Lumbera 2022 sa iyang sugilagming nga Dihang Misubang ang Adlaw sa Takulahaw nga napatik sa Mga Nagwaging Akda nga antolohiya sa mga nakadaog sa tigi. Mabasa ang iyang mga sinulat sa Magasing Bisaya, Kabisdak, Patilaw sa Bung-aw (chapbook), ug 21st Century Philippine Literature Reader: Prose Narratives Volume 1 (sourcebook sa National Committee on Literary Arts). Nahatagan siya og fellowship sa Silliman University National Writers Workshop 2023. Ang una niyang mubong nobela mao ang Surumawa.

MCCWG 2023

FIlM:
The Restless Heron, the untold story at the 45th Ugnayang Pang-agham tao (UGAT)

Historians Christian Ely F. P**t and Cris Hannibal A. Non of the Mindanao State University-General Santos City campus presented a paper on the history and ethnography of the film, “The Restless Heron” during the 45th Ugnayang-Pang-agham tao (UGAT) conference held at the Lantaka Campus of Ateneo de Zamboanga in Zamboanga City on November 9-11, 2023.

The conference was hosted by the Ateneo de Zamboanga-Mindanao Institute through a hybrid mode, online and onsite participation of Filipino and International scholars from 17 institutions.

Read below the abstract of the paper by P**t and Non.

The film “The Restless Heron” was produced by Cronasia Foundation College, the MSU History Department, the heirs of the Sultanate of Talik and the Sons and Daughters of the Pioneers of General Santos.

The film was one of 75 out of 150 entries selected to participate in the Caorle Film Festival in Italy and was one of the films shown during the International Film Festival Manhattan this year.

In the Caorle Film Festival, The Restless Heron was awarded the festival’s Best Feature Film Screenplay.

Making films about our local lore and least known heroes and historical events in Mindanao produced by Mindanawons somehow fills in gaps of the histories of Mindanao.

The film will soon be reviewed by Mindanao film scholars. - CFGO, MCCWG

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Abstract of paper

Knowing Home, Recreating Home: The Intellectual History and Ethnographies of The Restless Heron

By Christian Ely F. P**t and Cris Hannibal P. Non
Mindanao State University - General Santos

Mindanao has been a place of wonder and mystery for both Filipinos and foreigners alike.

Its inhabitants' tangible and intangible cultures prove that the place and people have more to offer in contrast to the stereotype of being an active war-stricken area from now and then.

In present Mindanao historiography, there are at least three major Sultanates and four encampments have been written with differing extensiveness: the Maguindanao/Cotabato Sultanate and Buayan Sultanate (Maguindanaon), and Sulu Sultanate (Tausug), and Pat-a-Pangampong a’ Ranao (The Four Encampments of the Lake of the Maranaos).

Yet, considering the present geography, the Talik Sultanate of South Cotabato has been largely absent in Mindanao-related histories, and some side notes are present in meager documents.

In tracing the settler's history in South Central Mindanao, the existence and dissolution of the Talik Sultanate is currently attributed to the peaceful process of migration of Luzon and Visayan population down South in the 1930s to 40s.

The paper utilizes oral history methods, ethnography, digital humanities, participant observation, and documentary analysis to trace the intellectual history of Talik Sultanate as the primary viewpoint and recreate the concept of home through a full-length historical movie adaptation, written and produced under the collaboration of the sultanate's successors and settler- descendants living in General Santos City.

Contributed photos

MCCWG 2023
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The Sarangani Writers League announces the SOX WRITERS WORKSHOP is back after a four-year hiatus!

Formerly known as the "SOX Summer Writing Camp," the now-rebranded SOX Writers Workshop has returned to continue the advocacy of its predecessor: to provide a platform for SOX's aspiring authors where they can enhance their skills and meet some of the region's finest literary minds.

SOX Writers Workshop gathers 18 young writers from different parts of the SOCCSKSARGEN Region for a weekend of talks on creative writing, mentorship, and critiquing sessions of their manuscript drafts. The writing fellows will gather to hone their skills in these three genres: Short Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry.

This three-day writing workshop will be held on November 24-27, 2023, at the CCT Malungon Retreat and Training Center in the Municipality of Malungon, Sarangani Province.

SOX Writers Workshop is a product of a collaborative effort between the region's literary organizations, such as the Sarangani Writers League, Maratabat: MSU-Gensan Writers Guild, Pingkian and Tridax Zines. This event is also supported by Aklat Alamid and National Book Development Board - Philippines.

It is a great honor for SWL to host this year's SOX Writers Workshop. We are here to forge a stronger connection with the region's literary community, and to raise a new generation of SOX authors.

Here's to a progressive and inclusive to SOX literature.

Contributed photos

30th Iligan National Writers Workshop

INWW alumni lead this year’s speakers, writing fellows

Four alumni fellows of the Iligan National Writers Workshop (INWW) take the lead in this year’s 30th edition of the INWW.

Dr. Elio Garcia (WF 2011), Prop Genaro Ruiz Gojo Cruz (WF, 2004) will serve as keynote speakers while Dr. Manuel ‘Manu’ Avenido (WF 2013) and Dr. U Elizerio (WF, 2003) are this year’s Senior Fellows.
More alumni will also serve as panelists this year:

Dr. German V. Gervacio (WF 1994), Dr. Rebecca T. Añonuevo (WF 1996), Peter Solis Nery (WF 1998), Neil Nik Azcuna (WF, 2021) Dr. Calbi Asain (WF, 1997), Rhandee Garlitos (WF 2001), Ralph Semino Galan (WF 1997; 2013)Dr. Isidoro Cruz (WF, 1996) and among other non-alumni but who have been long-time panelists of the INWW -- Dr. Erlinda Kintanar Alburo, Merlie M. Alunan, as well as friends of the workshop: Dr. Augusto Antonio Aguila, Dr. John Jack Wigley, Mary Ann Ordinario, Dr. Jose Wendell Capili, the artists Randy Valiente and Wilfred Dexter Tañedo.

The Speakers are:

Dr. ELIO GARCIA

As a 2011 writing fellow, Garcia won the Jimmy Balacuit Award for Drama for his play “Maratabat” which was subsequently staged by the Integrated Performing Arts Guild (IPAG). He finished his Ph.d. in English with structured emphasis in film and media studies, with distinction, at the University of Oregon (UO) as a Fulbright Fellow.

At the UO he taught film theory and history of the motion picture as well as writing, globalization, and food justice. In 2020 he won The Southeast Asian Award from the UO Center for Asian and Pacific Studies as well as the Oregon Humanities Center. He also taught creative nonfiction at the Johns Hopkins University in 2019 and as a Visiting scholar in 2023. He was an Asian Graduate Fellow for his master’s thesis on the films of Brillante Mendoza at the National University of Singapore Asia Research Institute om 2012. His poetry, fiction and essays, and his research on postcolonial and environmental cinema are published in Philippine and foreign journals and books. He is currently completing his collection of his personal essays and a monograph on film theory titled Polytemporality: Radical Politics and Aesthetics in the Cinemas of the Global South.

Propesor GENARO RUIZ GOJO CRUZ

An INWW Jimmy Balacuit Literary Award winner, Gojo Cruz is one of the country’s foremost writers in Children’s literature with over 100 published books for Children. His Children’s stories have received Don Carlos Palanca Awards for Literature, the PBBY-Salanga Writers Prize, Romeo Forbes Story Writing Contest, Health Literature Award and Gig Book Story writing Contest. His Children’s book “May Gulong na Bahay” was recognized at the National Children’s Book Award as Best Reads in 2018 at the Filipino Readers’ Choice Awards and in 2022 his children’s book “Yehey May Pamilay na rang Mag-aaruga sa Akin!”

One more chjldren’s book “Ako ay May Titi” published by Lampara Books went viral in social media in 2020 and is a best-selling children’s book.

At present, he is a faculty of the Department of Filipino, De La Salle University (DLSU) and is writing his dissertation for a Ph.d. degree in the same university. He is an associate in children’s literature of the DLSU Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing Center.

The Senior Fellows:

Dr. U ELIZERIO

U Eliserio is the author of four collections of literary criticism, most recently Libreng Pagkain, Libreng Tirahan, Libreng Medisina, Libreng Edukasyon. He is also the author of five collections of short stories.

He has translated the work of Rousseau, Nietzsche, and Bakunin into Filipino. Eliserio is also a playwright. He dreams of becoming a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, and influencer. He has a Ph.d. from UP Diliman and is one of the university’s faculty members.

Dr. MANUEL ‘MANU’ AVENIDO

A proud Boholano, Manu Avenido was a fellow in the 21st Iligan National Writing Workshop where he received a second prize in the Jimmy Y. Balacuit Literary Award for his Cebuano fiction. He was also a fellow in Faigao, Iyas, and Lamiraw workshops, among others. Most of his stories were published in Bisaya Magazine and other anthologies.

This year, his book Ikigai Ug Ubang Piniling Mga Sugilanon (Advaux, 2023) with English translation by Marjorie Evasco, was a recipient of a Publication Grant from the National Book Development Board. It collects 13 of his stories that have won the Palanca, Lumbera, BATHALAD-Mindanao, and Sinulog Awards. He edited and published internationally Pristine Moments, Lucid Dreams: Select Memoirs of Young Cebuano Writers (Ukiyoto, 2022), a collection of creative nonfiction pieces of his HUMSS senior high students. Aside from writing short stories and poetry, Manu also writes scripts for theatre and film.

His original one-act Cebuano play Lockdown is produced and staged by Safe Space Association and has stage runs scheduled from October 28 and 29 at Casino Filipino, Waterfront Cebu. On the other hand, his short film, Lola Luz, was a finalist in the Sinulog Short Film Festival in 2017. Manu is currently based in Kyoto, Japan where he teaches at a university. -MCCWG

Contributed photos

MCCWG 2023
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