From Ben Zubiri and Pilita Corales to Kurt Fick and Jacky Chang, the Bisaya tongue has had its fair share of champions in the music industry, as it should. After all, Binisaya is ranked as the second most generally spoken language in Filipino homes.   With more and more artists emerging from the south, it isn’t too much to hope that the next stalwart of Bisaya contemporary music could be just around the corner. Actually, he may already be here in the person of singer, songwriter, producer, dancer and fashion icon, Felip. Photo by @HoshiNoFilm A Primer on Singer-Songwriter Felip Felip ..read more

I must admit, I’ve paid less attention to El Filibusterismo than I have its predecessor Noli Me Tangere. This is despite having had the same set of circumstances surrounding my introduction to Rizal’s second novel as I did his first — I had an equally passionate Filipino literature teacher, and I again had the good fortune of witnessing the brilliant John Arcilla breathe life into Ibarra’s dangerous alter ego, Simoun, on stage. Perhaps I haven’t revisited El Fili much because it feels darker, heavier, sadder and more painful than Noli. This is not my critique of the work; it is simply an indic ..read more

I wish there’d been more chapters, if only to explore Simoun’s passage to redemption, or at least to discover Basilio’s fate. I wonder if, at this time, Rizal had become too weary to press on. Chapter 36: Ben-Zayb’s Afflictions Ben-Zayb writes an embellished account of what transpired at the wedding party, making the Captain-General appear more heroic and the distinguished guests more stoic than they had actually been in the face of danger. His editor returns his work unpublished following the Captain-General’s orders not to discuss the incident. Ben-Zayb turns his journalistic energies towar ..read more

After all that suffering across two books, you’d have hoped the oppressors would have dined on thorny karma by now. But alas, it is only the oppressed that suffer some more. Basilio, Pecson, Isagani, I’m glad you only exist in fiction, or my heart would’ve been doubly shredded by now. Chapter 31: The High Official The girl’s death[1] and even her identity are largely left unremarked by both the newspapers and the locals, even as Padre Camorra leaves town for another. Meanwhile, through the intervention of their relatives, the detained students are  released, except for Basilio who i ..read more

Poor Basilio. After everything he’d been through in the Noli and after that, I wish he’d been given a happier fate, but alas, his approaching end is looking pale and dolorous.   Photo by Gerald Diño Chapter 26: Pasquinades[1] Basilio sets out early to inquire at the university about his license and to ask Makaraig for help with the costs, having spent most of his money in ransoming Juli. Along the way he learns from acquaintances that subversive posters had been found at the university gates and that the students’ union of which he is a member, is being blamed for it. He meets Sandoval wh ..read more

It takes a unique combination of a person’s life experience and a writer’s style and perspective to make passages personally moving. Here, I found my heart strings tremble, first, at the moving sendoff to the ethereal Maria Clara, second, at Isagani’s affectionate remembrance of the beauty and serenity of a beloved home, an echo of my own distant memories. So if you have time dear reader, consider picking up the full text of even just chapters 23 and 24 and listen with your heart to the beating of another’s. Photo by Adrien Olichon Chapter 21: Manila Types People flock to the theater ..read more

So, more than a hundred years ago, Filipino fairs had friar figurines and talking heads. Hardly an ideal paring, but would certainly have been quite the amusement, if only they had some popcorn and soda.   Photo by Rottonara Chapter 16: The Tribulations of a Chinese The Chinese Quiroga, who hopes to open a consulate for his nation, hosts a dinner for important people from the church, government, military and business. Some merchants gather around Simoun complaining about the difficulties of doing business in the country in the hopes that Simoun will pass on their ideas for solutions to th ..read more

Oh, to be young and tormented by school again. Although for entirely different reasons, I must have been Placido at one time or another, more despondent than jubilant in the hallowed halls of the academe. University of Santo Tomas photo by Kent Ogares Chapter 11: Los Baños The Captain-General is on a working vacation in Los Baños. With him are some friars,  Don Custodio, Ben Zayb and Simoun. Among matters settled is the banning of one type of sport pistol to prevent bandits from acquiring more, a decision that came at the heels of Simoun’s having been held up and despoiled of his pistols ..read more

So much of the past comes to the fore here, and it isn’t always pleasant for the living, especially when specters begin to loom over earthly affairs.   Photo by David Clode Chapter 6: Basilio Basilio steals out of the house at midnight and heads to the old wood previously owned by the Ibarras, and now belonging to Capitan Tiago. He visits his mother’s grave by the balete[1] tree and recalls the night thirteen yeas ago when his mother died on the spot and a stranger came and helped him bury his mother and burn the body of another stranger.[2] Basilio thinks back too on the events of h ..read more

Thirteen years have passed since the events of Noli Me Tangere. At the opening of El Filibusterismo, we are greeted by old faces and introduced to new ones, and one seemingly new one. Chapter 1: On the Upper Deck The steamer Tabo[1] makes its way up the Pasig river one December morning. On its upper deck is Dona Victorina, traveling in search of her husband Don Tiburcio, who has fled from her abuse. On deck too are Don Custodio, the writer Ben-Zayb and Padres Salvi, Sibyla, Irene and Camorra, and the steamer’s captain. Also present is the jeweler Simoun, conspicuous for his long white hair an ..read more