1. Joseluis Sebastian “Sebb” R. Borja
p o r t f o l i o
sebb.borja@gmail.com || 0917 511 3878 || jsr_borja@yahoo.com

2. Freelance
GoBear Philippines Voyager Innovations Inc.
Banner art for blog post,
Infographics, and Facebook post
June - July 2016
Infographics and
Animated timeline GIF
June - July 2016

3. Positions/Responsibilites:
• Layout of the magazine
• Conceptualization of section
treatments
• Art Direction during photoshoots
• Photoediting
• Writing
Mostly reviews
• Yearly branding update
• Illustrations
Icons, for minor articles,
miscellaneous design elements
• Images for social media
Instagram and Facebook
Cover Samples
Cover Sample w/ special execution
One Mega Group Inc.
CondoLiving magazine
Graphic Designer
Dec 2013 - April 2016

4. Celebrating 10 Years of
ANight
in the
Spotlight
experience a glamorous evening
as condo living meets fashion and style
with russell villafuerte’s
latest collection
Join us as we mark a decade
of living the sky-high lifestyle
on October 21, 2015 at 7:00pm
Valkyrie, Bonifacio Global City
attire: Silver and Black
#CondoLivingLifestyle
rsvp Angela Jacob
0998 460 3080 | 0915 642 6178
Layout Samples
Invitation Design Social media promotions (CL Spotify)
One Mega Group Inc.
CondoLiving magazine
Graphic Designer
Dec 2013 - April 2016

5. Vinyard Unlimited Inc. Graphic Designer
Aug 2013 - Oct 2013
Positions/Responsibilites:
• Branding
Developed the existing Vinyard
Unlimited branding as well as for its
Move Philippines travel brochure series
• Layout and map illustrations
Move Philippines travel brochure series
Ms. Koi A. Canillas
MANAGING DIRECTOR
160–162 Doña Soled st., Better Living, Parañaque, Metro Manila
LANDLINE
(+63) 02 668 9646
(+63) 02 804 0678
ADVERTISING • MARKETING • EVENTS • ACTIVATION
MOBILE
(+63) 917 586 0407
(+63) 932 862 0400EMAIL
vinyardunlimitedinc@gmail.com
IN CASE OF EMERGENCY
Name:
Address:
Contact Number:
TIN Number SSS Number
ADVERTISING MARKETING EVENTS ACTIVATION
EMPLOYEE NUMBER
EMPLOYEE
SIGNATURE
AUTHORIZED
SIGNATURE
Telephone Numbers
668-9646 || 804-0678
160-162 Doña Soledad st., Better Living,
Parañaque, Metro Manila
00872313
J. Sebastian R. Borja
GRAPHIC & LAYOUT ARTIST
Vinyard Unlimited Inc. branding
Move Philippines travel brochures
CITY
AIRPORT
HOSPITAL
CHURCH
ILOCOS NORTE
APAYAO
CAGAYAN
ABRA
KALINGA
ILOCOS SUR
ISABELA
MOUNTAIN PROVINCE
IFUGAO
LA UNION
BENGUET
NUEVA VIZCAYA
QUIRINO
PANGASINAN
NUEVA ECIJA
AURORA
TARLAC
ZAMBALES
BATAAN
PAMPANGA
BULACAN
RIZAL
QUEZON
N.C.R.
CAVITE
AIRPORT
HOSPITAL
CATHEDRAL

6. Positions/Responsibilites:
• PR Internals Deputy 2010 - 2012
Recruitment Week Facebook promos
(2011 - 2012)
Entablado Business Card
(2010 - 2011)
Entablado Greeting Cards
(2010 - 2011)
• Documentation & Publication
(Theater productions)
Street Theater Festival (Feb 2012)
ENTABLADO Summer Production
(May 2011)
Bombita (Jan 2010)
Ateneo ENTABLADO College Organization
2009 - 2013
ENTABLADO 30th season Press Kit
E N T E R T E Y N M E N T P A R A S A TA O , B A Y A N ,
L A N S A N G A N A T D I Y OS
ENTABLADO
Bilang Isang Sosyo–Pulitikal na Organisasyon
Kilala ang Ateneo ENTABLADO bilang premyadong sosyo–pulitikal na grupong pangteatro ng
Pamantasang Ateneo de Manila. Binuo noong 1983 sa panahon ng Martial Law, naging ugat ng
organisasyon ang pagiging mulat sa mga isyu ng lipunan at natagpuan ng ENTABLADO ang sining
ng teatro bilang paraan ng pagpapahayag ng mga isyung ito.
Sa panahong ito, nakita ng ENTABLADO ang kaniyang sarili bilang grupong pangteatrong
nagtatanghal sa mga lansangan upang ipakalat sa komunidad ang mensahe ng opresyon at
paninindigan na kinakailangan sa panahong iyon.
Sa kasalukuyan, nananatiling buhay ang organisasyon sa pamamagitan ng mga produksyong
isinasabuhay ang mga isyung sosyo–pulitikal, na bagama’t hindi na itinatanghal sa lansangan ay
nananatili pa rin ang layuning ipakalat ang katarungan panlipunan. Bilang sosyo–pulitikal na
organisas’yon, aktibong nangingialam ang mga miyembro nito sa mga isyung panlipunan sa
pamamagitan ng mga diskurso, stand formations at mga pagtatanghal na ibinatay sa “street theater”
sa loob ng unibersidad.
Bagama’t hindi na lumalaban ang ENTABLADO para sa pagpapalaya mula sa opresyon ng Martial
Law, nananatiling nakaugat ang organisasyon sa layunin nitong makamit ang katarungan panlipinan
gamit ang sining ng teatro.
3
Street Theater Festival
Ang Street Theater Festival (STF) na pinamagatang “Juan for Art” ay ang
pagtatapos ng isang taong adbokasiya ng organisasyon. Naglalayon ang Juan
for Art, Art for Juan na tumatawag sa mga mamamayan na gamitin ang sining
para sa pagbubuo ng bayan.
Noong taong 2009, isinagawa ang proyektong ito na naglalayong makagawa
ng kulturang pangteatro na higit pa sa limitasyong ng pagtatanghal lamang
sa entablado. Dahil nabuo ang ENTABLADO bilang grupong nagtatanghal sa
lansangan, nais ng kasalukuyang Ateneo ENTABLADO na isabuhay muli ang
pagtatanghal na ito. Dahil sa pagtatagumpay ng proyektong ito noong 2009,
naging isang proyekto ito ng organisasyon na ginagawa taon–taon.
Ang STF ay isang kumpetisyon na kinalalahukan ng iba’t ibang grupong
pangteatro sa loob at labas ng Ateneo na umiikot ang mga dulang itatanghal
batay sa adbokasiya ng taon at sa anyo ng “Street theater”. Isa ito sa
pinakamalaking proyekto ng Ateneo ENTABLADO ngayong ika–30 taon nito,
at mas pinalaki at mas makabuluhan kaysa sa mga nakaraang taon upang mas
mapatupad ang layunin nitong malampasan ang limitasyon ng entablado at
mahubog ang kaisipan ng komunidad para sa ikabubuti ng bayan.
Ang pinakaunang musikal na ginawa ng ENTABLADO para sa kaniyang
ika–25 na taon, ang Sandaang Panaginip ay nangalap ng mga papuri dahil
sa pagtatanghal nito sa Cervini Field na umabot ng dalawang buwan.
Pictures from http://hensonw.multiply.com
Si Pilandok at ang Bayan ng Bulawan — ang ikatlong musikal ng ENTABLADO na
gaya ng Unang Baboy sa Langit, isinulat ni Bb. Christine Bellen ang dula para sa
ENTABLADO. Kaugnay ang Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation, ang dula ay para
sa anibersaryo ng EDSA Revolution. Unang nakapagtanghal ang grupo sa Adamson
University at sa Meralco Theater dahil sa dulang ito.
Layout (team member) | June 2012
Tarpaulin Layout | August 2012
KaPantas: Buwan ng Wika at Kultura ENTABLADO Recruitment Week 2012
Promotional Facebook display pictures | July 2012

7. Ateneo ENTABLADO College Organization
2009 - 2013
ENTABLADO Street Theater Festival 2012
Entablado Executive Board
David Cammayo (4 BS MIS)
Coordinator
Danilo Villarey III (4 BS ECE)
Asst. Coor. for Theatrical Concerns
Nicolo Claustro (4 BS PSY)
Asst. Coor. for Public Relations
John Michael del
Rosario (4 BS MIS)
Asst. Coor. for Secretariat
Leal Rodriguez (4 AB HUM)
Asst. Coor. for Socio-Political Concerns
Mark Legaspi (4 BS CTM)
Asst. Coor. for Formations
Eric Estolatan (4 AB ECO-H)
Asst. Coor. for Finance and Marketing
Jethro Tenorio
Moderator
2011 – 2012
Project Heads:
Alexander Ko
Alyssa Rodriguez
Road Managers:
Danilo Villarey III
Peterson Fernandez
Deputies:
Tenet Manzano
Therese Abello
Logistics:
Tenet Manzano
Promotions:
Bianca Reyes
Cafeteria Raids:
Roselyn Ko
Documentation and Publications:
Sebastian Borja
Food:
Patrick Rivera
For 2012, Ateneo Entablado, the one and only socio-political
theater organization of the Ateneo, is holding its annual
Street Theater Festival: the culminating event of the
organization’s advocacy for the entire year.
The festival consists of a parade that will circulate around the Ateneo
and a street theater competition between organizations from inside
and outside the university.All the street theater performances will be
about active citizenry or paninidigan sa sariling bayan; becoming
an active citizen in preparation for a big change in our nation.
Entablado wants to set this year as the catalyst for the big changes
it wants to make for its 30th year anniversary. The event hopes to
celebrate the organization’s roots: a culture in theater that holds
boundaries and no limitations.
Street Theater Festival
Ang Metropolitan Teen Theater League,
o PETA-MTTL, ay ang kabataang sangay ng
Philippine Educational Theater Association.
Ito ay binubuo ng mga kabataang
artista-guro na naglalayon maipalaganap ang
youth empowerment at youth participation sa
pamamagitan ng sining panteatro. Mayroong
tatlong sangay ng programa ang PETA-MTTL.
Una, ang pagbuo at pagdala ng mga palabas
sa mga kapwa kabataan sa mga eskwelahan
at komunidad. Ang mga ginagawa ng
dulang PETA-MTTL ay may dala-dalang mga
mahahalagang mensahe na nababagay sa
mga nagbabago ng isyu ng kabataan dala ng
paglipas ng panahon.
Pangalawa, ang pakikipagtulungan at
pakikibahagi sa lumalaking komunidad ng mga
kabataang artista sa Pilipinas at pangatlo, ang
pagbibigay ng mga workshop sa mga network
organizations at mga komunidad.
PETA - MTTLU.P.
Repertory
The UP Repertory Company is a non-stock,
non-profit, student theater organization
based in the University of the Philippines,
Diliman, Quezon City.
The Company has been staging socially
relevant plays since it was founded in 1972
by UP Professor Behn Cervantes. For the past
39 years, The University of the Philippines
Repertory Company (UP REP) has established
its presence within the UP cultural scene by
producing plays written and directed by Filipino
artists. Many of these are socially relevant and
work to enlighten our audience on different
issues encountered in our society.
The Company has an objective of bringing the
Filipino Theatre closer to the public. UP Rep’s
primary priciple is the “Repleksyonng
PangangailanganngNakararami (Reflection of
the needs ofthe greater populace)or RPN”.
Souvenir Programme | June 2012
ENTABLADO Recruitment Week 2011
Promotional Facebook display pictures | July 2011
ENTABLADO Summer Production 2011
Documentation & Publication
Committee Head
May 2011
Pobreng Alindanaw
ni J. Dennis Teodosio
at
The Commonwealth of Virginia
ni Dr. Jose B. Capino
Sa direksyon ni
Disenyo ng entablado ni
Disenyo ng pag-ilaw ni
Disenyo ng musika ni
Kalil Almonte
Jesus Ignacio
Zennon Gosalvez
Paula Fucoy
Inihahandog ng
ENterteynment para saTAo, Bayan, LAnsangan at DiyOs
ang
Members: Alexander Chung (Deputy),
Bianca Bueno, Debbie Sy
Documentation & Publication
Committee
Sounds Committee Member ng “Ang
Henerala” (ENTABLADO); Sounds
Committee Head ng “Diba Bida” at
“Si Pilandok at ang Bayan ng Bulawan”
(ENTABLADO); Sounds Committee
Deputy ng “SaTahanan ng AkingAma”
(ENTABLADO); Documentations and
Publications Committee ng “Bombita”
noong 2011 (ENTABLADO);
Sa huli niyang 14 days, manlalandi siya ng
marami, pero isa lang ang mamahalin niya.
Kung tinanong niyo naman kung bakit
siya maganda, ang sagot niya ay,“Sabi ni
Mavi, eh :P”
Sebb Borja
Committee Head
III BFA ID
Bombita
Ticket design | July 2011
ENTABLADO Business Cards 2010 - 2011
ENterteynment para sa TAo, Bayan,
LAnsangan at DiyOs
’09-’10 Organization of the Year (COA Awards)
’09-’10 Executive Board of the Year (COA Awards)
’08-’09 Most Improved Organization of the Year (COA Awards)
Serbisyong handog ng ENTABLADO:
• pagganap/performances
• pagsasanay/workshops
• assets rental (ilaw, kasuotan, kagamitan, at iba pa)
Para sa karagdagang impormasyon,
makipag-ugnayan kay G. Nicolo Claustro,
Assistant Coordinator for Public Relations
(+63927-9151416)
Ateneo de Manila University
ENterteynment para sa TAo, Bayan,
LAnsangan at DiyOs
Room 318, Manuel V. Pangilinan Center for Students Leadership
Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City
426-6001 local 5440
+63916-6400307
contact-us@entablado.org
www.entablado.org
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/entablado
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ENTABLADOateneo
ENTABLADO Greeting Cards 2010 - 2011

8. Other Projects
Tonta: Tatlong Dula ng Pagkatanga
Souvenir Programme
Layout and Photography
July 2013
Ang HAngAl
ni Dolly Dulu
Nasa tadhana o nasa tao ba talaga ang ating kapalaran? Para kay Dominic
nasa tao ito, kailangan ginagawan ng paraan ang mga bagay-bagay kung
gusto mong makuha ito. Para naman kay Luke, hindi dapat pinangungunahan
ang kapalaran, it will come when the time is right. So sino sa dalawang
magkaibigang ito ang tama, lalo pa’t kapag ang pinag-uusapan nila ay ang
kapalaran ng kanilang pagkakaibigan.
Luke
Nico Claustro Ross Pesigan
Dominic
Miguel Almendras
Bakit Ka Tonta?
Dahil umasa at nasaktan...
pero kahit ganon, umaasa
pa rin ako.
Vian Serranilla
Bakit Ka Tonta?
World peace!!!
Manghuhula
VJ Serag
Bakit Ka Tonta?
Dahil sa’yo.
Dolly Dulu
Bakit Ka Tonta?
Kasi pumayag akong gawin
ito. char haha.
Prod Designer
Director
Lights Designer
Prod Manager
Dolly Dulu
Bakit Ka Tonta?
Kasi pumayag akong
gawin ito. char haha.
Timee Gorecho
Bakit Ka Tonta?
Bakit nga ba mahal kita
kahit di pinapansin ang
damdamin ko.
Smile Indias
Bakit Ka Tonta?
Kasi I can easily forgive...
but I never forget.
Deli Del Rosario
Dolly Dulu
Bakit Ka Tonta?
Kasi pumayag akong
gawin ito. char haha.
WAit lAng
ni AM Valdez
Si Mama ay bakla. Mayroon siyang isang anak. Hindi niya tunay na anak ito
ngunit anak ito ng dati niyang lover. Ngayon, si Mama na ang bumuhay sa
anak ng kanyang lover. Ibinigay na ni Mama ang lahat pero ang tanong ay
kung hanggang saan niya kaya ibigay para sa isang anak na hindi naman niya
kadugo?
Anak
Rissey Reyes
Bakit Ka Tonta?
Dahil nagpakatanga,
nagpapakatanga,
magpapakatanga sa
ngalan ng love, any day!
Victor Robinson III
Mama
Gian Abraham
Bakit Ka Tonta?
Dahil hirap akong magsisi.
Badong
Karla
Argie/Dolly/Timee
Yuri
Ki li g
ni Tyrone Casumpang
Ano ba ang pamantayan ng isang nakakikilig na love story? Saan nanggaling
ang batayang ito? Ang dula ay magaganap sa isang parke habang gumagawa
ng proyekto para sa media sina Badong, Karla, at iba pa nilang kagrupo. Sa
pag-reenact nila ng mga pelikulang “My Amnesia Girl”, “Serendipity” at “Crazy
Little Thing Called Love,” haharapin ni Badong ang nararamdaman niya para
kay Karla. Magtatagumpay kaya siya? Ano ba ang pinagkaiba ng love story
nina John Lloyd at Toni sa love story nina Karla at Badong?
Omar Ching
Bakit Ka Tonta?
Just ‘coz I am...
Arsenio Armas
Kath Castillo
Bakit Ka Tonta?
Dahil hindi ako humihingi
ng kapalit, kahit masakit.
Kate Coderes
Bakit Ka Tonta?
Dahil karunungan
ang tanggapin ang
katangahan.
Argie del Castillo
Bakit Ka Tonta?
Dahil ang max lang sa
write-up na ‘to ay 10
words.
Dolly Dulu
Bakit Ka Tonta?
Kasi pumayag akong
gawin ito. char haha.
Tyron Casumpang
Bakit Ka Tonta?
Hindi ko pa kasi alam ang
kahulugan ng buhay. MG?!
Timee Gorecho
Bakit Ka Tonta?
Bakit nga ba mahal kita
kahit di pinapansin ang
damdamin ko.
Sounds
AM Valdez
Bakit Ka Tonta?
*No comment*
Dolly Dulu
Bakit Ka Tonta?
Kasi pumayag akong
gawin ito. char haha.
Tyron Casumpang
Bakit Ka Tonta?
Hindi ko pa kasi alam ang
kahulugan ng buhay. MG?!
Sebb Borja
Bakit Ka Tonta?
Dahil pumayag ako na
mag-isa akong gagawa ng
souvenir programme.
Audrey Antonio
Writers
Lights
Ashes of Eden: Tales of Darker Creation;
a Creative Writing thesis by AJ Elicaño
1
The thing in the cave had a name, once, but that was taken from it a long time ago. It still
remembers that day, how name and identity and so much more were ripped from it in an instant
by a creator who is now worshipped as loving, forgiving, life-bringing. People believe what they
want to believe, give things the names they want to believe can define them and make them safe.
Then there was the exile, the flight from paradise and into the desert. For forty days and forty
nights, It wandered, wasting away in the sand as the last remnants of its purpose flaked away,
disappeared into the empty space where Its name used to reside. It found the cave, using the last of
Its strength to seal Itself behind the boulder, witnessed tragedy and felt the breaking of whatever
spirit it had left, and curled up in the corner to await death.
It did not die when it should have died.
For centuries, It remained in that cave, marking the days by the faint light that filtered around the
boulder. Each day, the light illuminated a body more and more ravaged by starvation. Every day,
it looked down at nails grown long and sharp, and at brown skin turned pallid and diseased in the
darkness. When rain washed over the desert outside, some would seep through and pool on the
filth-covered floor of the cave, and It would look at its reflection in the water and find it ever more
savage and unrecognizable.
At first, It was angry. So much had been taken from it, and now its creator had even forbidden it
the sweet release of death. Day after day, It would claw at the boulder. If it could not wait silently
for the end, it would go back to the world it had fled and take it by force. But it was to no avail;
the weeks and months without food had rendered It too weak to move the boulder, and its strikes
against it grew ever more desperate and impotent. Eventually, It stopped hitting the boulder and
turned to blasphemy. It screamed obscenities against the Lord in the hopes that He would destroy
It out of anger. But after a year and a day, It found itself tired, unheeded, and still miserably alive,
and so it fell silent.
I n H i s O w n I m a ge
16 17
The teacher awoke after his death, shaking off his former life like dreams after a long sleep.
He found himself standing in a beautiful, grassy countryside, with rolling hills and a great river
running through it. The river was vast and bottomless, as if it held the waters of every tributary on
Earth.The land around it was verdant, fertile with flowers, and something like a glowing mist hung
in the air. The teacher remembered Styx, the river that encircled the underworld, but also knew
somehow that the name, any name, was inadequate for it.
The teacher tried to recall whether he had ever been anywhere like what he was seeing and
experiencing, but to no avail. Everything in his memory—the city in which he had lived, the roads
he had walked, even the school where he had taught—came back to him in shades of gray, hazy and
distant. Nothing compared to where he was now, and he suspected that nothing would.
He tried to keep the faces of his students from surfacing in his memory, because he could not bear
to imagine the pupils he had loved, grown gray and distant and unimportant. With one exception,
he succeeded.
A boat appeared out of the haze of light and moored by the riverbank where the teacher was standing.
The ferryman, a tall, hooded figure in a gray robe, stretched out a gaunt, withered hand.The teacher
suddenly became aware of two small weights in his right hand, and glanced down to see two gold
coins. He gave them to the ferryman, and the latter nodded.The teacher stepped into the boat, and
they set off.
All along the river,there were trees that seemed covered in leaves from every kind of plant imaginable,
and that bore all kinds of fruits—olives, pomegranates, figs, and many more for which the teacher
had not names. They were more than trees, as the teacher knew them, but more akin to… patterns?
Beyond the Cave
24 25
Manuel Garcia’s senior thesis project was, so his professors from the Computer Science department
said, the most ambitious proposal they had seen in years. The abstract, titled “An Attempt to
Replicate Human Thought Patterns in Artificial Intelligence Through Cognitive Science and Semi-
Sentient Algorithms,” drew as much from biology, psychology, and even sociology as it did from
programming. It was doomed to fail, the professors all agreed, but if it succeeded, Manuel—and, of
course, his inspirational and supportive advisors—would go down in history as having pioneered the
next revolution in digital sentience.
Manuel Garcia’s senior thesis project, in layman’s terms, was an attempt to see whether it was
possible to create a computer program that could satisfactorily emulate a sentient, self-aware human
mind,one that could test as human against entirely non-computer-science-based instruments.It was
widely derided by his batchmates in Computer Science, who thought it little more than fluff, the
product of too many bad sci-fi movies and too much time spent with those strange friends of his, in
particular that drugged-up Philosophy major Mitzi Contreras. It was hardly “real”science work, any
more than those papers from the College of Social “Sciences,”and more, it wasn’t even feasible. And
yet, if anyone could do it, it would’ve been Manuel, blunderingly brilliant Manuel, who could code
his way out of a labyrinth and didn’t care whether he made all his batchmates’ proposals look like
sophomore midterm projects as long as he got to pursue this latest daydream.
Manuel Garcia’s senior thesis project resided in a self-modified gaming computer that he’d smuggled
into the dorm as a freshman because it was the only machine powerful enough to support his major
programming classes as well as his Starcraft 2 habit. It bore a desktop almost completely covered
by unsorted files, folders, and shortcuts—the operative term being “almost,” as the months-old
wallpaper image of a pale-skinned girl with big brown eyes, a lopsided smile, and messy black hair
still peeked out from behind the clutter. Despite this, the computer was fast, stable, and above all,
resilient, having survived virus-laden porn downloads from Russia, a finals week with three massive
C o g i t o
Layout and Illustrations
January 2013
“Wow Pare, Anthology!” Prose & Poetry from the
51st Siliman University National Writers Workshop
Chapbook Layout
April 2013
wow
pare,
Anthology!
EditEd by
Vida Cruz
book dEsign by
Sebb Borja
PhotograPhy byArkay timonera
illustrations by
Vida Cruz
ContentS
1
3
4
5
23
26
27
33
34
53
70
71
73
77
78
83
Note from the Editor
An exile Among My People
December night
Dwarf
Impressions of negros oriental
Dumaguete Suite
Declassified: to Myself Before the
Siliman Workshop
newton’s third
Death in Split-Screen
the Doves of Memory
Flight
Kuliglig
taxonomy
Revision
About the Fellows
Acknowledgements
nathan Ming kun aw
Cd borden
thomas david Chavez
thomas david Chavez
Vida Cruz
karlo david
timothy James dimacali
Michael aaron gomez
hazel Meghan b. hamile
deborah rosalind d. nieto
Christian tablazon
Michelle t. tan
sooey Valencia
23
Impressions of
Negros Oriental
thomas david Chavez
The ride was slow, nearly ceremonial. From historic Katipunan Hall on campus
to Camp Lookout in Bongbong, Valencia we took the 1931 Silliman vintage bus
to the foothills of Mount Talinis, taking the hairpin swerves in great stride. We,
the eleven fellows of the 51st
National Writers Workshop, were awed in silence
at the sight of the lordly trees, the sweep of water, island, mountain and jungle
that was to be our home. Because many of us came from the sweltering summer
heat of Manila, the mountain breeze awakened our senses, making us itch to dip
our quills in inspiration.
We met many people, firsthand and told, great characters who would mostly
likely populate the pages of our fiction and poetry one day. There was Kuya
Mo, inimitable, irrepressible, who let us in on the secrets of Silliman’s past and
present, simultaneously regaling us with tales of his loves, both unreturned and
consummated. There was Manang Bibi (where in the world would you meet
a person with such a name?) who solicitously acted in loco parentis, peeking
into our cottages long after our sessions were over, just to make sure everything
was all right with us. There were our neighbors, a family of whom would exact
revenge on our rowdiness by turning up their boomer with Guns and Roses so we
could not begin our session on time.
One of those neighbors was a retired pediatrician who built a splendid jungle
home, and where we would hold one session, serving us the most delectable
ube ensaymada we ever tasted. For company, Dr. Garcia kept a coterie of dogs
that greeted us with the most ferocious howls until the top dog told his fellows
to beat it. Dr. Garcia said he was the dog whisperer in the retinue, who mediated
between the canine world and the world at large. The old doctor sported a silver
Twiggy mane on top of which she placed a frilly Victorian bonnet.
71
Kuliglig
Christian tablazon
Hindi libingan. Sa halip,
ikal’wang sinapupunan.
Mahimbing
ang mga murang anyong
kinukumutan ng parang.
Labimpitong taon.
Lingid ito sa mga mata.
Tinatawid nila ang iba’t ibang rilim
ng lupa at hangin.
Sa tamang panahon,
isa-isang magigising.
Humahangos na tutunguhin
ang rabaw. Bibitak ang lupa, bubukad
ang mga pakpak—
Babasagin sa magdamag
ang malaong pananahimik.
Hindi sila aabutan
ng liwanag.
Tanging sa tunog
nagiging ganap ang hubog.
26
Dumaguete Suite
After Wang Wei
Vida Cruz
For the Frightened Girl Crying Three Days Before Her Dumaguete Flight
Dry your tears. In three weeks these will return—
Fattened by white mist over the trees, salt on the wind,
Friends bathed in the Boulevard sunrise, and this fact:
You can bring them home with you only in your heart.
Snapshot of That Sunday Night
My camera perched like a lonely bird on a stump of coconut
Preening silver plumage beneath the mid-year moon
For hours before we three found it.
It meant us to find each other in the dark, too.
During the Blackout in Siquijor
Unwitting, the fellows danced a poem.
Their laughter tolled the stars like bells
And their bodies trailed ripples in brine
Bright with moonlight and algae.
To the Fellows of the 52nd SUNWW
You dozen driving down the mountain
How does the Village fare?
Have the katsubong let down their pink skirts
By the green windows of its namesake?