BWG recharged by chap chae, bread, carrot cupcakes, veggie sticks, etc.

In 2015, I was sick and spent my 60th birthday in the hospital. It was a lugubrious time in my life, but I think I'm over that so whenever I can, I try to celebrate my birthday with family and friends now that I've made it to my 60s.

To-die-for cupcakes from the kitchen of Toottee Pacis. After the fourth cupcake, I'm ready for a diabetic coma!

The Korean chap chae has increasingly replaced the pancit guisado as birthday noodles.

Healthy feast

Yesterday, though not my birthday yet, I decided to treat the members of the Baguio Writers Group to the traditional noodles (chap chae made by longtime painting companion and baker Toottee Chanco Pacis and her Girl Friday Joy), home-baked bread with cheese pimiento (also from Mamita Toottee's bustling kitchen) and carrot cupcakes with thick butter icing--the last were Toottee's birthday gift to the June borns in the group. The other girl marking another milestone in her life is Padma Perez although she wasn't present. It was actually her birthday yesterday.

Our host, Luchie Maranan, also prepared assorted teas and coffee, vegetable sticks with pesto and garlic dip, slices of orange and an Ad'laine roll brought by Junley Lazaga.

A portion of BWG having their snacks (food comes first but always) before the meeting

Allan Carino and EV Espiritu seated near the altar where candles are lit in memory of Edgardo B. Maranan and his parents

It just took the green tea or coffee to get us going with our supposed general assembly. Junley, our current president, declared a "failure of elections" because we didn't have enough members present for a general election. BWG officers serve a term of three years. Nevertheless, we soldiered on with the agenda put before us. Diego S. Maranan, son of the late writer Ed, whose 40th day of demise we were also observing yesterday, met with us to tell us about how Ed's heirs and BWG can work together to perpetuate his Tatay's memory.

The meeting closed with a poetry reading by treasurer Merci Javier Dulawan and Luchie. The latter's poem struck a chord because it was about the vicissitudes of ageing from forgetting where one placed one's eyeglasses to the chest constriction one feels after climbing a flight of stairs. When one hits 63, it is indeed time to ask, "Where did my youth go? Did I waste enough of it?"

So this early we can announce that the members will hold a how to make a poem workshop facilitated by Allan on July 20 at one of the rooms of the University of the Philippines Baguio that is accessible to weak-kneed senior citizens (I ought to be one of them). Basic requirement before the whole-day workshop proper is to write a poem for critique-ing, followed by shaping a poem based on the prompt/s Allan will give.
To the absent BWG members who are interested in joining the workshop, please indicate your participation to Junley for the head count.

Photos by Luchie Maranan and Junley Lazaga

The times of Mommy's life

The best Mother's Day gift I received arrived in my email yesterday, a lengthy letter from my second-born daughter Ida detailing how her class of 21 nursery students prepared for their own tribute to moms. She clinched her letter with what I'd call an "Ida-ism": "happy mother's day, nanay! you make my eyes roll and you may not be my favourite person, but i love you."

Gliceria "Nene" Dula as a debutante in 1946

Holding her second-born child, my sister Evelyn Marie ("Embeng")

My own Mommy made my eyes roll not just a thousand times. Among my sisters we like to joke that of her physical traits, Mom bequeathed us her indio nose and her bunions that make closed shoes uncomfortable.

Our clashes were bitter wars of attrition with periods of peace, with the intercession of Daddy, during mealtimes and occasions like birthdays and Christmas. There was a period in adolescence when I opted to stay home rather than be seen with Mom and her growing brood (a devout Catholic, she followed papal edicts to the letter and refused artificial contraceptives). Alone I cherished the relief from her nagging and what I felt was her overbearing presence.

I longed for a mother who could be a friend and confidante the way my Lola Purang in Baguio was to her children and grandchildren, or the way Aunties Fe and Pacing (my father's sisters) were to my cousins. What I felt the Lord had burdened me with was a battleaxe in a slender and attractive package.

One of my sisters still has this image of Mom with a fly swatter ready to swat not just flies but any erring child. The fanny was her target. I have memories of Mom chasing a sister round and round the round dining table with a flyswatter in her right hand. We knew what kamay na bakal meant early on.

I was only able to say what was in my heart to my mother through a letter when I approached my 60s. The letter wasn't even penned by me. It was written for me by former Baguio Writers Group president Luchie Maranan when BWG had a commissioned handwritten letter campaign in February 2015. I supplied the ghost writer with the inputs on what I had been meaning to tell my mother, among which was how I appreciated her sacrifices for the eight children she bore even if this meant a lack of quality time for us since she and Daddy had to go out and work to provide for us. When I finally held Luchie's letter, the hair on my arms stood up. Her penmanship uncannily resembled Mom's, and my first thought was, "Why is Mommy writing me a letter through the BWG?"

Baguio still means happy memories to us. It was where our parents brought us in the summer, and it must have cost them a pretty penny to do so. Thank you, Dad and Mom!

The mellowing of Mom came with the coming of the grandchildren. Her oldest apo Carlo's Matchbox collection is courtesy of his Lola Mommy, who spoiled him to pieces.

This is what I mean by Mom's makuha ka sa tingin facial expression captured by poet Mila D. Aguilar during an intimate concert at Balay Kalinaw organized by Pablo A. Tariman.

Anyway, when Mom read "my" letter, she told my daughter and sisters that even late in the day, I had come to realize why she was the way she was--her sternness, her disciplinarian's ways. By becoming a mother myself, I have seen that motherhood is the toughest job in the world. And that the fretting over one's children and their well-being, even if they're already adults, never ever stops.

My mom was a proud and vain woman, ramrod straight in posture, always well turned out, fully made up whenever she left the house, whether for the office (she worked until her 70s) or a Legion of Mary meeting. An illness crept up on her late last year. Today she is a ghost of her former self, but to me she is even more beautiful as peace slowly descends on her. She mumbles in that state between wakefulness and sleep--I try to decode what she says in hopes I get clues to her past which she has always been reticent to share, except for the good times. Her knees buckle when she tries to stand with assistance from hefty adults.

But our faith teaches us hope--miracles are possible. If her body and mind don't heal fully, my siblings and I plus those who fondly call her Auntie/Tita Nene or Mommy Lolarga (from the streetsweepers she has befriended to the village security guards she sends merienda to) pray that her spirit does, ready to return to the source of Light and Love. And when Judgment Day comes, she will be restored to full glory. This we all believe.

Guess who has the biggest smile in a family picture from one Christmas in the 1990s? That's our Mom, vibrant in red and seated second from right.

BWG reloaded: Let's volt in

Congratulations and best wishes to the new officers of the Baguio Writers Group (BWG) that has opened itself to wider membership to infuse it with new and creative (read: out-of-the-box) ideas. All towards strengthening writing in this northern region and keeping its reputation as a voice in the Baguio and by extension the national community. Hip hip hooray to new BWG president Jenny Cariño who presided at the general assembly at another Baguio institution, Mandarin Restaurant on Session Road.

We started Saturday afternoon with a small table. From left are: Frank, Jenny, Grace Subido, Scott Saboy, Roland Rabang and Martin Masadao

Then more streamed in: Luchie Maranan, Baboo Mondoñedo and Junley Lazaga.

Among our recruits are Rose Urquico, Toottee Chanco Pacis and Auring Bautista

Audrey Beltran, Desiree Caluza, Pryce Quintos, Merci Javier Dulawan, Padma Perez and Frank again

Same gals from above listening to others introduce themselves this way: what I write, what I still want to write and what I expect from BWG and how I can help it

Retired economics professor Ben Tapang (seated fourth from left) says there must be more to life than the field he spent 50 years of his life on. This must mean that creative juices are still roiling within, waiting to be expressed. Photos by Babeth Lolarga

Thank you, Frank Cimatu, for graciously hosting a merienda of pancit bihon (with extra pechay toppings, as per his instruction to the waitress), lumpiang Shanghai and a round of drinks.

A spread like that is conducive to the concoction of plans. Among these are reviving the Kulitan workshop (these are bi-monthly manuscript clinics fueled by coffee for the critique-ing of works in progress by the literature profs and literary critics in the group), young adult writing workshops (open to 12 to 16 year old kids, one is coming up May 24-25 at the Frangeli House on Bakakeng road), a spoken word workshop that'll train young poets to perform and pit themselves in the Third Monday from the Sun readings/performances at Mt Cloud Bookshop (Jenny is worthy resource person for this activity), an online and refereed literary journal, among others.

We started the meeting with one large round table. As Saturday afternoon wore on, Luchie Maranan exhorted us to "let's volt in." It meant connecting two additional round tables but still it was standing room only!

What excites me about the enlarged composition of BWG is the variety of experiences, knowledge and skills that the new members are bringing in. Some of them come from civil society (human rights and indigenous people's orgs), others from the worlds of visual arts (steeped in art and comic-book writing) and local journalism. There is one who writes for an evangelical magazine as she is a theology teacher. We didn't limit ourselves to purely creative or literary writers.

Shall we sing "Happy Days Are Here Again" or "Ain't No Mountain High" to Jenny, Junley Lazaga (vice president), Scott Saboy (secretary), Merci Javier Dulawan (treasurer)?

Baguio artists for #YolandaPH

"WEATHER WE LIKE IT OR ART!"
an art sale to benefit the survivors of #YolandaPH

An Art Sale dedicated to raising funds for the relief efforts for the survivors of Typhoon #YolandaPH.

This event is one of the many events striving to raise funds for the Yolanda Relief Effort. We join the rest of the Baguio community in moving and creating spaces for raising awareness and encouraging support.

We invite you all to join us in raising our own consciousness towards a deeper environmental awareness. As human agents, we have the greatest capacity and capability for change.

On November 30, we are holding an art sale to help raise funds for the relief efforts for the areas directly affected by Typhoon Yolanda. All sales from the artworks will directly be added to the Yolanda Relief Fund, together with other fund-raising efforts held throughout the month. Please share this event with your network/s and do drop by to purchase artwork at ARTIST PRICES!

Organizers: Jennifer Patricia A. Cariño and Luchie Maranan

April loves

Kimi, my eldest daughter, chided me last month, around the time I was quietly bearing a low mood swing but appearing brave and normal on the outside, that I hadn't gotten around to blogging about her own daughter's latest milestone--second birthday. 

I did take pictures of that Saturday in the small open space near the house where the koi and frogs thrive in a pond that was recently widened. Our Baguio friends and neighbors came to celebrate, including violinist Lolo Guido who played the birthday song and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to an awestruck Kai. Mira Abaño also brought her guitar and showed us her strumming and singing chops.

First encounter with a violinist

Luchie Maranan captures singing pre-teener Mira on her phone's camera

The April born and her cake

There's nothing like a Kai to help one have a reason to get up and get going, no matter the compulsion to stay like a big lump covered by a woolen blanket and not face the day while wishing for a longer night. Thank heavens for little girls, indeed!

I think what helped me heal little by little was the company of another young 'un, my niece Bianca L. Susi, and forever young at heart, my sister Suzy, who has been a committed preschool teacher for over 20 years. Suzy is also good at organizing a house, that is, separating the unusables from the reusables and recyclables. Good thing she didn't throw me out during an unproductive (writing-wise) period!

One afternoon, family head Rolly treated us to lunch at Sizzling Plate, the Cariño street branch. Kai colored away while awaiting her order of sizzling bangus (as usual, she ate only the belly portion while I consumed the rest of it). It was her first time to try the restaurant's airy sans rival, and she cleaned up her plate. Same with Bianca and Suzy. Rolly got the hint--a couple of days later, he bought an entire cake that lasted less than 48 hours.

Keeping a toddler occupied at a restaurant

Having bangs trimmed

Now for the hair at the back

Quiet and still at the salon

Finishing touch

That same afternoon, I treated Kai to a haircut. She was a cooperative client, bowed her head forward or sideways, following the hairdresser's instructions. We spent the rest of the day at Burnham Park where Kai enjoyed her first boat ride on the lake. She almost refused to leave the boat after the 30-minute ride around the lake. We went around the Orchidarium to pose among the flora on exhibit and for sale.

Beautiful afternoon on the lake

Sunny dispositions

Someone's thrilled to be in a boat.

Little passenger wants another go.

Bianca's thank-you letter, received last week, summarized how we spent April in Baguio:

Dear Aunt Lizzie,

Thank you for allowing Auntie Su and me to have a more than one-week vacation in your cozy house. I really enjoyed it there, especially eating in Mackenzie's kitchen (my ice cream sandwich), playing with Kai, watching at Mayumi Cinema, the beautiful places we went to and most especially Baguio's fine weather. I also enjoyed our 2-day letter writing. Oh! I loved it whenever we would play jokes with each other in funny ways, specifically The British Accent. HAHA! Okay, I guess that's about all of it. Thank you again!

Love,
Bencky

Aunt Lizzie and Bencky were our codes for one another when we went through our British period (speaking with that accent associated with Queen Elizabeth and Dame Judi Dench).

I miss April, but not my brief low point. 

Till summer of 2014!

Just turned 11 Bianca and her niece by a yellow bamboo grove

Big kiss from Auntie Bencky

Photos by Babeth Lolarga and Bianca Susi

Direk Martin Masadao and the Baguio he loves

How often does a movie come along that reflects the heart of Baguio that is invisible to the naked eye? Rarely, if not at all.

Scriptwriter-director Martin Masadao (seated right) with cast and crew

 And then comes Martin Masadao’s Anac ti Pating (an Iluko phrase roughly translated as “child of a shark”), written and directed by him and winner of the Grand Festival Prize at the Second Sineng Pambansa of the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP). Anac’s main lead, Deuel Raynon Ladia, barely in his teens, is best actor prize winner.

Masadao says, “We hope to tour the film around the country, especially in schools. We’ve been invited to Sineng Rehiyon in Los Baños in February. I believe FDCP will show the Sineng Pambansa 2012 finalists in various cities this year.”

Those used to the pacing and editing of Hollywood movies can put this preference outside a movie house’s door. The style Masadao adopted in his debut film has the contemplative, and therefore, slow pace of a European film. It reflects his sensibility shaped by directors like Francois Truffaut and Woody Allen, who is funny but cerebral.

The pacing suits Baguio’s rhythm of life. Although it is a city, old-timers like Masadao, his cast and crew know how the ticking of the clock up there is like a long drawn-out sigh. Timepieces move slowly.

The time frame of Anac covers one academic year. It captures the non-stop patter of rain during the monsoon months when many residents, especially adults, can get afflicted by Seasonal Affective Disorder (with it apt acronym of SAD), a Christmas eve with a fireplace a-glow, the games unique to Baguio kids (sliding on a pine needle-covered slope using a flattened cardboard as makeshift sled), the preparations and rehearsals for Panagbenga Festival’s street dancing.

Sixto writes the letter that holds the film together.

Mother (played by Luchie Maranan) and son in noche buena scene

The opening scene catches the main character, Sixto Mangaoang (Ladia), only in his elementary grades but mature and intelligent beyond his years, in deep thought. He is scribbling a note. What follows afterwards is an entire flashback that returns to that original scene (the present) and to Sixto’s not-so-rash but well-thought-out decision to seek a life elsewhere away from Baguio, once referred to by Masadao in his play Baguio Stories as similar to “Peyton Place.”

The maturity and sure-footedness of Sixto for his life ahead is manifested by his sleeping in his school uniform so he can be ready to get up early for his classes. He just needs to down his breakfast and thoroughly brush his teeth and cleanse his tongue, and he’s off.

Although one notes a reluctant trudge in his walk to school, it isn’t because he dislikes school work. Like any ultra-smart kid, he puts up with bullying and is able to extract his sweet vengeance on the culprits in many ways like when he earns extra money by doing their homework.

Sixto and his Korean friend research in a library.

But it is his ties with a Korean boy named Clark (Steve Chong) that fills the void in his life. He must put up with warring parents, a drunken wastrel of a father (Nick Prill Calinao) and a hard-working mother, a richly nuanced performance by Luchie Maranan (herself a writer and compared jokingly by her older brother Ed as the new Lolita Rodriguez in terms of dramatic flair), whose real love is elsewhere, a schoolboy crush on a physical education teacher that is quickly crushed and other failed expectations.

Sixto and Clark embark on a cross-cultural friendship that has them addressing one another with swear words in their respective languages: okinam (your mother’s vagina in Iluko) and shibal lom (asshole in Korean). With Clark’s help, his playmate develops an environmentally themed story about a shark stranded in the Cordillera forest, a story accepted by a Manila publishing house.

Classroom scene at the Mabini Elementary School in Baguio City

The English composition teacher, played by journalist-playwright Nonnette Bennett, is able to bring out the budding writer in Sixto. One is reminded of a brief scene in the 1973 movie The Way We Were wherein Robert Redford plays a novice writer, and the professor reads aloud his work to the class. That same mix of pride and embarrassment is reflected on Sixto’s face as his teacher praises him and his classmates tease him, mainly out of envy.

Trained in past films as art director and production designer, Masadao and his unerring eye for detail intrudes lovingly in almost all scenes, some of them especially symbolic like the cracks on a green and white Baguio home, the rubble that is part of an overpopulated city, his assigning bit roles to Caucasian-looking Kawayan de Guia and newsman Frank Cimatu who play themselves and tapping the community talents in theater like Karlo Altomonte who can steal a scene with just one or two lines.

The next Masadao project, whether film or theater, will be eagerly anticipated.--Text by Elizabeth Lolarga and photos by Spyke Pat-ogan

First published by Vera Files/Yahoo Philippines, Jan. 15, 2013.

Anac ti Pating will again be screened at the Baguio Cinematheque in Casa Vallejo, Upper Session Road, Baguio City, on Feb. 1 and 2. Screenings: 1.30, 3.30 and 5.30 p.m. 

Sweet 60 birthday tribute to Jingjing with the smiling face

It was through the assignments given by Chato Garcellano, then travel editor of Philippine Daily Inquirer, that I got a chance to reconnect with Jingjing Romero. During the time Chato was travel ed, she'd send me off to media familiarization tours of Boracay, Palawan, Laguna, Batangas, with Jingjing as organizer and contact person.

Jingjing always impressed me with her warm, as against cold, professionalism. These tours were so efficiently organized. Not a minute was wasted. Not only did one get the main story with enough spillover materials for sidebars and private diary entries, one also got enough space and time to catch one's breath. Brava, Jingjing and her Stratos staff!

Jingjing Romero and a posse of media in Laguna: she is somewhere on the second row wearing a red blouse and a wide-brimmed hat.

What's more and what's better, Jingjing has a big heart, bigger than her fair, moon-shaped face that hasn't been visited by a frown or the lines and spots of age since the time I met her.

She showed this facet of herself many times in my life when some writers and I in Baguio City were reviving the Baguio Writers Group. One of our projects was a fund-raising jazz concert for a cause (e.g., the treatment and recovery of Napoleon Javier, a founding member of the Group who suffered and survived a major stroke, the holding of writing workshops for the city's young writers and also for retirees who'd like to leave a legacy, etc.).

Through her private donation along with those of other donors, the Baguio Writers Group, now under Luchie Maranan, has continued its mission of sharing writing expertise and opportunities with others.

When she's in the city up north, she calls and asks me to join her group for lunch or supper, even if I feel awkward because I'm not really a part of Baguio media in the sense of being a permanent resident there. When we part, she never fails to hand over a small gift, a bar of chocolate, an umbrella at one time (very useful during the monsoon months). This thoughtfulness I appreciate--it sets her leagues above other public relations practitioners (it's a profession, I agree, and a good one), but those others can appear user-friendly, sometimes.

For as long as you're connected to a major, even a minor, media outlet, they flit by you as though you're close and intimate and even loosely sign their notes, "With love." Jingjing is above insincerities like that. After all, mahigpit na ipinagbabawal ang plastic ngayon!

When music aficionado Pablo Tariman and I, as his assistant, embarked on the classical music education series billed as Intimate Concerts at Kiss the Cook Gourmet Restaurant, Jingjing was there with her gang called "Six and the City." Their presence at the initial concert of pianist Oliver Salonga helped to raise funds for the halfway house maintained for Aeta schoolchildren in Barangay Bayan-bayanan, Dinalupihan, Bataan, a project of former Audit Commissioner Evelyn San Buenaventura.

We saw Jingjing again, her son and another group at another intimate concert fund-raiser at the same venue, this time for the legal fees and other needs of Pablo's son-in-law, political prisoner Ericson Acosta, who was thrown in a Samar jail with trumped-up charges.

Another occasion, a recent one, when Jingjing responded to an SOS was when I referred film director Martin Masadao, also of Baguio City, to her. He and I asked her if she could request Seair to provide two seats for an under-aged member of the cast of Anac Ti Pating and a guardian, his lola, for a flight to and from Davao City.

This was in November of 2012 when the Sineng Pambansa awarding ceremonies were held in the southern city. Jingjing moved quickly to grant the request, and the boy, Raynon Ladia, went on to win the Best Actor trophy  and the film, the Grand Jury Prize.

When a gift is freely given, the returns are plentiful.

I predict that Jingjing's 60th year in this world and the additional grace years that will follow will be a time of great harvest not only in terms of material wealth (Who wants that alone? Not the Jingjing I know, I'm certain of that). Only someone like her whose faith in God is unwavering and who infects others with this faith deserves a period of grace such as this one tonight.

Thank you, Jingjing, for being a blessing to others.

--Babeth Lolarga

This piece serves as the blogger's testimonial to Ms. Elena "Jingjing" Romero of Stratos Inc. who is celebrating her 60th birthday tonight somewhere in Filinvest 2, Quezon City.

Military overkill in the handcuffing of Eric Acosta

After political prisoner Eric Acosta (right) left his jail cell in Calbayog, Samar, to fly to Manila in the company of Chief Public Attorney Persida Rueda-Acosta, he willingly gave up his seat in true gentlemanly fashion to a lady with a luggage and took a less comfortable seat inside the shuttle bus that brought the plane passengers to the NAIA 3 terminal. The guard from Samar assigned to him, Jesus Ostulano, maintained a respectful distance. The blogger begs this question: from the airport all the way to the National Kidney Institute, this young man was without handcuffs so why tie him now to his hospital bed like a crazed homicidal maniac that he isn't? Come on, people, commie-baiting went out with the dishonored Joseph McCarthy. Photo by Babeth Lolarga

From the National Union of Peoples' Lawyers

"As counsels of poet-artist political prisoner Ericson Acosta, we strongly deplore the plan of BJMP officials to handcuff him to his hospital bed while confined and to be guarded with 10 Rambo-type BJMP personnel coupled with exaggerated and unreasonably strict new measures. This would be brazen overkill not warranted by the situation and his condition. He has heretofore not been handcuffed and was guarded by a lone unarmed guard without any incident. It is cruel, it is degrading and it is even inhuman. Again, it is another clear proof that the poor and powerless are treated differently from the rich and influential like GMA, Abalos, Morato and many others who have used their arguably contrived medical condition to whoop it up while facing far greater and well-grounded charges, versus the people including activists including Acosta. "

-Atty. Edre Olalia, National Union of Peoples' Lawyers

=====

From Luchie Maranan:

"They handcuff Ericson to his hospital bed

As if he can sprint to freedom
With ailing kidneys that 
Prison has done to him.

And they let go of the
Biggest thieves this nation has ever known
They have blinders when torturers
And butchers still roam.

They don't know the poet knows
No jail because the spirit
Has been to the streets, farms and hills
And it is in the people's heart he lives."
 

--Luchie Maranan

Victory party for Martin plus more on 1st Sunday of Advent

He and his Baguio friends had every reason to celebrate. Martin Masadao, scriptwriter and director of Anac Ti Pating, adjudged best film at the recent Sineng Pambansa Festival in Davao City. gave us the blow-by-blow account of the awards night wherein one of his actors, Deuel Raynon Ladia, also won the best actor trophy. 

When Martin's name was called, he was so flustered and nervous that when he went onstage, he was shaking all over. He had to hold on to his Grand Festival Award trophy lest it fall. This would have been his thank-you speech:

"The entire cast, staff and crew behind "Anac Ti Pating" -- Ferdie Balanag, Hendrix Sanchez, Shant Verdun, Randy Cruz, Spyke, Paul, John, Willy, Laydeh, Bishi, Raynon Ladia, Luchie Maranan, Nick Prill Calinao, Steve Chong, Dr. Charles Macalalag, Joaquin Fianza, Nonnette Bennett, Laurence Yee, Endong Nevada, Sam Borcena, the students of Mabini Elementary School, Paul Ignacio, Kokoy Palma, Athena Masilungan, Gabriel Palma, Karlo and RL Altomonte, Art Tibaldo, Dave Leprozo, Ani Bongaoen, Stella Lagasca and the other bit players... (kung may nakalimutan ako, pasensya na lang, alzheimer's lang, walang personalan)

"Thank you to Norman Adefuin for the poster lay-out and design. And to Richard Balonglong for the photo we used in the poster.

"During the course of writing the script last year up to the pre-production days from January to August -- the following  people housed me, fed me, occasionally got me drunk -- Susan Tagle, Reji Regalado, Dra. Yvonne Soriano, Atty. Lyssa Pagano-Calde, Bien Benitez, Jay Adlao-Block -- Thank You!!! But most especially for the support you've given me through the years!

"(Special mention to Endong Nevada and Ellen Lao who in December last year lent me financial support so I could submit the manuscript in time. Maraming salamat, kahit na late ako nakapag-bayad nung utang. Hehehe.)

"To the Baguio Writers Group -- Merci Dulawan (who helped me out with some of the Ilocano dialogue), Baboo Mondonedo, Grace Subido, Desiree Caluza, Jenny Carino and Padma Perez -- Maraming Salamat sa encouragement!

"To the Film Development Council of the Philippines -- Chairman Briccio Santos, Exec. Director Ted Granados, Nonoy, Ma'am Wilma, Ma'am Cely, Monchito, Ina, etc. -- thank you for your understanding and having faith in the material/script from the very beginning.

"To Babeth Lolarga who helped me secure round trip tickets for Raynon Ladia and his Grandmother, Alejandra de Jesus -- through Babeth, we were able to get sponsorship from Seair -- thanks to Ms. JingJing Romero of Stratos! And to Michelle Uson-Laurel for the generous pabaon she sent for Raynon and Grandma for their trip to Davao. To our beautiful and gracious host in Davao, Mymy Andong, daghang salamat!

"To my Sagittarian mothers -- Mitos Yniguez, Laida Lim and (my real Sagittarian Mom) Gertrudes 'Didi' Masadao -- for the love, support, great food all these years and hopefully more to come!

"To Wilfredo Pascual, Nonnette Bennett and Frank Cimatu -- I may not be a member of your secret coven, but thank you for all the positive energies and vibes you've sent my way through the years! Baka pwede akong maging honorary warlock/witch?! Cheers!!!

"To my family -- Budi, Joy, Geej, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles and cousins -- thank you for all the fond memories of growing up in Baguio.

"To my dearest sister, Felina -- the keeper of the flame...

"I send my love to all of you!"

Meanwhile, Kuya Fern and I hosted a victory party-cum-potluck Christmas party at our Green Valley digs. 

Early birds Robert Abano and his children Mira and Igi brought Everything Nice cassava cake. The beer flowed, courtesy of Baboo and Kuya Fern. She also brought mechado with yum dee yum yum mushroom gravy. 

There was spaghetti from the Maranan siblings Ed and Luchie, vegetarian pica pica from Desiree Caluza, lengua from Merci Javier Dulawan that made us all chatty till dinner time and beyond. Jenny Carino brought a bottle of red wine, and she had every reason to celebrate--she was grand-slam winner in the bunutan and at the raffle of artworks from the Lolarga-Fernandez collection. She brought home a watercolor by Baboo and a Roland Bay-an oil on canvas work with three Igorot women as subjects. Latecomer-from-work Nonnette Bennett, also in the cast of Anac Ti Pating, brought kimchi. 

I opened my big bottle of Jack Daniels, the only pasalubong I requested from my kuya who went on a media fam tour of Dubai, for sharing with fellow scotch drinker Baboo. The Pacis couple, Oscar and Toottee, led a thanksgiving prayer for Martin's award and for Luchie's Palanca  prize for her children's short story and wished us well in our writerl-y, even painter-ly, endeavors, reminding us never to forget to plug in to The Source, The One when we begin anything creative. Shy mango EV Espiritu, who's also a mask-maker, theater director and choreographer when he isn't a photo correspondent of a national broadsheet, shared some photos of that enchanting evening.

There was also a dance-time-at-GV contest to the music of Sergio Mendes when he still had his original Brasil '66. Toottee and Oscar, who have a son who is a ballet dancer with a Hong Kong company, served as judges and ruled that Baboo and Ed deserved to be crowned dancing queen and king because they showed grace and intuitive timing. 

The compromising video of the contestants dancing for the prizes (a Tawi-tawi banig and a 1/1 print of Brent School's Ogilvy Hall by Pandy Aviado) has been stored away for private viewing. The videographer promised within an inch of his life that he wouldn't upload it on YouTube. Here we are at a party to remember.

Merry-makers all (from left): Baboo, Oscar and Toottee who brought home a Roberto Acosta terracotta sculpture, Babeth holding up the scarf Martin gave her (he emphasized that it didn't come from ukay-ukay but from Germany), Martin, Jenny, Luchie, Merci and Desiree. Kneeling on one knee is Rolly with his signature prop.

Next time someone please bring a tripod so everyone can be in the picture. This time another manong, EdMar, joins Rolly on the floor.

It was the kind of wild-tame party that'll long live in our memories as another year comes in and adds another year to our respective ages. This time, shy mango EV joins Rolly on the floor.

Photos courtesy of EV Espiritu