Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Rolando B. Tolentino
ISSUE EDITOR
Dx MACHINA 2
PHILIPPINE LITERATURE
IN THE TIME OF COVID-19
Rolando B. Tolentino
ISSUE EDITOR
Rolando B. Tolentino
Issue Editor
Albert Raqueño
Cover Artist
R. Jordan P. Santos
Layout
Rogene A. Gonzales
Arvin Abejo Mangohig
Copy Editors
LIKHAAN:
THE UP INSTITUTE
OF CREATIVE WRITING
Room 3200, Pavilion 3
Palma Hall, Roxas Street
UP Diliman, Quezon City
Telephone
8981-8500, loc. 2116, 2117, 2417
Rolando B. Tolentino
Director
Email
icw.upd@up.edu.ph
Vladimeir B. Gonzales
Deputy Director Facebook
facebook.com/panitikan.ph
Advisers facebook.com/upicw
National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario
Twitter
National Artist for Literature Bienvenido L. Lumbera
@PanitikanPH
National Artist for Theater Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio @LIKHAAN
University Professor Emeritus Gémino H. Abad
Professor Emeritus Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo
Fellows
Professor Emeritus Jose Y. Dalisay Jr.
Professor J. Neil C. Garcia
Professor Jun Cruz Reyes
Professor Victor Emmanuel Carmelo D. Nadera Jr.
Professor Romulo P. Baquiran Jr.
Professor Luna Sicat Cleto
Professor Eugene Y. Evasco
Mr. Charlson L. Ong
Associates
Professor Ramon G. Guillermo
Professor Anna Felicia C. Sanchez
Staff
Ronnie C. Amuyot
Arlene A. Andresio
Gloria C. Evangelista
Manolet V. Ferrer
Bookkeeper
Ma. Karen S. Pablo
Nilalaman | Table of Contents
1.
vii
viii Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
2.
Ang bawat isa sa naipasang manuskrito ay testamento sa
pagiging frontliners din ng manunulat. Itong literary frontliners
ay testamento at ebidensiya na naging mapagbantay ang mga
manunulat at ang sining ng panulat sa gitna ng pandemiko at ng
pandemikong lockdown. Ito ang mga tula, prosa, dula, at graphic
novel na naisulong at nailuwal sa kasagsagan ng pandemiko sa
bansa at sa mundo. Ang dalawampung seleksiyong napili ang mga
umangat sa mga kahanay nito dahil mas maningning na nailarawan
at nabigyang-buhay ang mga hibla ng anxiedad, takot, pangamba,
kamatayan, desolasyon, awa, pakikipagkapwa, at pag-asa mula sa
iba’t ibang ground level ng pandemiko.
Tinatalakay ng mga akda ang mga paksa ng mga emosyon,
pakiwari, afekt at efekto, ng pandemiko at lockdown. Tasitong
pinag-uusapan ng mga ito ang isyu ng pagsusulat sa gitna at laban sa
pandemiko. Maaaninag sa mga ito kung paano ang mga manunulat,
ang mga persona, at punto de bistang sinasambit sa mga akda
ay naapektuhan ng pandemiko, nabago ang kanilang buhay at
pananaw sa buhay. Ang mga akda sa partikular at ang panulat sa
pangkalahatan ay mga sanity check ng mga manunulat to keep a
balance of things kung posible man ito sa maaligagang panahon
ng pandemiko na ang lunduyan ng pagdama ay individualisasyon,
individuasyon, at internalisasyon.
Ang mga tula sa isyu ay patunay sa paghamig sa estilo at kalakaran
ng panulaan para bigyang-ngalan at mundo itong pagdanas
sa pandemiko. Sa mga tula nina U Z. Eliserio, Richard Gappi,
Kristoffer B. Berse, at Jose Velando Otagis, gamit ang pakutyang
estilo ng pagtula ni Marcelo H. del Pilar, may carnivalesque laughter
ni Mikhail Bakhtin sa inversyon na ang mababa ay idinadambana
at ang matataas ay dinudusta. Sa mga tula nina Kristian Sendon
Cordero ng Bikol, Shane Carreon ng Cebu, Felix Fojas mula sa U.S.,
Faye Cura ng Metro Manila, at Romulo P. Baquiran ng Quezon City,
x Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
3.
Writing, literature, and the creative processes—even cooking,
gardening, online selling and recalling memories, among others—
xii Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
U Z. Eliserio
1.
Humuhulagpos
at umaawit:
“Luwalhati sa COVID!”
Nasusunog ang Amazon
at bilanggo tayo ng pag-ibig.
Parang Bomba,
gusto
kong
basahin:
COVID!
COVID!
COVID!
Pinupuri ko ang COVID
at pinupuri ko
ang aking pagpuri.
1
2 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
2.
Panahon na para
magsimula:
ito ang kuwento ng COVID.
Hindi
pa tapos
ang lungkot.
Araw?
Wala nang araw
Binura ko na ang kalendaryo sa aking telepono!
Walang lakas,
walang dunong.
Manggagawa ng pagnanasa.
Ang bayan
ay pareho
kahit nasa Landmark.
U Z. Eliserio 3
Oorder
ng Silka Papaya.
Lahat ng uri
ng basura
oorderin natin.
Saka itatambak
sa tabi.
5.
Titira sa Malacañang.
Dikit-dikit, laban sa init.
Giniginaw.
Habang nagsusulat,
nagkaroon ako ng bisyon:
si Putin sa Kremlin.
Putin
ina
mo.
Mabaho pa rin.
’Wag mo na lang
amuyin.
Nang isang araw nagsuot ng face mask si
Santa Veronica at hawak ang Divino Rostro
Kristian Sendon Cordero
Maniniwala ka ba kung sasabihin ko sa’yong mukhang hindi ito ang kanyang mukha.
O mananatili ka na lamang sa paniniwalang ito ang ipinamumukha sa’yong mukha.
Ikaw ang aking deboto at sa hawak kong mukha matagal mo nang sinasabi
ang iyong magkakamukhang dasal, walang kamukhang mga alinlangan
O lagi’t laging hindi naman ang mukhang hindi naman ito ang kanyang mukha
ang nakikita—kundi ang sariling mukha dahil tayo talaga ang magkamukha,
Ako ito, ang gusto kong ipamukha sa’yo. Hindi mo kailangang manghiram
ng mukha sa aso, kabayo o sa mga ginawang maskarang magkakamukha.
6
Kristian Sendon Cordero 7
Tingnan mo ang hawak kong panyo. Ipinamumukha nito na wala akong pangalan,
wala akong mukha maliban sa kung anong mukha ang naitala sa telang lino.
Ito ang mukhang aking kamukha, ang utang kong mukha sa kanya,
nang minsang ipinamukha natin sa lahat ng mukhang makakapal ang mukha
Plotting a revolution
12
Shane Carreon 13
2. Is there anyone there past the orchard, behind the rock roses?
6. Someone pounds a hashtag on the Walls of Nothing for the world to see.
7. This:
The Flare
The flare appeared, up at fifteen past six that rising dusk. It turned, ever
slow motioning through reasonable distance into a reveal: a descending
airplane and not what it could easily have been: a mistaken message
from the seas.
The moon meanwhile from not too far ahead was a waning pale
fingernail, ebbing. Opposite, you supposed, the unseen seldom
reimagined remains wedged in culverts.
Elsewhere the sun should remain up in that place the exact same hour
where you are, only upside down. Sun soundless through way past
evening. Otherwise it would be transfixed, Greatly, immortally mute and
dying on a Polaroid.
Because whatever it was you once held true was no longer, even the
deserted streets had come to mean something: an Achilles heel, a ploy, a
call, the incurable Judas-walking on a worldwide scale.
And such reckless spectacle of hope only from the night before!
So here you are—still waiting out for the right lights to appear, finally,
darting like Morse Code flailing through the eddying storm, legible only
through darkness.
CORONAVIRUS CANTOS
Felix Fojas
Canto I
O microscopic menace,
You wear a macabre face
Bristling with spikes like a mace
Hurtling in airy space;
And in you wake leave no trace,
Crush all who fell from grace
With your pandemic embrace.
Canto II
To cough or not to cough,
To sneeze or not to sneeze:
That is the dreaded, fatal
Question you must avoid
Like the plague, lest you
Fall prey to that man-made
Apocalyptic curse, alas,
The insidious Coronavirus.
Canto III
Alas, poor Yorick, I knew
Him, Horatio, a fellow
Of wit and jest infinite
Who tested positive.
15
16 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
Canto IV
And dreaded Coronavirus
Is spreading faster than
A forest fire and scorching
The whole earth, turning
It into a flaming inferno,
And burning even prancing
Salamanders in the white-
Hot high fever of its wake.
Canto V
Coronavirus: from pandemic
to apocalyptic. The rest
is purely academic.
Canto VI
Don’t be manic,
Don’t you panic,
For Coronavirus
Is quite democratic.
Canto VII
Coronavirus is purging
Poor Mother Earth of
Pesky human viruses.
Canto VIII
She infects me,
She infects me not,
She infects me
With Coronavirus.
Felix Fojas 17
Canto IX
Virus, virus on the filthy wall
Did you infect me in the mall?
Canto X
Why so pale and Wuhan
My pretty lass. Are you
Pregnant with Coronavirus?
Canto XI
For the chosen few,
Stay home and get fat.
For the wretched many,
Stay homeless and starve.
Life is still patently unfair
In the time of Coronavirus.
Canto XII
Shi Huangdi, egocentric
First emperor of China,
Aside from burning all
The classic books that
Were writ before his
Time, imposed social
Distancing by building
The Great Wall of China
To keep out screaming
Unwashed hordes of
Northern barbarians
From staining the delicate
Fabric of his empire, akin
To precious pure white
Silk woven in Jiangsu.
18 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
Canto XIII
In the fateful year
Of Coronavirus,
You can fart, burp,
Or yawn at point
Blank range with
Utter impunity
And total disregard
For social distancing
Sans getting a
Tad embarrassed.
No more caressing,
Kissing and embracing
In the Unromantic
Age of Coronavirus,
Oh where the only
Remaining socially
Polite, politically
Correct thing to do
Is to touch yourself.
Canto XV
Why wear another mask
Just to humor Coronavirus,
When you’ve always worn
A mask within a mask all
Your life? Don’t be redundant!
Canto XVI
Oh my darling oh my darling
Oh my darling Quarantine
Now you are sad and lonely
Dreadfully sorry, Quarantine.
Felix Fojas 19
Canto XVII
Love in the time
Of Coronavirus
Means always
Kissing while
Wearing a tight
Sanitary mask
And an oily pair
Of disinfected
Surgical gloves.
Canto XVIII
I have two hands
The left and the right
Hold them up high
So clean and bright
Clap them softly
One, two, three
Coronavirus-free hands
Are good to see
Canto XIX
Talking to myself and feelin’ old
Sometime I’d like to quit
Nothin’ ever seems to fit
Hanging around
Nothing to do but frown
Rainy days and Sundays always
get me down
‘Cause Coronavirus is in town
20 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
Canto XX
Shell-shocked comrades,
O beware the invisible
Pandemic enemy who
Silently creeps at midnight,
Like a fearless Gurkha
Warrior, and cold bloodedly
Slits our throats and stabs
Our lungs with his sharp
Curved kukri knife, leaving
All of us deader than dead,
Sweet Jesus, even before
Anyone can, alas, make
The holy sign of the cross!
Canto XXI
Let us go then you and I
When Coronavirus is spread
Out against the sky
Like a patient on a respirator
Breathing out his last...
Canto XXII
This is the way the world ends,
Not with a bang but with a sneeze.
TATLONG TULANG AKROSTIK
Faye Cura
Mebuyan
21
22 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
Si Nanay
24
Romulo P. Baquiran Jr. 25
Si Tatay
mga kliyente niya na huwag munang singilin ang utang nila. Mas masahol
pa ang lungkot ni Tatay ngayon kaysa noong Pasko. Nang dumating ang
ayudang bigas ni Meyor Ligaya, lalo lamang bumagsak ang pakiramdam ni
Tatay. Bigas, bigas, tatlong kilong bigas ang dumating sa kaniyang masikip
na tahanan. Hindi man lang Angelicang kinasanayan niyang mabango at
masarap. Ngayong Mahal na Araw, damang-dama ni Tatay ang penitensiya.
Nagdidildil ng asin sabay ng puting-puti ring kanin.
Si Kuya
Si Ate
Si Awit
muling lilitaw kapag nawala naman ang ibang medyo naging abala siguro
at mas gusto na lang magpahinga kapag Sabado’t Linggo. Kaya patag ang
bilang ng kostumer ng club. Saktong dami para pagkatapos na masiyahan
sa awit ni Awit at mga kabanda ay maglalabas naman ng gilas at sigla sa
entablado sa bahagi ng open mike o karaoke. May kakaibang enerhiyang
nalilikha ang mga magkakahenerasyon dahil sa pinagsaluhang mga
damdamin ng lumang pagsibol ng pagmamahal at mas madalas—
pagkabigo. Iyan naman ang karaniwang drama sa Power. May kinukudlit
na pagsariwa ang bawat pagkanta ni Awit (na sa totoo lamang ay
tumutulay sa medyo pagkaplakado at medyo-medyo sariling estilo)—sabi
na rin ng mga nakikihalubilong nagkakaedad na rin. Nilalapitan siya
ng mga ito pagkatapos ng kaniyang set. Halatang naaakit sa kaniyang
may ningning na mata na kapares ng kaniyang may tining na boses.
Nakikipaglandian si Awit pero kunwa-kunwa lang. Pagbuo ng dahilan
para puntahan ang club at magtuloy ang negosyo. Kabuhayan para sa
lahat. Aliw para sa kanilang nalulumbay at napagod sa pagtatrabaho ng
isang linggo. Ito na ang dahilan para magpatuloy lamang na mabuhay si
Awit. Kahit habang buhay lamang na ganito, magiging masaya siya. Pero
nang dumating ang COVID-19, naipamukha sa kaniya ng pagkawala ng
entablado, ng pagpatay sa mikropono, ng pag-andap ng mga ilaw ang
tila walang kabuluhan niyang pag-iral. Walang nakakarinig ng kaniyang
boses. Walang gana sa pagkausap sa kaniya ang asawa. Walang kuwenta
ang mahabang bakasyong gawa ng lockdown. Ikamamatay niya ito.
Ang pag-awit ng mga kabisadong awit ang nakakapitan niya ng lakas at
bumubuhay sa kaniya at sa walang kuwentang asawa. Mabuti na lamang
at napanood niya minsan ang mga konsiyerto online. Nagka-ideya siyang
magbukas ng Facebook page at magbigay ng palabas online. Puwedeng
mag-request ang mga dati niyang fans sa “Power of Love” at boluntaryong
mag-GCash donation. Muling pumailanlang ang boses ni Awit.
Nagkaroon siya ng panibagong buhay. Sa gitna ng pagkalat ng COVID-19.
Si Ditse
Si Tagasalin
uSAP-usapan
Sanay na kami.
Ang tawaging kilikili ng lungsod
at libag ng lansangang umaalingasaw.
Amoy-kanal?
Sa estero kami nakabahay.
O e ano?
Hindi natutong mag-ipon?
32
Richard R. Gappi 33
Tamad?
34 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
Annual tax?
Sino bang gumawa ng batas na exempted ang suweldong PHP30,000 pababa?
Kung PHP350 daily minimum wage sa CALABARZON,
i-times natin sa 20 araw kung walang no work no pay,
kasalanan bang ang suweldo namin e exempted sa tax?
LIHAM SA ANAK
I.
Tulad nang mag-Yolanda
At ngayong may pandemya;
Moog nati’t sandata
Ang Diyos at Siyensya.
II.
May bagyo man o dilim
Kahit may COVID-19;
Christmas Tree na maningning
Itayo pa rin natin.
III.
Kapag walang ham on sight
O Pamaskong matanggap
P’wede kayang dolomite
Ang ihanda sa hapag?
IV.
Ang mga sinasabi
ng Teacher mo sa klase,
tandaan nang mabuti . . .
“Hell . . . Hello . . . PLDT . . .?!”
V.
Kapag signal ay palpak,
Si Teacher nababanas;
Iwas sa kulit, anak,
Kapag nasa online class.
VI.
“Ginawa ko ang modyul;
Rekwayrd ng supervisor.
Sayang ang iniukol—Ulit daw!—may bagong form!”
ULAN
I.
38
Kristoffer B. Berse 39
II.
III.
Oras-oras,
Ipinapanganak ang kaba,
Hinahabol ang hininga.
Kristoffer B. Berse 41
Siyam-siyam na Buhay
At sa tuwing sinasagpang
Ng laksa-laksang balisa
Ang ating kawalang-magawa,
Nagtatakip tayo ng bibig at ilong
Kapag bumabahing ng sama ng loob
Sa harap ng piping dingding
At bulag na bintana,
Tinitiyak na malayo sa naaabot
Ng NBI at social media
Ang bigat ng dala-dala.
44 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
Gabi-gabi,
Upang matiyak na di madapuan
Ng haka-haka’t pangamba
Ang ating pagpapasya,
Pinupunasan natin ng alkohol
Ang mga bagay na maaaring
Pagkapitan ng dumi—
Pinto, sapatos, grocery,
Tsismis, datos, mga troll
Na pro- at anti-Duterte,
Mga adviser at opisyal na epal
At sukdulang matapobre,
Bibig ng presidente.
Do Not Go Gentle into That GCQ and Other Poems
Jose Velando Ogatis-I
45
46 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
Pandemic Patterns
These days
as affliction knits death along Lake Sebu
the eagles no longer fly as I slumber.
No eagle call blankets my sleep,
only coughing.
Thankfully,
my people are patched with hope.
Grandmother says this deathly design
will soon unravel.
“Kadaw La Sambad will make this all end.
Your dream eagles will fly again
and our lives will soon mend.”
Notes
1. Fu Dalu is the spirit of the abaca
2. Lamdalag and Lamlahak are barangays along Lake Sebu in Cotabato.
3. Kadaw La Sambad is a T’boli deity
O, ANONG SAYA! (O ANG NATUTUHAN
KO NGAYONG PANDEMYA)
Chuckberry J. Pascual
51
52 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
Kadiri, di ba? Pero sa tingin ko, maaaring ugatin ang mga biro
tungkol sa paligsahan kung saan Pilipino lagi ang nagwawagi sa
mga kuwentong pusong. Nariyan ang mga kuwento ni Pilandok,
halimbawa, kung paano niyang pinaglalangan ang hari para makuha
ang kayamanan nito at asawa. Siyempre pa, dahil ako ang tipo ng
taong may kaalaman sa kasaysayang pampanitikan ng Pilipinas, ito
ang iniisip ko sa tuwing humahalakhak sa mga meme, o nagha-haha
react o LMAO emoji. Hindi lang ako simpleng nagko-comment sa
social media, nakikibahagi ako sa isang mahabang tradisyon ng
pamumusong sa Pilipinas. Ang halakhak ko ay may alingawngaw
ng halakhak ng mga ninuno kong nagawang paglalangan ang mga
tatanga-tangang fraile. Sabi nga ni Lucero, nais niyang tingnan ang
pusong bilang “master of the double-entendre, of the polysemic,
of the fictional epiphany that comes with the surprise twist.” At
sumasang-ayon ako sa napakamapagpalayang pagbasang ito. Aba,
hindi ba’t ito ang ginagawa ng mga meme-maker, ang paglalaro sa
salita, sa kahulugan, at bilang epekto ay kinukulapulan ng dumi
ang mukha ng hari at ng iba pang nasa kapangyarihan? Sabi nga
sa isang meme, anong klaseng acronym ba naman ang nalilikha
ng gobyerno natin—Bayanihan Act to Heal as One o BAHO for
short. Ito rin ang enerhiyang nasa likod ng meme na nagpapakita
ng larawan ng dalawang mataas na pinuno ng bansa. Kapwa sila
nakasaludo sa larawan. Pero ang nakasulat sa ilalim ng larawan ng
Bise-Presidente, “salute.” Habang ang nakalagay naman sa ilalim ng
larawan ng Presidente, “salot.” Ito rin ang tinutuntungang siste ng
3 Ang bersiyong ito ay ipinamana sa akin ng lolo ko. Walang citation dahil
tradisyong oral, siyempre. Pero para sa mahilig sa written culture (sa internet),
interesanteng tingnan ang isang baryasyon nito sa isang nobelang Wattpad, kung
saan ang Pilipinong may may maruming salawal ay sinasabing mula sa “angkan
ni Lam Ang.” Tingnan ang JacktheReaper22406, “Kabanata 4: Ang Umpisa ng
Lahat” nasa Kamao, https://www.wattpad.com/125811250-kamao-kabanata-4.
In-access Setyembre 28, 2020.
58 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
A monk asked Tozan, “How can we escape the cold and heat?”
Ang baryasyon ng huling linya ay “When it is cold, let the cold kill
you. When it is hot, let the heat kill you.” Mas gusto ko ang baryasyon
dahil mas deretsahan. Patay kung patay! O sa wika ng enlightened
being na si Rufa Mae Quinto, “Todo na ’to!” Kaya nang magkaroon
ng pandemya, nagpaubaya na lang ako sa online classes. Hayaan
nang mabagal ang internet. Ang mahalaga, nakakapag-check pa
rin ng email at social media, at kaya pa rin naman ng connectivity
natin ang streaming ng YouTube at Netflix. (Konting buffering lang.)
Hayaan nang maraming absent na estudyante dahil hirap silang
makahanap ng signal. Ang mahalaga, huwag na lang mag-check
ng attendance. Hayaan nang may mga materyal na posibleng may
copyright violation. Ang mahalaga, wala namang makakaalam.
Hayaan nang nabawasan ang interaksiyon sa mga estudyante, na
para ka lang nakikipag-usap sa sarili mo kapag nagtuturo. Ang
mahalaga, hindi mo na makikita kung natutulog sila. Ligtas pa ang
60 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
self-esteem mo. (At bakit hindi, natutulog naman talaga ang mga
estudyante kahit noong wala pa sa hinagap natin ang COVID, ano.)
Hayaan nang kailangan pa ring magklase online kahit may delubyo
na sa labas. Ang mahalaga, puwede ka laging magdeklarang down
ang internet kapag tinatamad magturo, at walang puwedeng
kumwestiyon sa iyo dahil kakampi mo ang walang kupas na walang
kakuwenta-kuwentang serbisyo ng Globe, PLDT, Sky, at Smart.
(Hindi ko pa nasusubukan ang Converge.)
At higit sa lahat—ang pinakapamatay na dahilan para hindi
lumaban—ay wala nang trapik! Hindi na kailangang mag-aksaya ng
oras sa daan. Nabawasan kahit paano ang ating shadow-work. Mas
mataas pa nga ang pagkakataon para gumanda at magpaganda dahil
hindi na rin kailangang masira ang balat na dulot ng alikabok na
araw-araw sinasagap sa labas.4 Puwede nang mag-skin care habang
nagkaklase, basta siguruhin lang na naka-off ang camera—isang
seryosong concern dahil ayon sa Allure, may dulot talagang pinsala
ang blue light sa balat. Salamat, Allure.
Hindi na rin kailangang magbihis pa nang magarbo kapag
papasok sa klase, hindi na kailangang magpabango, hindi na
kailangang magpagupit nang regular, at kung naturalesa mong
maging salaula, ni hindi na nga kailangang maligo. Hindi lang oras
ang natitipid, kundi pati budget sa jeep at Grab, at budget para sa
laundry, shampoo, at conditioner. Tipid din sa bayarin sa tubig.
Puwede ang lahat ng ito dahil puwede naman kasing magklase
nang naka-off ang camera. Sa online class, puro lang kayo itim na
kahon at boses na choppy. Boses na choppy, pero take note, ang
kaalaman: hindi choppy. Puro boses, puro kaalaman, pero walang
laman, walang katawan. Aba, hindi ba’t ito ang pinakamalapit na
estadong maaabot natin ang ipinapangaral ng mga buddha, ng
mga zen master, ng mga enlightened being—na wala lang tayong
lahat? At sa kaalamang wala lang tayo, doon, doon lamang natin
4 Hindi na rin masyadong iitim ang kulangot.
Chuckberry J. Pascual 61
Sanggunian
Almario, Virgilio. 2001. UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino. Lungsod Quezon: Sentro ng Wikang
Filipino.
Bradley, Laura. 2019. “Mulan Actress Voices Support for Hong Kong Police
Amid Protests, Sparks Boycott Calls.” Vanity Fair. In-access Setyembre 29, 2020. https://
www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2019/08/mulan-boycott-liu-yifei-hong-kong-
protests-police.
Cabico, Gaea Katreena. 2020. “COVID-19 Cases in Philippines Surge to 2,084
with Biggest Daily Rise.” Philstar, Marso 21, 2020. https://www.philstar.com/
headlines/2020/03/31/2004509/covid-19-cases-philippines-surge-2084-
biggestdaily-rise.
Cook, Barry at Tony Bancroft, dir. 1998. Mulan. Burbank, CA: Walt Disney Pictures.
CNN Philippines. 2020. “Covid Cases in the Philippines Jump to 140, Death Toll at 12.”
CNN
Philippines, Marso 15, 2020. https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2020/3/15/Philippines-
COVID-19-coronavirus-cases-deaths.html.
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Dela Cruz, Abbo Q. 1984. Misteryo sa Tuwa. Maynila: Experimental Cinema of the
Philippines.
GMA News Online. 2020. “Philippines Records 2 New COVID-19 Cases.” GMA News
Online, Marso 6, 2020. https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/728576/
philippines-records-2-more-covid-19-cases/story.
_____. 2020. “12-Year-Old Boy Enrolls Himself in School Using Pisonet Computer.”
GMA News Online, Hunyo 24, 2020. https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/hashtag/
content/744042/12-year-old-boy-enrolls-himself-to-school-using-pisonet-
computer/story.
Hau, Caroline S. 2000. Necessary Fictions: Philippine Literature and the Nation, 1946-1980.
Lungsod Quezon: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Haylett, Wendy. 2016. “Koans for Everyday Life: No Cold and Heat by
Tozan.” Linkedin. In-access Setyembre 29, 2020. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/
koans-everyday-life-cold-heat-tozanwendy-
haylett.
Illich, Ivan. 1980. “Shadow-work.” Philosophiea 26 (2): 7–46. https://www.philosophica.
ugent.be/wp-content/uploads/fulltexts/26-2.pdf
JacktheReaper22406. 2020. “Kabanata 4: Ang Umpisa ng Lahat.” Kamao. In-access
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Lucero, Rosario Cruz. 2007. Bayan sa Labas ng Maynila/The Nation Beyond Manila.
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Lulo-ew, Bj. 2020. Facebook. In-access Setyembre 29, 2020. https://www.facebook.
com/photo?fbid=686733135268391&set=a.109939252947785.
Mackenzie, Macaela, Leah Prinzivalli, and Paige Stables. 2020. “How Your
Phone’s Blue Light Could Be Damaging Your Skin, According to Dermatologists.”
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skin-effects.
Mendez, Christina. “Duterte Unleashes Insults on Diokno, Other Critics”,
MSN News, Abril 4, 2020. https://www.msn.com/en-ph/news/national/duterte-
unleashes-insults-ondiokno-other-critics/ar-BB12amN1.
Oneill, Therese. 2018. “15 Great Quotes You Wish They’d Said (But They
Didn’t!). Mental Floss. In-access Setyembre 29, 2020. https://www.mentalfloss.com/
article/61069/15-great-quotesyou-wish-theyd-said-they-didnt.
Pipay (@pipaykipayy). 2020. “mAniLa bAyY.” Twitter, Setyembre 6, 2020. https://twitter.
com/pipaykipayy/status/1302550866952556545?s=21.
Reyes, Edgardo M. 1986. Sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag. Maynila: De La Salle University Press.
San Juan, Ratziel. “I’m more relaxed now: Harry Roque answers to TV
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answerstv-journalist-joseph-morong-only.
The Political Animal. Facebook. In-access Setyembre 29, 2020. https://www.facebook.
com/thepoliticalanimal/photos/a.222008861225152/3295314707227870/.
I Am Patient 2,828 and Other Personal
COVID-19 Stories
HG Severino
I am one of the lucky ones who have been able to go home, resume
a semblance of my former life, and live to tell the tale.
Since the pandemic is far from over, many more will be infected and
confined. Some will not make it. Those of us among the pioneers—
I’m Patient 2,828 in the lower part of the upward curve—have a
responsibility to talk about this experience in a way that will enable
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HG Severino 67
the public to understand it, lessen the fear, and create compassion
for those who survived the disease.
A few takeaways:
Like many under lockdown, our phones are our lifeline and our
source of social support. I had Zoom meetings from my hospital
bed, saw family social events and group conversations.
Don’t believe all the statistics. One false impression is that the
fatalities outnumber the recoveries, artificially bloating the case
fatality rate. The reality is many of the recoveries don’t get counted,
while the deaths often make the news, adding to the overwhelming
sense of dread. The odds of survival are pretty good.
6. Frontliners are true heroes, but many more have chosen to stay
out of harm’s way. One can’t blame them considering the risks and
discrimination.
It will be hard to pay so many selfless people back, but one can pay
it forward. If it’s true that I will have antibodies in my blood that can
help others fight off infection, I’ll be glad to donate this accidental
gift. It’s a small price for all survivors to pay for the chance to see
the sun again.
Very often when alone in my room, I’d gaze out of my window into
the empty streets, the trees, and a giant bas-relief of the Philippine
map displayed in a dry fountain in the hospital’s parking lot. It
reminded me of a world I was eager to rejoin.
This essay was first published on GMA News Online on April 7, 2020.
My Frontliner, Gab
HG Severino
You spend all day and all night lying in bed in a room by yourself
worrying about whether you will live or die. Sleep is a struggle.
We know that morale and state of mind are large factors in our
physical well-being and could affect our chances of survival.
I found this out the hard way, after several days of solitude and
feeling very weak. With my fate uncertain, my morale plummeted
and I felt like giving up. My calls to my wife became desperate cries
for help.
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HG Severino 71
I told Gab, why not you, I’ll teach you! After his initial excitement,
he tempered it with a realization: there are too many privacy
issues. COVID-19 after all is the most stigmatized disease.
I told him you only need two subjects, yourself as the frontliner and
your patient, me. And we’re both allowing ourselves to appear on
camera.
He shot the other nurses, none of whom minded since they were
all unrecognizable in their PPEs, as they performed tests on me,
72 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
I taught him shot length and zooming with your feet, the reverse
shot and the tracking shot in the hospital corridor, pans and tilts,
the POV.
I told him to record his long walk home in the dark, his life in his
lonely apartment, and his transformation in the hospital from
civilian threads to the layered armor of a frontline warrior. A fast
and enthusiastic learner, he executed these with the polish of a
veteran.
Frontliners are often and rightfully credited with saving lives. But
my case shows they can also save your mind and morale just by being
there keeping you company; and in one rare instance, collaborating
on a creative endeavor that became an I-Witness documentary.
(For those who have asked, Gab was negative in his latest COVID-19
test shortly after I was discharged.)
This essay was first published on GMA News Online on April 29, 2020.
The Destination of My COVID-19 Dreams
HG Severino
I walked down a hallway with desks stacked against the wall, mute
testament to classes that were abruptly suspended.
Even while still recovering, I had already been receiving appeals for
my plasma from doctors and loved ones of desperately ill patients.
There were only a few hundred known COVID-19 survivors at that
time (early April), not all of them willing or able to donate plasma.
During my illness, the official survivors were outnumbered by the
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HG Severino 75
Had I been re-infected? Or did the PCR test merely detect viral
fragments from the original infection, as the latest science now
indicates? New theories about this disease have unfolded nearly
every day, sometimes upending conventional wisdom. Now even
the vaunted immunity supposedly bestowed on recovered patients,
the one major consolation from suffering from COVID-19, is in
doubt.
top of that, I was positive for antibodies on two rapid tests, further
proof that I had in my blood the anti-virus warriors coveted in the
battle against the disease.
But this personal achievement matters only because it can save the
life of another person.
I dare say what I gave is even more valuable than gold. You can buy
gold; you cannot buy my plasma. I was told that a committee of
doctors would decide on the recipient, surely a patient with my
blood type and probably someone who may not survive without
the infusion of plasma. It would be given to the patient for free.
As I sat there with that tingling feeling of blood moving out of and
then back into my veins, I felt a sense of fulfillment from having lived
up to a promise. Still very sick in the hospital, I vowed to myself and
to the cosmos that if I survived I would pay it forward, doing things
like donating my plasma, a crucial favor to an unknown stranger.
78 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
After less than two hours, the procedure was over—the plasma
was separated and the remaining blood components returned to
my veins. The medical technicians handed me the small bag of the
yellow plasma they just extracted from my body, so I could hold it
like a mother with her newborn. After all, from my body just came
this gleaming symbol of life.
This essay was first published on GMA News Online on June 10, 2020.
My Antibodies and Me
HG Severino
I had already been told the last time I donated plasma a month
earlier that maybe I shouldn’t be donating anymore. As expected,
my antibody level was declining. According to calculations based
on the tests done by PGH, I was losing about 12 percent of my
antibodies every month.
So there I was again last Monday in the PGH plasma clinic (located
outside the hospital) engaged in the familiar ritual of being asked
very personal screening questions (have I ever done any intravenous
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80 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
All this time, since I got out of the hospital and realized I possessed
a substance in my body desperately needed by others, I had been
following the unfolding drama of convalescent plasma worldwide.
(Convalescent plasma is the term used for plasma that is taken
from the blood of someone who has recovered from disease and
transfused into someone still fighting the same disease.)
And only recovered patients could give it. The theory is COVID-19
survivors like me host an antibody army that could be transfused
into other patients to help them battle the disease. Anecdotes
were increasing of patients suddenly improving after a transfusion
of plasma from a survivor (including a three-year-old child with
leukemia who was struck by COVID-19 last June).
But last August 3, a full four months since I was discharged from
the hospital after an eleven-day solitary confinement, tests showed
that I still had a fairly high level of antibodies—it had declined for
sure, but I had easily beaten that common three-month expiration.
But some studies now show that it may be most effective with
moderately ill patients who receive it early so their condition
doesn’t progress to severe or worse. One study by the renowned
Mayo Clinic in the US concluded that this approach helped reduce
mortality by over 30 percent.
But those kinds of findings just boost the demand for convalescent
plasma of which there is a dire shortage.
But it is soon after recovery that survivors have the most antibodies.
The golden period is within twenty-eight days after recovery.
Despite the urgent need for plasma, the doctors at PGH were not
trying to persuade me either way and told me to go home and think
about it—but not too long.
84
Ramon Guillermo 85
beside themselves with joy at the sudden opening they have been
offered to shape national educational systems according to their
whims while triumphantly brandishing the rhetoric of “digital
disruption” (Watermeyer 2020; Burns 2020; Brabazon 2020). It is,
therefore, more important than ever that progressive educators
do not default on their role to pursue critical and transformative
pedagogy even within online education platforms in cases where
these can feasibly be implemented.
Though the original rationale of “distance education” (as well
as its early online forms) was the democratization of education for
the working classes, mature and adult learners, women, and the
handicapped, a lot of this rhetoric has been considerably distorted
since then in favor of projecting its business potential. Furthermore,
online education has sometimes been regarded by critics as
inherently inferior in quality to face-to-face education. Proponents
of online education have opposed this hasty judgment with the
equally quick assertion that online education can be equal to face-
to-face and have sometimes even defensively extolled the superior
quality of online education. But the problem of determining
“quality” and its measurement has been elided by both sides. It is
a fact that some crucial aspects of the educational process are by
definition not measurable or replicable despite the best efforts of
Outcome-Based Education (OBE) advocates of late. In order to
understand this notion of immeasurability, we would have to think
of education beyond commodified model of mere “information
transmission” or “skills transfer,” both of which are repeatable
and repetitive and therefore measurable and potentially subject
to automation. While repetition is undoubtedly an indispensable
moment in the learning process, the most important aspect of
education is arguably that rare instance when repetition abruptly
ceases and the new comes into the horizon. This nonrepeatability
is why classifying the “critical faculty” as a skill, as some education
90 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
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corporatization of schools of education. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in
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Bollnow, O. F. 1955. Begegnung und Bildung. Zeitschrift für Pädagogik 1:10–32.
Brabazon, H. 2020. The academy’s neoliberal response to COVID-19: Why faculty
should be wary and how we can push back. Academic Matters: OCUFA’s Journal
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Burns, R. 2020. A COVID-19 panacea in digital technologies? Challenges for
democracy and higher education. Dialogues in Human Geography 1–4. DOI:
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migration. Higher Education, June 4, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-
00561-y.
My COVID-ized PhD Finish: An Overview1
Jhoanna Lynn B. Cruz
Jhoanna is sitting at a small folding table, reading the script from her
laptop. She looks at the camera occasionally to emphasize certain
points.
Jhoanna
94
Jhoanna Lynn B. Cruz 95
origami form. But I needed the help of an artist who could design
and create the origami, a challenge that the lesbian comic book
artist Emiliana Kampilan graciously accepted. Thus, “Doors” was
created collaboratively. I include photos of the pages/faces of the
origami zine in my folio. In my performance video I show how the
zine might be folded and unfolded.
I wish I could have exhibited these three artifacts of my creative
work folio today. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic took over
the world. The Philippines has been in strict lockdown since March
15. I have been stranded in Manila since. I hope, however, that the
“soft copies” of the artifacts and my creative work performance
video will suffice for this examination as evidence of creative
outcomes I have produced for the PhD. Thank you very much.
2. INT. MALACAŃANG-NIGHT
Wide shot: Duterte sits at the head of the long table, surrounded
by his IATF people. Bong Go sits at his right side, shuffling papers
constantly.
PRES. DUTERTE
BEGIN MONTAGE:
Jhoanna is hugging her two children, Sachi and Raz, as she prepares to
catch a flight to Manila. She has only one medium-sized piece of luggage.
Jhoanna
Jhoanna at the desk, pounding at her laptop. The clock says 9 p.m.
6. SAME:
7. SAME:
END MONTAGE.
Roque
This means we did not hit, we will not hit 40,000 by the end of
June, which is only a few days . . . what, two days? One day? Ah, today
is the last day na pala! Ano bang sinasabi ko? Wala na po, panalo
tayo! We beat the UP prediction po, we beat it! So, congratulations,
Philippines! Let’s do it again in July. So we are winning.
9. EXT. IN FRONT OF A CLOSED CARINDERIA. DAY. A
METAL BARRICADE SEPARATES THE SIDEWALK FROM
THE ROAD.
Jhoanna Lynn B. Cruz 99
V.O. (various voices from the crowd): Utol, dapa ka na, ’tol! Wala pong
baril iyan! Huwag po!
Police officer in fatigues points his gun at the man who is still standing
with his hands raised. Two other police officers in fatigues approach
the scene. Another police officer is recording the scene in his mobile
phone.
Man
Police
Man puts one hand down and reaches for his small sling bag. Two
shots ring out. Man leans on the metal barricade. Takes his bag and
throws it on the road beyond the barricade.
Police
One other police officer goes to the bag, examines it with his foot. It
looks empty.
V.O.: (woman screaming) Bakit n’yo siya binaril? Walang baril iyan!
Dapat kinapkapan n’yo muna! May tama po iyan. Dating militar po
iyan. Nagkaroon ng war shock. Jeric, sunduin n’yo na si Ate. Dali!
100 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
Jhoanna approaches it, stands in the space, forms a Y with her arms,
and smiles while her partner Camille takes her photo.
Camille
In November 2018, two years into the PhD, I went to Penang for
the George Town Literary Festival as the Philippine representative.
Jhoanna Lynn B. Cruz 101
I got a bit lost while exploring the heritage town and found a wall
that had the letters “S A <space> A N G” painted in a semicircle.
Duterte
…
Jhoanna Lynn B. Cruz 103
BEGIN MONTAGE:
END MONTAGE
Jhoanna at her folding desk, with her laptop in front of her, recording
her PhD presentation.
Jhoanna
Jhoanna at her folding desk, with her laptop in front of her, recording
her PhD presentation.
Jhoanna
Jhoanna Lynn B. Cruz 105
Total: 217,396
Deaths: 3,520
AUSTRALIAN ECHO:
THE TOUGH CALL TO GROW UP
Luna Sicat Cleto
I will always remember this, I said to myself when I saw the expanse
of the sky and the rolling hills in front of me. Could not help
thinking that this field of vision must be necessary for an exploring
mind. Something about the sheer expanse of land and sky, and my
tongue, now inarticulately trying to define and describe my awe.
A sundial clock sat on that hill. They call it The Field of Conscious
Involvement. My sister in law mentioned that the eco-park’s
conceptual design had to do with invoking the awareness of the
average Australian about the level of environmental degradation
that is happening. Time becomes a metaphor for the brevity
of opportunities and lack thereof. But exactly what are these
opportunities? And what defines the lack?
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108 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
wealth, however, did not trickle down to their unit. A tragic tale
of greed and usurpation lies underneath the decline, a story that
occasionally triggers memories of girlhoods in private schools run
by nuns, the abundance of food and the strict surveillance of aunts
and grandparents. It is the kind of family lore that is common in
many clans in the Philippines, where blood ties are severed, always
traumatically, because of the inevitable division of inheritance.
Paula does not sugarcoat that past. She tells it like it is. My mother,
she said, had the ill fate of suffering a serious illness—meningitis—
that made her inarticulate. The disease affected her ability to
communicate and throughout her life she became a woman of a
few words. It did not seem to matter in those days. Her mother was
the favorite daughter and although she did not finish her schooling
since her bout with meningitis and her acquired speech defect, her
future was not doomed as the family had properties and land. But
she married a soldier, a marriage that was arranged by her father
himself because he was struck by the charisma of the bemedaled
veteran, whose courage was legendary and who earned his trust.
Eventually he appointed him as the rent-collector and supervisor
of the farm. The soldier had principles, he had a sharpshooter’s
pulse, and his short fuse was not an impediment to getting along
with people. No one dared to mess with him, and this reassured
the male parent that his daughter would always be protected and
cared for. Thus, that family managed to live in modest prosperity
for a decade or two. Hacienda culture made their lives ironic: the
maternal parents were one of the wealthiest, and they had their
memories of fiesta nights and election campaigns in Tarlac where
live bands played, and food was overflowing. Paula had a yaya who
went to school with her, and she could remember early mornings
where the yaya would bathe and dress her and take her to school
and attend to her needs while in class. Meanwhile, the men in
the family could afford to swing by cabarets and gambling houses
112 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
that all the snippets of memories made sense. Why this aunt was
mesmerized by her earrings. How she traded her real diamond
earrings for imitation ones, believing the elder’s narrative that
she had a better pair in her jewelry box. How her maternal aunt
whispered that she left something for her in a closet, only to be
told that those trinkets were too precious for someone like her.
Eventually Paula grew up and realized her brothers and sisters were
her real family. It was 1977 when she moved into their apartment
in Quezon City in Scout Rallos. The eldest was working at a car
company and was the breadwinner. One brother was detained in
Camp Bagong Diwa, while another brother wrote plays and was
active in theatre. One sister studied History at University of the
East and eventually was employed at LandBank. She typed all
the scripts of PETA. The house was open to all their friends and
their comrades, and my husband, who once played percussion
instruments for Lutgardo Labad’s musical compositions, proudly
told us that their house was a vibrant place for meetings, fights, and
informal unions.
We were eating Vietnamese pho while she narrated these
fragments. As an afterthought, Paula told me that the aunt who took
her diamond earrings and the handbag sent feelers to their other
relatives—how is she? I heard she was in Australia, the aunt said. I
hope to see her before I die. She spoke those words and transmitted
to me how false those kind regards were. I think I smiled as I looked
outside and observed the traffic of people walking in the streets of
Parramatta. I was somewhere else by then as I remembered her
annotation while looking at the trees somewhere in Mt. Annan.
There was a section of that park that commemorates the Stolen
Generation. How hundreds of aboriginal children were wrested off
their families and towed to the farmhouses of the white settlers.
Look here, she said. I saw a simple concrete slab engraved with the
words: they took me away that night, and until now I am haunted
114 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
II.
No maps were used. Mon and Paula knew each part of the
itinerary. They have settled in NSW for a decade and lived in
New Zealand for a few years. They did not expect to be here,
but circumstances have led them to migrate. Their second son
acquired hearing loss after the adverse effects of an antibiotic for
his primary complex during infancy. It was hard for them, but
even more challenging for their son, now in his mid-twenties and
currently employed in an IT firm. Paula managed to train her son to
hear, after that major decision to move out of La Trinidad Benguet.
Mon’s background as an agriculturist helped because he was soon
employed in Wellington’s hydroponic farms. Paula, who was a
Journalism major in UP, had to reinvent herself as a factory worker.
In the wee hours of the morning, husband and wife struggled to
juggle their parenting tasks with work. Paula confided how Mon’s
eyesight suffered from the artificial lighting of the controlled
sunlight in the hydroponic farm, not to mention the sour smell of
tomato seeds that clung to his fingers and his skin. Adroit limbs and
fingers are part of the labor skill, and Paula told us about the many
times she almost lost a finger or a limb grading the rolling onions
along the assembly line, had she succumbed to the call of sleep
while at work. This reinvention of bodies was necessary for them to
remain in New Zealand. This acceptance of work options for these
two former Filipino citizens was humbling.
Every time Paula remembered that period in her life, she
would recall the postcard quality of the house they called home.
The best thing about New Zealand, she told us, was the grass and
Luna Sicat Cleto 115
III.
sky was as red as an apple peel. Hard to believe that the sky was
once a cerulean blue.
Australia is not exempt from the COVID-19 pandemic, as all
nations are. Prior to this disruption, they experienced wildfires that
were unheard of, turning the bluest skies and the greenest fields that
I saw into a terrain that I only read about in dystopic science fiction.
Perhaps Paula has her share of remembering those conversations
and pauses between stories, as she would perhaps sit in her kitchen
and figure out what to say in her Zoom class or Zoom meeting as
assistant principal in that special needs school. But just as she is
concerned about the growing number of deaf people that need to
be heard, I’d like to think that this essay is an attempt to speak out
for the silences of those who champion other rights to be heard.
For persons with disabilities, universal design poses a conundrum.
What is design for anyway—what makes a perfect life? For people
like Mon and Paula who decided to leave this country because they
knew their departure meant an entry to another space and another
life that had increased access promised by the internationalization
of social services, healthcare, and technology, do I have the right to
even accuse her of forgetting this land? Do I have the right to say
that she is deaf to the people, nay, the country, since she opted to
work here, to live there, to take root in that land? Surely, I know by
now how much this country is thwarted in its growth by corruption
and ineptitude. I am aware that by staying here, I am limiting the
meaning of access to new markets and economic opportunities,
and that is a door that could spell a difference for others like Zack,
others like my own child, now a twenty-seven year old man who is
studying Philippine culture.
All these memories are now written in retrospect. The prose is a
little awkward, just as the flow from past to present time is unstable.
As I write these words down, I struggle to decide what to bring
in and what to leave out. Are real names relevant? If I use other
120 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
names that I have invented myself, will that make this witnessing
more concrete? Did I revoke their right to privacy by sharing these
thoughts? I would like to think that I did not. I’d like to think that
somehow, this text that is an attempt to write a travelogue would
find a reader, a fellow traveler perhaps, who could understand these
meanderings and these hesitations at signposts of authenticity and
fiction.
Pananglet
Pananglet 1
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122 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
Pananglet 2
Pananglet 3
Pananglet 4
Pananglet 5
Pataasan
#pilipinokontraibanglahisamundo #pataasan
John E. Barrios 127
#pilipinokontraibanglahisamundo #pataasan
#pilipinokontraibanglahisamundo #pataasan
John E. Barrios 129
#filipinokontraibanglahisamundo #pataasan
#pilipinokontraibanglahisamundo #pataasan
130 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
#pilipinokontraibanglahisamundo #pataasan
#pilipinokontraibanglahisamundo #pataasan
John E. Barrios 131
#pilipinokontraibanglahisamundo #pataasan
#pilipinokontraibanglahisamundo #pataasan
#pilipinokontraibanglahisamundo #pataasan
19 KISLAP SA PANAHON NG COVID-19
Abdon M. Balde Jr.
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134 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
1. Lockdown
***
2. Curfew
***
3. Ang Sabongero
***
4. Doorbell
***
***
6. Spoliarium
***
***
8. Paglaya
***
9. Fun Run
***
***
***
***
***
14. Sa Kabukiran
***
***
***
***
***
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150 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
2. You shall not make for yourself an image in this time of crisis
3 Catherine Valente, “Palace: Duterte Won’t Certify as Urgent Bayanihan Law 2 ‘for
Now’,” The Manila Times, Hunyo 4, 2020, https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/06/04/
news/latest-stories/palace-duterte-wont-certify-as-urgent-bayanihan-law-2-
fornow/729420/.
152 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
“Ang mag-ano lang nito God. He’s the only one who can really
solve the problem for us.”5
Nasa Diyos daw yaong awa, nasa tao ang gawa, ’ka nga
isang awitin. Laging magkasama ang awa at gawa. Pero paano
magkakaroon ng awa kung wala namang nakikitang gawa? Hindi
lang ang awa ng Diyos ang solusyon sa problemang ’to. Huwag
n’yong gamiting panakip-butas ang pangalan Niya sa kawalan n’yo
ng aksyon laban sa ’kin. #MassTestingNowPH #ContactTracingPH
#PPEforFrontliners #AyudaSaLahat
6 ABS-CBN News, “WHO Urges Public to Practice ‘Physical’, Not Social, Distancing,”
ABS-CBN News, Marso 24, 2020, https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/24/20/who-
urges-public-topractice-physical-not-social-distancing.
154 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
mocha-justifies-gathering-with-ofws-in-batangas-amid-enhanced-quarantine.
11 Darwin Pesco. “Sinas, 18 Police Officers Charged over Lockdown Violations -PNP,”
Manila Times, Mayo 15, 2020, https://www.manilatimes.net/2020/05/15/news/
lateststories/sinas-18-police-officers-charged-over-lockdown-violations-pnp/724952/.
12 Lia Buan, “‘Compassion’: DOJ Not Investigating Pimentel Quarantine Breach
without Complaint,” Rappler, Marso 25, 2020, https://www.rappler.com/
nation/255879-dojwill-not-investigate-pimentel-coronavirus-quarantine-breach-
without-complaint.
13 Karen Serada, “Anim na Driver na Nananawagan ng #BalikPasada, Hinuli ng Pulis at
Sinampahan ng Kaso.” Manila Today, Hunyo 3, 2020, https://manilatoday.net/anim-
nadriver-na-nanawagan-ng-balikpasada-hinuli-ng-pulis-at-sinampahan-ng-kaso/.
156 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
At dahil sentro na rin ng tsikahan ang pondo, para saan ang mga
natirang pera mula sa mga inutang n’yo kung hindi na pala extended
ang paayuda? Di ba PHP 200 bilyon lang naman ang badyet para sa
dalawang bugso ng SAP?25 Meaning, may limpak-limpak na bilyones
pang tira mula sa funding. Bakit hindi n’yo ituloy ang pamimigay ng
financial assistance gayong marami pa rin ang di pa makabalik sa
trabaho kahit GCQ na? Ano ang lalafangin nila sa mga susunod na
linggo? Hindi naman sila si Doraemon na may madudukot all the
time. Tulong-tulong din ’pag may time. #WeHealAsOne nga di ba?
Pero hindi lang ’yan healing mula sa virus, ha? Healing din ’yan para
sa mga kumakalam na sikmura. #WeHealAsOne mula sa virus at
kagutuman.
25 Argyll Geducos, “Palace: No More Cash Aid This June,” Manila Bulletin, Mayo 30,
2020, https://news.mb.com.ph/2020/05/30/palace-no-more-cash-aid-this-june/.
26 INQUIRER.net (@inquirerdotnet), “Duterte to Lift Luzon-wide Quarantine If
COVID-19 Antibody Becomes Available,” Facebook, Abril 14, 2020, https://www.
facebook.com/watch/?v=842309776238207.
27 Stuart Thompson, “How Long Will a Vaccine Really Take?” The New York Times, Abril
30, 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/30/opinion/coronavirus-
covid-vaccine.html.
160 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
May VIP room talaga sa impiyerno itong mga todo hoard pa rin
ng medical supplies kahit nasa panahon na ng pandemya. Tapos
ibebenta pa nang pagkamahal-mahal. Alam na ngang kailangang-
kailangan ngayon ng alkohol, face mask, at iba pang medical needs,
tapos papatungan pa ng abot-langit na tubo?28 E, kung gumora
kaya ako sa mga bahay n’yo. Sungalngalin ko kayo ng virus ko
nang tubo sa ospital ang ma-achieve ninyo? Usto niyo ’yon? Iyong
iba naman kung makalimas ng alcohol sa supermarket, akala mo
ito ang pinanliligo sa katawan. Hindi ikalilinis ng budhi n’yo ang
pagtatampisaw sa alkohol. May scarcity na nga ng alkohol sa mga
ospital tapos naka-display lang ang mga ito sa bahay n’yo? Ano ’to,
mga tropeo ng kasugapaan ninyo? #NoToPanicBuying
PS:
28 Christia Ramos, “635 Arrested for Hoarding, Profiteering, Price Manipulation amid
Virus Crisis,” Inquirer. net, Abril 14, 2020, https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1258291/635-
individuals-arrested-for-hoarding-profiteering-price-manipulation.
SA NAIINIP AT IBA PANG NILAY
SA GITNA NG KUWARANTINA
Joselito D. de los Reyes
Kumusta ka?
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162 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
tayo ay kumilos. Naiinip din daw tayo kapag hindi tayo binibigyan
ng pagkakataong gumawa ng mas kapaki-pakinabang na gawain.2
Kailan ka ba huling nainip bago pa ang quarantine? Ako,
kapag naghihintay sa kung ano man o sino man. Kapag kailangang
maghintay at wala akong kapangyarihang gumawa ng ibang mas
kapaki-pakinabang. Lalo’t wala o mahina ang signal ng data.
Oo, walang mapaglibangan. Kaya nga mas mabuti ngayon. May
koneksiyon ka sa internet, at dahil sa pagkainip, nagbasa, at
nakarating na dito. Aakalain mo ba?
“At the heart of it is our desire to engage with the world or some
other mental activity, and that takes attention,” pahayag ni Mark
Fenske, isang propesor ng sikolohiya sa University of Guelph sa
Canada. Kung hindi raw matutugunan ang engagement o mental
activity na ito, “—that seems to be what leads to frustration and the
aversive state we call ‘boredom.’ ”
Huwag mabahala. Sa iyong pagkainip, ayon naman sa ibang
pananaliksik tulad ng sa University of Central Lancashire na may
pamagat na “Does Being Bored Make Us More Creative?”3 mas
nagiging malikhain ka raw. Naks. Kaya nga nakalikha ka ng 1,001
recipes ng karne norte, di ba? Kaya kung nagiging monotono
at nakaiinip na ang gawain mo sa pag-aaral man o sa trabaho,
humahanap ka ng kakaibang hamon sa kakayahan mo, di ba?
Kaya nga dapat daw nating tingnan ang pagkainip hindi bilang
isang negatibong estado ng ating pag-iral: “Until recently, boredom
has been viewed as a negative emotion with only negative outcomes,
but the current study adds weight to the evidence that suggests that
boredom can sometimes be a force for good.”
Narito ako. Ligtas. May oras. Magaan ang buhay kung hindi rin
lang makababalita sa nangyayaring trahedya ng COVID-19 kapag
nagbubukas ng internet at telebisyon. Kasama na rin sa trahedya
ang mga ancillary tragedies tulad ng marahas na pagdakip sa mga
walang makain at pabago-bagong statement hinggil sa pagpapatupad
ng kapangyarihan sa likod ng maparikalang Bayanihan Heal as One
Act o BaHO Act.
Nasa akin lahat ang pagkakataon para maging produktibo.
Nagagawa ko naman, palagay ko. Nakagagawa ako ng video
para sa aking mga mag-aaral sa kolehiyo at para sa ilang mga
kaibigang itinuturing akong propesor sa social media; nababasa
ko kahit papaano ang mga isinumiteng papel ng aking estudyante;
nakakapag-check, nakakapagbigay ng feedback. Sinisikap kong
magbasa ng mga gusto kong basahing libro na pinagbibili ko
noon pa. At, kahit pa hindi ko ito dapat i-announce by virtue of
Mateo 6:3, nakakapagpaabot ng mumunting tulong kung kanino
man iyon.
Kahit nasa loob ng bahay, sa tulong ng YouTube, nakakapag-
ehersisyo ako. Nakakapagpapawis bilang paghahanda sa mga
pagkakataong mamimili ako ng mahahalagang kailangan sa bayan.
Lakad lang kasi, tatlong kilometro, at ang kalahati ng ruta ay
paahon. Bawal ang pampasaherong sasakyan. At wala akong sariling
sasakyan. Humanda si Daniel Matsunaga sa aking quarantine-
sculpted body lalo ang aking quarantine abs pagkatapos ng lahat
ng ito.
Parang produktibo na ako sa lagay na iyan. Mistulang may
nagagawa, may natatapos at may inaambisyong masimulang
proyekto. Pero kahit gaano ko tangkaing maging focused sa pagiging
produktibo, hindi ko maialis ang hindi matatawarang stress at
anxiety dahil sa pangamba ng pagkalat ng salot na COVID-19.
Lahat kaming nasa tamang edad, kasama na ang isang
senior citizen sa bahay, ay umiinom ng maintenance drugs,
Joselito D. de los Reyes 167
Labas ng Bahay
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176 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
kanilang blue candies. Basta, enjoy ako ngayon na lie-low sila. ’Yung
mga daddy long legs, Daddy lang tawag ko sa kanila. Generic, lahat
daddy. Take note: Wala nang ibang Daddy sa buhay ko ha. ’Yung
butiking cute kasi napakalinis at malusog, parang walang dumi at
pinkish ang mga braso, Byuti ang pangalan niya, short for Byutiqi.
Qi (or chi), pronounced with the “ch” sound, is of course a Chinese
word associated with vitality or energy. Maliksi kasi siya. Ang bilis
tumakbo, parang lagi siyang nakikipag-unahan kay Olympian
sprinter Usain Bolt. Gusto ko nga siyang alagaan o kausapin palagi.
But this is not the season for affection, or vulnerability. Hope ko lang
sana healthy siya palagi at itaboy niya ’yung mga langaw at lamok
na dumarami lalo’t tag-ulan na ngayon. May obsession talaga ako
sa mga pangalan at pag-pangalan sa mga hayop at mga bagay. ’Yung
mga aso nga namin this season, puro Thai ang pangalan, base sa mga
Thai personalities na sikat ngayon: Nonkul, Fahsai, Yaya, Nadech.
Ang sabi nga nila: Ang abilidad pangalanan ang mga bagay-bagay
ay isa sa mga pinakamahalagang kapangyarihan ng sangkatauhan
sa mundong ito. Para sa akin, naming is possession. Para bang
kapag pinangalanan ko ang isang bagay o nilalang, magiging akin
siya. Kahit sandali lamang. At sa kalagayan kong ito, sa tingin ko
lang naman, hangga’t kaya kong magbigay ng pangalan sa kung ano-
anong nilalang sa mundo, alam kong buhay pa ako.
Bakit nga ba ako nagkulong sa bahay? O, bakit nga ba gusto ko
pang mabuhay kahit na announce ako nang announce kay bessie
John na malapit na akong matigok, kahit na sukang-suka na ako sa
bansang ito?
Simple lang ang sagot: breadwinner ako. Kung magkasakit ako
at matigok, sino ang magpapakain sa pamilya ko? Mapapakain
ba ng gobyerno ang Mama ko? Wala naman siyang pension.
Kaya, sige, trabaho muna. Kailangang mabuhay. Tiis ganda. So
far, naging advantage sa akin ang work-from-home scheme sa
pinagtatrabahuhan kong unibersidad. Lahat ng deliverables
Ronald Baytan 177
mega NSAIDs. Mega hot shower din palagi. At higit sa lahat, mega
hot compress sa leeg at likod ko. Ito ang pinakakinaiinisan ko, kasi
ang hirap dumapa sa kama na hindi naman naka-design tulad ng
mga cot sa spa. Di ako sanay dumapa. Naiirita din ang leeg ko ’pag
ganu’n. Magalaw din ako. Minsan na-a-out of place ang hot packs at
hot compress machine ko. Pasakit. Ilang linggo kong ginawa ito. Sa
awa ng Diyos, nalampasan ko rin ang mga araw na iyon. Humupa
ang sakit. Ngayon, meron pa rin naman, at paminsan-minsan may
pins and needles sa tuhod, pero di na tulad nang dati na dapat
i-therapy. Umuubra na ngayon ang daily stretches. Salamat kay
Uni(verse).
Sa bahay, I treat everyone like a COVID-19 suspect kaya mega
distance ako sa mga tao sa amin—sa kapatid kong doktor at sa
kasambahay naming mahilig magtambay sa tindahan ng hipag ko sa
gate ng family compound namin. Hindi ako gaanong nagsasalita lalo
na kung wala akong suot na mask. Para akong pipi na nagtuturo lang
ng mga gamit kay Mama, o umuungol para mag-utos o sumagot sa
kausap ko. Kung kaya ng sign language, sign language. Kung biglaan
akong kakausapin ng Tita kong walang pasintabing bumubulaga
sa bintana sa kitchen tuwing naghuhugas ako ng plato, ungol dito,
ungol diyan, at ang mga mata kong may tanda ng pagkabuwisit
kasi puwede naman akong tawagan sa Viber. Kung biglaan akong
kakausapin ng kasambahay, lalayo ako at ilalagay ko sa aking
bibig ang shirt ko (kung makapal ito) para wala akong droplets na
kumalat. Malala talaga ang pagiging luka-luka ko. Mabuti na lang
nakakasakay lang sina Mama at mga tao sa bahay.
Kapag alam kong dadaldal ako nang matagal kasi marami
akong iuutos sa mga tao sa bahay namin, magsusuot ako ng face
mask. Favorite ko iyung face mask na ibinigay ni John. Iyon ang
pinakanakakalokang design, fake Hello Kitty-ish na neon green on
a black background. Di rin siya kakapalan. Pero, love ko siya. Dahil
galing sa bessie kong hindi naman talaga importante (at araw-araw
Ronald Baytan 179
ng bahay, baka may dalang sakuna. Ni hindi ko nga trip buksan ang
makina ng Wigo ko. Lalong-lalo na kung ito’y hinawakan o sinakyan
ng iba. Parang ang dumi-dumi na niya at di ko kayang ma-expose
ang sarili ko nang ganu’n.
Malalampasan ko nga ba ang COVID-19, o gaya ng iba riyan,
magpi-farewell walk na rin ako? Buhay pa kaya ako by the time na
mailimbag ang sanaysay na ito (kung maililimbag man)? O may ma-
ko-cross out na naman sa aking long list of friends, not-so-good-
friends, at enemies?
Sa sobrang kapraningan ko: lumabas na ako ng bahay halos
dalawang linggo na ang nakakaraan. Napagod na ako sa kakaisip
ng kung ano-ano kaya kahit di sang-ayon ang kapatid ko, naglakad
ako patungo sa maliit na laboratory na medyo malapit-lapit lang
sa bahay namin para sa fasting blood sugar, lipid profile, CBC with
platelet, uric acid, at iba pang tests. Biniyayaan ako ng magandang
panahon nu’ng umagang iyon. May mga tao sa labas ng lab pero
sandali lang ang hinintay ko para sa extraction. Lakad ulit pauwi.
Parang wala namang nagbago. Ang mga tao, maliban sa naka-mask
sila, gano’n pa rin. ’Yung daloy ng mga sasakyan parang di nga
nabawasan. Busy pa rin ang mga kalye sa lugar namin. May mga
parte pa ring mabaho. May mga basura pa ring nakabuyangyang sa
mga kanto. May pandemic man o wala, bulok pa rin ang syudad na
ito.
May nagbago nga ba? O may nabago sa akin dahil lumabas ako
ng bahay (at di ako excited ulitin iyon)? Walang nagbago. At walang
magbabago kahit lumabas man ako ng bahay. Dahil sa totoo lang,
di ko naman nakikitang magbabago pa ang sitwasyon natin ngayon
sa Pilipinas. Praning man ako, gusto kong isipin na handa na akong
harapin ang kung ano man ang dapat mangyari. Patay kung patay.
Gusto ko pa sanang mabuhay at masabi sa susunod na henerasyon
na, kahit na lugmok sa dusa’t pighati ang bayan kong ito, at kahit
gaano ka-depressing ang mga nangyayari sa bansa, naka-survive
Ronald Baytan 185
ako. Pero, who cares naman di ba? No offense meant: iyung mga
pumanaw bago mag-pandemic, in a way, sila ’yung mga suwerte
dahil hindi nila kailangang danasin ang pandemyang ito, hindi nila
kailangang ma-praning, hindi nila kailangang mamangha sa mga
pangyayari sa loob at labas ng pathetic at hopeless na bansang ito.
Sa panahon ngayon, lagi ko hinahabilinan ng kung ano-ano sina
John at Johann (isa pa sa mga bessie ko na anak-anakan ko rin).
Kung mapaaga ako, lahat ng mga libro ko sa department, i-donate
sa Library. Iyung mga _____, mapupunta kay _____. Pakitabi ’yung
mga _______. Lagi kong ini-imagine na machuchugi ako on this so-
and-so date. Ako mismo ang nagbigay ng expiration date sa sarili
ko dahil praning ako na baka kung ano ang na-contract ko sa bahay
namin. One time, binulyawan ako ni John: “Naku, Ateng, ang sabi
mo, machuchugi ka noong September 18? Ano ang nangyari, buhay
ka pa rin?” Ang sagot ko: “Di mo pa kasi hinanda ’yung kape at
biscuits na espesyal! Wala kang budget!” Pero feeling ko ang totoong
sagot: Masamang damo ako.
Ano ang laban ng COVID-19 sa mga impaktang kagaya ko?
Ang pagiging masama—mukhang iyan, iyan ang gamot laban sa
virus. Kaya siguro ang mga demonyong pulitiko ay patuloy na
namamayagpag sa kanilang kasamaan at tuluyang itutulak ang
bansang ito sa impiyerno.
FRONTLINER
Edward Perez
Paciano
Paciano
Kumusta na, Ate? Anong lagay n’yo diyan sa New Zealand? Dito
sa Pinas? Dumami na naman ang nabibiktima ng COVID-19. Wala
nang pinaliligtas, mapabata man o matanda. Mabuti na lang, isa
ako sa mga may edad na nakaligtas sa COVID-19. Sixty-six years
old na ako ngayon. Eto ang ID ng isang senior citizen, Paciano
Mulingbayan. Gamit na gamit na ’pag bumibili ng mga gamot.
Malapit na rin ang birthday ko. Naisipan kong mag-ayos ng
gamit sa kabinet. Nakalkal ko ang aking lumang ID. Sa Kolehiyo ang
student number ko, 72 ang simula. Anim na taon na lang, kasing-
edad ko na ang student number ko. Oo naman, Ate, mas may edad
ka ng apat na taon. Graduating ka na nu’ng freshman pa lamang ako.
186
Edward Perez 187
ang isang health worker, may sinumpaan na kahit sino ka pa, walang
pag-aatubiling haharapin agad ang isang pasyente. Naalala ko tuloy
si Adela, Ate. Sinong Adela? Si Adela ’yung health worker na naka-
assigned na magdala sa akin ng pagkain at gamot sa araw-araw.
Nu’ng simula, isang tanong, isang sagot si Adela. Parang kinakapa
pa ang mga gagawin. Naiwika ko kay Adela—“Ang bata mo namang
frontliner? Ilang taon ka na ba?” Malayo ’ata ang kanyang sagot—
“Board passer po.” Sabi ko, dati rin akong frontliner—frontliner
kapag may protesta nu’ng panahon ng Martial Law. Nangingiwi si
Adela. Di ko mawari kung naiintindihan niya ang ibig kong sabihin.
Baka naman naiilang siya, panay reklamo sa gobyerno ang naririnig
niya sa akin.
Tama ka, Ate. Adela rin ang pangalan ng paborito kong apo.
Kinasanayan na namin siyang tawaging Dengdeng. Pero di gaya
ni Adela, ang apo nating si Dengdeng, abogasiya ang tinapos.
Hinihintay na lang ang resulta ng bar exam. Madalas nga akong
biruin—“Lolo, ’pag abogado na ako, kakasuhan natin ang buong
pamilya ng nagtortyur sa inyo.” Natatawa ako. Napapaisip at
sinanagot siya—“Ang dapat lang maparusahan si Tenyente Anino at
hindi ang buong pamilya. Malay mo, naiibang mag-isip ang kanyang
magiging apo.”
Simula nang ma-confined ako, nakakaharap ko na si Adela.
Nakasuot palagi ng light green na PPE. Buong katawan, mula ulo
hanggang paa. Di ko matandaan kung gawa sa plastic or leather. Ang
alam ko, matapos ang ilang gamit, kailangang palitan na. Maganda
ang pagkakagawa. Donated raw ng isang tanyag na fashion designer.
Baka may kakilala kang gusto ring mag-donate, Ate. Naiilang ako
sa suot ni Adela. ’Pag lumalapit si Adela, pinoporma ko ang aking
kamay na parang may hawak na pang-spray. Tinatanong niya, ano
raw itong nasa kamay ko. Sagot ko naman—“Tear gas, proteksiyon
para lumayo ang kalaban.”
Edward Perez 189
(Matatawa si Paciano.)
(Matatawa si Paciano.)
ko. Sabi ko nga sa sarili ko, baka malalagpasan ko ang COVID. Pero
’pag laging ganito ang baho ng utot, baka hindi ko matatagalan
ang buhay. Kahit naka-mask si Adela, binanggit ko sa kanya. Ang
sabi niya, nasasanay na rin siya. Kasi raw sa dami ng namamatay
sa COVID-19, ’yung ilang bangkay ilang araw nang hindi nakukuha
sa morgue ng ospital, nangangamoy na. Sa tuwing naghahatid
sila ng bangkay, naaamoy niya. Halos sikmurahin siya. Mabuti na
lang pagaling na ako. Wala na akong nararamdaman na sakit. Kaya
kinibit-balikat ko ang kuwentong ’yon ni Adela.
Sa pagtatapos ng bawat araw . . . sa pagbubukang-liwayway
ng panibagong araw, ang tinatanganan ko lamang ay ang pag-
asa na darating ang hinihintay ko. Nang dapuan ako ng sakit
na COVID, malakas ang pananalig ko na gagaling ako. Maalaga
kasi ang frontliner na si Adela. Umaasang makikita ang paborito
kong apo. . . maihahatid siya sa araw ng kanyang panunumpa sa
abogasya. Nu’ng kabataan ko, hindi ko ininda ang pananakot
ni Tenyente Anino. Pakiramdam ko frontliner ako. Hindi dapat
pasisindak sa kahayupan ng kalaban. Malakas ang pananalig ko
na hindi ako pababayaan ng mga kasama . . . na darating ang araw
ng paglaya ko. . . na makikita ko pa ang aking pamilya. Sa awa ng
Diyos, eto buhay na buhay pa ako. Bukas pang maglingkod sa
bayan hangga’t kakayanin ng katawan ko.
Minsan nasabi ni Adela—“Lo, lahat na lang pinupulaan
mo. Parang wala nang nagawang tama ang gobyerno.” Sabi ko
naman—“Wala naman talaga e. Sige eto. ’Yung bayad sa premium
ng PhilHealth, voluntary na lang. Nagpadala na ng protesta ang
DFA sa idineklarang distrito ng China. Tinanggal ’yung nagpapa-
imbestiga sa pagtulong ni VP Leni. May cease fire na. Ang kaso—
pinababayaan lamang ang pag-okupa ng China sa West Philippine
Sea. Hinuhuli ’yung mga NGO na nagpamudmod ng relief goods.
Dinispers ’yung mga manggagawa na nakabarikada sa minahan.
Pinatay ’yung lider ng Bayan Muna.”
Edward Perez 201
E. Patngt
Alice S. Joniso
203
204 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
Rural Women Advocates 205
206 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
Rural Women Advocates 207
208 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
Rural Women Advocates 209
210 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
Rural Women Advocates 211
212 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
KOMPREHENSIBONG AKSIYONG
MEDIKAL AT SOSYO-EKONOMIKO
Tiyaking nasusunod ang protocol ng World
Health Organization para sa COVID-19 na test,
trace, isolate, retreat; magkondukta ng mass
testing; pabilisin ang pagpapatibay ng mga
laboratoryo at testing center para bumilis at
lumawak din ang testing; palakasin ang
pampublikong sistemang pangkalusugan;
magbigay ng sapat na ayuda at subsidyo sa
mga nawalan ng trabaho o mahihirap
na pamilya, kabilang na ang mga
magsasaka at mangingisda.
224 Dx Machina 2: Philippine Literature in the Time of COVID-19
LIGTAS NA PAARALAN
Magkondukta ng mass testing sa mga
paaralan; magbukas ng mga klinika at
mag-empleyo ng mga nars; tiyaking
nagagawa ang 4-metrong social distancing
sa loob ng paaralan; tiyakin ang malinis at
tuloy-tuloy na suplay ng tubig; mamigay
ng hygiene kits sa mga estudyante, guro, at
kawani; mag-empleyo ng mga tagalinis at
manggagawang pangkalinisan; magbigay ng
sapat na tulong medikal sa mga pasyenteng
maaapektuhan ng COVID-19.
DEMOKRATIKONG
KONSULTASYON
Ang Distance Learning Program
ng DepEd ay binuo nang walang
malawakang konsultasyon sa mga
guro, magulang, at mag-aaral.
Ganito rin ang nangyari nang
baguhin ang curriculum ng K-12.
Lahat ng magsasakang magulang na
ininterbyu ng Amihan sa Rizal ay
nagsabing hindi nila nauunawaan
ang Distance Learning Program ng
DepEd at hindi nila alam kung ano
ang dapat gawin tungkol dito.
U Z. ELISERIO
KRISTIAN SENDON CORDERO
SHANE CARREON
This pandemic has made us dig our heels in the certainty of hope.
FELIX FOJAS
226
Notes on the Contributors 227
advertising executive and professor who now lives in Los Angeles, California,
Fojas is also a mystic and psychic healer whose life has recently been produced
into a Hollywood movie entitled “Evil Takes Root: The Curse of the Batibat.
FAYE CURA
RICHARD R. GAPPI
KRISTOFFER B. BERSE
Ang gabi ko ngayo’y umagang pusikit: sa dilim, matalim ang titig ng sakit.
CHUCKBERRY J. PASCUAL
HG SEVERINO
The pandemic is a terrible thing, but it’s also a rare opportunity to rethink
everything and make the world a better place.
Notes on the Contributors 229
RAMON GUILLERMO
It has become clear by now that the rising number of COVID cases and fatalities
in the Philippines is due to the inefficiency and corruption of the Duterte
administration; thus, we must oust Duterte to save the country.
JOHN E. BARRIOS
Ang pandemya ay pagkakataon para komprontahin ang sarili, ang estado, at ang
lipunang Pilipino at muling itanghal ang katutubong kolektibong lakas mula sa
ating mga panitikan.
Kung may Tiktok lang sana ang COVID-19, tiyak ginawa na niya ang “It Really
Hurts” dance challenge bilang reaksyon sa kawalan ng importansya sa kaniya ng
gobyernong ‘to.
Tatlong lubhang delikadong pandemya ang kinakaharap natin ngayon: una ang
pandemya ng COVID-19, ikalawa ang pandemya ng tahasang pangmamangmang
sa mamamayan, at ikatlo (at kung bakit may ikalawang pandemya) ang
pandemya ng pamamahala.
RONALD BAYTAN
EDWARD PEREZ
RURAL
WOMEN
ADVOCATES
M Vida Dada
E. Patngt
Alice S. Joniso
The pandemic revealed how inutile and barbaric the current administration is,
with its militaristic response leaving the masses hungry, unemployed, and sick.
About the Cover Artist
Albert Raqueño
233
About the Editor
234
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