CENTURY LITERATURE FROM THE PHILIPPINES AND THE WORLD

THE DIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINE LITERATURE

NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION LITERATURE
Week 10
Grading Period: Second Quarter
Content Standards: The learner will be able to understand and appreciate the elements and context of
21st century Philippine literature from regions.
Performance Standards: The learner will be able to demonstrate understanding and appreciation of 21st
Century Philippine literature from the regions through: (1.) a written close analysis and critical interpretation
of literary text in terms of forms and theme, with a description of its context derived from research; and
(2.) an adaption of a text into other creative forms using multimedia.
Most Essential Learning Competencies:
 Write a close analysis and critical interpretation of literary texts and doing an adaptation of these require
from the learner the ability to identify: (a.) the geographic, linguistic, and ethnic dimensions of Philippine
literary history from pre-colonial to the contemporary (b.) representative texts and authors from each
region (e.g. engage in oral history research with focus on key personalities from the students’
region/province/town)
 Compare and contrast the various 21st century literary genres and the ones from the earlier
genres/periods citing their elements, structures and traditions
 Discuss how different contexts enhance the text’s meaning and enrich the reader’s understanding
References:
Abangco, N. (2010). Putol ni Mike Coroza. Retrieved from
http://abangco.blogspot.com/2010/08/putol-ni-mike-coroza.html?m=1
Casper, L. (1967). The Transparent Sun. New Mexico Quarterly 37(3). Retrieved from
https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nmq/vol37/iss3/1
Galang R. (2004). CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art, Vol. IX, Philippine Literature. Retrieved from
http://rizal.lib.admu.edu.ph/aliww/pmb_carmen_guerrero_nakpil.htm
Hello Poetry. (n.d.) Manila Poems. Retrieved from
https://hellopoetry.com/words/manila
Josadera.glogspot.com (2013). Filipino contemporary writers. NCR authors. Retrieved from
http://josadera.blogspot.com/2013/10/ncr-authors.html
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Metro Manila. Retrieved from
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metro_Manila

Welcome back to Metro Manila and to Week 10 module! We are that you have
made a roundtrip journey from Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and back.

In this module, you will be travelling from the selected literary works of the past
and the present of the National Capital Region.

We hope you’ve got a lot of takeaways from the places you’ve visited.

CONFIGURING
K-W-L Chart. In the chart below, write down what you have already known about the NCR
literature, what you what to know, and what you have learned from your previous language and
literature teachers.
K-W-L CHART
What I KNOW What I WANT to know What I LEARNED
 DECODING
Who Said It? Historically speaking, Metro Manila has been the Philippines’s center for film-making
for over twelve decades since 1897. Below are the famous quotations taken from famous Filipino
films. Identify the movie where it was said and the character/ artist from the movie who said it. You
may ask for help from your family members, or search it from the internet.
Quotable Quotes Movie Who Said It?
“’Pag ‘di mo na nadarama’ng mga kapakinabangan ng buhay at
ang buhay at wala nang kapakinabangan sa’yo, dapat ka nang
mamatay. ‘Yong pinakamabuting maaaring mangyari sa’yo, sa
gano’ng kalagayan.”
“Wala akong maibibigay sa kanya… Wala talaga. Ang alam ko
lang ay mahal ko siya. Sabi n’yo’y hindi sapat ‘yon? Pero matay
ko mang pag-isipan, do’n mismo nag-uumpisa ang lahat ng
relasyon. Ng babae sa lalaki, halimbawa… ng kapatid sa
kapatid… ina sa anak.”
“Oo nga naman, mahirap nga namang maging malaki. Dahil
kapag malaki ka na, magpasiya ka na. At merong mga bagay na
totoong mahirap pagpasiyahan.”
“Gano’n naman, ‘di ba? Hindi kayo nagkakatuluyan ng taong
gusto mo.”
“Tumaya ka lang. Masaktan, edi masaktan! Parte ‘yun ng
pagmamahal, ‘di ba?”

Great job! Do you know that these movies are movie adaptations of novels that
were written by notable writers from the NCR?

ADVANCING

Let’s take a look at the geographic, linguistic, literary, and ethnic dimensions of the National
Capital Region.

 The National Capital Region (NCR), official name of Metro

Manila and seat of the government, consists of 16 cities
namely Manila, Quezon City, Las Piñas, Makati,
Mandaluyong, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Parañaque, Pasay,
Pasig, San Juan, Taguig, Caloocan, Malabon, Navotas, and
Valenzuela, as well as the municipality of Pateros.
 NCR is considered as the Philippines’s political, economic,
social, and cultural center.
 This region is reported to be the 18th most populous city in
the world in 2016 and one of the modern metropolises in
Geography:
the Southeast Asia.
 Due to its dense population with its people coming from the
different parts of the country and its neighboring countries,
Merly M. Alunan, an Eastern Visayan writer and professor,
described Metro Manila as a “huge urban conglomeration.”
 NCR is also a place of economic extremes. High-income
citizens reside in highly developed urban cities such as
Makati and Muntinlupa while poor and low-income families
are scattered in slum areas such as Tondo and Smokey Mountain
 Famous landmarks and tourist destinations in the NCR include Rizal Park, National
Museum of the Philippines, Intramuros where Fort Santiago, Manila Cathedral, San
Agustin Church, Bahay Tsinoy Museum, Anda Circle and other landmarks are located.
  Other museums in NCR are The Mind Museum, Ayala Museum, Ateneo Art Gallery,
Museo Pambata, Metropolitan Museum of Manila, Presidential Museum and Library,
CCP Museo ng Kalinangang Pilipino, Jorge B. Vargas Museum and Filipiniana Research
Center, Philippine Science Centrum, Yuchengco Museum, AFP Museum, San Agustin
Museum, Money Museum, and The Museum at DLSU.

 Filipino – more popularly known as Tagalog, the national language and an official
language of the country, is the most widely spoken language in Metro Manila
Language(s):  English – language of commerce, law, and several workplaces

 Tagalog literature has been born, cradled, nourished and peaked into fruition in the
provinces of Southern Luzon, Central Luzon and the present Metropolitan Manila or the
National Capital Region.
 Among the Southern Tagalog provinces are Cavite, Batangas, Laguna, Quezon, Aurora,
Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Marinduque, Palawan and some towns of Rizal
province. In Central Luzon, there are three provinces where Tagalog is predominantly
used and these are the provinces of Nueva Ecija, Bataan and Bulacan.
 Tagalog region is dubbed as the birthplace of a rich tradition of Philippine culture in
language, politics, economy and literature.
 The oldest university in the Philippines, University of Sto. Tomas is located in Manila.
 The first printing press was established in Manila. This gave way to the publication of the
first book, Doctrina Cristiana in xylography in 1593, written in Spanish and Tagalog
versions.
 The bible was first translated into Tagalog in Barlaan and Josephat in 1708 and 1712.
 The life of Christ in epic tradition known popularly today as Pasyon was written in
Tagalog by various writers like Gaspar Aquino de Belen and Fr. Mariano Pilapil.
 The literary tradition in the Tagalog regions is especially outstanding in the field of oral
literature like bugtong (riddle), proverbs, native songs. These oral literatures are always
NCR in poetic forms, usually seven-syllabic rhymes, so Asian in form and perspective.
Literature
from the SOME WRITERS OF CLASSIC PHILIPPINE LITERATURE FROM THE PAST:
Past to the Considering this rich and invigorating cultural matrix, it is not surprising that it is the
Present: Tagalog region that was destined to be the birthplace of historic men in Philippine politics,
culture and literature that includes the following writers and Filipino heroes:
 Francisco Balagtas Baltazar  Amado V. Hernandez
 Jose Rizal  Lope K. Santos
 Andres Bonifacio  Lazaro Francisco
 Apolinario Mabini  Faustino Aguilar
 Emilio Jacinto  Jose Corazon de Jesus
 Marcelo H. del Pilar  Alejandro Abadilla
 Jose P. Laurel  Modesto de Castro
 Claro M. Recto

It is not noticeable that such men are not only man of history that played a great role in
Philippine independence movement but men of letters as well. Meanwhile, the following
writers have a lasting contribution to the development of Philippine literature:

 Carmen Guerrero-Nakpil (July 19, 1922 – July 30, 2018) – was a Filipino author,
journalist, historian, and public servant and a recipient of S.E.A. Write Award; She wrote
Woman Enough and Other Essays
 Nicomedes “Nick” Márquez Joaquín (May 4, 1917 – April 29, 2004) – was a Filipino
writer, historian and journalist, best known for his short stories and novels in the English
 language. He also wrote using the pen name Quijano de Manila; Joaquin was conferred
the rank and title of National Artist of the Philippines for Literature.
 Alejandro Reyes Roces (July 13, 1924 – May 23, 2011) – was a Filipino author,
essayist, dramatist and a National Artist of the Philippines for literature. He served as
Secretary of Education from 1961 to 1965, during the term of Philippine President
Diosdado Macapagal
 Bienvenido N. Santos (1911–1996) – was a Filipino-American fiction, poetry and
nonfiction writer; He was born and raised in Tondo, Manila; His family roots are originally
from Lubao, Pampanga, Philippines. He lived in the United States for many years where
he is widely credited as a pioneering Asian-American writer.
 Carmen Acosta (February 1, 1904 and died on September 13, 1986) – She was the
daughter of Godofredo B. Herrera, and Paterna Santos. Her father was a journalist and
served for a time as municipal president (or mayor in modern usage) of Caloocan during
the American colonial rule. She was a University of the Philippines Bachelor of
Philosophy graduate and taught at the Torres High School in Manila.
 Genoveva Edroza Matute (January 3, 1915 – March 21, 2009) – Was born in Sta. Cruz,
Manila; Wrote several books and short stories such as Kuwento ni Mabuti, and
Paglalayag sa Puso ng Isang Bata

SOME CONTEMPORARY WRITERS FROM PAST TO PRESENT:

 Lualhati Bautista – was born on December 2, 1945 in Tondo, Manila; She is one of the
foremost Filipino female novelists in the history of contemporary Philippine Literature.
Her novels include Dekada '70, Bata, Bata, Pa'no Ka Ginawa?, and ‘GAPÔ
 Gémino H. Abad – was born on February 5, 1939 in Sta. Ana, Manila; At present, he is a
University Professor Emeritus at the University of the Philippines. His current writing and
research include “Upon Our Own Ground”, a two- volume historical anthology of short
stories in English, 1956- 1972, with critical introduction; “Our Scene So Fair”, a book of
NCR
critical essays on the poetry in English since 1905 to the mid- 50s, and; “Where No
Literature
Words break”, a volume of his own poems.
from the
Past to the  Linda Ty Casper – was born in 1931 in Malabon City; She has published over fifteen
Present: books, including the historical novel DreamEden and the political novels The Stranded
Whale, The Peninsulars, Awaiting Trespass, Wings of Stone, A Small Party in a Garden,
and Fortress in the Plaza; She has also published three collections of short stories which
present a cross-section of Filipino society.
 Efren Abueg – born on March 3, 1937 in Tanza, Cavite but his life as a professor and
writer flourished in Manila since he was college; He wrote the famous short stories
Mabangis na Lungsod, and Sa Bagong Paraiso.
 Gilda Cordero-Fernando – was born on June 4, 1932 in Manila; A multi-awarded writer,
publisher and cultural icon from the Philippines; She has written the books We Live in the
Philippines, The last Full Moon: Lessons on My Life, The Magic Circle, and other books.

SOME FAMOUS WRITERS IN THE PRESENT TIME:

 Bebang Siy – Wrote It’s Raining Mens and It’s a Mens World, whose works are known to
be funny and comical; Despite the humorous writings, her novels are thought-provoking.
 Bob Ong – Author of Stainless Longanisa, ABNKKBSNPLAKo, Ang Paboritong Libro ni
Hudas, Kapitan Sino, MACARTHUR, Alamat ng Gubat, and other books which were
known to be written in an informal and comic manner but reflects the life of many as
Filipinos
 Ricky Lee – Known as one of the greatest scriptwriters in movie and television; Author of
Para kay B (o kung paano dinevastate ng pag-ibig ang 4 out of 5 sa atin), si Amapola sa
65 na Kabanata, Trip to Quiapo, and other books.
 Ferdinand Pisigan Jarin – Author of Anim na Sabado ng Beyblade at Iba Pang
Sanaysay, a memoir about his son named Rebo; He is also a musician and teacher.
 THE NCR LITERATURE

After getting to know a brief history of NCR literature and its well-known authors, you are about to
read selected literary works from NCR writers. But before that, we’d like to ask you about one thing –
Have you ever wondered why Juan Dela Cruz is named that way instead of having an Asian-sounding
name?

What about you? Where did your name originate? What is the history behind your name? Interview
your parents, guardians, and/or family members about it then ask them about the origin of your
family name/ surname as well. Share your findings
A Qbueeloswtioinnthtoe PsopancdeerbeOlonw: .Do we have an identity that truly belongs to us?

Now that you have found the origin of your family’s identity and your name as well, let’s get to know the author
of the essay that we are about to read.

The Woman Enough: Several Literary

Carmen Guerero-Nakpil Works:
(July 19, 1922 – July 30, 2018)  Woman Enough
Hometown: Manila and Other
Occupation: Writer, magazine editor, columnist, and Essays (1963)
literature teacher, became the chairperson of the  A Question of
National Historical Commission and the cultural Identity (1973)
committee of the Philippine commission for UNESCO  The Philippines
Educational Attainment: and the Filipino
 Studied at St. Theresa’s College (1977)
Literary Award Received:  The Philippines: The Land of the People (1989)
 Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas Award  The Rice Conspiracy (1990)
for English fiction in 1988 from the Unyon ng mga Newspapers and Magazines (columnist and
Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL) editor):
 Southeast Asian Writers (SEAWRITE) Award in  The Orion (campus paper of STC)
1990  Sunday Times Magazine
 National Book Award for anthology from the Manila  Evening News Saturday Magazine
Critics Circle for her The Philippines: The Land  Weekly Women’s Magazine
and the People.  Malaya
 A Question to Ponder: Do we Filipinos have an identity which we can claim as ours?

A QUESTION OF IDENTITY
Carmen Guerrero-Nakpil
Essay

One of the things that throw off foreigners is our system of Spanish family names. At the UN
or any of its alphabet agencies, at diplomatic or trade conferences, foreign universities or firms, the
Filipino representative is likely to be named, not Thieu Min or Ahmed Tagarito as one could expect of
an Oriental from a Pacific archipelago near the heartland of Asia, but Gonzalo Fernandez y Castro or
Luis Maria Coronado.

The reason for this disconcerting circumstance, apart from the historical accident of Western
Catholicism (which gave us our first names) is an order handed down by the Spanish Governor
Claveria on November 21, 1849, which decided once and for all what family names Filipinos should
bear. The order – one of the most fascinating in our National Archives – lists the conditions which
made it imperative in Spanish eyes. Most of the “natives” did not have family names. Those that did
have adopted a few saints’ names, but thousands who were not related bore the same name, and
this proliferation created untold confusion, hampered the administration of justice and had
“transcendental civil, moral, and religious consequences,” since blood relationships (prior to marriage
ceremonies, for instance) could not be traced. The Spanish government was also reacting to the
crying need for a population census and other adequate statistics, as well as for efficient tax
collection. Like all colonial governments it was also concerned about “population movements” and
the secrecy with which it was possible to carry these out.

A “catalog of surnames” was then put together by the most important friars, that is, the
Fathers Provincial of all religious orders, from a list of Spanish patronymics as well as glossaries of
words from the dialects, other items taken from, as the order calls it “the vegetable and mineral
kingdom”, and expectedly enough, geography. A copy of the catalog was sent to all provincial
governors and thence apportioned among the gobernadorcillos and cabecerias, the period name for
villages, with instructions that heads of families were to choose their surnames from the word lists.

The order left a lot of leeway for families “of Spanish, Chinese, or native origin” which had
borne patronymics for generations, concerning itself only with those who had names of saints, those
who had all-too-common names like de la Cruz and de los Santos (although Cruz appears again on
the list) orphans and children of unknown fathers. A specific injunction was placed against adopting
the names of ancient nobility, given as Lacandola, Mojica, Tupas, and Raja Matanda, except by
those who clearly had a right to them. At first glance, the order appears logical and humane.

The most cursory reading, however, of the words, printed alphabetically, in long columns and
in lower case reveals the sardonic humor of the Spanish rulers. There is unmistakable black comedy
in suggesting to (and, in most cases, imposing upon) an illiterate pater familias a surname from a list
that included unggoy, utut, taba, estupido, ladron, aso, ano, longaniza, tortura, cuca, daga (without
an accent) maglasing, malo, and trasero. Of course, most of the list was indeed made up of harmless
and only midly amusing words like, asada, ticoy, tonelada, masarap, monggo, cronometo, and
embalzamado, and (contrary to a popular misconception) there was an abundance of honest-to
goodness native words like salaysalay, oloc-oloc, ocaycayan, and panganiban. Still, any modern
census list will reveal not only an abject cultural pupilage but also pronounced streak of Spanish
cruelty.
 Such famous names as Magsaysay, Romulo, and Taruc were apparently chosen from the Claveria list of 1849. Marcos
appears only in the singular as Marco and Osmeña does not appear at all. Salonga is written salongamoy which may
not be the same word at all since the name Salonga turns up almost two hundred years earlier in the first revolt of
the Tondon datus, as one of the ringleaders.

The surname I was born with was also picked out from the Claveria catalog by a warlike ancestor whose bloodlust
must have been aroused by the old family name of Santa Rosa. One can easily understand why someone who had
been called Saint Rose for generations would be prickly and martial enough to want to be known as a Spanish
warrior.

My other surname went by two other versions in Claveria: nacpil and nacapili, the latter oddly apt and flattering but
with an ominous ring of self-determination. Nacapili – to have chosen! Not many people have been able, after all, to
choose, as we Filipinos did, their own identity.
1. What is the subject of the essay?

2. Where did the Filipinos’ naming system originate? Who decided on this naming system for Filipinos?

3. What does the naming system reveal about the treatment of Spaniards towards Filipinos? Support
your answer with textual evidences.

4. What is the author’s attitude regarding the topic?

5. What does the author reveal about the origin of her surname? How did she relate it to our identity as
Filipinos?

6. Why do you think the essay was titled A Question of Identity?

7. What is your reaction about the essay?

Great! You just finished reading A Question of Identity. Now, you will be reading another literary gem
from one of our NCR writers. Before that, here are some of the fast facts that you might want to know
about the author:

The One who Saw the Transparent Sun: Several Literary Works:
Belinda “Linda” Ty–Casper  The Peninsulars
Hometown: Malabon City  The Stranded Whale
Occupation: Writer, wife, traveler, and mother  The Transparent Sun
Educational Attainment:  Awaiting Trespass
 Graduated valedictorian at the University of  Wings of Stone
the Philippines  A Small Party in a Garden
 Earned Master’s Degree at Harvard  Fortress in the Plaza
University for International Law  Triptych for a Ruined Altar – included in the Honor
Literary Award Received: Roll of The Best American Short Stories
 Philippine PEN short story award
 UNESCO International Writers' Day in In 1956, she married Leonard Casper, a professor
London emeritus of Boston College who is also a critic of
 SEA Write Award in Bangkok Philippine Literature. They have two daughters and
reside
in Massachusetts.

“If a country’s history is its biography, its literature is its autobiography.” – Linda Ty-Casper

Scan through the short story. List down 5 to 10 unfamiliar words from it. Using a dictionary, unlock the meaning
of the words that you listed down. Write a short definition of each of the word.

Unfamiliar Word Dictionary Definition/ Denotation

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.

A Question to Ponder: How can we say if we deserve owning or possessing a very special thing?
THE TRANSPARENT SUN
Linda Ty-Casper
Short Story

“THAT WOMAN is back," Zenaida said, her voice at the near edge of contempt. She swung away from
the window that looked across to the governor's office in the provincial capital. Before the full-length mirror
on the wall, she stopped to check her teased hair. Her knees were white and smooth beneath the tight pink
jersey. Then she entered her room, pulling the door severely.
 A plaster crucifix near the entry trembled with the closing. Her cat, a ball of petulant sun, jumped up
onto the piano stool and with pink eyes peered timidly about the long hall adorned with old portraits so faded
they looked like sun stains on the shellacked walls.
Don Julio glanced up from the morning papers which had just come from Manila, and looked after the
closing of the door, trying to decide what his wife had said. The precise click of the door-lock alerted him. He
had married each of his three wives when they were barely twenty but now at seventy, he could no longer
understand youth or Zenaida, a white skinned mestiza who had been cashier at his theatre, the only movie
house in the capital. She must have been provoked by something he had said: by his silence?
"What is it?" he asked, leaning forward on the rattan chair against wide armrests of narra, the
newspaper creased between his belly and knees, his fingers marking the obituary page which he always
consulted first and last to follow the demise of friends long scattered about the islands.
"That woman," Zenaida shouted from her room, her voice clear and sharp as claws.
Don Julio lifted himself above the windowsill and peered through the vines of pink and white cadena
de amor that hung over the window grilles like the scattering hair of the woman who stood at the gate, in
plain brown skirt, faded overskirt and loose while camisa. Her feet, encased in brown plastic slippers, were
trying to find balance over the gravel driveway.
"Open the gate," Don Julio called to a servant and replaced the newspaper on the table, now carefully
folded on the page of obituaries. A quick eye disclosed the death of Don Esteban Esteban had repaid him
with good money for a wartime debt that friends insisted could be annulled in court. Esteban had said, a debt
of honor binds a man more strictly because it is the measure of his life. Don Julio's interrupted glance read:
...
fallecio en Manila . . . se ruega no envien flores….
Don Julio walked over to his wife's room and stood outside. "It's my cousin. Don't call her 'that
woman'." He waited awhile for her 'answer. When none came he took courage to try her lock. Her room was
open.
The smell of stale perfume crumbled about his face as he looked around to see where Zenaida was.
He saw the yellow drapes, sun-streaked and brittle, salvaged from past house keepings to shut the room
from malicious eyes at the capital. He avoided the large dresser mirror; he no longer relished any sight of
himself. On the hall outside he could tolerate the pictures of his youth, the young face waxen in the perpetual
pose of forgotten reveries. He saw Zenaida brushing her fingernails, with her back against an impressive
collection of jerseys printed in the colors and foliage of some overripe garden.
"Don't call her 'that woman'," he said in the same voice he used to coax her to bed. Zenaida continued
brushing her fingernails, now and then glancing at the newspaper pictures of society ladies beaming past
each other on the floor below her feet. She could model clothes as well as any of them, if Don Julio would
permit… She looked up at him, around him to the huge wedding portrait: Don Julio secure on a red
cushioned chair and she, the young succulent wife, looking to the side, distracted.
"She's your cousin, not mine," she finally said, blowing at her cuticles and dangling a leg over the
newspaper ladies, a pink satin slipper caught deliriously over her toes, an amused smile playing on her face.
"Return the necklace," Don Julio said, approaching his wife slowly so as not to startle her, a hand extended
to touch the hair that was brittle with applications of hairspray, a special concoction of beer and
essences smuggled from Jolo.
Zenaida flounced her eyes at him.
"Return them, hija, and I will make it up to you. The necklace is old anyway. Old and tarnished…. Of what
use can it be to you? It does not become you….”
"What necklace?" Zenaida sprung away from the intended touch, leaving Don Julio poised to caress
the vacated air. She laughed at his discomfiture, a tiny, kitty laugh that properly disclosed her fine teeth and
exquisite darting tongue. “She must have told you lies. I know of no necklace… that belongs to her, you say,
to an old woman?"
Zenaida continued to move away, tying and retying the pink ribbon sash around her body, moving
along the window where through the transparent drapes the sun glowed into her arms.
Don Julio restored his hands to his sides, groped for the pockets of his purple dressing gown, worn
pink at the hem and cuff; the waist sash, tied indifferently, sagged over his hips.
"Give it back to her, hija; you do what I tell you now and you will receive something several times in
value . . . something young and precious, something new…. You can choose it yourself."
"I still don't know what necklace." Zenaida paused before the dresser to pat her hair and spray her
ears with Gloire de Paris. The spray hit her eyes. She grimaced and rubbed them hard, like a child waking
up from an afternoon sleep. She peered at herself. No lines on the forehead, none around the eyes. She
was barely twenty, barely beginning to live. She smiled at herself, her eyes glinting as though to coax a
secret lover who provoked her even in the presence of the old man.
Suddenly the mirror wings of her dresser disclosed Don Julio still struggling across the distance
between them. She moved away from their reflections on the dresser mirror. She watched him, amused at
the way his wrinkled feet slid in and out of his purple slippers when he walked. Had he ever been young?
"Listen, hija," Don Julio said, standing still so Zenaida would not move further away. "You tell me what
you want in return . . . anything at all ... a trip to Manila ... to Baguio ... we can stay as long as you want….."
To emphasize his generosity Don Julio raised a hand loose with flesh.
"Baguio gives you asthma and no one is there except during summer." She pouted at him, then
slipped into the golden jersey silk with drastic bamboo prints. "Do you like it?' she asked, luring him with her
small kitty voice.
"What do you want then? Anything..." Don Julio hunched his shoulders to restrain his lungs. He leaned
on to the back of the chair Zenaida had sat on, unable to lift his feet further.
"This," Zenaida said, opening the wardrobe with the dragon lock, her fragile fingers long and white
against the mahogany. Don Julio looked up, his eyes consumed by the gold filigree necklace, by the glass
pendant, by the crucifix inlaid with green bits of mirror. Zenaida held it up, swung it before him; watched him
follow with frayed eyes the flaring trace of sun it left in the air.
"IT'S AN OLD NECKLACE," Don Julio said, as he looked at his cousin Sepa who sat at the edge of
her chair in the living room, her old face more faded than the portraits on the walls. He could not recall her
young face. He had not seen her in years, not since his first wife, Gloria, had died.
Sepa did not speak, as though to hold intact the pieces of her face. Head inclined to one side, she
stared at the cup of chocolate before her, not even following the flight over it of a large green fly, not
interested in anything that fell outside the fixed arc of her sight. She laid her hands on her lap, rubbed the
fingers slowly as though trying to feel the texture of her own skin. She sighed and inclined her head to the
other side and closed her eyes against the glint of sunlight on the waxed floor.
 Sepa came prepared to redeem the necklace. A month before, she had come to the house to pawn.
She could have gone to one of the agencias in the capital but she had no trust in them. She told her
granddaughter, Antonia– two sons were lost in Corregidor, the only daughter to smallpox at infancy– "Julio
will give me more and the necklace will be safe with him." She had sold various pieces of her inheritance,
but the necklace, the only piece left, the one she had coveted from childhood, she could only pawn. She had
pledged it once to Gloria, Julio's first wife. They had all grown up together.
At her earlier coming, Julio had not been at the house. Zenaida, in his stead, had generously offered
the money and accepted the necklace. Sepa had watched her try it on, negligently view herself with it on the
full-length mirror. "Take your time repaying, Sepa," the young wife had said. "We trust you. And come any
time you need us. If you have any more old pieces . . . jewels that have been in your family for years . . . I
would like to see them." The long white fingers had enclosed the gold filigree necklace that hung wantonly
from the white neck, the way Sepa had often dreamed of its hanging on herself. But she never had dared to
put it on before others. . . .
"Is there anything you need?" Don Julio was asking. "Antonia may want to study in Manila. The
universities are excellent there. I can support her through school. My son, Gloria's firstborn and mine you
remember Federico he is now a school superintendent and Antonia can easily secure a position through
him at my slightest word so let her have the necklace."
"I have come to redeem it," Sepa said, her voice quiet and apologetic. "One should never pawn.....it's
my very " She pulled out the handkerchief that was attached to the inside of her camisa by a large safety
pin. She looked at it for sometime, then she started to loosen the knotted ends. Carefully she unrolled it,
pressing the corners down on her lap. Tight as little dried worms the folded money emerged. One by one
she placed them on her palm, balanced them there tentatively. She contemplated the exposed designs,
shades of brown and orange and white that were becoming blurs in her eyes. Quickly she brought the
creased handkerchief to her face, rubbed it with both hands into her eyes. Sobbing quietly, inwardly she
rocked herself at the edge of her chair.
"Stop, Sepa, you're too old for that," Don Julio said, glancing about the hall, his eyes darting to the
room of Zenaida. The door was closed. No longer menaced by fear, he reached over to pat Sepa's arm.
"Don't cry, Sepa. Let us talk this over. I can give you a sum, not modest by any means it will be between
us. Then
you won't have to sell mats in town. A life of hardship does not become you "
I have sold mats since my husband died; beginning with our own," Sepa said. "I raised my children on
my peddling. What few jewels I inherited were lost during the Sakdal uprising; all those buried by Father
were never recovered, those we carried in flight disappeared with the servants ... you knew that, Julio "
Don Julio sat back to rest his body. He looked at the portraits on the wall. Without seeing them clearly,
he knew the one over the piano was Sepa's father, Don Macario. "I remember your father," he told Sepa.
"He was dead not long after the uprising . . . my husband followed," Sepa said, her fingers afraid to
close upon the rolled money in her hands, the money Don Julio would not accept.
"Don Macario was good to me . . . he used to take me in his quelis, the horses golden with bronze
harnesses remember, Sepa, when everyone would look up and after us when we passed? I remember his
silver hilted sword, the collection of pistols, the table in the hall before the image of San Antonio where he
counted the silver brought by harvests. It was not his wealth, but the richness, the perfection of his devotion,
his attending to the smallest "
 Don Julio looked up to the next portrait, Sepa's mother. When Don Macario's house burned, Gloria
had asked for those portraits, borrowed them until another house could be built of sufficient grandeur to
compliment the gilt-edged portraits Don Macario died without erecting another house. Often, Gloria claimed
Don Julio's
nonexistent ancestry through those portraits, in order to impress newly acquired friends. Don Julio, himself
just becoming rich, would not disclose the fact that he was brought to Don Macario's house as a servant, a
distant relative whom Don Macario raised as a companion to an only son.
"I remember your mother," Don Julio said. "All the vats of preserved lime and santol that her cooks
prepared, the legs of ham curing over her kitchen stoves, her silverware so pure that spoons bent almost
from touch. . . . She was good to me " Don Julio began to revel in recollections almost forgotten. The more
he
recalled, the more he felt revived, assured and restored. "See the portrait of your mother, Sepa, see how
well it is preserved in my house."
Sepa turned on her chair, pushing her feet back into the brown plastic slippers that rubbed her toes
raw in a single morning's peddling. She turned to the portrait. In the slant of light upon the floor she could not
fix her eyes steadily. But in her mind she saw the portrait again, remembered the delicate face that had been
widely sought in marriage and whose features only her older sister had inherited, and around the slender
neck, the necklace, reproduced in tempting shades of gold like a ritual sun simultaneously buried and being
unearthed. "You remember, Julio " she said, rising slightly from the edge of her chair, recalling how she had
always desired that necklace, as recompense for the beauty she did not inherit. Suitors had come for the
older sister, but for her, only one who therefore had to be accepted. She had her father's face, broad and
mild, generous with faults. But now, her grandchild, Antonia, reproduced her mother's beauty. She desired
the necklace, now for Antonia, more fiercely than she had for herself.
"I came to redeem the necklace," she said, no longer tempted by Don Julio's offer.
"It cannot matter that much to you, Sepa, not any more," Don Julio said. "I have offered you much
more than it's worth because I owe it to your father. How else can I ever repay him? But Zenaida needs this
jewelry. She's young, we must be patient with her. She has never enjoyed the things you had. Let us be
good to her, Sepa. You have been luckier, your own father and mother had provided for you ”
"Remember, Julio, when Mother died and her jewels were being distributed among us?" Sepa asked,
her fingers tight around the money in her palm. "I asked only for that necklace but Ate, being older, received
it. Remember, you said you would get it back for me?"
Don Julio sat back to recall. Once, his slingshot had raised a welt as large as a hen's egg on Sepa's
forehead but Sepa refused to name him and thus condemn him to flogging, undressed before all the
servants. In gratitude he had felt indebted to her, as well as to Don Macario; had intended to be her protector
though she was several years older than he was. When the jewels were being partitioned, he had promised
to get it for her somehow. Though he was barely thirteen then, the pride of growing manhood had demanded
that much of a gesture of gallantry.
"Remember, Julio, you bought that necklace from Ate with the first big money you made? It was your
wedding and you laughed as you handed it to me, and said, instead of my giving you a gift, you were giving
me one. That's why I pawned it to you, first, when Gloria was still alive then now."
Don Julio saw the warped fingers extending the tightly rolled bills. He felt his deformity and he looked
away quickly. Sternly, a man bent on repaying a debt of honor, he walked over to Zenaida's room. The lock
would not tum.
 "Zenaida," he shouted. "Bring that necklace. Now." Zenaida remained in her room. Don Julio's hands
clutched the knob, tried to rattle it. It sounded like his bones knocking. He released the knob, started to tum
away. Then, unable to look at Sepa, he knocked again, softly with his head bowed against the door.
"Zenaida," he said, his voice crumbling against the wall. "Someone is here to see you."
Then he walked over to his own room, across the hall, and waited for Zenaida's clear voice, like sharp
claws tearing the long hall's silence.
Check your understanding of the short story by answering the questions that follow.

1. Who came to visit Don Julio and Zenaida? Why did she pay a visit?

2. What did Sepa want to redeem? What was the reaction of Don Julio and Zenaida about it?

3. Why did Sepa want to redeem the necklace? Who will use the necklace?

4. How did Sepa convince Don Julio to return the necklace to her? Did she succeed in doing so? Explain.

5. In your opinion, who deserves the necklace between the two women – Sepa or Zenaida? Why?

6. Why do you think the short story’s title was The Transparent Sun?

7. What are the possible themes of the story?

8. What is your reaction to the denouement (resolution/end) of the story? If you were in the author’s shoes,
how would you end the story? Write your version of the ending below.

9. What insight have you gained from the story?

Great! You’ve just finished reading one of the most notable literary gems from NCR. Now let’s read a poem that was
written in our time.

The poem that you are about to read was published in hellopoetry.com and was written by Yen in April 2017. With Yen
as her online pen name, the author of the poem is a Filipino student who is currently residing in Auckland.
 A Question to Ponder On: What are your dreams and aspirations for your community?

Here’s the poem written by the woman behind the Pearl of the Orient.
Pearl of the Orient
Yen
(1) (2)
Manila, you see less
Manila, and less
Your bustling streets vibrate with the rumbling of and less
the jeepneys faces as the Sun sinks and says good bye.
and the hollers of the drivers as they say,
“Pasahero diyan, kasya pa, kasya pa!”; Stop
(Any passenger there, some seats are still free!) and try to tranquilise yourself.
Your nights twinkle with the Christmas lights
that surround every tree around the Meralco Your city is now lead
building by a blood-thirsty leader.
when September begins; Apologies from gunshots overpower the
Your endless traffic jams cries of help from your people.
keep Manila,
McDonald’s and KFC alive twenty-four by seven ignore them
where traffic enforcers dodge cars and vans and sleep well.
trucks and tricycles Let the truth decay
and jeepneys and bicycles while lives burn and vanish.
while dancing to the rhythm beating in their own Prayers cannot save your mutinous ignominy.
ears
with a smile and a salute to all the drivers Halcyon days are over but
from dawn to dusk;
Manila,
The noise awakens the outskirts of your city you are still a beautiful city.
filled with people who never fails to smile Your resilient people
even when the storm pirouettes like a overflows with hospitable hearts.
tempestuous ballerina, Their faces plastered with big smiles
where children watch the roads as they welcome us for you
transform into this ocean of black water and and say, “Mabuhay!” (Long live!)
small wooden boats become the proud and mighty.
means of transportation; Offering their minds on banana leaf
paddling in between houses plates to everyone who visits,
as the adults try to go to work; Giving away their hearts in small loot bags to
where chickens waddling upon roofs everyone who leaves,
and cats chasing rats
become the best forms of entertainment The Pearl of the Orient Seas
was my hood.
but Manila,
your lingering smell of cancer Manila,
comes with the dark blue starless despite your lack of snow
sky telling people to grip their bags and intense weather swings,
until it merges with their bodies. You are
Manila, say good night and will always be
while they hold it tight my home.
protecting it from the dark humid air
where thieves come out to
thumb down unscrutinised objects
from shallow pockets by the flickering lamps
across the blazing red and emerald green lights
Check your understanding and interpretation of the poem by responding to the questions that follow.
1. What is referred to as the “Pearl of the Orient”?

2. Who is the persona of the poem?

3. Who is the addressee of the poem?

4. How did the persona describe Manila and the Filipinos? Using a word web write your descriptions below.

MANILA FILIPINOS

5. What do the first 4 lines in Column 2 suggest?

6. What kind of leader is described in the poem? Cite evidences from the poem. Do you agree with these
descriptions? Why? Why not?

7. According to the persona, how should Manila respond to the violence that is happening in the city? Do you
agree with this? Why? Why not? Explain your answer.

8. Is there a verisimilitude between the poem and the real-life events in Manila? Share your insights.

8. In your own view, what could be the author’s purpose in writing the poem?
 CREATING

Excellent! You have just finished getting to know National Capital

Region writers and reading selected literary pieces from the region.
Now it’s your time to share what you have gained from this lesson.

A. ENGAGE

Who am I? How do you perceive and know yourself? Make an acrostic poem about your own self and
identity using your name as the initials.

B. EXPLORE
The way people write evolves over time. Up to the present time, some poets prefer writing in
conventional way or free verse, while some writers make use of different literary devices such as figurative
languages, structure, line breaks, and typography to intensify the message of their masterpieces. What are
these literary devices? Research about these literary devices and share your
findings below:
Literary Devices What Have I Found Out?
Figurative
Language (Figures
of Speech)
Structure

Line Break

Typography
The poem below makes use of the literary devices that you have researched about earlier. Merlie M. Alunan,
the author of The Haiyan Dead, a poem that was tackled in Eastern Visayas Literature module also made use
of these devices in the said poem.

How are these devices effectively used in the poem Putol? Share your insights on the spaces provided.

A Question to Ponder On: How does Philippine literature reveal the socio-economic and political
context of the Philippines at the time of writing?

Putol Your Insights and Interpretations of the poem:

A Poem by Mike Coroza

May kanang paang

putol
sa tambakan
ng basura.
Naka-Nike.

Dinampot
Ng basurero.
Kumatas
ang dugo.

Umiling-iling
ang basurero’t
bumulong, “Sayang,
wala namang kapares.”

C. EXPLAIN
Describe and explain the following elements of poetry present in Pearl of the Orient.

Speaker/Persona

Addressee

Tone

Structure

Sound

Figurative
Language

Theme
 D. ELABORATE
An author’s method of characterization is a way by which authors or writers reveal or show the
personality of the characters involved in the story. Here are the different methods of
characterization.

1. Physical Traits 2. Thoughts and feelings

This tells how the character
looks like. The appearance of
the character in the story reveals
the roles they portray.
Facial expressions also tells us
more about the character of a
person in a story.
METHODS OF
CHARACTERIZATION
3. Speech and actions 4.
What the character says and
how they act tell us much about
them. These things provide
insights to the reader. The
character can speak in a loving,
rude, or nervos manner.
Actions done by a character
makes the readers determine
whether the character is good
or bad.
The character's thoughts are
showed based on his/her Characterization is important
motivations, decisions, personal because it makes the story more
beliefs, emotions, and actions. interesting for the
Once the readers discover the
readers. Authors make the
thoughts and feelings of a
character, they would charactersrealistic by
understand better the actions providing varied details in the
shown in the story. story. The readers become more
compelled with the flow of the
plot because of the complex
personalities found in
the story.
What other characters say
In a story, a character forms a
relationship with other
characters. Thus, how each
interact reveals something about
each person. the way a
character makes other
characters feel, talk, and act
matters in a story.

Look again at the characters in the short story “The Transparent Sun.” List down character traits that you can
infer about them. Provide supporting details from the story.

The Characters
Transparent Zenaida Don Julio Sepa
Sun

Descriptions of
the Characters

Supporting
Details from
the Short Story
 E. EVALUATE
Multiple Choice. Encircle the letter of the correct answer.

1. She wrote essays such as Woman Enough and A Question of Identity.

A. Bebang Siy B. Carmen Guerero-Nakpil C. Lualhati Bautista

2. This is the oldest university in the Philippines which is located in Manila.

A. University of the Philippines B. University of Sto. Tomas C. Zamboanga Normal School

3. The Spanish Governor who ordered what family names the Filipinos must bear
A. Antonio Pigafetta B. Ferdinand Magellan C. Narciso Claveria

4. This region is considered as the Philippines’s political, economic, social, and cultural center.
A. ARMM B. CARAGA C. NCR
5. This poem about the present-time Manila was published in hellopoetry.com by Yen in April 2017
A. Pagbabalik B. Pearl of the Orient C. Promised Neverland

6. A way by which authors or writers reveal or show the personality of the characters involved in the story
A. Characterization B. Plot-twisting C. Storytelling

7. This essay of Carmen Guerrero-Nakpil explicated how our system of Spanish family names originated.
A. A Question of Identity B. Where’s the Patis C. Woman Enough
8. A local attraction in Manila where Fort Santiago, Manila Cathedral, San Agustin Church, and other
structures are erected
A. Intramuros B. Luneta C. People’s Park

9. She is a famous writer up to the present time and authored the novels Dekada '70, Bata, Bata, Pa'no Ka
Ginawa?, and ‘GAPÔ.
A. Bebang Siy B. Carmen Guerero-Nakpil C. Lualhati Bautista

10. He wrote Stainless Longanisa, ABNKKBSNPLAKo, Ang Paboritong Libro ni Hudas, Kapitan Sino,
MACARTHUR, and Alamat ng Gubat.
A. Bob Ong B. Ferdinand Pisigan Jarin C. Ricky Lee

11. This literary piece accounts the life of Christ in epic tradition was written in Tagalog by various writers like
Gaspar Aquino de Belen and Fr. Mariano Pilapil.
A. Barlaan at Josephat B. Doctrina Cristiana C. Pasyon
12. This short story written by Linda Ty-Casper is all about a gold filigree necklace that was pawned to a
couple, which is latter redeemed by its owner after a long time.
A. Common Continent B. The Secret Runner C. The Transparent Sun

13. Which method of characterization is NOT present in the excerpt below?

"You remember, Julio " she said, rising slightly from the edge of her chair, recalling how she had always
desired that necklace, as recompense for the beauty she did not inherit. Suitors had come for the older
sister, but for her, only one who therefore had to be accepted. She had her father's face, broad and mild,
generous with faults.
A. Physical traits B. Thoughts and feelings C. What other characters say

14. What method of characterization is used by the author in the excerpt below?
She smiled at herself, her eyes glinting as though to coax a secret lover who provoked her even in the
presence of the old man.
A. Physical traits B. Speech and actions C. Thoughts and feelings

15. This method of characterization explains that in a story, a character forms a relationship with other
characters. Thus, how each interact reveals something about each person. the way a character makes
other characters feel, talk, and act matters in a story.
A. Physical traits B. Thoughts and feelings C. What other characters say
 3-2-1 LITERARY EXIT SLIP. It’s your time to shine and express your fresh
thoughts and takeaways from this module.

In the chart below, write three (3) things that you have learned or found out, two (2)
things that you liked or gained your interest, and one (1) question that you still have on
your mind.

3
THINGS I HAVE
LEARNED OR FOUND OUT

2
THINGS I LIKED
ABOUT THE LESSON OR GAINED MY INTEREST

1
QUESTION
I HAVE ON MY MIND

Your journey through National Capital Region and its literature has ended. Congratulations for completing this part of
module! We hope you had gained a lot of insights and knowledge about the literature of Manileños.

Let’s see where our next adventure takes us! But first, take some break and a breath of fresh air. We will be glad to
know if you are taking self-care measures.