Juan
Miguel
Photo Source: ABS - CBN
Juan Miguel Rivera Severo is one of the well-
known performers when it comes to the spoken Word
Poetry industry. At 33 years of age, he was born on the
14th day of August 1988 in Malabon City, Philippines.
Before his notable milestones, he attended the
College of Mass Communication at the University of
the Philippines, where he became one of the
roommates of On Wings of Love director, Antoinette
Jadaone. Upon graduating, he also pondered
Architecture, but his passion and love for literary arts
reign more than his practical vision in life.
His media career started being as an art director
and later as a freelance writer and spoken word poet.
In the year 2015, he was one of the cast in the famous
series “On the Wings of Love” directed by one of his
colleagues and friend, Antoinette Jadaone, and aired
by ABS-CBN. Up until then, I became one of his
supporters.
I love the way how he portrays every single
character that is cast on him. However, my fandom
side of him grows as his album entitled “Calypso” was
released. Calypso contains one of my favorite works by
him, Ang Huling Tula na Isusulat Ko Para Sa 'Yo and
Ginawan ko Siya ng Balsa. Correlating him with other
Filipino poets and performers like Lorena Barros, Jose
Garcia Villa, and Bienvenido Lumbrera, Severo was
incredibly different from them. Most of the poets
acknowledged, awakened my consciousness and
patriotism. However, Severo being the most relatable
one, wrote his poems and performs them with a more
tangible element: how it feels to be loved and
vulnerable.
Aside from his career in the media industry, he
also involves himself in small and large groups of poets
here in the Philippines. One of these is the Words
Anonymous. Here, he compiled and edited a transcript
References:
https://www.cnn.ph/life/culture/Creatives-Questionnaire/2020/5/22/juan-
miguel-severo.html
https://peoplaid.com/2019/07/13/juan-miguel-severo/
Severo:
the versatile
one
of spoken words by the group and
later published it as the Words Anonymous’s
first collection of poetry, Tuwing Ikatlong Sabado
(Every Third Saturday).
Severo is also known for his works that normalize
queer love. Last year, he wrote a series that debuted on
September 25, 2020. It was Gaya sa Pelikula, a queer
rom-com series for Globe Studios — starring queer
actors. An interview revealed one of his reasons in
writing it, “I’m writing a romantic comedy between gay
characters because the LGBTQ+ community needs more
representation in the media.”And by the end of the 22-
minute mark of the video, I was utterly floored. I
agreed with him, we barely watch local series and films
that represent the members of LGBTQ+, from then I
salute him. He doesn’t just write love stories and
relatable poems, but also promotes equality among all.
I think the best thing about Severo that made
him stand out among other poets is his patriotism. As
he says, “I wrote spoken words
that are not just about
failed love. May hugot sa
pagmamahal sa bayan!”.
He is a man of his words,
he lives in truth by the
art and art by the truth.
How I wish the
future generations will have
another version of him:
a versatile one.
Photo Source: IMDB
"This is our
story to tell."
Lay-out and Written By: Meca Ella Alesna