Apo on the

Wall
By: Bj Patino
Report by: Divine U. Ramos
BSED-III
 Table of Contents

Welcome • The Author………

• Apo on the Wall………
• Authoritarianism………
• Guide Questions………
• Moral/Message of the
Poem………
 • He is currently working towards a
About the Author masters degree in anthropology

• Bernard Julian “BJ” Patino • Ninth Day

• Ateneo de Manila University- • Late Mourning.
graduate. • Apo on the Wall.
• Ateneo de Manila University-
masteral degree in Literature.
• He’s currently a faculty member
of the English Department at the
Ateneo de Manila University.
• Photojournalist of Mindanao
News and Information
Cooperative Center.
.
 Apo on the Wall
There’s this man’s photo on the wall
Of my father’s office at home, you
Know, where father brings his work,
Where he doesn’t look strange
Still wearing his green uniform
And colored breast plates, where,
To prove that he works hard, he
Also brought a photo of his boss
Whom he calls Apo, so Apo could
You know, hang around on the wall
at home
01
Behind him and look over his
shoulders
To make sure he’s snappy and all.
Father snapped at me once, caught me
Sneaking around his office at home
Looking at the stuff on his wall-
handguns,
Plaques, a sword, medals a rifle-
 Told me that was no place for a
01
boy
Only men, when he didn’t really
Have to tell me because, you
know,
That photo of Apo on the wall was
already
Looking at me around
His eyes following me like he was
That scary Jesus in the hallway,
saying
I know what you’re doing.
 “Apo on the wall” shows the real
About the Poem situation concerning with the
different perspective between
millennial and those who lived
• Dictatorship through Martial law. This
• Martial Law masterpiece of Bj Patino advocates
• Government reasonably close to the realization
• Soldier of giving importance on looking
• Experience back to our past, moving forward
• Authoritarianism through our present and ensuring
• Loyalty the success of our future.
 Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos
Sr., simply known as Ferdinand Marcos,
was a Filipino politician, lawyer, and
kleptocrat who served as the 10th
President of the Philippines from 1965
to 1986. As president, he adopted
“Constitutional Authoritarianism” under
the New Society Movement, which
essentially allowed him to rule as a
dictator under martial law from 1972
until 1981, and keep most of his legal
authority until he was forced to step
down in 1986.
 Marcos Timeline
Martial law
was ended 1981
First term in
Presidency 1965

Marcos was
1986 forced to step
Marcos was
down
1969 re-elected for
his second
term
Marcos died
Series of 1989
Bombings in
Manila ,Martial 1972
Law was
declared

Guide Questions
1. How would you describe the persona
and the persona's father? How would
describe their relationship?
2. In lines 12-13 in the poem, there is the
use of the words “snappy” and
“snapped”, respectively. What do these
words mean? How do they add to the
poem in terms of sound? How do they
add to your understanding of the
relationship between the father and the
son?
3. Who is Apo in the poem? Cite
evidence to support your answer.
4. How would you describe the
01
relationship between the persona’s father
and Apo? What does this tells us about
the father’s perspective about martial
law?
5. What kind of values does the persona’s
father want to teach to his child,
specifically, about what it means to be a
man? Do you agree with this values?
Why or why not?
6. Why is Apo compared to the “scary”
Jesus in the hallway? What do they seem
to have in common?
 Guide Questions 01
7. What do the father, Apo, and the
“scary” Jesus have in common?

8. Read the last line of the poem. What

does it mean? How does this regulate the
persona’s behavior?

9. Do you think the persona’s perspective

about martial law is the same as his
father’s? Why or why not?

10. How does this poem provide the

reader a glimpse of what martial law was
like? How did the poem make you feel.
 Reporter's
perspective on
Q&
poem
A
 Thank You
See you on next presentation 