Ora pro nobis
Because I’m not into writing anniversary statements these days unlike before, I leave this repost of an entry from my former blog to commemorate the imposition of martial law 36 years ago:
Orapronobis as directed by Lino Brocka, is a film that tackles the awful human rights situation in the country during the Aquino administration.
While the portrayal of the Philippine condition won it critical acclaim abroad, the film never got shown in public theaters in the country at all.
An article (some parts have been left off for the purpose of brevity) from the circa 1980 alternative magazine MIDWEEK explains why:
THE FILM
AND THE FUROR
Lina Brocka’s internationally acclaimed masterpiece has yet to be viewed by its virulent critics
160-Year Old Oslob Church Gutted by Fire
Horrors of horrors, that was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw a local paper’s front page last Thursday. It carried the news of the destruction of one of Cebu’s oldest churches. The 160-year old Immaculate Conception Parish and its convent in the southern town of Oslob was gutted by fire.
Hesperus
Seeing that National Bookstore is selling Hesperus Press editions of lesser known works of renowned classic authors with a 75% discount, and thus transforming a P339 price tag into P84.50, and fearing that I may never have another chance to get myself books of this quality and quantity, I spent a fourth of my share of our Finance class project’s profit on purchasing the books.
Having liked another book from Hesperus Press, namely Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Fatal Eggs and having received good reviews from my girlfriend Beryl who bought herself a copy of Jules Vernes’ A Fantasy of Dr. Ox, also from Hesperus Press, I was convinced to buy myself eight other titles from the same publishing house:
Innovative Ways of Telling Stories
Came across an interesting new Penguin project…
According to the Guardian, “The We Tell Stories project has been created by Penguin in partnership with alternate reality games company SixtoStart. Other participating writers include Toby Litt, who was named as a Granta best young British novelist, Naomi Alderman, winner of the 2006 Orange prize for new writing, and Mohsin Hamid, whose The Reluctant Fundamentalist was shortlisted for last year’s Man Booker prize.”
The Joy of Reading
Reading books, be it a novel, a classic work of fiction, a biography, a political or philosophical treatise, a historical account, or what have you, has always been one of the most enduring joys in my life. Our family’s Holy Week excursion in Mantalongon, Dalaguete gave me another occasion to prove this.
Pasyon sa Mantalongon
“We went there just to watch someone being nailed on the cross?â€
And so asked my younger brother Andre Sandino on our family’s way home from Mantalongon, Dalaguete in Southern Cebu where we spent the Holy Week to witness the Pasyon sa Mantalongon last March 21, 2008.
Apparently, local Mantalongon residents, along with people from neighboring towns and barangays, the Cebu City-based media, freelance photographers, road trippers (like Eloise who have more artistic photos of the event here), and foreign tourists also went out of their way to be in Cristo Rey Mountain Park, Mantalongon first hand to watch the live reenactment of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion by Gilbert Bargayo.
Jun Lozada Goes to Cebu
Jun Lozada will be going to our college today here in Cebu to speak on the NBN-ZTE deal. I can’t attend the said forum. Still, for those who are interested, it will be held this 3PM at the University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu College Conference Hall.
Updated March 17, 2008 10:30 PM: One of the organizers of the forum in the UP Cebu told me that the crowd was relatively large in spite of the fact that most students were either taking exams or heading back to the provinces for the holy week. The students were generally receptive to the affair. The conference hall, which can accodomate 250 people, was filled at maximum capacity.
However, Lozada’s scheduled talk in the University of San Carlos (USC) this morning was not as welcoming. Earlier this evening, I attended my philosophy student friend Dada’s graduation party in White Gold House and was able to talk to some students who were present in Lozada’s USC forum.
The Perfect Gift
I always found books to be the perfect gift for any occasion. Books, a National Book Development Board survey finding reveals, are considered to be good gifts by Filipinos.
Keeping up with this tradition, I gave my favorite younger sister a book for her birthday yesterday. Alya Simone is now fifteen. I handed her The Fifth Mountain, which I bought from Beryl, since she always professed love for the writings of Paulo Coelho – one the most popular writers today.
Jabidah Massacre Recalled
Recalling the “Jabidah massacre†that ignited four decades of conflict in Mindanao, a handful of Cebuanos showed support for some 100 young advocates who passed by Cebu in the third day of a peace caravan across the country from Mindanao to Corregidor island next week.
The peace advocates intend to unveil a marker and perform a ritual on March 18, 2008 where at least 28 Muslim recruits of a special commando operation of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) called “Jabidah†fell because of automatic fire from their trainers 40 years ago.
Two Films for Last Potter Book
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be made into two movies, announces Warner Brothers, with part one arriving in cinemas in November 2010 and part two following in May 2011. The Guardian newspaper writes, “Saying goodbye to Harry Potter has been hard – for fans… and even more so the publishers and booksellers for whom he’s been such a spectacular earner – but the Hollywood studio in charge of the film adaptations has found a way to postpone the last goodbye…â€Read the rest of this entry »
