An ongoing landmark of literature
Undoubtedly the most significant publication of 2022 is Kalandrakas: Stories and Storytellers of/on Regions in Mindanao, 1890—1990—A Preliminary and Continuing Survey and Literary Mapping, edited by Ricardo M. de Ungria and published by the Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Muscling up to the lengthy title is outright heft: two doorstop volumes, with 883 pages for Part I and 1,165 pages for Part II, for a total of 2,048 pages. It’s not all quantity or volume, however; the scope and intent qualify this collection of writings on Mindanao from 1890 to 1990 as a monumental landmark of Philippine literature.
“The year 1990 was chosen because that was the year the existence of a ‘Mindanao literature’ was officially recognized through the ANI issue on Mindanao…” Included are entries from 249 writers—from the colonial 1890s (100 writers for Part 1) to the post-colonial and modern, plus a bibliography, biographical notes, and appendices on further reading, regional origins, and A Proposed Framework for Archival Project and Developing Literatures in the Regions.
Premier poet Ricardo M. de Ungria, winner of 13 National Book Awards for his poetry and anthologies, settled in Davao City in 1999 upon joining UP Mindanao as its first Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. He organized the Davao Writers Guild that same year, before serving as Chancellor of UP Mindanao for two terms, from 2001 to 2007.
He explains in his introduction: “We need to know more of our own writers and thinkers and engage with their own writings and thoughts instead of favoring those of other countries with different cultures and modes of thinking from us. This is the only way we can sustain a tradition or traditions of our own and help communities develop attention, respect, and esteem for the writers and artists in their midst.”
We need to know more of our own writers and thinkers and engage with their own writings and thoughts instead of favoring those of other countries with different cultures and modes of thinking from us.
“’Kalandrakas’ is a Binisaya word that means a coming together of a variety of things, a mixed bag, sundry matters, a miscellany, close to chaotic but not quite.” In Cavite, calandracas is known as a medley dish that started out as a simple soup served during wakes; etymology says calandra is a Chabacano word for “funeral stretcher.” One can surmise a sourcing from Zamboanga.
KALANDRAKAS or CALANDRACAS
— Lutong Cavite (@lutongcavite) March 26, 2018
Caviteñean soup 😋#LutongCavite #SaborDelCaviteños #FoodPorn #BaldomeroAguinaldoShrine pic.twitter.com/bqUOC5gtsq
As a potpourri, the double-barreled volumes anthologize poetry, fiction, essays, official reports, folk tales, legends, what-have-you. Eleven languages are represented, several of these translated into English.
Part 1 starts with three early Cagayan de Oro writers: Vicentico Neri, Justiniano Abellanosa, and Toribio Chavez (born 1842)—all called “Capitan” as respected members of the community, with poems translated into English by Filomeno M. Bautista.
Next up is Jose P. Rizal with his Dapitan poems in Spanish and selections from correspondence with Fr. Pablo Pastells and Fernando Blumentritt, translated into English.
American writers include military officers like Brig. Gen. John J. Pershing (excerpting a report on the Moro province in 1913), lady authors and travelers, anthropologists, historians, scholars, journalists, religious educators like Rev. Frank C. Laubach, and the Thomasite, Filipinologist and Philippine Magazine publisher and editor A.V.H. Hartendorp.
Among the recognizable Filipino bylines are Isidro A. Marfori (1989-1949), with three untranslated poems in Spanish, and Maximo D. Ramos (1910-1988), with poems, stories and essays in English. These include the delightful Some Other-World Inhabitants of the Philippine Countryside—among these The Kiba-an, The Pugot, The Cafre, and The Santilmo, on which:
“The Santilmo is a moving ball of fire that misleads night travelers. Anyone who sees it will have an almost irrepressible desire to follow it, so that even if he is thoroughly familiar with the way, he will get lost, often falling into bogs and pits and being seriously injured, sometimes killed."
“If you find yourself lost and under the spell of the Santilmo, force yourself to sit down. That accomplished, remove your garments, put them on again inside out, and build a fire. The Santilmo will vanish, you will recognize your whereabouts, and you may go on your way in perfect safety.” Other creatures cited are The Broca, The Carcarison, The Lanib and The Barbarangay.
Other notable bylines are Amador T. Daguio (1912-1966), represented here with stories and essays; Dr. Arturo B. Rotor (1907-1988) with fiction excerpts; and Dominador I. Ilio (1913-2006) with poems. Entries from anonymous writers include a Bukidnon pupil’s manuscript on his Boyhood in a Settlement Farm School.
Understandably, Part 2’s 149 contemporary writers are mostly Filipino, with only two exceptions. Among the familiar names are:
Reuben R. Canoy, Emigdio Alvarez Enriquez, Ibrahim A. Jubaira, Cesar Ruiz Aquino, Aida L. Rivera Ford, Myrna Peña Reyes, Jolico Cuadra, Cesar Adib Majul, Kerima Polintan Tuvera, Jean G. Edades, Resil B. Mojares (National Artist), Horacio V. Paredes, Antonio Reyes Enriquez, Jaime A Lim, Leoncio P. Deriada, Francis C. Macansantos, Noralyn Mustafa, Don Pagusara, Anthony L. Tan, Macario D. Tiu, Rita B. Gadi, Karl M. Gaspar, Christine G. Ortega, Jose L. Ayala, Elson T. Elizaga, Alfrredo Navarro Salanga, Albert E. Alejo, SJ, Miguel A. Bernad, SJ, Edilberto N. Alegre, and Francisco Sionil Jose (National Artist).
Also included are the Binukid Storytellers, seven of them circa 1960s, with their sung poems on Bukidnon heritage translated into English. Elsewhere are Moro and lumad historical legends. From Philippine Homestead Settlement Plans to Pearling in Sulu, the topics are as diverse as Mindanawon communities.
De Ungria says the project is “preliminary and ongoing” … “because the stories and storytellers here comprise but a small part of what still remains to be unshelved or unboxed in their respective regions and given due recognition and dissemination.”
Indeed, the proverbial land of promise remains a cornucopia of authentic wealth.
The books are available at AdMU University Press, Ateneo de Davao and Ateneo Xavier University bookstores, and Ateneo de Zamboanga library. Last I looked, Kalandrakas is being offered at both Shopee and Lazada at a surprisingly low P1,500 and P1,800 for the respective volumes, and maybe even at a discount for the two-volume set.