In some sort of Literary Festival, I chanced to hear a young Waray writer, hardly past her twenties, recite one of her poems in raw, uncut Waray. The crowd became silent, awed—not only by the force of her voice but by the sense that something long buried was finally being expressed. And I said to myself: this is not an instant. This is a movement.

Too long, Eastern Visayan literature dripped rather than flowed. Our words were always discounted as provincial resonance within the national literary community—too regional, too raw, too harsh in texture. But that discounting, I now see, was a misunderstanding of possibility. It was not silence we lived with—it was incubation. And what we’re witnessing today, from school-based writers’ guilds to university presses unearthing Waray manuscripts, is proof that incubation breeds not only life but urgency. Our creative writing community, once scattered and tentative, is now gaining momentum, depth, and fierce clarity of vision.

It’s not merely a matter of young people writing. They are writing with defiance and resistance, in the voice of their weeping mothers and inebriated uncles, their street vendors and wailing grandmas, in the very idioms born from ricefields, oceans, gossips, prohibitions, typhoons, and church bells. They are writing in Waray, not due to romanticization of the past but due to resistance—the erasure of their experiences, the linguistic suppression of their language, and the hackneyed theme of Manila-centric stories. They are not appropriating tales. They are appropriating what is theirs. And their ownership of their own fiction is keen and challenging.

Most accountable for this renaissance is a voice that dared to speak out long ago when it was all the rage to be otherwise and dangerous to defy. Merlie Alunan has charted emotional terrain for us that transcends provincial boundaries. Vic Sugbo’s critical writing added intellectual substance to our words—it would no longer be all talk. Dave Genotiva did not just write, he trained, mentored, irked, and handed over the baton. Then there are the immeasurable, immeasurable others—the teachers who introduced Waray literature to the classroom, editors who bet on Waray manuscripts, and culture workers who busted budgets just to print one chapbook. I count myself among them, not out of arrogance but out of a deep, stubborn love.

What’s most thrilling about the region’s current literary shape is how it refuses neat categorization. The writing here is not always polished, but it is always alive. You’ll find a short story about a fiesta lechon gone wrong alongside a philosophical poem about Yolanda’s aftermath. Humor side by side with sadness, and folk will never be still. There is some decadent rawness to it all—a writing that resonates with the land it springs from: volcanic, green, stony, rain-beaten, storm-tempered. It is not imitative literature—it provokes.

This maturity I refer to is not tone or method—it is bravery. These young authors are no longer satisfied to write for school contests or Facebook likes. They are writing in anthologies, showing up for writing fellowships, starting independent publishing cooperatives, and most of all, lifting each other. I have seen writers from Borongan arguing with writers from Calbayog at Zoom readings, and poets from Catarman producing zines with a kind of DIY fanaticism that would get any Manila-based lit fest pegged as tame.

There is democracy afoot, an equality of literary heart that doesn’t know gatekeeping.
But we cannot idealize. The direction is upwards. Publishing outlets are still few, and institutional support—LGUs, schools, cultural commissions—is sporadic, best-case, or worst of all, mysteriously ritualistic. At times, the strongest barriers are in here: the self-fulfilling prophecy that writing in Waray is “less.” But with each poem, every story, every essay written, read, and passed around, the deceit strips away that much further. Every work is a defiance in miniature, a light in the darkness of cultural forgetfulness. And no more stumbling about seeking fire—now we’re burning fields of it.

If this is a revolution, make it so. Not with anarchy but with polite, persistent insistence. Let writers write in the rhythm of their coastlines, in the vocabulary of their barangays, and with the courage acquired from their own soil. But preferably, let local writing be taken seriously by schools. Let municipalities supply reading rooms, not tarpaulins and bunting. And let us, further down the road, continue to keep clearing the trail—not for praise, but because we know what is being sacrificed in silence.

To those who are contemplating of starting a business but feels like they are unaware when is the best time to start, here’s an article dedicated to you.

Consider the circumstances that you may be having right now – escalating prices of prime commodities, tuition fees of children, and preparing for your retirement, having a regular job may not be enough to sustain the needs of the family. While having a side hustle can somehow ease monthly financial stresses, having your own business can absolutely alleviate you from all the problems (of course, for as long as you put your heart and mind into it).

The best time to start a business depends on various factors and can vary for each individual. Here are a few considerations to help determine the optimal timing:

Passion and Readiness: It is essential to have a genuine passion for the business idea you want to pursue. Starting a business requires dedication, hard work, and perseverance.

Assess your readiness in terms of knowledge, skills, and mindset. If you feel confident in your abilities and are passionate about your idea, it may be a good time to start.

Market Opportunities: Evaluate the market conditions and identify potential opportunities for your business. Consider if there is a demand for your product or service, and if the market is favorable for growth. Conduct market research to understand the competition, target audience, and potential customers. If the market conditions align with your business idea, it could be a favorable time to start.

Financial Stability: Starting a business often requires an initial investment of time and money. Assess your financial stability and determine if you have sufficient funds to support the business during the initial stages. Consider factors such as personal savings, access to capital, and potential sources of funding. Having a solid financial foundation can increase your chances of success.

Personal Circumstances: As mentioned earlier, consider your personal circumstances and obligations. Starting a business can be demanding and time-consuming, so assess if you have the necessary time and flexibility to commit to the venture. Additionally, consider any personal commitments or responsibilities that may impact your ability to focus on the business.

Timing in the Industry: Some industries have seasonal or cyclical trends that may influence the best time to start a business. Research and analyze industry-specific factors to determine if there are any timing considerations that could impact your business’s success.
Ultimately, the best time to start a business is when you feel prepared, passionate about your idea, and have thoroughly evaluated the market opportunities and your personal circumstances. It’s important to remember that starting a business involves risks, so careful planning and consideration are vital.
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If you have any questions or would like to share your thoughts on the column, feel free to send an email to jca.bblueprint@gmail.com. Looking forward to connecting with you!

DAYS after the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, the liturgical prayers somehow lead us to the consideration of the truth of our faith that there is such thing as eternal life. That’s actually our definitive life toward which our earthly life should pursue with our all-out effort and God’s grace. That’s where we achieve our human perfection when we would fully become God’s image and likeness as he wants us to be.

We, of course, need to strengthen our faith in it and do everything we can to align all our earthly realities to such ideal. We have to be wary of our tendency, quite strong as it is, to get trapped in the earthly and temporal dimensions of our life, failing to relate them to the ultimate goal of our life.

We have to realize that precisely because we have been created as God’s image and likeness, our nature has been endowed with the spiritual powers of intelligence and will. With these powers, we have been given the choice between going up—that is, to choose God—and going down—that is, to choose simply to be by ourselves.

But we need to understand that our human nature is poised to enter into the spiritual and supernatural life of God. Failing in that would only mean that our human nature cannot help but fall into an infranatural level, marked by all kinds of weaknesses and sin. In short, there is no such thing as human nature by itself. It either has to go supernatural with God, or to go infranatural like all other animals.

In other words, our human nature is actually a work in progress in its earthly and temporal phase. It’s not yet a finished product. Our creation by God is still an ongoing affair, one that requires our cooperation. That’s because God wants us to be like him, intelligent and free, and he just cannot impose his will and designs on us without us knowing and agreeing to it. In a sense, we are co-creators with God of our own selves.

It’s important that we have an abiding sense of the supernatural goal of our life and of the eternal life that is presented to us as our definitive life. To develop that sense, of course, requires faith which is first of all a gift from God which we should eagerly receive.
Christ articulated what eternal life is and how it can be pursued when he said: “Now this is eternal life: That they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (Jn 17,3)

Of course, knowing God and Jesus Christ will always involve loving God and Jesus Christ, doing God’s will or God’s commandments. Thus, Christ said it very clearly, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (Jn 14,15)

This means that our will should be nothing other than God’s will. This, in the end, is what is most important to us. It’s not just following our will which is, of course, indispensable to us. Otherwise, we would be undermining our very own freedom and our humanity itself. Whatever we do is done because we want it. It should be a fruit of our freedom.

But what is most important is to conform our will to God’s will, which is even more indispensable to us. Otherwise, we sooner or later would destroy our freedom and our humanity itself, since God is the very author and the very lawgiver of our freedom and our humanity.

This is how we can develop a sense of the eternal life meant for us!

We celebrated last Sunday, 1 June 2025 the 59th celebration of World Communications Day. Saint Paul VI established the World Communications Day tradition in 1967. Early papal messages were dedicated to television, cinema, video and even audio cassettes. The Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV has decided that 2025 will be a year of Jubilee, something which happens every 25 years. The theme is “Pilgrims of Hope” is a year of hope for a world suffering the impacts of war, the ongoing effects of COVID-19 pandemic, and a climate crisis.

This significant day is in recognition of the vital role that media play in the search and dissemination of truth. Communicators are accorded that great responsibility of educating the people with the truth, the good and the beautiful. The advancement of communications and information technology had brought about monumental improvements relative to the dissemination of information. Values are primarily formed by the kind of information a person obtains from various sources. The risk of receiving false if not downright deceptive information is tremendous.

But no matter how much media has changed, all 59 messages have had the same underlying purpose: to bring attention to the potential dangers and damage caused by swift technological changes in communications and to find the best ways the new tools can promote truth, hope, joy and human life and dignity. Speaking to thousands of reporters, radio and television correspondents, photographers and camera operators, Pope Leo asked them to be peacemakers by shunning prejudice and anger in their reporting. He also called for the release of journalists imprisoned for their work and reaffirmed the importance of freedom of the press.

The challenge being posed to media is premised on the assumption that receivers of information are less discerning in obtaining information. Generally, people take information as given without digging into the veracity and truth of such information. Many people had been made to accept information as gospel truth even if in they are actually not. The packaging of information to make it appear true even if not is one culprit why many people are possessed by wrong if not totally false information. We need not stretch our imagination to understand the ill effects of the widespread dissemination of lies.

Media practitioners must exercise discernment in searching for the truth that ought to be shared with others is a tall order. It is not so much in the gathering of factual data about real events that happens but in the taking of raw information from sources that are out for self-promotion as are being done by paid trolls that spread lies and fake news. Indeed, it is in the area of propaganda that information is tailored to fit the caprices of the sponsors whose interest is to make people believe in the thing being made to appear as true.
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