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Saving Private Ryan was my introduction to brutality. When I saw the first ten notes of the movie on a relative’ cable tv, I knew my fifth grade self couldn’t take a minute more. It wasn’t until years later that I had the courage to properly watch what became to be my personal greatest war movie of all time. The Pacific followed a similar fate. For years I knew of it, but kept putting it off for later. It wasn’t until a pandemic came along that I had the time. And so I watched. And I wish I watched it…
(7-minute read) On May 27, 1906, two Coast Guard cutters arrived in the island paradise of Culion, Palawan. They carried 370 passengers, fetched from various locations in the Philippine Islands, some with visible lesions on their skins, some with deformities in their limbs and extremities. These passengers were determined to be suffering from Hansen’s disease, commonly known as leprosy. They were ordered to segregate to this island colony by the Taft Commision, the American colonial government at the time. A colony within a colony, Culion received passengers from these so-called ‘leper collection trips’ until its decline in the 1950’s. More…
This essay was an assignment for Jessica Zafra’s Writing Bootcamp last November. We were tasked to think of a song and the emotions we associate with it. The writer POV must be in the second person. The trip took eight sweltering hours. For a reason unknown to you, you have to move from the big city to the backwaters of northern Palawan. You remembered that when you looked at whatever view the packed bus window afforded you, you saw only a patchwork of wild ferns and cliffs and rough roads that lacerated the mountains. You remembered the dust storms that…
This movie trailer is what movie trailers should aspire to be. Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron), Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman), and a yet nameless Fox News employee (Margot Robbie) together in an elevator, the second floor button pressed. The two anchors sneaked glances at Robbie who looked like a sheep on its way to the wolf’s floor. Backed with stabbing choir ensemble music, the scene was gripping. What were those glances all about? Why the awkwardness? Why the second floor? It drew you in, it kept you interested, it kept you engaged. The entire film, sadly, did not. The movie starts…
A northern Palawan vacation would not be complete without a trip to its crown jewel—El Nido. I never get tired of the limestone cliffs that greet me whenever I return. This time around, we had a pleasant surprise waiting for us. The local government took action to further improve the tourism sector of the municipality. We noticed three major improvements. One, they set a limit to the number of daily visitors to the lagoons. When we kayaked to the big lagoon, we had the spot all to ourselves. For ten or so minutes, no one else was in sight! Second,…
kibinibis 