The country’s best writers and cultural institutions paid homage this year to the 100th anniversary of the late National Artist Nick Joaquin.
Ironically, had Joaquin been around, he might never have allowed the tributes and accolades given in his honor. Or maybe, he would, but at great discomfort.
Said writer Jose ‘Pete’ Lacaba, “Sinasabi sa amin ni Nick pag dumadalaw kami sa mga burol ‘ayaw ko ng mga tribute-tribute. Ibalot niyo na lang ako sa banig, itapon niyo ako sa Pasig River.’ Pero tinatanggap din naman niya pag binigyan siya ng award [Nick would tell us whenever we were in a wake, ‘I don’t like tributes. Just wrap me in a mat and throw me in the Pasig River. But he still would accept every time he is given an award].”
Europe, the seat of everything that was grand, powerful, and prosperous, was caught in the teeth of the First World War, the year Nicomedes Márquez Joaquín was born on May 4, 1917. It was half a world away from a boy who would emerge half a century later as one of the greatest literary minds in a poor and exploited country still caught in its own, long drawn-out war of independence in 1917.
“Our sense ... of our country is a sustained act of imagination. From that vantage, it can be said that our writers and artists, who are men and women of imagination, create our country (italics mine). That is to say: they evoke those images of ourselves as we live life day and night, those images of ourselves which we share and by which we recognize our nativity. We are our own best interpreters of our history and culture because it is we who have lived through that history and created our own values by which we live.”
—National Artist for Literature Gemino Abad
It’s a four-year-old book of poetry—a slim book, all of 90 pages, with 55 poems published in 2022, ready to be read and absorbed.
And for English-proficient third-millennium Filipinos—whether aspiring for comfort or already living in ease—the images spun by 16 of the 55 poems hark back to a time beyond their consciousness.
That is why Jim Pascual Agustin’s Bloodred Dragonflies can be the metaphorical blood transfusion required to pump poignant, visual, and painful cells of old memory into the veins of the unconcerned and unaware.
It was the type of news that jarred the senses because it was the first time it happened in the country. Government officials called it an “unprecedented tragedy.”
On the morning of June 22 of this year, two students, aged 14 and 15, bypassed the security checks of San Jose National High School in Tacloban City.
One student carried in his bag a Glock 17 pistol, the other carried a .38-caliber revolver. At past 9 a.m. both opened fire indiscriminately inside the school’s crowded rooms and hallways. And then the shooting stopped, but not after killing three students and wounding 20 more.
Eight years ago, Rosario “Chat” Lachica, 58, made her first visit to the Libingan ng mga Bayani. She was there to pay her last respects to National Artist Nick Joaquin who died in his sleep on April 29, 2004.
“Our sense ... of our country is a sustained act of imagination. From that vantage, it can be said that our writers and artists, who are men and women of imagination, create our country (italics mine). That is to say: they evoke those images of ourselves as we live life day and night, those images of ourselves which we share and by which we recognize our nativity. We are our own best interpreters of our history and culture because it is we who have lived through that history and created our own values by which we live.”
—National Artist for Literature Gemino Abad
For decades, mining has occupied a complicated place in the national conversation, caught in a tug-of-war between the promise of economic growth and the cost of environmental degradation.
It was the type of news that jarred the senses because it was the first time it happened in the country. Government officials called it an “unprecedented tragedy.”
On the morning of June 22 of this year, two students, aged 14 and 15, bypassed the security checks of San Jose National High School in Tacloban City.
One student carried in his bag a Glock 17 pistol, the other carried a .38-caliber revolver. At past 9 a.m. both opened fire indiscriminately inside the school’s crowded rooms and hallways. And then the shooting stopped, but not after killing three students and wounding 20 more.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Alfredo Pascual (5th from left, front), DTI Undersecretary for Micro-, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSME) Development Group Cristina Roque (third from left, front), Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion (5th from right, front), and SM Investments Corporation (SMIC) Vice Chairperson Teresita Sy-Coson (4th from left, front) lead the National MSME Summit 2024 at the SM Mall of Asia.
The event equips businesses for sustainable growth in the digital age.
The Department of Trade and Industry’s Bureau of Small and Medium Enterprise Development (DTI-BSMED), in partnership with Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship (PCE) Go Negosyo, hosted the National Micro-, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSME) Summit 2024 at the SM Mall of Asia, the culminating activity for MSMED Week themed ‘Innovate to Elevate: Empowering MSMEs for Sustainable Growth.’
The Summit brought together public and private sector representatives, business experts, and mentors to share knowledge, expand networks, and gain insights on the latest digitalization and innovation initiatives supporting MSMEs.
The 2024 Go Negosyo’s 10 Most Inspiring Micro Entrepreneurs (L-R): Atom Learning Center owner Amric Mendoza, Corrsy’s Kitchen CEO Corinthian Anne Valenton, Ericka Evangelista House of Fashion Design owner Ericka Evangelista, Ar-ya Aramid Inang Abel Handicrafts owner Jack Vince Quitoriano Bucol, Valianne’s Trends owner Jilianne Roylence Francia, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary for Micro-, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises Development Group Cristina Roque, DTI Secretary Alfredo Pascual, Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion, JAO Plaque Awards owner Jasmin Allison Obatay, Wix Manila Personal and Home Care Products founder Sarah Mae Almeyda, JBV Homemade Food proprietress June Jay Sanlao, Dulche Chocolates owner Eva Ritchelle Padua, and Let Eat Go (LEG) owner Tyrone Jasper ReodicaMicro-, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSME) Digital Finance panelists (L-R): GoTyme Bank Co-CEO Albert Tinio, Maya Head of MSME Business Renan Santiago, GCash Vice President and General Manager Jong Layug, and Small Business Corporation President Robert BastilloWhere to Market your Products panelists (L-R): PLDT Enterprise Corporate Relationship Management Head for SMBiz Euan Toralballa, Taste and Tell Manila Manager and Co-Owner Mariell Chuateco, TikTok Shop Philippines Fashion Category Lead Jonah Michael Ople, and Kangkong King President Frank Anthony GawContent Creation and Entrepreneurship panelists (L-R): Entrepreneur and content creator Dani Barretto-Panlilio, Discover MNL CEO Lucky So-Alabado, and Dear Face and New Moon CEO Jonah Sison-RamosEvent moderator and Mercato Centrale founder RJ Ledesma with resource speaker and actress Isabelle DazaPublic and private sectors unite for the National Micro-, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSME) Summit 2024 at SM Mall of Asia.
Started in 1927, the Philippines Graphic is the longest-running printed magazine of national circulation that provides relevant news and features and promotes Philippine literature.
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