Telltale Allan Justo Pastrana Philippines What eventually stayed was a detail you never got to name: what the eyes meant when they flashed like enemies, protecting lie after lie, or how it was any different to shape the hand into a fist at opposite ends of the house....
Wars, No Peace Noelle Q. de Jesus Philippines With all that’s been happening in this country I will always call home, people like me who live overseas are less likely to want to visit. Of course, there are cities more beautiful than Manila. Which is not to say that...
War-Torn Hazel Aspera Philippines “This is a very nice place,” said Aya, our Cambodian intern, one long breath after the big, red Rural bus dropped us off the highway in front of the Aleosan Public Market in North Cotabato. As if reading my mind, she added, “It...
Sugarlandia, In A Bubble Timi Siytangco Philippines Five months into a mid-career gap year, I traveled to Bacolod, the capital city of Negros Occidental, Sugar Bowl of the Philippines. “Why not go on an epic trip around the world instead?” a friend suggested. “When...
Alpha Joel M. Toledo Philippines I will conclude by saying that Z Is an A with the luxury of hindsight — Stanford Friedman Something. Sight. Depth. Water quickly making sense. Plot. Coastlines. Animals emerging. Flight and fall. Ground and...
Bleeding Heart Och Gonzalez Philippines We all heard the shots, a faint crack at first, then growing louder and more insistent, like a parade with the drummer gone wild. I counted them right away – one, two, three, four, five… I turned to my family gathered...
Monsoon Mansion, Election Day Cinelle Barnes USA 1998 I had almost forgotten that I was in some kind of war when I woke up on the first day of summer break to Norman yelling, “Pulitika!” He raised a pistol and pointed it at the ceiling of mirrors in the ballroom....
The Unnamed and the Unspeakable Sarge Lacuesta Philippines Of our country’s 7,461 islands, only 2,000 are inhabited and about 5,000 are yet to be named. But the population of the Philippines today, by some estimates running up to 110 million, presents a staggeringly...
