Volume 6 Issue 1

2025-2026

COPYRIGHT AND TITLE PAGE

Introduction

Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo

This year, we open our new issue with critical essays, and in particular, with
essays which comment on film, an art form which we have devoted as much
time to in our previous issues.

THE AESTHETICS OF GRIEF IN JOSEPH LABAN’S BACONAUA

Jose P. Mojica

This essay examines the formal articulation of grief in Joseph Laban’s Cin-
emalaya film, Baconaua,

DOSTOEVSKY HANGGANG DIAZ: ANG PARODYA NG UTANG AT KAMATAYAN NG CRIME AND PUNISHMENT SA NORTE, HANGGANAN NG KASAYSAYAN

Paul Alcoseba Castillo

The Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz has always been open
about the great Russian novelists’ influence on his cinema,

I, THE THINKING NUDE

Amanda Juico Dela Cruz

This critique/poetics is an exploration of the concept of the “Thinking
Nude,” a term coined by Julie Lluch

SANGKAP SAYNAYSAY: ISANG SANAYSAY TUNGKOL SA PAGKAIN NG RETASO O LEFTOVERS SA PANAHON NG PANDEMYA AT KAGUTUMAN

John Paolo Sarce

This essay is an attempt to define the “Sangkap Sanaysay” (Ingredient Essay)
as a type of essay writing about food or

THE DEATH OF ARNULFO CANELO: AN EXCERPT FROM MATERYALES SA KOMPLISIDAD

Amado Anthony G. Mendoza III
Translated from the Filipino by Caroline S. Hau

Amado Anthony G. Mendoza III’s Materyales sa Komplisidad (Materials
on Complicity, 2023), the second novel

TRIGGER WARNING AND OTHER TRANSLATIONS

Ralph Semino Galán translates
four poems by Allan Popa

Love and death—Eros and Thanatos—are two of the most recurring themes in lyric poetry.

WHITE NIGHT LYING SUPINE

shane carreon

In this suite of five poems – “The dark shapes you follow,” “Inside a
story,” “Deep in Serpentine Swell,”

ALON (LIMANG TULA)

Radney Ranario

The poems are a collection of reflections on the sea and water, where the
poet’s experiences

BEATITUDO AT IBA PANG TULA

Jovito Cariño

This is a series of poems that attempt to personalize selected ideas from var-
ious philosophers.

SILANG MGA MARIA DELA CRUZ SA EUROPA: MGA DAGLING ALAALA NG PAKIKITAGPO SA KABABAIHANG PINOY

Nonon Villaluz Carandang

An anonymous narrator records fleeting memories of encounters with
Filipino women in Europe. All seem to have found a

PAGODA

Cris Lanzaderas

The story presents a portrayal of a woman’s unwavering faith and resilience,
even in the midst

MISS M

Augusto Antonio A. Aguila

This nonfiction piece depicts a childhood experience of corporal punish-
ment. Instead

ANG BIKE, ANG KLOSETA, AT AKO

John Toledo

This is a reflection by the author on his journey of self-discovery, triggered by the loss of his bicycle,

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