A Day at Work: Heroes' Cemetery, Fort Bonifacio

May 5, 2011: As part of my part-time historical writing-research duties with the Department of National Defense - Philippine Veterans Affairs Office, I accompanied my bosses to the Libingan ng mga Bayani (Cemetery of Heroes) in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, in particular the planned park & shrine to Filipino war veterans found in the still under-construction sewage and treatment complex of the Manila Water Company.

With me in the convoy from Camp Aguinaldo to Fort Bonifacio were friend and fellow PVAO writer Jeremiah Faustino; Ret. Col. Cesar P. Pobre, Ph. D. of the AFP-OSSS (whom I collaborated with in writing the book "The Freedom Fighters of Northern Luzon"); ma'am Teresita Cuevas, Chief of PVAO's Military Shrines Service (now the Veterans Memorial and Historical Division, to which I am assigned); and sir Noel Biscocho, PVAO Shrine Curator. We hooked up with the Manila Water team and General Ernesto Carolina, PVAO Administrator in the cemetery.

We then proceeded to an ocular inspection of the future park and shrine, the plaques/markers of which will contain historical background text that we will be preparing.

After the visit, we headed to nearby Serendra for an early dinner. Admittedly, I have never been at ease in plush and high-end places, but when dinner's for free, any discomfort goes out the window! In any case, Jere and I hitched a ride on Dr. Pobre's car back to Quezon City. A day well spent.

Baguio Xmas 2: Writers' Feasts

'Yung ni-"rescue" naming stuffed toy ni Ynna mula sa ukay, hehe. Ngayon, nasa bahay niya sa Sta. Mesa si Octopoop.

Dec. 19-20, 2009: After immersing ourselves in the mist and art of BenCab's lofty museum in the mountains, it was time to bring out the booze.

Actually, the word "feasts" in the album title pertains not to a glut of toma & pulutan, but to the general convivial spirit of the three separate meals that we LIRA poets enjoyed: (1) the meet-and-greet inuman with members of the Baguio Writers Group at the behest of JM Agreda, who was my co-Fellow in the 9th IYAS National Writers Workshop; (2) the hearty home-cooked breakfast in the hotel; and (3) the dinner prepared by Ynna's mom, Tita Glory, at the Abuan residence in Mangaldan, Pangasinan on our way down to Manila.

(At hindi dapat pagtakhan na walang "glut of toma & pulutan" -- writers nga e. Generally speaking, maliliit ang mga bulsa, maninipis ang mga pitaka. Hindi naman kami bohemian, pero di rin naman kami mga best-seller. Heh.)

Nakapag-ukay din pala kami, pero di ko na nakuhanan ng retrato. Naisip ko kasing hindi magiging epektib ang tawad skills ni Ynna kung may nakasabit na DSLR camera naman sa leeg ng kasama niya.

The trip would serve as the last whiff of fresh air for the group before we plunged into 2010's year-long celebration (and train of stressful events) of LIRA's Silver Jubilee.

Trip background:

Several poets of LIRA went up to Baguio for a chilly pre-Christmas vacation. Highlight of the trip: Visiting the svelte BenCab Museum, up high along Asin Road, Tuba, Benguet.

This was my 4th time in Baguio in the previous half-year or so (1st: Dapitdilim founding, 2nd: post-Ati-Atihan excursion, 3rd: UP National Writers Workshop), as well as my 2nd time in the National Artist's place (1st time was also during the UP NWW, but because that was in summer, it didn't have the up-high-in-heaven effect).