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#pasahero: mga nakikisakay na sanaysay
- GenresEssays
307 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2021
About the author
Joselito D. Delos Reyes
7 books56 followersTaga-Coloong si Joselito D. Delos Reyes. Bago siya maging guro ng Humanities, Literature, at Journalism sa Unibersidad ng Santo Tomas, nagtrabaho siya bilang Barangay Secretary ng Coloong, empleyado ng pamahalaang panlungsod ng Valenzuela habang isang semestreng gurong panggabi sa PLV (Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Valenzuela), project manager ng isang IT firm sa Ortigas, at guro sa Southern Luzon State University.
Maliban sa Coloong Elementary School at Valenzuela Municipal High School Polo Annex (Polo National High School ngayon), nagtapos din siya sa Philippine Normal University sa kursong BSE Social Science at sa De La Salle University sa kursong M.A. Philippine Studies. Sa De La Salle University sa Maynila rin niya kinukuha ngayon ang kaniyang Ph.D. sa Philippine Studies.
Inilathala noong 2005 ang una niyang aklat, “Ang Lungsod Namin” ng National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Nagkamit na siya ng iba’t ibang pagkilala at pambansang parangal para sa kaniyang isinulat, ikinukuwento, at sinasaliksik: 2nd place, UNESCO On-The-Spot Poetry Writing, Philippine Normal University (2008); 2nd place, ika-8 Gawad Pampanitikan (Tula), PNU; Ikatlong Gantimpala, Gawad Komisyon sa Tula (2003); Grand Prize, 1st Maningning Miclat Awards for Poetry (2003). Noong 2003, nakamit niya ang pinakamataas na pagkilala para sa mga natatanging mamamayan ng Valenzuela: ang Dr. Pio Valenzuela Memorial Awards sa larangan ng Journalism at Literature.
Naging fellow siya para sa maikling kuwento sa 9th Ateneo National Writers’ Workshop, para sa tula sa 9th Iyas Creative Writing Workshop sa Lungsod ng Bacolod at sa 36th University of the Philippines National Writers’ Workshop sa Lungsod ng Baguio. Tatlong taon na siyang panelist ng UST Creative Writing Workshop. Kasaping tagapagtatag at dating pangulo siya ng Bolpen at Papel, PNU Creative Writers’ Club. Nalathala sa mga dyornal, antolohiya, pahayagan at magasin ang kaniyang mga akda, pananaliksik, at salin.
Nagpapabalik-balik siya sa mga palaisdaan ng Coloong at sa hamog at halumigmig ng Banahaw upang makapiling ang kaniyang dalawang anak, sina Divine at Esperanza, at asawang si Angela na guro ng physics sa Lucban Academy.
Maliban sa Coloong Elementary School at Valenzuela Municipal High School Polo Annex (Polo National High School ngayon), nagtapos din siya sa Philippine Normal University sa kursong BSE Social Science at sa De La Salle University sa kursong M.A. Philippine Studies. Sa De La Salle University sa Maynila rin niya kinukuha ngayon ang kaniyang Ph.D. sa Philippine Studies.
Inilathala noong 2005 ang una niyang aklat, “Ang Lungsod Namin” ng National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Nagkamit na siya ng iba’t ibang pagkilala at pambansang parangal para sa kaniyang isinulat, ikinukuwento, at sinasaliksik: 2nd place, UNESCO On-The-Spot Poetry Writing, Philippine Normal University (2008); 2nd place, ika-8 Gawad Pampanitikan (Tula), PNU; Ikatlong Gantimpala, Gawad Komisyon sa Tula (2003); Grand Prize, 1st Maningning Miclat Awards for Poetry (2003). Noong 2003, nakamit niya ang pinakamataas na pagkilala para sa mga natatanging mamamayan ng Valenzuela: ang Dr. Pio Valenzuela Memorial Awards sa larangan ng Journalism at Literature.
Naging fellow siya para sa maikling kuwento sa 9th Ateneo National Writers’ Workshop, para sa tula sa 9th Iyas Creative Writing Workshop sa Lungsod ng Bacolod at sa 36th University of the Philippines National Writers’ Workshop sa Lungsod ng Baguio. Tatlong taon na siyang panelist ng UST Creative Writing Workshop. Kasaping tagapagtatag at dating pangulo siya ng Bolpen at Papel, PNU Creative Writers’ Club. Nalathala sa mga dyornal, antolohiya, pahayagan at magasin ang kaniyang mga akda, pananaliksik, at salin.
Nagpapabalik-balik siya sa mga palaisdaan ng Coloong at sa hamog at halumigmig ng Banahaw upang makapiling ang kaniyang dalawang anak, sina Divine at Esperanza, at asawang si Angela na guro ng physics sa Lucban Academy.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 9, 2022
In July 2017, I met the author for the first time. IRL. It was in Baguio City, at that year’s UST National Writers’ Workshop, which he happens to talk about in one of the essays in this book. In the said essay, he mentions in passing an unnamed writing fellow hailing from General Santos City. Not that it really matters, but I just want to say that the fellow is me.
So, from the bottom of my fanboying heart, thanks for the shout-out, Sir Jowie!
Prior to that meeting, we’d interacted only through virtual means. We’d been friends on Facebook for quite some time already, reacting to each other’s statuses every now and then. Long before that still, as far as I can remember, I’d sent him a friend request after I’d chanced upon his viral open letter regarding the Pork Barrel Scam, that porcine political scandal involving a founder of bogus NGOs and a sounder of public officials with equally porcine morals. You know who they are.
Or have you forgotten? One of them just won in the last senatorial polls, thanks to our very short national attention span and, more importantly, the unexpected redeeming powers of budots.
Anyway, I’m bringing up at the outset my real and virtual encounters with Sir Jowie because the essays in this book, while explicitly about life’s many journeys, deal with that thin line between the real and the virtual, and especially how we navigate such tricky space. Of course, it’s such a heavy theme, one usually tackled through philosophical speculation and hardcore academic research. Sir Jowie, however, manages to guide you through it like you’re just having a conversation with a chatty (in a nice way) taxi driver, or with your favorite funny tito over a bucket of beer.
One is tempted to say that the thing that pervades the essays in this collection is Sir Jowie’s sense of humor. Well, it’s true, but that’s only half of the picture. Think of humor as only the mode in which he writes these essays. As a mode, humor can only do so much. What lies at the core of this collection is Sir Jowie’s kindness, not only as a writer, but as a human being. SKL: there are a lot of very good writers who look so nice on the page but are terrible people IRL.
We now live in the age of SKL, but Sir Jowie writes about everyday things—commuting, for instance, and the joys and troubles and million encounters that often go with it—in a manner so generous it actually makes us care about them more. He’s prolific, but he doesn’t overshare: he knows which things to talk about, which things really matter. And he’s capable of doing such magic because he is—aside from being an academic, a tour guide, a friend, a tito, a son, a father, and a husband—a storyteller.
He knows the power of stories in reminding us of the real. In “Inondoy,” one of my favorite essays in this collection, he recounts being stranded at a Jac Liner bus terminal. He’d waded through the terrible flood caused by Typhoon Ondoy just to get there, and now he had to wait for a bus bound to Lucban, his home. He found a space on the pavement to sit on. He leaned against a cold wall. While waiting, he had the company of five other stranded souls. And what did they do to pass the time, to make the waiting a little bit more bearable? In between sips of Nissin cup noodles and bites of Skyflakes crackers, they told one another stories, reassuring themselves that they’d all finally be home soon.
And what’s realer and truer than that?
(This is an excerpt from the introduction I wrote for this book.)
So, from the bottom of my fanboying heart, thanks for the shout-out, Sir Jowie!
Prior to that meeting, we’d interacted only through virtual means. We’d been friends on Facebook for quite some time already, reacting to each other’s statuses every now and then. Long before that still, as far as I can remember, I’d sent him a friend request after I’d chanced upon his viral open letter regarding the Pork Barrel Scam, that porcine political scandal involving a founder of bogus NGOs and a sounder of public officials with equally porcine morals. You know who they are.
Or have you forgotten? One of them just won in the last senatorial polls, thanks to our very short national attention span and, more importantly, the unexpected redeeming powers of budots.
Anyway, I’m bringing up at the outset my real and virtual encounters with Sir Jowie because the essays in this book, while explicitly about life’s many journeys, deal with that thin line between the real and the virtual, and especially how we navigate such tricky space. Of course, it’s such a heavy theme, one usually tackled through philosophical speculation and hardcore academic research. Sir Jowie, however, manages to guide you through it like you’re just having a conversation with a chatty (in a nice way) taxi driver, or with your favorite funny tito over a bucket of beer.
One is tempted to say that the thing that pervades the essays in this collection is Sir Jowie’s sense of humor. Well, it’s true, but that’s only half of the picture. Think of humor as only the mode in which he writes these essays. As a mode, humor can only do so much. What lies at the core of this collection is Sir Jowie’s kindness, not only as a writer, but as a human being. SKL: there are a lot of very good writers who look so nice on the page but are terrible people IRL.
We now live in the age of SKL, but Sir Jowie writes about everyday things—commuting, for instance, and the joys and troubles and million encounters that often go with it—in a manner so generous it actually makes us care about them more. He’s prolific, but he doesn’t overshare: he knows which things to talk about, which things really matter. And he’s capable of doing such magic because he is—aside from being an academic, a tour guide, a friend, a tito, a son, a father, and a husband—a storyteller.
He knows the power of stories in reminding us of the real. In “Inondoy,” one of my favorite essays in this collection, he recounts being stranded at a Jac Liner bus terminal. He’d waded through the terrible flood caused by Typhoon Ondoy just to get there, and now he had to wait for a bus bound to Lucban, his home. He found a space on the pavement to sit on. He leaned against a cold wall. While waiting, he had the company of five other stranded souls. And what did they do to pass the time, to make the waiting a little bit more bearable? In between sips of Nissin cup noodles and bites of Skyflakes crackers, they told one another stories, reassuring themselves that they’d all finally be home soon.
And what’s realer and truer than that?
(This is an excerpt from the introduction I wrote for this book.)
April 6, 2024
Simula nang mapagdesisyunan kong pag-aralan ang iba't-ibang istilo ng pagsusulat ng malikhaing sanaysay at creative nonfiction, nakita ko rin ang mga akda ni sir Jowie sa Abante online at sa mga mahahaba niyang hanash sa facebook. Bigla kong naalala, sumusulat rin siya ng sanaysay maliban sa mga maiikling kwentong nai-print ng Visprint noon.
Sakto, nang bumisita ako kay Mama para kumuha ng dagdag babasahin sa maliit kong bahay, nakita ko ang librong ito mula sa mga naitagong hiram na aklat sa aking family home. Hindi ko alam kung binigay ito kay Bebang, kasi may pirma pa ng author. Siguro. Kung bigay man, sana all.
Makapal ang koleksyon ng mga sanaysay. Noong una, akala ko tungkol lamang sa mga kwentong pagsakay at paglalakbay, pero napadpad na rin sa kwentong pamilya at pamumuhay sa probinsya, sa kanyang maybahay at kwentong turismo (lalo na sa mga gustong mamasyal sa kanyang bayan, o karatig-bayan). Meron ding tungkol sa social media, kwentong socio-politikal, at kwentong kultura.
Hindi ko mawari kung bakit, pero mas tumatagos sa puso ang kwento ng mga random na mga taong nakakasalamuha niya sa daan, at sa kanyang pagbabiyahe. Mabilis lang dumaan ang kwentong Duterte, o ang kwentong SONA, siguro dahil ayoko na ring balikan ang mga ganoong klaseng kahunghangan ng mga pulitiko at kurap na nilalang.
Mas nanaisin kong kausapin ang manggagawa ng sapatos at bag na may tindahan sa Espanya, o yung mga mag-inang nag-aaway sa bus habang pauwi si sir Jowie ng Lucena.
Kanina, first time kong sumakay muli ng jeep nang isang mahabang biyaheng Pasig-Quiapo. Pagkatapos ng halos labinlimang taon, sinuong muli ang pagkomyut gamit ang OG jeep (No to phaseout!) at napansin ko na sobrang malala na ang trapik dahil mas dumami ang kotse. Mas mausok, mas maingay, mas matrapik. Payo ko sa mga pasahero ng jeep, ugaliing mag-mask. Hindi na biro ang buga ng mga tambutso. Sinubukan kong magnilay, at maghanap ng kwento sa mahabang biyahe at matagalang pag-upo. Sa kasamaang palad, wala akong maisip at mainilay. Partly, because of antok and partly because of anxiety. Nakakakaba na baka bigla akong madukutan sa Kalentong, sa VMapa, sa Altura, at sa Bustillos. Sa dami ng mga kotse na nakakadagdag sa paghaba ng tindi ng trapik, baka hindi mo mamalayan na wala na sa iyo ang pitaka. Dito ko rin napagtanto kung paano unti-unting nawala ang aking tapang sa pagsuong sa ganitong paglalakbay dahil nasanay na ako sa Grab car, o dahil sa lapit ng bahay sa opisina (na kayang itawid gamit ang C5 bridge). Ganun na rin ba ako sa ibang sangay ng aking buhay, nawawala na ang kisig at sigasig sa pagsikhay?
Lahat tayo ay pasahero ng buhay. Sana, maisip ng bawat pasahero na maging makatarungan at maging makatao, at hindi dumaragdag sa araw-araw na perwisyo. Sana, maging mabait tayo sa kapwa at sa bawat salubong at pagkikita ay may mapupulot na magagandang kwento at aral na pwedeng itanim sa puso.
Sakto, nang bumisita ako kay Mama para kumuha ng dagdag babasahin sa maliit kong bahay, nakita ko ang librong ito mula sa mga naitagong hiram na aklat sa aking family home. Hindi ko alam kung binigay ito kay Bebang, kasi may pirma pa ng author. Siguro. Kung bigay man, sana all.
Makapal ang koleksyon ng mga sanaysay. Noong una, akala ko tungkol lamang sa mga kwentong pagsakay at paglalakbay, pero napadpad na rin sa kwentong pamilya at pamumuhay sa probinsya, sa kanyang maybahay at kwentong turismo (lalo na sa mga gustong mamasyal sa kanyang bayan, o karatig-bayan). Meron ding tungkol sa social media, kwentong socio-politikal, at kwentong kultura.
Hindi ko mawari kung bakit, pero mas tumatagos sa puso ang kwento ng mga random na mga taong nakakasalamuha niya sa daan, at sa kanyang pagbabiyahe. Mabilis lang dumaan ang kwentong Duterte, o ang kwentong SONA, siguro dahil ayoko na ring balikan ang mga ganoong klaseng kahunghangan ng mga pulitiko at kurap na nilalang.
Mas nanaisin kong kausapin ang manggagawa ng sapatos at bag na may tindahan sa Espanya, o yung mga mag-inang nag-aaway sa bus habang pauwi si sir Jowie ng Lucena.
Kanina, first time kong sumakay muli ng jeep nang isang mahabang biyaheng Pasig-Quiapo. Pagkatapos ng halos labinlimang taon, sinuong muli ang pagkomyut gamit ang OG jeep (No to phaseout!) at napansin ko na sobrang malala na ang trapik dahil mas dumami ang kotse. Mas mausok, mas maingay, mas matrapik. Payo ko sa mga pasahero ng jeep, ugaliing mag-mask. Hindi na biro ang buga ng mga tambutso. Sinubukan kong magnilay, at maghanap ng kwento sa mahabang biyahe at matagalang pag-upo. Sa kasamaang palad, wala akong maisip at mainilay. Partly, because of antok and partly because of anxiety. Nakakakaba na baka bigla akong madukutan sa Kalentong, sa VMapa, sa Altura, at sa Bustillos. Sa dami ng mga kotse na nakakadagdag sa paghaba ng tindi ng trapik, baka hindi mo mamalayan na wala na sa iyo ang pitaka. Dito ko rin napagtanto kung paano unti-unting nawala ang aking tapang sa pagsuong sa ganitong paglalakbay dahil nasanay na ako sa Grab car, o dahil sa lapit ng bahay sa opisina (na kayang itawid gamit ang C5 bridge). Ganun na rin ba ako sa ibang sangay ng aking buhay, nawawala na ang kisig at sigasig sa pagsikhay?
Lahat tayo ay pasahero ng buhay. Sana, maisip ng bawat pasahero na maging makatarungan at maging makatao, at hindi dumaragdag sa araw-araw na perwisyo. Sana, maging mabait tayo sa kapwa at sa bawat salubong at pagkikita ay may mapupulot na magagandang kwento at aral na pwedeng itanim sa puso.
June 13, 2022
Nakakaaliw, nakakabaliw, nakaka-relate… Bilang isang commuter since childhood, naranasan ko nang umangkas, sumabit, makipagsiksikan at makipagbalyahan sa anumang uri ng pampublikong sasakyan sa Pinas. Bahagi na ito ng ating kultura at kasaysayan. Sa librong ito, sinalamin ng may akda ang mas malalim pang pakahulugan ng pagiging pasahero. Politikal man o social issues, naroon pa rin ang humor at katatawanan. Salamat sa nakakatutuwang biyahe…
April 19, 2024
Ang saya kasama sa biyahe ng libro na to, kahit natagalan ako tapusin kaka-Social Media sa umaga’t gabi. Would always be a sucker for life stories, kahit yung kwento nung taga gawa ng bag sa may UST. Ang ganda din na nagsasalit salit na English at Filipino yung ginamit kasi feel ko ganito na talaga tayo mag isip as a Generation LOL
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews