A Visit to Ateneo High School (Part 1)

(Delayed post, this. And a number of the next ones too. Just taking advantage of the long break to write about it. I apologize for not posting sooner.)

October 18, 2007, was the day I visited Ateneo High School along Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City to attend the Real People Write event that the English Department set-up for the students. It's part of their Communications Month, and under Karen Ong and Honeylein de Peralta, the goal of the event is to encourage more young Pinoys to get into reading and writing.

The first talk I attended was that of Miggy Escaño's, author of Tuko from PGS3. Addressing a rather large class of about fifty, Miggy talked about his penchant for writing horror and why he's drawn to such tales. Miggy mentioned how, in his childhood, he would spent long, quiet nights in the province where he would have little to think about except what could be out there, in the dark. He presented a Powerpoint slideshow that showed descriptions and images of various creatures of the night, including those with a Pinoy flavor. He divulged to the students just how much he's read and researched on the subject, especially on bangungot (which is what Tuko revolves around), as well as on the other aspects and monsters of Philippine mythology. He talked about the value of knowing our monsters, and how they are really the dark reflections of our humanity. For him, Philippine monsters are ours, and particularly reflective of the dark side of the Pinoy. The students were excited with the various monsters and were rowdy in identifying which is which. Can you identify the Pinoy creature shown in the second picture above? I couldn't. And neither could the students. If you want to find out, you'll have to email him. Miggy certainly knows his lower Philippine mythology.