BUNTUNG-HININGA

 Nalulunod

Buhay at kamatayan

Ay nasa pusod ng dagat

Ngunit ang mga galamay ng lambat

Hindi mapagpatawad

Iisa-isahin hanggang may lumutang

Naghihingalo

Walang kapangyarihang

Bumitaw sa nakagisnan

Walang pag-asang

Makahihinga pa sa kawalang

Handog ng mangangamkam

Pinapatay

Pilit na sinusupil

Ang naglalagablab na apoy

Ang mithiin, ang pangarap

Na sa pagmulat ng mata

Ang  bukang-liwayway ay bubungad

Sumisisid

Tumatakas, kumakalas

Hamunin man ng alon,

Ng malalaking patak ng dugo

Siya’y sisisid upang mapigtas

Ang mga tanikalang pinagkawing-kawing

Misyo’y kumitil hanggang said  

Hanggang wala na

Community Immersion in Pook Libis, U.P. Diliman Campus

 We marched into perhaps one of the most remote areas inside the U.P. Diliman campus only to find ourselves amazed that there can be a little piece of the province found even in a busy and dingy area of Metro Manila. But the nostalgia was short-lived. It was replaced by the moment we saw for ourselves the squalid living conditions of the families in Pook Libis. To be honest, I have seen worse in my little town of Cainta but the pity and sadness for the teenagers had overridden any amount of relief I felt at the sight of cemented (albeit narrow) streets and

Our group handler, Allen Metrio warned us about this. He reminded us time and again to brace ourselves for a sordid accounting of the an actual workers' plight but in the company of our two interviewees, none came. Ate Periwinkle, my "buddy" for the assignment and I surveyed the streets whilst carefully assessing every nook and cranny of every house, every street, looking for someone who can give us his time. He came in the form of a shirtless man wandering the streets