Subject:   Jose Rizal's Mi Ultimo Adios at an iya nobelas
Name:   Bugsay of Cagaut
Address:   Bgy. Cagaaut, Salcedo, Eastern Samar
Email:
Date:   June 26, 2009

May paki-ana gad la ako hin nga mga nagsusurat dinhe nga an mga iro-istorya ay an mga iginsurat ni Jose Rizal sugad hin nga iya Mi Ultimo Adios pati na an iya duha nga nobela: El Filibusterismo at Noli Me Tangere. Nasiring pa hiya hin nga mga tawo nga di nahigug-ma hin aton yakan nga - Ang taong hindi marunong magmahal sa sarili niyang wika ay mahigit pa sa hayop at malansang isda.

Kay ano man nga iginsurat niya ine nga tulo niya nga trabaho (Mi Ultimo Adios, et al.) hin kinas-tila? Di ba gud maupay kun lugod iginsurat niya ine hin aton kalugari-ngon nga yakan?

Kaiya na gad siguro naton nga mga Pilipino in magsubad kita hin nga yinakan na di man aton, and this is exactly the reason why our language (including Waray) did not futher develop over time. I got hold of our dictionary in Waray translated in English and Tagalog, and how it is done is pathetically wanting of words that would appropriately described things no matter one tries to find the right word.

We even have corrupted names on how we used to pronounced it just because we heard such words come out from the mouths of foreigners like how we pronounced 'Manila'. Before the heavyweight boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier years ago, we Manilans would pronounced the name of the city in a 'malumay' way of saying or pronouncing it, but as soon as we heard how it was said or uttered by those foreign sports writers covering the fight, like Man'i'la we started uttering it exactly like this.

This may be a trivial thing to think about but we have continued this attitude over generations. We just could not be 'ourselves' concocting our own or developing or polishing our own creativity. We readily embraced other people's inventions and discoveries instead of us being the 'trailblazers' for new things. We just imitate or copy what we have seen and gone through and yet believed that we are doing great.

Rizal if given the chance in 'an afterlife' would instead write his Mi Ultimo Adios and his novels in Pilipino for all the 'indios' to understand and hasten the freedom and independence from the tyrannical Spaniards.

Amo la.

Subject:    Re Kabataan Paglaom Han Aton Nasud
Name:   KablasLaGihapon
Address:   Norway
Email:
Date:   June 19, 2009

Ini kabahin han reaksiyon ni Mr. Armando Corales han nahinotisya dinhi ha Samarnews.com (Child NPA Warrior). Tuod ito, nga tiunano man ini nga kabataan magigin paglaom han nasud kon an iya mahibabaruan amo an pag distrongkar la hin armalite? Pero ha lain nga bahin, diri naton mababasol adi hi alias Dayocdoc, nga at tender age of 12, mas ginpili niya an makigbisog ha kabubkiran. Una, anuman an iya choice kon ha mga huron, waray abilable nga mga eskoylahan nga poydi pag-adman hini nga kabataan? Ikaduha, ano iton sitwasyon ha kabubkiran ha aton nasud? Waray kalugaringon tuna nga poydi pag umhan o anuman nga pwede magin surok hin pangabuhi.

Normal na ito nga an propaganda han gobyerno kon maynadadakop nga NPA gerilya ilabi na kon menor de eded, ginpirit an bata, pero an kamatuoran, waray pagpipilian ini nga batan-on. Ngan ha luyo hini nga ngatanan nga kakurian, nakita siguro ni Alias Dayocdoc nga bangin manla, pinaagi han iya armalite, iya mapukaw an gobyerno ngan mapamata ha tinuod nga sitwasyon ha kabubkiran! Hinumduman unta naton, nga "circumstances dictates our action"!

Saludo ako han mga Pilipino nga haira batan-on nga huna-huna, nahimo nga magmata ha tinuod nga sitwasyon ha katilingban!

Subject:   Kabataan Paglaom han aton Nasud
Name:   Armando L Corales
Address:   Mercedes, Catalogan, Samar
Email:   armando_cor56@yahoo.com
Telephone:   09154486510
Date:   June 14, 2009

Siring ni Gat Jose Rizal an mga Kabataan daw amo it maglaom hit aton Nasud, paano nira matatagamtaman an siring ni GAT Rizal nga hira it pag lao hit nasud paano kun ini nga mga bata iba na an ira gawi, kundi pag talapas na hit kamingawan nga amo it mando han nag ampon ha ira nga maruba an ira kabubuwason.

Sugad kana kan Joel Silvestre @ Doyocdoc, ha edad nga 12 anyos igin baid na sa kagiusan, nga imbis pag aram ha eskwelahan an dapat matagamtaman lugod mas nabaid pagdistrongkar han armas kontra han pag-aram ha eskwelahan, paano nira makakamtan an tinuud nga katalwasan.

Kamo nga waray mga batasan og traydor nga nahihilo hit huna-huna hit kabataan makonsinsya man kamo haira, ayaw nyo tutdu i hin maglain nga mga pan hunahuna, amo ii itinuud nga pagtalapas hit human rights ngan recruitments of minors.

Subject:   Mi Ultimo Adios / Katapusan Ko Nga Panamilit
Name:   Zaldy G. jaba-an
Address:   Barangay Canatu-an, Motiong, Samar
Email:   zjabaan@yahoo.com.ph
Telephone:   0916-257-7943
Date:   June 4, 2009

Malipayon nga oras ha iyo ngatanan!

Kon ighikaw man ha akon ngan kon may man naaawa nga marikognisar an akon version han translation han Kan Dr. Hose Rizal siday nga Mi Ultimo Adios, waray man problema...okay man la ha akon... an importante, malipayon ako nga nahimo ko ini nga butang...kon nakadum-it man han akon probinsya nga nagtaw'han ini'n akon siday...nanginginyuppo ako nga intindihon an diri ko tinuyo ug diri ko intensyon nga makagupong ha mga igkasiko Samarnon.

Yano ngan simple la an akon pagkatawo...diri ko gad unta karuyag nga may ko mga igkakabirubingkil o igkakadupil dupil....kay papriho man la kita mga binuhi han Dyos!

Mabuhay an Samar ngan para han mga karuyag makipagsumpayan alayon kontak 0916-257-7943 / 0928-305-4364 or visit www.youtube.com - search Motiong Samar.

Salamat ngay-an han mga umintindi ngan nakakasantop han akon panalinguha...nga mahubad ha pinulongan Waraynon ini nga Siday.

Mabuhay an Samar! Bisan pa man kon nagbabalatbagat it damo nga mga problema, pagprubar ug mga kakurian.

Subject:   Desiderata and Tomas Gomez's Translation
Name:   A. Morales
Email:
Date:   June 2, 2009

Honestly, Mr. Desiderata, I have not read the translation of the late Sen. Gomez. Can you upload it for everybody to see? If it has the imprimatur of the NCCA or the NHI, then it should stand as the best or the standard. I will try to search that online but if you have a copy, kindly share it with us. This debate would be over, I hope, with that translation of Gomez as the primus.

However, the problem with your thesis that Jabaan's translation is "amateurish" or "trashy" is that we have yet to see and compare the two. You may be a better judge because you took time reading the original work of Rizal, Tomas Gomez's translation, and of course that of Jabaan's. It may just be comparing a diamond with a "bubot han baso" but still we have to see the difference.

I know that literary awarding bodies such as the Palanca can decide not to award the first prize if no entry is not worth the title. Unfortunately, we are not into Palanca. While the literary world is somewhat a world different from the real world, the real world is full of "defaults." Default, in computer science lingo, is defined as a setting or application value assigned when there is failure of performance. Sadly, we face defaults all the time. From goverment, to economy, to arts, and whatever field of endeavor. We usually get an assigned setting because of our failure to perform---like voting wisely, upholding meritocracy, or valuing what is lofty, ideal, right, just, and other high standards. As I mentioned earlier, unless we can prove by comparison that Mr. Jabaan's obra belongs to the waste disposal system of the literary world, we still have to pat his shoulders for his diligence and courage in coming up with his own version of Rizal's poem.

Maybe we should have a Palaka award in Samar as our own counterpart (the one with the loudest croak wins).

In a nation that does not value arts and literature, no doubt that the Palanca prizes are cheap and sensilyo but it is a good start to encourage writers, specially the young, to write not merely to join contests but to contribute to the cultural revolution of a nation whose only known contests are the perennial beauty contests that every purok or sitio has.

I am looking forward to reading Buddy Gomez's father's translation. Until then, I am on a default mode to accept that Zaldy's "amateurish" and "trashy" (according to Desiderata) translation stays as the one that we should compare future or other versions. It may not even get the "honorable mention or the consolation prize" or may just be immediately trashed using a "Palanca-ish" standard even if it is the sole entry to a contest. I don't care about that, my hope is that in the future, the NCCA or the NHI or the Knights of Rizal would one day sponsor a contest in translating Rizal's opus into understandable dialects of the filipino people. As long as Rizal's work are in a foreign language not understandable by millions of filipinos, he will continue to be a hero that is foreign to most filipinos---a hero imposed by the Americans on the imagination of filipinos. He is as dead as his rebultos when the ordinary Juan dela Cruz or Mang Pandoy can't relate to his writings and his thoughts. He and his works will continue to be moot and academic or relics of the past. I hope that Rizal will live not in the halls of the national museum but in the hearts of his people. And, translating his works from a foreign language to one that is understood by his people is one way of doing that. For this simple reason, I salute Zaldy Jabaan's diligence.

Subject:   Dethroning King Jabaan
Name:   DesiDeRata
Address:   Catbalogan, Samar
Email:
Date:   May 29, 2009

A. Morales' pronouncement that Mr. Jabaan's tacky work can intrepidly occupy the king's throne because no one has laid claim to it may be likened to our political conviction that in the province of the blind the cock-eyed is queen. Just because we do not see it does not mean it does not exist. Maybe, we are just too lackadaisical in our choice that any thing is just as good as the real thing. Our myopic penchant to conceal our inadequacies often leads us to pretentious admiration and insipid acclamation. We have forgotten to value ourselves and loft our standards that we easily accept the mediocre. The Palanca Literary Award is a most sought-after prize by any writer not because of the cash that comes with it (the cash prize is pittance, just ask Tim Montes) but because of the prestige it adds to his or her literary portfolio. There were years when the organizers declared no winner in specific categories, not because there were no entries but because the entries failed to meet the standards set forth for these categories. Those that barely passed were awarded with "honorable mentions."

When DesiDeRata prodded Mr. Jabaan to matriculate in courses that would further hone his talent, it was not because DesiDeRata wishes to ridicule him, but rather DesiDeRata sees some potentials in the amateurish" and "trashy" output that he churned in. While Mr. Jabaan's efforts were enormous, his skills and aesthetics were hampered by his sheer ignorance of the criterion or benchmark for translation. The greatest enemy of a writer is his pride, rather FALSE PRIDE, and his greatest gift is his OPEN MIND. If we are hurt, and are deeply hurt, it is because we have closed our minds to the possibility that we may be wrong, and our tendency will always be to withdraw (as what Berliner Beneto Co did when he could have shared further his insights on translations). The disparangement that Mr. Jabaan has to put up with should come with the realization that hard work precedes success. It is in the knowledge that we are wanting that we strive to be filled, in the understanding of our weaknesses that we become strong, and in our determination to excel that we are exalted. Truly, it may be easy to criticise, but it is much easy to dismiss criticisms as products of envy, frustration, or inadequacy. When we are left with nothing to defend our work with, we resort to challenging our critics to come up with their own versions, to compare theirs with ours. We easily forget that outstanding literary works are borne out of conviction not of comparison, that the great opuses are assessed by the measures of the true (honest re/presentation), the good (sound structure), and the beautiful (aesthetics and uniqueness), and that the best encouragement is failure. Unless we set our minds to aspire for what is excellent, we will forever be wallowing in a province of mediocrity governed by a cock-eyed queen.

Lastly, contrary to A. Morales' claim that no Samarnon translation of Rizal's Mi Ultimo Adios has yet been written, the late Tomas Gomez, Jr., a lawyer and poet laureate of Calbayog City, translated Rizal's opus from the original Spanish to Binisaya and his translation was accorded the distinction of being recognized by the National Historical Commission as the official Samarnon translation worthy of display at the Rizal Shrine.

Will you, then, move over to the less pretigious throne that was suggested by A. Morales, erstwhile translation king Mr. Jabaan?

Subject:   Kun nag-aaraway an kamanampan, kairo han kabanwaan
Name:   A. Morales
Email:
Date:   27 May 2009

Desiderata, Beneto Co, and Zaldy Jabaan:

I am happy that we have these three samarnons who are ardent literary students. How I wish that they could band together and start promoting Samarnon or Waraynon literature for the benefit of all samarnons.

Desiderata and Beneto Co are two of the most intelligent feedback writers here in Samarnews.com. They may not agree on certain issues but the two are well-versed in English. I hope we could have more people like them in Samar. I do not even mind the two of them exchanging their divergent views on things because they have the penchant to write their thoughts succinctly.

I heard about how the two literary giants Dr. Edilberto and Dr. Edith Tiempo, founders of the Summer National Writers' Workshop in Silliman University in Dumaguete City, the oldest and the most reputable in the Philippines, would debate rabidly on a single phrase or word. They may be married to each other but they know that they have to criticize each other not to bring down the other but to bring out the best in each other. I think we should practice that. As a people, we are easily piqued when somebody critiques our work. Criticism is a tool to bring out the best in us.

Zaldy's translation may be amateurish but who is a pro in Zaldy's field? No one. Until somebody comes up with a better translation, Zaldy's work would remain the best available translation. Even in our political life, Mila Tan who was a shiok-tong dealer is now running the affairs of the province because no one can dislodge her from power. Until somebody better can prove to all of us that he/she could do better than Mila, then we have to accept Mila's own version of governance. I am not saying that Zaldy's work is as sloppy as Mila's because I am not a bona fide literary critic. In fact, Zaldy still has the king's throne unless somebody else can show him to use the toilet bowl as his new throne.

Kumbaga, by default Zaldy's work is still the record to beat. Anybody who can dislodge him will have the hat of the champion. Unfortunately, no one can have the time and passion that Zaldy gave to his own work so he may be there sitting on the throne of the champion until someone else would smash him with a better translation.

Subject:  On Translations and Intellectuals
Name:   Taga- Salug
Address:   Catbaloga City
Email:
Date:  May 23, 2009

Mabuhay ka Mr. Beneto Co! Ungod gud la an pulongnon nga an humay nga bungahon napilay ngan natamod, an lata nga may sulod diri ma-aringasa ug an tubig ha salug mamingaw kun halarum.

Han akon pagbasa han imo feedback han kan Mr. Jabaan's work waray gud ako kita hin guti-ay nga paghambog ha imo bahin. Kundi an imo pag "apprreciate" han iya effort ug "encouragement" nga magpasigi pa hiya han iya trabaho.

Sugad man kan Mr. Addi Batica. Usa pa ini nga halarom nga tawo nga mapa-inubsanon (ha akon kasabot, lol).

Asya gud ini denhi ha aton lugar ha Samar. May-ada ngani baga nalupad dayon la guin lalabtik basi mahulog dayon. Deri manla tagan hin higayon nga maka-indong intawon basi makapag-praktis ngan maging ungod nga eksperto han iya higayon.

Subject:   Requiem to a Berliner
Name:   DesiDeRata
Address:   Catbalogan, Samar
Email: 
Date:   May 22, 2009

It is tragic that Berliner Beneto Co wrote "fin" to provide further comment and extend his "expertise" re: Mr. Jabaan's translation of Mi Ultimo Adios, for no amount of feedback can exorcise his rating of "excellent translation" to Mr. Jabaan's work. It would likewise be useless to refute his arguments since Berliner Beneto Co prematurely precluded any forthcoming rebuttal, dramatically ending it with the "show me yours, I'll show you mine" fallacy. Being confident of my skills and myself, I have nothing to prove and need not indulge in such childish repartee lest be mistaken for a "second-rate trying hard copycat." Nevertheless, for the benefit of the Samarnews readers (including A. Morales, the recent contributor to the issue)who may have followed this trail of discussions and maintained an open mind, let me put some things in specifics. In revisiting Rizal's opus, we have his original opening stanza as follows:

Adios, Patria adorada, region del sol querida,
Perla del mar de Oriente, nuestro perdido Eden!
A darte voy alegre la triste mustia vida,
Y fuera mas brillante, mas fresca, mas florida,
Tambien por ti la diera, la diera por tu bien.

and the following English translations by Charles Derbyshire (1911)

Farewell, dear fatherland, clime of the sun caress'd,
Pearl of the Orient sea, our Eden lost!
Gladly now I go to give thee this faded life's best,
And were it brighter, fresher, or more blest,
Still I would give it thee, nor count the cost.

and by Edwin Agustin Lozada (2001)

Farewell, beloved country, treasured region of the sun,
Pearl of the sea of the Orient, our lost Eden!
To you eagerly I surrender this sad and gloomy life,
And were it brighter, fresher, and more florid,
Even then I'd give it for you, and for your sake alone.

On the other hand, Mr. Jabaan translated thsi opening stanza as

Adios higugmaon tuna nga nataw'han
Nasud nga nahura' dagaang han adlaw
Eden nga kalipay ha amon naanaw
Nga perlas han dagat ha may sinirangan.

Halad ko ha imo kalipay nga tim-os
Ini'n kinabuhi nga raptay ngan kabos
Nagin bantugan man liwat in maugop:
Kun mauripon ka hin kasamok.

In evaluating the translation in terms of form, Mr. Jabaan who incidentally also went to UP has clearly transgressed the original work - the opening stanza consisting of five lines - by having his translation in two stanzas of four lines. Notable, likewise, is his deviation in the use of punctuation marks, such as the exclamation point of the phrase "nuestro perdido Eden!" and the end commas in each line. The substance is much to be desired. His choice of the word "nasud" for "region" is highly incorrect since at the time when Rizal wrote the poem there yet was no nation to talk about as the Philippines was under Spain. His translation of the phrase "nuestro perdido Eden" into "Eden nga kalipay ha amon naanaw" is incongruent. While Rizal refers to his fatherland as the "our lost Eden" (see Lozada) or "our Eden lost" (see Derbyshire) alluding to Milton's "Paradise Lost," Mr. Jabaan translates (?) the loss as sorrow or the absence of happiness. He also reverses the arrangement of the lines "perla del mar de oriente" and "nuestro perdido Eden!" thereby losing the impact of the line. Just go on and read his translation of this line. And what happened to the imagery brought about by the words "y fuera mas brillante, mas fresca, mas florida?" For these words, Mr. Jabaan has substituted "nagin bantugan man liwat in maugop kun maoripon ka hin kasamok." is this translating or reinventing? I would have wanted to ask Berliner Beneto Co by what measure did he rate the work of Mr. Jabaan for it to earn an "excellent translation" rating, but I know that his pc has been silenced by his refusal to comment further.

As we carefully go over the rest of Mr. Jabaan's translation (which I cannot discuss in detail for want of space), we will find Mr. Jabaan in most instances, paraphrasing, summarizing, creating, reinventing and putting forth his own interpretation of Rizal's opus but clearly not TRANSLATING, in contrast to what Derbyshire and Lozada did in the English translations. Where has the imagery created by the words "el sitio nada importa, cipres, laurel, o lirio" gone? Two tenets in PROPER translation mandate us to maintain the form used by the original writer and simply translate the words as they appear in the original. How can anyone who knows Spanish and Binisaya (not Waray, as Professor Cesar would have despised the word to indicate our literary tradition and language) be so blind as to overlook these transgressions in translation? What Mr. Jabaan did was to interpret Rizal's work and create his own form and version of it. Rating this kind of work as "excellent translation" is not only pretentious but more so condescending and patronizing. Contrary to what Berliner Beneto Co would wish to picture of me, I do subscribe that publishing "creative outsputs by talented Samarenos" will enhance the development of Samarnon (again, not Waray) literature, but the key words are creative works and talented individuals. Berliner Beneto Co may have misjudged the work of Martin Luther on the Bible, but I still believe that Berliner Beneto Co's rating of "excellent translation" to Mr. Jabaan's work is pure and simple patronage.. While he feels disgusted of Filipinos who are "loud" and talk too much in symposia (as they may be "vexations to the spirit"), he nevertheless gloats over those who offer outputs of their work - no matter what the quality in form and substance - as in Mr. Jabaan's case. If Berliner Beneto Co allows his rating to stand (and I wonder if he really did go over the translation and understood every Bisayan word in it) because a highly "biased and prejudiced" reader made some "destructive" comments and "ridiculed

I can understand A. Morales' concern that Mr. Jabaan has as much right to translate Rizal's work as anybody else, including Desiderata, but he must have considered the aesthetic and technical merits of Mr. Jabaan's work. May I ask A. Morales if he thinks Mr. Jabaan's translation of Rizal's Mi Ultimo Adios is deserving of being proclaimed as the official Samarnon translation, or of being forgotten as one amateurish attempt at translation?

Incidentally, Desiderata is Latin for "things that are to be desired" or "mga butang nga sadang hingyapon."

Thank you, Mr. Ray Gaspay, for giving equal space to my riposte to Berliner Beneto Co's "last farewell."

Subject:   Sulibang ko pa man...
Name:   Doming Q. Cabanganan
Address:   10 Smoketree CT, Lafayette, CA 94549
Email:    domijunssc@yahoo.com
Telephone:   9252567870
Date:   May 19, 2009

Mga Kababayan,

Maupay nga takna ha aton ngatanan hain kaman nga daplin han kalibutan...

An kabaskug han usa nga nasud na depende han kabaskug han sosiedad; an kabaskug han sociedad, na sarig han kabaskug han iya familia, diin an fundasyon nasarig han tinuod nga pagkilala, kahadlok, paghigugma han aton mahal nga DIYOS nga makagarahom ug magburohat han ngatanan....Ngani besan ha baraan nga kasuratan na sering, SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND EVERYTHING WILL BE GIVEN UNTO YOU. Waray an tawo mahihimo nga kaupayan kun waray tugot an Ginoo. Ug an DIYOS na bulig han tawo nga nabulig ha iya ngahaw. Waray na yana na hulog nga mana tikang ha langit. Hadto la adto han panahon ni Moses while traversing ha desierto han Egypt.

Salit kita nga mga taga Samar, labi na jud an mga KABUS UG MGA TIMAWA... magsumikap tayong lahat. Ayaw na kita pa owat, pag sarig ha mga TRAPOS, Traditional Politicians, diin na parayaw kunohay pagbulig labi na kun harani na an elections. Kairo man naton,labi na an mga KABUS UG MGA TIMAWA, pag e-etsahe hen noodles labi na kun mayda tunga kilo nga bugas gin babalyo na naton an aton sagrado nga BOTOS upod na an aton KALAG...

Ano man an aton tama nga buhaton? Pag buroblig kita, pagkaurusa kita pan limbasog kita tubtub han aton makakaya sugad hadton mga ginbuhat han mga progresibo na yana nga mga nasud sugad han Israel, Switzerland, Australia, Singapore ug iba pa. Ayaw na kita hito nga pagka berobingkil, aro-araway kay waray hito maupay nga dadangatan. Sering han mga kalagsan... PAG NAG-ARAWAY AN MGA KAMANAMPAN KAIRO HAN KABANWAAN.

Kadam-an han aton mga ahensya ha gobierno nabulig pag pa uswag han aton katawhan. Kinahanglan la nga maaram kita makigkita hini nga mga ahensya sugad han DTI, BFAR, o besan an magkalainlain nga banko sugad han LDP, Allied, BDO.

Ha akon pagsabot, an Chairman han bag-o nga na organized nga SMED Council amo he Vice Gov Jess Redaja. Pakigkitae niyo kay, I know, mabulig ito hiya. Besan hadto nga diri pa hiya politiko, talaga mabuligon na, asay pa yana. Kun dida man ha DTI, aada liwat here Engr. Malou Macabare, hera Ariel Donceras ug labi na gud iton guapo ug matinambuligon nga provincial DTI Director. Kun dida naman ha Samar Provincial Chamber of Commerce and Industry, aada hera Ms. Lourdes Singzon, Stanly & Asan ha Luisa Tan Hardware. Tungod kay kulang na panahon, magkita kita liwat sunod...

Subject:   From Tim Montes on Translation....
Name:   A. Morales
Email:
Date:   May 17, 2009

It is funny that we are debating what the best translation is of Rizal's majestic obra. Here's Tim Montes, a pure waray literary master. Maybe we should all bow down to Tim's brilliance instead of insisting on our own. – A. Morales

TIMOTHY R. MONTES
On Style in Translation

A funny thing happened while I was in the middle of my translation project. The author of one of the stories I was translating, Don Pagusara, arrived from Davao and decided to live with me for five days as he waited for the Palanca awarding ceremonies on September 1, 2004. His short story “Talia Migrante” which I had decided to translate for my class in Literary Translation had won second prize in that year’s Palanca derby. While living and interacting with Don may have been a good opportunity for me to be able to capture the author’s sensibility (inasmuch as translation is a form of re-dreaming the poet’s dream), I found myself more embarrassed than pleased at this turn of events.

Sure I learned more about Don Pagusara as a person—his biography, his politics, his three marriages, even his physical ailments at 65 years old--- but even in the personal intimacy and friendship that developed, I could not muster the courage to tell him that I was translating his story to English. I myself am a writer in English (or as Jimmy Abad chooses to call it, from English) and I know that Don himself is a very good translator of works from other languages to Cebuano. (According to a poet-friend of mine, Don’s translation to Cebuano of the short story “In the Village Called Talim” by Aida Rivera Ford (1) is better than the original, but I did not like his English translations of his own poems from Cebuano.) Why, then, was I reluctant to share my translation with him? More than the fear of being criticized by the author for failing to do justice to his work, I felt that I had as much claim to my translation now as the author had over the original. It felt like I had given birth to a story of my own, not merely a shadow of the original.

If there was one crucial thing that I realized in the process, it was the realization that translation is not a mechanical act. It is as creative as any original work that a writer undertakes. This insight was further bolstered by my post-translation assessment of my work. After translating the three stories from Cebuano to English, I reread them with a sense of personal claim over them. The voice, the style, was mine, not the authors’ anymore. It was as if I could identify my own writerly voice in my work. Even if the stories had different narrators, even if they were written by different writers (two by young women and one by the sexagenarian Don), I could identify my own verbal tics and stylistic flourishes. The rhythms were mine. Sometimes, I could even claim some original imagery in my effort to achieve equivalent literary effects. My penchant for using subordinate clauses, my use of parenthetical clauses --- all these I could identify as my own stylistic fingerprint.

Compare the original and my translated version of the first few sentences of Blanch Gutib’s “Si Ate Weng, Si Mama, ug Ako”:

Sa pagkakita nako sa reaksyon ni Ate Weng sa dihang nasayran niya ang pagkamatay ni Kuya Noel, unang nisulod sa akong hunahuna si Mrs. Mallard nga nabasa nako sa sugilanon nga gisulat ni Kate Chopin. Lahi ra ang gipakita ni Ate Weng kon itandi sa gipakita sa ubang tawo nga anaa sa iyang kiliran. Gigakos siya ni Mama, dungan silang nanghilak, pero nagsiga ang mga mata ni Ate Weng. Murag gipugngan nga motulo ang iyang luha.

As I watched Ate Weng’s reaction to the news of Kuya Noel’s death, I remembered the character of Mrs. Mallard in the story by Kate Chopin. Compared to the other relatives around her, Ate Weng seemed to take the news of her husband’s death with more equanimity. Mama hugged her while crying, but Ate Weng, eyes almost bulging in the effort to keep back her tears, remained dry-eyed.

In the second sentence of my translation, I started with an introductory subordinate phrase that is unlike the rhythm of the source text. The word “equanimity” is my own addition and not found in the Cebuano. In the third sentence, “eyes bulging in the effort to keep back the tears” is a parenthetic phrase, creating a peculiar rhythmic effect quite different from the original. It was my own stylistic decision to create tension and firmness in that sentence, instead of hewing close to the prose style of the original.

Often in translation studies, what is emphasized is the literary style of the author which has to be approximated, echoed, formally imitated by the translator. But translation (literally “to ferry across”) (2) is such a strange process, and I would make the dangerous claim there is enough room for originality in translation as there is in creative writing. If one uses the analogy of “ferrying across,” I’d say that the translator starts out with the same cargo, but by the time he/she arrives at the other shore the cargo will have inevitably transmuted into something else. If the cargo happen to be mangoes, they can get rotten in transit; a good translator, however, will arrive at the destination with the fruits intact, even fuller and juicier. In fruits as in translation, ripeness is all.

I think it is high time that focus should also be given to the literary style of the translator. For it is now a truism that a translation is a different order from the original, and I think it might even be possible for a translation to be “better” than the original. For while it is true that there will be an inevitable loss in the process of translation, there is also something gained in the rendering of a work in another language. A superb translator can render a new verbal, imaginative reality totally different from the original even if the same content or invariable matter is concerned.

For isn’t it true that the literary style of Constance Garnett is as present in her translations of Russian literary masterpieces? The novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy have the same sound and verbal tics and tonal register because what comes out is Garnett’s voice that weaves through the warp and woof of the translated work. If one wants to experience the authentic style of Tolstoy, one should go to the original; the translated work is as much the style of the translator as that of the author. When we read One Hundred Years of Solitude, we are getting the style of Gregory Rabassa as much as that of Gabriel Garcia Marquez. My impression of the ponderousness of German literature comes from H. T. Porter Lowe as a translator, not necessarily that of Thomas Mann in the original.

Perhaps this is one of the reasons why there have been controversies between writers and translators.

Milan Kundera is a Czech writer who, after the Spring Revolution in Prague during the sixties, chose to live in exile in Paris rather than stay on in his home country under Soviet regime. It was around this time that he, by choice, started writing novels in French. By the 1980s, when his novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being was made into a movie, he became a literary celebrity. However, when his novel was translated into Czech by a countryman of his, he repudiated the translation because, according to him, he could not see himself in the translation. The result of this controversy has been tragic: his own books until this time cannot be read by his countrymen (Nehring 67).

This, then, my dear Kundera, is my point. Style is not a mere verbal ostentation, like icing to the cake. “Style,” according to the French critic de Buffon, “is the man” (qtd. in Xiaoshu and Dongming), and the translator cannot really reproduce the writer. Even writers, if they decide to do their own translations, will only be frustrated by this effort of reproducing themselves in another language. In the effort, they will end up like a puppet trying to sound like the ventriloquist. Translation is really an act of re-writing, not a computer program that automatically transcribes words into another language. The translator, then, can only reproduce himself because a system of stylistic cloning has not been developed yet.

For exactly what is it that a translator tries to imitate in the original--- the rhythms, the syntax, or the sentence lengths? Prose style is something slippery and, in fact, inimitable. Virginia Woolf, that great prose stylist of the stream-of-consciousness, pinned down style to rhythm: “Style is a very simple matter,” she wrote. “It is all rhythm. Once you get that, you can’t use the wrong word” (qtd. in Yagoda 25). From a writerly perspective, this is, indeed, a simple matter, but from a translator’s perspective, it is not. Can the same rhythms be captured when one uses another language? Each language imposes its own sound-sense such that fluidity in, say, Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past in French can become floridity in English if the syntax would be preserved. English that tries to sound French is not French but awkward English.

If de Buffon is right, style cannot be imitated because a man cannot be duplicated. In the 19th century, Macaulay was the literary craze in England, which resulted in a host of other writers who imitated his sentence structures and rhythms. The critic George Lewes had this to say about Macaulay’s prose imitators: “They cannot seize the secret of his charm, that charm that lies in the felicity of his talent, not in the structure of his sentences; in the fullness of his knowledge, not in the character of his illustration” (qtd. in Yagoda 229). Yagoda, the contemporary expert on literary style, comments further that imitation, whether by translators or by copy-cat writers, is a futile act. “Imitation of Marlon Brando,” he says, “will only be impersonation good for party laughs, and not much else” (229).

Perhaps it would be better to look at literature as a performative art, not as an iconographic codal medium. The critic J.O Urmson opines that literature is closer to music than to any other art form. Unlike film or sculpture or painting, we don’t get what we see in literature. Literature is just a set of instructions for the actual performance of the imagination (329).

Analogously, a musical score is not music per se but mere notations on the page that need to be performed by a pianist, violinist, or guitarist. A musician has to interpret/bring to auditory reality the musical notations of, say, Beethoven in the Kreutzer Sonata. Every reader looking at words on the page is like a performer, with the imagination as a flexible instrument.

Along this vein, I would like to think of translation as a form of musical re-arrangement that would bring different harmonics, tone colorings, and emotional textures to an original piece of composition. This is necessary in order bring out the peculiar qualities of language, in the same way that a different arrangement is needed for a solo flute compared to an original version of the music composed for a string quartet by Mozart. The translator is a verbal musician, trying to suit the sonorousness of language to different instruments. The worst kind of translation is one so faithful to the original that it doesn’t make sense anymore in the new language. The violin is made to sound like a sliding trombone.

Between the ego of the writer and the freedom of the translator to create something new based on the original, I cast my ballot in favor of the latter. A dead composer cannot dictate to a musician how the music ought to be interpreted. Every pianist has a signature touch, and who can say if Cecil Licad’s interpretation of Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on Theme by Paganini is inferior to the interpretation of Rachmaninoff himself?

Sometimes, I think that Saul Bellow’s translation of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s story “Gimpel the Fool” is stylistically the translator’s---- the jumpy ease of the voice, the syntax that calls to mind Bellow’s own novels like Henderson the Rain King or The Adventures of Augie March. It is only in this particular story by Bashevis Singer, thanks to the translator, that I feel the energy and humor of Yiddish American spirit. His other stories translated by others don’t have the same zing and vigor. If I decide to read the latest translation of Mann’s Death in Venice it will be to experience the hand of the translator in the same way that I try to feel the hand of a new director when I watch a remake of an old movie. To compare it to the original would only end in dissatisfaction and frustration. (3)

The spirit of reading translation, then, should not be that of always looking for correspondences with the original. In his poem “On First Looking on Chapman’s Homer” John Keats couldn’t have experienced the exhilaration of a translation if he kept looking at Chapman as a cheap imitation of Homer’s original. Instead, he created new metaphors for the experience to make us understand how the freshness and vigor of the original was embodied in the translation. According to him, he felt like a “watcher of the skies” (astronomer) watching a new planet “swim into his ken” (discovery) and ends the poem with a caesura, a long pause to approximate the feeling of the Spanish explorer on top of the mountain when he first saw the Pacific Ocean---- “Silent upon a peak in Darien.”

In translation, the creation of new metaphors is an active process that makes each sentence, each image, each sonic tonality a process of creation by the literary translator. The translator is an artist, not a transcriber, and as such is entitled to his or her own style.

It is in this spirit that I present my translation of three stories about women from Mindanao. It is not an anthology of contemporary short stories written by different writers from Mindanao, more like my collection of stories which I happened to co-author with three other writers.

The ferryboat has docked, I have come upon a fresh horizon, and I hope the mangoes in the cargo hold are ripe enough for eating in this new land.

NOTES:

(1) This translation is included in Aida Rivera Ford’s short story collection Born in the Year 1900, UP Press, 2000.
(2) The word comes from the ablative of the Latin word ferre, which means to move to another point. It is the same root word as “ferry.”
(Webster’s 3rd New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged)
(3) The idea of translation as a form of re-writing/re-interpretation is evident in the latest translation of Thomas Mann’s Death in Venice. In a recent Salon.com review of the translation made by UCLA linguist Michael Henry Heim, the reviewer has this to say about the translation: “Heim has thrown open the windows of Aschenbach's gloomy hotel and let the sea breezes in….Aschenbach seems like a
more comprehensibly human and sympathetic character here, and Mann's ironic treatment of him less overtly cruel (and frankly funnier), than in H.T. Lowe-Porter's deeply coded, overly British translation. Mann's dense, overgrown language feels lighter, more burnished with Venetian beauty, than ever before in English.” As such, the homoerotic element in the novella becomes clearer in the recent translation.

WORKS CITED:

- Nehring, Christina. "The Unbearable Slightness: Why Do We Love Milan Kundera Again?" Harper’s Nov. 2002: 66-69.
- O’Hehir, Andrew. “Just How Gay Is Death in Venice? A homoerotic "master text" or a cryptic parable of art, arrogance and self-deception? A fresh translation helps pry Thomas Mann's classic from too-literal interpretation.” Salon Magazine Online. 10 Aug. 2004. Available here.
- Urmson, J.O. “Literature as a Performing Art.” In Aesthetics: A Reader in Philosophy of the Arts. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1997, pp. 323-330.
- Webster’s 3rd New International Dictionary of the English Language Unabridged. Springfield, Mass.: Webster’s, 1993.
- Xiaoshu, Song and Cheng Dongming. “Translation of Literary Style.” Translation Journal 7. 1 (January 2003). Online. Available here.
- Yagoda, Ben. The Sound on the Page: Style and Voice in Writing. N.Y.: HarperCollins, 2004.

Subject:   On the translation of Rizal's work...
Name:   A. Morales
Email:
Date:   May 15, 2009

I am amazed how an innocent (or was it calculated) try of Mr. Jabaan to translate the work of Rizal into Waray has created quite a stir in this forum. Let me just add a few points on this seemingly hot topic.

One, I challenge Desiderata to come up with his own version of Rizal's "Mi Ultimo Adios." From then, we could judge who has the better version. I would ask the indulgence of Mr. Adelbert Batica to do the judging since he is an expert both in Spanish and in Winaray Samarnon. The basis of judging will be more on what version closely resemble the meaning of the original poem of Rizal. To tell you, even in Samar Island alone, there would be multiple variations since Samarnon Westehanon is slightly different to Samarnon Estehanon or to Samarnon Nortehanon or to Samarnon Calbayognon. Even within the Westehanon sub-group the Basaynons will have a little bit of different translation to that of a Catbaloganon. Translation is a difficult process the same way that a great novel cannot be easily captured in film.

Just like the Bible, there a number of English versions that you could choose from. There's the old King James Version, there's the New International Version, there's the Today's English Version, there's the Contemporary English Version, and so on and so forth. The purpose always is to make it more understandable to the reader while at the same time preserve the true meaning of the original work.

Second, I would suggest that Desiderata and Mr. Jabaan should not be swallowed by argumentum ad hominem by throwing bricks at each other. Desiderata and Mr. Jabaan are both unknowns in the literary world so they should not be saying words that would attack the person since they do not know each other. Mr. Jabaan's curriculum vitae in front of his work is not necessary to my estimation because I am not impressed with those credentials but I am impressed with the time and talent he had poured to come up with a wonderful translation of Rizal's work. Desiderata should not also equate himself with Rizal's literary genius because he is not. He needs to publish his works first and pass the litmus test of literary criticism before all of us can say that he has the caliber of Rizal.

Third, let our criticism be more for the betterment of the final output. If Desiderata is indeed equipped to critique then he should do it point by point. And, Mr. Jabaan should be open to well-thought criticism and answer the points raised. If our criticism is only aimed at eroding the confidence of the other person then it is useless and harmful. Remember that people have egos. They do not want to be told that their work is wrong. So, my first suggestion is still the best solution to this word war: output versus output.

Thank you!

Subject:   Answer to Desiderata's comment
Name:   Beneto Co
Address:   Berlin
Email:   bing_co06@yahoo.com
Telephone:   01737678842
Date:   May 12, 2009

1) About my opinion on Jabaan’s translation. Of course it is my personal assessment but it is an objective and fair one that is based on my years of translation work. In fact, I do not know him. In contrast, your criticism of his work is more of a personal opinion laced with bias and ridicule. Objective and constructive criticisms are vital to any field of endeavour but personal attacks disguised as comments are destructive. May I add that you don’t need to believe in what I have done. It is not necessary.

2) On conservatory of music etc. You must have absorbed a lot of theories in college. In theory yes, but reality is far from it. Enrico Caruso and Pavarotti remain the greatest tenors of all time but they never entered a music conservatory. The same can be said of Mozart, Beethoven, Bach, Schumann and other other great composers. Even Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, and our local singing talents like Pilita, Nonoy Zuniga, Lea Salonga, Nora Aunor, Regine never went to music conservatories. Formal schooling of course helps but talent is the prime requisite. That is why, even without formal schooling, gifted individuals in both the arts and the sciences have become extremely successful. On the other hand, long formal schooling in the absence of talent produces only mediocre professionals. This is true to all academic fields. Just look around you, how many of those who graduated with a creative writing degree or any other degree course have made it big? You will be dismayed to find only a few.

But since you “visiously disagree” that there is no proper way to translate, let’s be specific. Kindly translate “properly” to Waray the following lines from Desiderata: “Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexation to the spirit.” I bet your translation is as good or bad as mine. For there will never be a proper translation of these lines. There can be a good or accurate one, meaning that it is able to capture the original meaning intended by Max Ehrmann in 1927. Only Mr. Ehrmann knows the real meaning behind the lines. Any translation is merely an approximation. Language is a reflection of culture, traditions, environment, and people’s interests and reasons at a given time. Because of this it is not easy to find a word with exactly the same meaning as another word in another language.

3) On Martin Luther. You misread me. I did not unfairly misjudge Martin Luther. In fact, I praised him. By the way, I must know something about him. I did a postgraduate thesis on some works of Martin Luther. But I will not say anything more on this since it is beside the real point.

4) On traumatic moments inside a lecture room. You did not only misjudge me, you also underestimated me. Please never underestimate strangers. I would not have pursued advanced degrees abroad for 12 years if I did have traumatic moments at school. On the contrary, I think it is you who have been badly influenced by an arrogant college professor. As a student, I met many of them in Diliman. Unfortunately, humility is something unknown to the typical college teacher in some popular universities in the country. Sadly this arrogance is transmitted to the students who wrongly believe that it is a sign of greatness.

5) On courses such as Literary Criticism. I agree with you of course. But the point that I strongly believe in is that attending formal school is not the only way to learn new knowledge and special skills. It is not the only way to nurture your talents. In many cases, it is the “learning by doing” especially under the guidance of a supportive mentor (in the workplace or anywhere) that can be more decisive and effective. Goethe, Shakespeare, Marx, Hugo, Kant, and Asimov never attended the college courses you have mentioned but you know who they are and what they achieved in life.

6) That patronizing mediocrity will only stagnate Samar. I do not agree with you that Jabaan’s work is trash and that it will stagnate Samar. I do not believe that publishing creative outputs by talented Samarenos will stagnate Samar. I’m sorry but I don’t get the logic. On the contrary, it is the biased and personal attacks on budding artists and professionals by people who pretend to be experts that is detrimental to Samar’s development since it discourages the young undiscovered talents to come out. Samar needs its sons and daughters who have been successful in their professions to support, encourage, and guide promising talents.

I will tell you a bad news: You know Filipinos are starting to be known in international scientific and professional circles as good only at talking. This is because many Filipinos who attend international professional conferences would try to impress the audience by being loud during open fora and discussions (like what is common in seminars and conferences here in the country). Many of them fail to realize that outside the Philippines everyone is judged by his/her output like scholarly publications and not by what he or she says about others’ works.

So I challenge you Desiderata, whoever you are, to show us your output. Make your own translation of Mi Ultimo Adios and let us see if indeed you can turn the theories you have learned (or have been teaching your students) in the classroom into practice. Prove to us that you can produce a better translation and not just a trash as you call it. That is the only way. Otherwise your biased attacks on Jabaan’s work will be nothing but mere yearnings of an envious and frustrated person. I will mention the obvious: to create our own scholarly work is damn harder than criticising other’s work. Award-winning writer Roger Ebert once wrote: “Those who can do it, do it. Those who can’t do it, criticize.”

(Note to the editor: I hope you would give space to this message which I consider important for all readers of Samar News. This will be my last comment on this topic. Thank you very much.)

Subject:   Mi ltimo Adios Rewind
Name:   DesiDeRata
Address:   Catbalogan, Samar
Email:
Date:   8 May 2009

Berliner Beneto Co's feelings towards Mr. Jabaan's translation is undoubtedly a personal one, but his views on translations should be viewed professionally, if I am to believe in his claims to have translated works from Spanish and German to English.

I may agree with him that there is no single way (or style) to translate a literary work, but I viciously disagree that there is neither a proper way to translate it. It is like valuing graphite for diamonds. A singer who has taken voice lessons, or who graduated in a conservatory of music, surely will have richer quality, better techniques and far-reaching range than one whose only credentials are awards won in amateur singing contests. Berliner Beneto Co may have forgotten that the reformist Martin Luther was a monk who studied Latin and whose training included transcribing and translating hundreds and thousands of works. His skills were not honed in a matter of months. These were products of years and years of training. Thus, it is unfair to misjudge Luther's translation of the Bible as one that did not undergo the rudiments of proper training in translation.

It is likewise disheartening to read from Berliner Beneto Co that attending lectures and courses will only produce mimics and copycats out of those who attend them. I can only surmise that he may have had traumatic moments inside a lecture room or his teachers may have been "ogres" of sorts leaving him with the thought that school is a place where one becomes a rigid conformist. Enrolling in courses such as literary criticism, comparative literature and creative writing allows you to assess your strengths and weaknesses and develop your potentials as a writer. The lectures can only serve as guide or benchmarks for you to observe, the style will still be yours to develop. Berliner Beneto Co should realize that patronizing mediocrity such as, in my "harsh personal opinion," the "trash" translation of Mr. Jabaan is counterproductive and will only stagnate Samarnon Literature. The main reason why Tagalog, Iloka

Subject:   Mr. Jabaan's "Katapusan Ko Nga Panamilit"
Name:   Beneto Co
Address:   Berlin
Email:   bing_co06@yahoo.com
Telephone:   01737672488
Date:   5 May 2009

I wish to congratulate Mr. Jaba-an for his excellent translation of Rizal's Mi Ultimo Adios. I do not agree with the anonymous reader "Desiderata". There is neither a single nor a proper way to translate a literary work since every translator puts his/her own interpretation and artistic touch into every work that he/she translates. In fact, this is true to all kinds of works whether literary or scientific.

In my view, Mr. Jaba-an was very successful in translating Rizal's work. The harsh suggestion by Desiderata for Mr. Jaba-an "to attend a course on translation" is like telling him to learn how the lecturer of that course does it his own way. Also, it is implying that the lecturer of that course has the monopoly of the best way to translate literary works. History tells us that the greatest translators did not have formal training in translations. To cite the best example, Martin Luther translated the most important written work, the bible, from Latin into German. I have not found any evidence about any seminar on translations that Martin Luther attended before he translated the bible. The only requirement for anybody to be a good translator is talent, diligence, and of course mastery of the languages of interest.

PS: By the way, I am a native of Samar and have translated written works from Spanish and German to English. I am based in Europe.

Subject:   DANGPANAN... its mission
Name:   Franny "Kiko" Catayong
Address:   New York, USA
Email:   catfranz2501@hotmail.com
Date:   May 3, 2009

As the word implies it is where we seek refuge. That's the name of the Student Association of Eastern Samar National Comprehensive High School in Borongan. Fittingly so because its main objective is to promote, enhance and foster the development and improvement of the quality of life of members, while at the same time assisting its Alma Mater in addressing some of its problems in any humble way possible. In its infancy of existence the Incorporators and Members have already initiated discussions with the leadership of the school on how Dangpanan will be of assistance to tackle the enormous problems the school is currently at a crossroad. The discussions were very positive and with the help of everyone, not only the current students and former students, but the whole community and even those who are not residing in Eastern Samar, who embrace the principles of unity, togetherness and upliftment of the way of life we all share, the odds are in our favor. By the way, Dangpanan Association of Concerned Students of ESNCH, Inc. is a duly registered Non-Profit, Non-Sectarian organization with SEC Reg No. CN200817732, approved on November 11, 2008.

Therefore, we are appealing to everyone to help us achieve our objectives. However, to those who disagree with the association's existence and its ideas, I dare you to challenge us in a CONSTRUCTIVE WAY, NOT IN A WAY YOU ARE DOING IT RIGHT NOW. It won't further your cause because the more you hate Dangpanan, the more other people will realize you are just a bump along the way, or, let may say it more nicely, "You really have done nothing before Dangpanan came into being to help the Alumni and the school itself and you will never achieve in destroying the Association because you work with your mouth not with your accomplishment...or do you have one for the school or Alumni?". Dangpanan is, and will always be the Flagship of Unity, Hope and Inspirations for those people seeking refuge, and the feeling of security as a member of the Student Association and the community in general.

When I came to visit the school after 37 years last year, I was so excited to meet old friends, classmates and my original mentors and was really happy to have met with them and enjoy that moment. Special mention to Mr. Jess Robin and wife Cynthia, Mr. Gau Garfin, Dr. Franny Cabalonga, Ms. Clara Aljibe, Mrs. Nilda Corado, Mrs. Amparo Gillo, and of course Mrs. Eunice Montes, who is just like a mother to me.

Again, having given the honor to come back to ESNCHS as Keynote Speaker of this year's 38th Commencement Exercises, I was even more excited to meet the whole school's staff and the students where I was once, one of them and reminisce the days of my adolescense in the old Provincial High. However, I was really surprised why some people, especially those supposedly, well educated Alumni have conducted themselves not in cognizance with those education they possessed but in a manner not practiced by even lowly educated people by using the Homecoming Event on April 18 to malign, degrade and slander Dangpanan and its Incorporators and Members. The role of those people was, supposedly, to accept the "Sponsorship for the 2010 Alumni Homecoming" but what they did?...I already mentioned it earlier. Are these people worth the authority of being leaders, wherein their followers will look upon them for good examples... or what were their motives of using the Homecoming to show to the world of their true selves. Are they Jealous, Insecure, Greedy or what? My friends you know the answer... We have nothing to do with their own organization, its even more exciting if they already have... But be careful in chosing them to lead you, you might end up somewhere you won't really like. What have they accomplished for the school and the Alumni? I believe Leadership must come through good deeds, not using her/his BIG MOUTH so much in destroying others. Like some of your politicians, they are the cause of hardships and missery in your community, my community, my province and my Borongan. Tulad ng nabasa ko na slogan ng politician, naka tayo malapit sa school dyan sa Borongan na nagsasabi "LABANAN ANG KAHIRAPAN". Ang totoo nyan SILA ANG DAPAT NINYONG LABANA DAHIL SILA ANG SANHI NG KAHIRAPAN. Therefore, I am appealing to all Alumni to join Dangpanan's cause to Unite and Achieve our Obectives and Never again use the "Alumni Homecoming" as an avenue of divisiveness and hate, INSTEAD OF USING THE EVENT TO CELEBRATE. After all, I believe, most i

I hope I was able to enlighten those who were caught offguard and don't share the same attitude by the malicious and scandalous message made by some disillusioned, supposedly leaders. DON'T FOLLOW THEIR EXAMPLES, I KNOW YOU ARE BETTER THAN THEM...I PROMISE, YOU WILL BE BETTER OFF IF YOU STAY AWAY FROM THOSE KIND OF LEADERS. In my own humble way, I remain as your friend even to those still trying to know me. You won't regret becoming my friend... you can ask those in Borongan who have known me better and believes in me. I don't pretend to know everything like others... because I don't, no body does. But we don't want anybody destroying others and the Association, because Dangpanan is a legitimate organization and we will fight whatever it takes. With HUMILITY... Let others judge us be our accomplishments and our actions, not by our BIG MOUTH... Thanks a lot.

Subject:   Pera Pera Lang Yan!!!
Name:   Anti Corruption
Address:   taga Lim-ao
Email:   blade_achilles@yahoo.com
Date:    04-16-09

Mahal naton na gobernadora (kun may nag mamahal man) Mila Tan, kunta dire ka na gad madalagan hit 2010 na eleksyon…kay maka luluoy na gud man hit Samar!! kay 2 na kamo na nagkakabo hit kaban hit gobyerno, kaawod gad kamo intawon...amo la... salamat.

Subject:   Mi (not Me) Ultimo Adios Revisited
Name:   DesiDeRata
Address:   Catbalogan, Samar
Email:
Date:   April 13, 2009

Surely, Mr. Jabaan is a "good critic" because he is a "bad worker." And a good critic knows his standards. In the case of Mr. Jabaan and his translation, however, no benchmarking was done nor were references cited to situate and define the parameters of his translations. It is sad that Mr. Jabaan missed (again) the point of the feedback. It is even more unfortunate that he took the stride as personal for the intentions were to illustrate, as burlesk, the literary skills demanded of translators. It is not enough that you are a native Waray speaker for surely the same question will be asked of you - "if you are a native Spanish speaker - the language by which the original work was written?" In the end, what really Mr. Jabaan did was to translate into Waray the English translation (was it Derbyshire's?) of Jose Rizal's opus. I stand corrected. Instead of prodding him to take Translations 101, he should matriculate in Translation 0 (Translating translations) under Dr. Genoteva or Dr. Sugbo. Need I say more? P.S. Did Rizal not use Dimasalang and Laong Laan as effective tools for reform? Please consider DesiDeRata in the same genre.

Subject:   Me Ultimo Adios Revisited
Name:   Mr. Zaldy Gabiana Jaba-an
Address:   Barangay Canatu-an, Motiong, Samar
Email:   zjabaan@yahoo.com.ph
Telephone:  0916-257-7943
Date :  04/04/09

Para Han Komentaryo han nag-alyas Desiderata, January 14, 2009 han Catbalogan Samar buot ko ipaabot ha imo nga may puplonganon nga nasering, "A good critic is a bad worker!" Kay ano nga diri ka mag-post han imo kalugaringon nga bersyon han Me Ultimo Adios? Bangin nahihinaglimot ka nga orihinal ako nga Samarnon - may pagtamod ug pagtahod han kalugaringon nga pinulongan! Komo Samarnon ayaw ta pagpasagdi an inamasang ngan pagsaralakot han paggamit han aton linggwahe!

Ngan suliban ko, nag-alyas ka pa? Kay-ano diri mo akos tindugan it imo mga pulong? Nanginginyupo ako nga kon mahihimo ayaw anay igyakan it imo nahibabaruan, lugod klaruha anay it imo nahibabaruan antis mo igyakan? Kay daw sugad man hin nasamad an akon kasing-kasaing han imo komentaryo! Nagin personal man an imo komentaryo? Bisan pa man, damo nga salamat...

Subject:   Seair Flights Manila Borongan
Name:   M.
Address:   K.
Email:    wutz90@eudoramail.com
Date:   02-16-09

Ladies and Gentlemen,

When Seair launched the first flight from Manila to Borongan, the media was full with articles about this event. Now it seems that Seair stopped to serve the route MNL - Borongan, for economical reason. Now, nobody reports about it.

People should know about it and also should get to know about the reasons. Why did Seair start to fly at all? It was very clear before that not enough people would fly this route due to high fares. Maybe a good journalist can inform the public about the relation between Gov. Evardone and Seair Vice President Patrick Tan?

Subject:   Tan return to Capitol: What else is new?
Name:   Santi Corsido
Address:   Tacloban City
Email:   aniway_militante@yahoo.com
Date:   2-15-09

The return of Milagros Tan to her post as governor of Samar after serving a 3-month suspension elicits more questions than answers: So what now of the cases filed against her? Are there now results of the investigation and/or judicial processes to ferret out the truth about her unabated corruption? Have the government offices e.g. Sandiganbayan, DILG, etc. tasked to pursue the cases against Tan reached a conclusion? If there is none, then we can safely conclude that the 3-month suspension from office of Tan is enough sanction for the multimillion funds that she stole from the public coffers? In such a case, what else then is new?

The present dispensation- including the national government is indeed infested with crooks, thieves and liars! The Samarenos' agony continues as the malfeasance of government officials like Tan just maginifies by leaps and bounds! It isn't surprising that the only option for the people is to take up arms to put an end to all these.

Subject:
Name:   KablasLaGihapon
Address:   Scandinavia
Email:
Date:    Jan 30, 2009

Nabibido ako han panlantaw ni Mr.Cel Coretana mahitungod han aton kabugtuan ha kabukiran. Daw sugad iya gin-uubos an prinsipyo ngan kausa nga ginpapakigbisog han New People's Army. Tuod ito nga papreho kita 'TAWO' ma riko o pobre man, pero kutob la ha pagigin tawo kita nagpapapreho. Ini matungod nga ha presente nga sitwasyon, an riko amo an nag-aamkon han ngatanan, ngan an pobre amo an nag-aantos ha kadayunan.

Kinahanglan pa ngani kita magpasalamat nga may-ada pa mga tawo nga diri nahadlok pakigbisog ha ngaran han social justice, nga may-ada pa grupo nga naugop han pobre. Ini nga aton mga kabugtu-an ha kabukiran, diri ini hira tanan parag-uma, kundi may-ada mga tikang ha mga well-off nga pamilya. They are just bold enough ha pagkarawat han kamatuoran nga an kalibutan o an Pilipinas in diri magigin progresibo kon an singko porsyento la han populasyon an nag-tatag-iya han aton karikuhan. Ngan diri ini hira MAKA-IYA! Ngan ini nga idelohiya Mr. Coretana nga ira ginpapakigbisog in diri bulok ngan istupido kundi basi ini ha Libro ngan ekperensiya...pagbasa daw anay hiton pilosopiya ni Fredrick Engels ngan Karl Marx ngan an nagin ekperensiya nira Leon Trotsky ngan Lenin.

An aton pagkatawo in diri napoporma ha ngaran la han materyal nga karikuhan kundi ha dignidad ngan han prinsipyo nga aton tinitindugan...an diri pagigin makaiya. Greed is the source of all evil. Amo ini iton rason kay ano nga diri kita na asenso, DIRI an New People's Army!

Subject:    Fact finding kuno...
Name:   Lyndo Cruz
Address:   Calbayog City
Email:   lyndoncruz0826@yahoo.com
Date:   28 jan 2009

Here comes the Katungod-SB again... pretending to be for the poor and for the opressed... well, nothing has changed... she is still the master of story telling and tele-nobela that of course, NPA is always the protagonist and AFP is the antagonist... anything else?

I'll treat my whole circle of friends if I see her doing things against NPA... But of course, that would be nightmare because, she can't hurt the feelings of her brothers, right... can see the context... that's it.. Kasamang Kathrina… hehehe...

Subject:   Tawo kita bilnga it kamatuoran han pagkatawo
Name:   Cel Coretana
Address:   Santa Rita, Samar
Email:   rodaezro@yahoo.com
Telephone:   1650-766-3171
Date:   01-28-09

Usa nga butang papreho la kita tawo riko o pobre, hadto nga mga panahon bayae ta na ito. Mga NPA ayaw na kamo pagpaowat hit iyo mga idolohiya. Mamatay kamo hit waray maibubulig hit iyo kalugaringon nga pagkatawo. Guin himo kita han diyos ha kaupayan para ha ngatanan dinhi ha kalibutan. Pero ayaw kamo pagsugot nga hingangadto kamo ha kasisimdan. Ato kamo hit kamatooran han kanan diyos la. Ayaw kamo pagpauwat hit ig kasi niyo tawo nga orowaton liwat. Bublig kita para hit kaupayan hit at nasod nga Pilipinas. Pamamlitan nala hin-o hi Manny Paquiao nga usa na yana numero ono nga tawo ha bug-os nga kalibutan. Ayaw kamo pagbisibis hit iyo kalugaringon nga dugo hit nga mga tawo nga it ira ambisyon para la hit ira kalugaringon.

Subject:   Rizal's Last Farewell
Name:   Jose Rizal
Address:   Malolos, Bulacan
Email:   joser@hotmail.com
Telephone:  09921458770
Date:   01-16-09

This last farewell is a misnomer since Rizal never wrote, as far as I know, a first or second or third farewell. I just want to digress from the issue of proper or correct translations of this work, literary or not.

Translations of written documents are the functions of the translator's social and economic background, points of view, historical perspective, etc. The original work almost always losses its fundamental essence and meaning since no one can take the place of the author who in this case existed in a different era and world. The translator can only estimate but not duplicate the original intent of the writer. But the writer and the translator can offer new insights to the subject or content of the material in question.

Rizal's last farewell is open to various interpretations so that there is no right or wrong version.

Subject:   Mi Ultimo Adios revisited
Name:   DesiDeRata
Address:   Catbalogan, Samar
Email:
Date:   01-14-09

Mr. Jabaan's translation of Rizal's immortal work is laborious and tedious yet amateurish. He fails to achieve what every translator aims for with his every translation - a better understanding of the original work.

Take his title which is a futile exercise in the bombastic style. This could have simply been called "Urhi ko nga Panarit" or "Katapusan ko nga Pagsarit" which appears simple and understandable to present generations of readers. A translator should use living language to resurrect a work that has been written in the past and for another generation of readers. Who are the readers of Mr. Jabaan's translation? Surely, not the now generation nor the immediate past generation.

The terms he employed in his translations rightfully belong to a bygone era of erudite educated peninsulares. Instead of bringing to life the immortal imagery of Rizal's patriotic repartee, Mr. Jabaan has successfully reneged every attempt of poets and literary translators worth their salt to endear literary traditions to the public reader. Instead of dreaming in becoming the official translator of literary works into Waray or Binisaya, Mr. Jabaan should enrol in a legitimate class in Translation 101 and not just attend seminars and conferences (intended for frustrated writers I presume) or be a disciple of established local writers/translators such as Estrella Maqueda, Charo Nabong Cabardo, Connie Sison, Pet Labro, Santiago Figueroa, Themestocles Zosa, Tim Montes, Milky Muncada, Butch Casurao, Jonas Lim, etc. so he may know what he has missed!

Subject:   Samar News Correspondents
Name:   Nick
Address:
Email:   nick@tingog.com
Date:   01-04-09

To all the readers here at SamarNews.com

This is nick The Editor of Filipinovoices.com, we are in the process of expansion and are seeking passionate writers to write about News, Politics, and social commentary on Samar Issues.

If you are interested please email me.

Subject:    Ulasimang bato
Name:   AE
Email:   ruby12@cheerful.com
Date:   Nov 28 2008

I just want to know where I can purchase Ulasimang bato which is manufactured by your plant in Eastern Visayas. I live in the United States. Can you help? Thanks.

Subject:    Katapusan Ko Nga Panamilit / "Me Ultimo Adios"
Name:    Salvador "Zaldy" Jaba-an
Address:   The School Administrator - Datamex Computer College, #1955 Rm 300 3rd Flr. Recto Avenue, Sampaloc, Manila
Email:    zjabaan@yahoo.com.ph
Date:   Nov 6, 2008
Telephone:    0916-257-7943

"Katapusan Ko nga Panamilit" – Waraynon nga Hu-bad Han Me Ultimo Adios ni Dr. Jose Rizal. Gin surat ni Salvador "Zaldy" Gabiana Jaba-an (Abril 1-15, 2000) Barangay Canatu-an, Motiong, Western Samar, nag-aram ha Bonga Barangay Elementary School 1985, Samar National Shool Catbalogan Samar 1989, University of the Philippines-School of Health Science, Palo Leyte (1989-1994) ug nagin Barangay Capatin han Barangay Canatu-an 1994 - pinakabatan-on nga nagin Barangay Captain Han Motiong Samar ha edad nga 21 anyos ngan nagin Founding President han Katig-uban Han Mga Manunurat Ha Rehiyon Otso (KaMaReO), July 2, 2000 DYWR_Radyo Bombo Tacloban City, Leyte kaupod an sobra kwarenta nga mga manunurat nga mga myembros nga nagrepresentar han Samar, Leyte ngan Biliran Ha Sinirangan Bisayas. Ngan yana School Administrator han Datamex Institute of Computer Technology (Datamex Computer College) nga may siyam nga branches under supervision: Datamex: Recto & Taft Manila, Cartimar Pasay City, San Juan City Metro Manila, Cubao Quezon City, Meycauayan Bulacan, ngan Baguio City branch.Ha mga karuyag makigsumpayan please call +63)916-257-7943 or +(63)928-305-4364 or email: zjabaan@yahoo.com.ph Hingyap han tagsurat nga marikognisar komo opisyal nga taghu-bad ha Waraynon nga Lengwahe hini nga lowa:

"KATAPUSAN KO NGA PANAMILIT"
Ni: Mr. Zaldy Gabiana Jaba-an
Barangay Canatu-an, Motiong, Samar
Abril 1-15, 2000
(Taghu-bad)

Adyos higugmaon tuna nga nataw'han
Nasud nga nahura' dagaang han adlaw;
Eden nga kalipay ha amon naanaw
Nga perlas han dagat ha may sinirangan.

Halad ko ha imo kalipay nga tim-os
Ini'n kinabuhi nga raptay ngan kabos;
Nagin bantugan man liwat in maugop:
Kon mauripon ka hin mga kasamok.

An nakikigdu-mog didto pag-awayan
Ira kinabuhi ha imo halad man;
Kakuri waray la waray igsapayan
An kahilupigi o an pagdarag-an.

Mabangis nga sakit: bitay ngan taglarang
Pakikigbisog nga sigurado gudman'
Lunlon aantuson kon kinaruyag man
Han higugmaon ko tuna nga nataw'han.

Ako mamamatay samtang nga nasiplat
Han kolor han langit nga nagpupuni-as;
Nagpapahibaro an adlaw masirak
Hini'n madalumdom dampog nga higtaas!

Kon dugo an imo gin kikinahanglan

An hingyap ko tikang mahusto'n pagsabot
Ngada liwat yana nga harto an buot;
Mahikit-an ikaw - "Perlas nga Maha-wot
Han Dagat Sinirangan" ha imo naglilibot.

Agtang mo rumanggat ug ha mga mata
Magpait nga luha, lutop man waray na,
Waray ka na dumot, waray rimadima,
Waray kasakitan, bisa'n kabaraka.

Ha paghingutas ko hul-os nga ungara:
Kaupayan nimo hingpit matinguha -
Hini nga kalag ko largo nga malarga
Sirong han langit mo mapahuway manta!

Ha lain nga adlaw kon imo hikit-an
Biyuos nga bukad ha akon lubnganan;
Nga nahipipil-ot hito'n kabanwaan
Had'ki bas' harok mo ako lapuson man.

Alimyon ngan imo ugay nga mana-mit
Tim-os nga hingandoy han gugma nga hingpit;
Pasagdi agtang ko paso' madalait
Nga natatahuban tuna nga mapi-nit.

Pasagdi nga ako pagsundon han bulan
Pawa madaparap, 'lanhod madagaang,
Pasagdi idul-ong ha akon lubnganan
Adton pawa niya nga 'dagmit mahuman.

Pasagdi 'maghagkot harupoy han hangin,
Pasagdi maglipay nga huni igbilin -
Han tamsi nga hugdon ha kudos umaring,
Murayaw nga buot nga permi biniling.

Pasagdi an ping-it lahinggab han adlaw
Ighu-poy an uran lub'son kadampugan,
Magin panganuron dito ha udtuhan
Ug an araba ko makikig-unong man.

Pasagdi an akon timprano kawara'
Igtangis han iroy hingpit nahigugma;
Kon mayda maghalad akon paghimaya
Hi ako in imo ig-ampo man unta.

Ig-ampo man liwat an mga dimalas,
Naghihimakuri ug an mga kablas,
Damo nga pagsa-kit ug adto'n naabat
Iroy nam' natangis luha di maihap!

Ig ampo man liwat an ba-lo ug i-lo
An namagkamatay ug nagkapipreso'
Ug ikaw matubos liwat in ig-ampo:
Ha pagkauripon nga gin mamasubo!

Kon napuputos na an mga lubnganan
Mag-itom nga agiw hadto'n kasisidman,
Ngan kon waray bantay puros la minatay
Ayaw disturbuha adto'n kamingawan.

Tahura an urusahon nga misteryo
Kon mahibati-an an tingog siguro,
Han paragharana ako gud nga pi-ho
Kinakantahan ka kumo pagmayuyo.

Kon an lubnganan ko nga nahingalim'tan
Mawaray na kudos o bato-tigaman;
Hadto'n parag-uma pasagdi nga um'han
Bungkalon isab'rag tuna nga nagkuprang.

An mga abo ko antis pumaigbaw,
Mahibalik ngadto'n waray tinikangan
Ug sumarang anay nga daw mapupun-an
Han mga abo mo tuna nga tungtungan!

Kon sugad waray na anuman ha akon,
Limota na ako basi ko libuton:
Mga kapatagan, umpas, panganuron,
Ngan ako ha imo magigin hagurong.

Hamot, tingog, taghoy ug mga panhayhay
Kapaw'an ug kolor ha mata kalipay;
Babalik-balikon pagkaniruniyan -
An kalipayan nga akon gin lauman.

Mutya Pilipinas tuna nga binu-ya
Pag-antos, araba yana pamati-a:
Hini'n panamilit ako pabilina,
Ngatanan nga butang nga ak' hinigugma!

Mapakadto ako tuna nga murayaw
Nga waray uripon, lider nga maglabyaw
Didto may pagtoo: dayuday ug pu-raw
Ug an naghahadi - Diyo nga Gamhanan!

Adyos na ha iyo kag-anak, kabugtu-an
Lipay hini'n dughan nga inaawilan;
Ipagpasalamat an akon paggikan'
Ha kinabuhi nga waray paghimutang!

Adyos na ha imo bugtong nga hangbuyan
An taga-langayaw nga akon kalipayan:
Mga kasangkayan ha iyo adyos man
Kamatay ko da-yon na nga kamingawan!

Subject:   Military terrorizes residents of San Jorge, Wester
Name:   Carl I. Sulong
Address:   Brgy. Talisay, Northern Samar
Email:   carl_iedderf17@yahoo.com
Date:   09/27/08

Good day to Atty. Kathrina R. Castillo, Secretary General of KATUNGOD-SB. I am curious about your statement "accompanied by arrests, detentions, interrogations, torture, illegal search of houses and killing a farmer..."

If this allegations are truth, not just a mere propaganda of yours, kindly bring this into a proper forum. Diba attorney ka? Sino man ini sira nga mga parag-uma nga gin patay? gin torture? gin dakop ngan gin preso san mga sundalo? paki-post man dinhi san ngaran nira. The residents of the aforementioned two brgys are enough to be your witnesses.

Anu an imo pitad para matagan ini sin bulig adton imo sinisiring nga mga biktima? tubtub la ba pagsurat sin press statement? para mahimo la nga propaganda?

By the way, sano kaman magkukundena san mga atrocities nga gin buhat san NPA? wara pa man ako makabasa sin bisan sayu nga pulong nga nagkundena ka san NPA? NPA kaba? Salamat...

Subject:    Mil terrorizes San Jorge...
Name:   Roy Gonzales
Address:   Brgy 1, Gandra, Samar
Email:
Telephone:   09298385316
Date:   Sept 26, 2008

I am also in crusade against human rights violators, however the press statement is so biased bcoz there was no thorough investigation done by the writer on how the incident happened before condemning the authority in the ground.

My question is do you know the background of the incident? Did you condemn the NPA when they tied up Mr. Cabarles in front of his terrified wife and children in Blanca Aurora? Did you condemn the NPA when they finish off for mercy killing of their 2 wounded comrades bcoz they are pursued by the authorities para walang makuha na impormasyon pinatay nalang nila? Please help the innocent people victims of NPA inhuman acts, condemn the NPA too for human rights violation in San Jorge and San Jose de Buan, I’m with you.

Subject:    Military elements terrorized residents of Matug...
Name:   Carl I. Sulong
Address:   Brgy Talisay, Catarman, Northern Samar
Email:   carl_idderf17@yahoo.com
Date:   09/15/08

Well explained and very agitating to the Filipino people (clap! clap!)

What is your purpose? call on the peace loving people of Eastern Visayas to be vigilant and to expose any violations of human rights done by state agents? How about the godless NPA atrocities? Refer to the following links:

1. http://8thinfantrydivision.org/Pressreleases/13jun08.htm
2. http://leytesamardaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4509&Itemid=233
3. http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2004/01/23/MTNN20040123496.html
4. http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2004/08/31/MTNN2004083117471.html
5. http://leytesamardaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4488&Itemid=233

These are just a few.

Now the question is, did the KATUNGOD-SB KARAPATAN condemn this inhumane and barbaric act of the New Peoples Army?

If the KATUNGOD-SB will not strongly condemns the atrocities committed by the New People’s Army that is a crystal clear that they are alliance of the New People's Army because the propaganda of NPA is also a propaganda of KATUNGOD-SB and other militant organization. As Jose Maria Sison says, Bayan Muna and other militant organization as a front organization of the CPP/NPA/NDF.

Katungod Sinirangan Bisayas, the Regional Alliance for the Advancement of Peoples’ Rights, please condemn in the strongest possible terms these state-sponsored terrorist acts by elements of the New People's Army.

Subject:   Pukaw Samar!!!
Name:    Vince Lim
Address:   Mararangsi
Email:    vince_lim@yahoo.com.ph
Telephone:   911-1127
Date:   Sept 6, 2008

Lately, Samar was named no. 1 poorest province in the Philippines for the year 2008...why? because those people who sits in power are what you call in tagalog "Mga manhid" and "mga ganid sa kapangyarihan"...intelligently these is due to the overwhelming ignorance of the people who sell their votes every elections...they did not know that they are being fooled by these son of a bitches politician in Samar that drain the whole province in turmoil....try to pass along maharlika highway starting calbayog to catbalogan...their you will expirience the most precious thing in your whole life, na para ka bang dumadaan somewhere in africa...you will never forget that experience...at hindi ka patutulugin ng mararanasan mo. how pity!!!

Subject:   Samar can invite the people of the World
Name:   Michael Mckean
Address:   13 Obrien St, Sth Johnstone
Email:    audioxcite@hotmail.com
Telephone:   +61439670331
Date:   September 4, 2008

Samar has true raw beauty. The land has been there always for the people. Can Samar allow tourist's to visit and enjoy the natural lifestyle they have?

Samar will grow in time. Organic farming is sweeping the world. Real fresh tasting food and warm smiles make lasting memories. Make the next day, a better day and life will prosper.

I hope many people from allover the world can discover the wonderful simple life of Samar.

Subject:    Great Job...
Name:    Michael Ryan Cabuenas-Yu
Address:   WIPRO-BPO-CEBU CITY, Phils.
Email:   michaelryan_yu@yahoo.com
Telephone:    09186962494

I'm so impress with this website. I'm away from home and don't have any info, what’s happening in my town (CATBALOGAN) where I grew up and been molded to be a great CATBALOGANON.

Conquering success and pressure in life, in a CALLCENTER. I hope I could go back and have a longer vacation in Catbalogan and be able to help our youth be more progressive in their ENGLISH SKILLS and use it for getting a better jobs in the fast-growing industry and employment in the CALLCENTER-BPO BUSINESS. I haven't been home for more than 1year now. And i'm just here in the other side of VISAYAS, because of my work. HAPPY FIESTA to all of US, CATBALOGANONS!!!! GREAT JOB to this website and I'm updated with the things happening all over the SAMAR ISLAND. THANKS... GODBLESS... MORE POWER, MANO REY. Hope to work with u again...in the future...

Subject:   Join our Photo Contest on Climate Change
Name:   Thelma Gecolea
Address:   European Commission, 30th Floor, RCBC Plaza, Tower 2, Makati City
Email:    thelma.gecolea@ec.europa.eu
Telephone:   02-8595124
Date:   August 12, 2008

Photojournalists and Photo Enthusiasts invited to join Photo Contest on Climate Change

The Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines, together with the Philippine Center for Photojournalism, Inc, enjoins all photojournalists and photo enthusiasts to submit entries for a photo contest on the theme of "Climate Change".

Ambassador Alistair MacDonald, Head of Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines said that the photo contest is being launched in line with the European Union's commitment to address the global challenge of climate change.

The European Union has long been in the lead in international efforts to cope with climate change and global warming. Ambassador MacDonald said that this photo contest aims to help draw public attention to the challenge of climate change, and to the need for global and local action to address this issue, and to protect the futures of generations to come.

Mr. Jimmy Domingo, Project Manager, The Philippine Center for Photojournalism, Inc. said that the Center is pleased to collaborate with the Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines as the contest is a good opportunity to harness the talents and skills of photojournalists and enthusiasts, to professionalise the industry and, at the same time, to encourage photojournalists and enthusiasts to use the power of the images to combat climate change.

An exhibition of the winning and outstanding photographs is foreseen to be held in universities and malls such as The Podium and The Block. The contest is being supported by JT Photoworld and Kodak/Tech Trends Corporation.

An online version of the exhibition will also be uploaded to the websites of the sponsoring organizations.

The competition is open to all Filipino (a citizenship verification system should be made or should be in the entry form) photojournalists and photography enthusiasts except for staff of the Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines.

Photographs, published or unpublished, taken in the Philippines from June 2007 to November 2008 covering the theme "Climate Change in the Philippines" (causes, consequences and responses to Climate Change) are eligible as entries.

A maximum of ten (10) standalone single photos may be submitted by a participant. In addition, participants may submit up a maximum of five (5) photo stories comprising 5-12 images per photo story. All images in the photo stories will also be considered as standalone photo entries. Entries should be taken with any camera using at least 135 mm film and/or digital camera with at least four (4) megapixel in size and set at the largest image capture mode.

Entries taken with a film camera must be digitized and all entries must be saved in a compact disk recordable (CDR) for submission.

The Board of Judges will be composed of respected photojournalists/artists as well as officials from the Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines, Philippine Center for Photojournalism, Inc. and partners.

General criteria for judging the single photos will be: Relevance to the topic and theme – 50%; Technical excellence – 25%; and, Visual perception and creativity – 25%. The photo stories will be evaluated on their strength in terms of the flow and cohesiveness of the included single images arranged as a visual narrative.

All entries must be submitted on or before 12 noon on 6 November, or postmarked not later than 3 November 2008, to either of the following:

EC-PCP Climate Change Photojournalism Contest 2008
The Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines
30/F Tower II, RCBC Plaza
6819 Ayala Avenue, Makati City
Phone: 8595100

EC-PCP Climate Change Photojournalism Contest 2008
The Philippine Center for Photojournalism
c/o European Press Photo Agency
Unit 2-D, Michel Apartment
Mabini Street, Malate 2030 Manila.

Awarding of prizes will coincide with the opening of the exhibit of winning and outstanding entries in the early part of November 2008, at a date and place to be announced.

All winners will each receive a trophy plus in-kind prizes as follows:

First Prize (Singles); € 1,000
Second Prize (Singles): € 800
Third Prize (Singles): € 600
10 Honorable Mentions: Certificates
Special Prize (Photo Story): € 800
Five Honorable Mentions (Photo Story) Certificates
Special Prize for a Photo on EC response to Climate Change: € 800

Further info: http://www.delphl.ec.europa.eu or http://philippinecenter4photojournalism.org/

Subject:   Ha Homonhon - a video documentary on Homonhon
Name:   tataladying
Address:   Homonhon
Email:   tataladying_homonhon@yahoo.com
Telephone:   4364753
Date:   Aug 8, 2008

Ha Homonhon is a documentary film about how one man seeks justice to reclaim his land against a multinational mining firm after he discovers a "No Trespassing" sign on the land he and his family plows.

Homonhon Island is an island in the province of Eastern Samar, Philippines, on the west side of Leyte Gulf.

Tata Ladying, a Homonhon native is a fisherman and a farmer who dares to ask the authorities on why a Chinese owned mining firm placed a "No Trespassing" sign on land that he tills and on the ground where he lives.

Produced by:  Task Force Detainees of the Philippines
Freedom from Debt Coalition
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Subject:    For father Noel Labendia
Name:    Jocel
Address:   Los Angeles
Email:    jocel_tan@yahoo.com
Date:    July 26, 2008

I read your article here in (samar news) Father Noel. Very well said, and well done, you really did a good job, we all prayed for all the people who support you, and we are kept looking forward for this case, and If you don't mind please keep updating what's going on so we'll know. May the almighty God guide you always, protect you from this evil.

Subject:    Suspension of Mila Tan
Name:   Jocel
Address:    Los Angeles
Email:    jocel_tan@yahoo.com
Date:   18 Jul 2008

WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU NOEL LABENDIA, you are truly brave and honest, Mila Tan is corrupt for a long time, but no one can kick her out. She deserve a suspension but for me not only suspension, but to kick her out permanently as a governor of Samar, because she is a k…r and she is big corrupt, kung makakabalik sya uli it's gonna get worst, you know why, babawi sya, sa nagastos nya, at tingnan mo miron silang bussiness sa Tacloban with her daugther, so both need's to be punished.

Sana Noel hindi ka nalang naging pari, naging politiko ka nalang kasi may puso ka para sa masa. Para sa mga mahihirap ng Samarnon.look at the hospital, the post office, the municipal, never changed, sense when? i think is been like that forever. Kasi nasa pocket ni Mila Tan ang pundo para dyan, kahit sa mga preso na badget ginamit nya sa kandidato nila ng kanyang anak…kaya Noel Labendia, we support you, we all is ready to march to go to infront of the Ombudsman to make it sure that she is out of duty.

Subject:   Samar News.com
Name:    Laueleneke Toribio
Address:   Hawaii USA
Email:   toribiol001@hawaii.rr.com
Date:   10Jul2008

I would like to know how often this news being up dated, I notice I been in here few weeks ago and see the same advertise new on this Samar News .com is there anyone try to put a new add on this column.

Samar News.com is updated at an average of 3X a week. Try refreshing your browser by pressing CTRL key + to reload the page  – Editor.

Subject:   Prayer for Peace and Love
Name:   Tomas Marcial
Email:
Date:   08 Jul 2008

To Faith, an karuyag ko sidngon, dire ako para simba pero natuod ako sa pangadi. Kay natuod ako sa diyos. Kon an imo pag intindi haligot, ano an akon pupunaon? Naglimbong ba ako sa katawhan? Nangawat ba ako san pundo san aton bungto? Waray, kon an imo pagkita an akon guin yakan, waray ito gamit kasi an issue an pagtuod ngan pagbasol sa diyos, an akon punto. An aton pagkukulang para maprotektahan an aton bungto ngan katawhan. Ano an akon sala nga akon pupunaon parta ha imo. An akon guin sisiring an aton mahihimo para sa aton kaupayan.

Dire ako makarit, pero dapat kitaon ta kon ano an tama para ha aton bungto, dire an akon pasiday nga yakan. An pangadi ngan pag higugma maraot ba nga tema. Ikaw Faith kay ano nga natago ka sa Faith nga alyas, use your name. I don't hide on nicknames, I use my real name to indicate my intention is for the betterment of our people. O sa aton ngatanan. An kontraha an mga tawo nga nangangawat sa aton bungto. Ayaw ako kay waray ako sinabi. I am just an ordinary moron, with a little mind. Thank you.

Subject:   to Tomas N. Marcial
Name:   Faith
Address:   Northern part of Samar
Email:   faith_aios@yahoo.com
Date:   4 July 2008

Your subject is "Prayer for love and peace" then you said "I am not a religious person, but I say let us pray the rosary." Diri ka ngay-an religious nagyayakan ka hin diri mo linya. Tama an imo siring "kon natudlok ka ha iba an tulo nga tudlo mo nabalik ngahaw ha imo." Nakasiring ngan nakakita ka san mga natatabo pero kutob kala pagwaydog pero ambot daw ha imo kalugaringon kun imo gin pupuna.

Prayer for love and peace but as you’ve said, you're not a religious person, then why you are calling for prayer even you are not a religious person? Baga ka sin nasiring nga "engineer ako pero diri ako maaram makwenta ngan balanse" diba?

Subject:    EVYC: Council of Leaders Caucus
Name:   Eastern Visayas Youth Council, Inc.
Address:    Quezon City
Email:    ev_youth@yahoo.com
Date:    July 4, 2008

Sangkay ngan Kaupod:

The Eastern Visayas Youth Council Reestablishment Committee invites you* to LATAG: Youth Leaders' Caucus and Council of Leaders Formation, to be held on July 5, 2008 (Saturday), 1:00 PM at the Vinzons Hall Rooftop, UP Diliman, Quezon City.

This event is of utmost importance considering that the Council of Leaders will be the responsible body to plan and facilitate the relaunching of EVYC.

Each organization is entitled to send two representatives (preferably the President, the Liaison Officer, the VP for External Affairs or an EXECOM officer), while each community is entitled to one or two representative/s (depending on the EV youth population of the community) and each school is entitled to one representative.

Expected delegates:

1) Three Organizations: UP Sidlangan, ACAPULCO, Dulag Youth

2) Ten Schools: UP, PUP, UE, FEU, PSBA, Arellano U, Lyceum, OLFU (Fatima), MCU, TIP

3) Six Communities: Cavite, Malanday (Marikina City), Bagong Silang (Caloocan City), Payatas (Quezon City), Intramuros (Manila), Taft/Malate (Manila).

For more information, please contact Karl Mark Labagala at 09278217167 / 09298585436 or respond to this email.

Thank you and we hope to see you there!

Subject:   Prayer for love and peace
Name:    Tomas N. Marcial, Jr.
Address:   San Sebastian, Samar
Email:    tmarcial@comcast.net
Telephone:   1-856-875-8168
Date:   June 26, 2008

I am not a religious person, but I say let us pray the rosary. It helps, law of nature is not Gods punishment of people. Nasa tao ang gawa, nasa diyos ang awa. It is our negligence and our ignorance that we become a victim of circumstances: The law of nature. Dire kita andam, we take for granted the law of nature. And sometimes, we blame others or God from our weaknesses. Waray kita guin himo before the Typoon, or any calamities. We are not ready, we always are not ready. Kadam an ha aton irignom an pina orog. Why blame God, when the weakness is on us. Please pray and do your thing, help each other to build the future. We need to start uniting and building our protections against the law of nature and against the selfishness and greed of man. In God I trust, we can do this. Love and Peace.

We can build the future. Kun dire kita sin-o man? We need to build a community center a multi purpose center, nga diin kita puede ma protectahan, in any calamities and needs. Bag-o umabot an bagyo, puede kita mag evacuete ha center and supply should be enough for the people to stay up to the time that the calamites or typhoon is gone. Madali ha yakan, pero makuri himuon, kon waray magkikiwa ngan damo an pilosopo, nga aw anon. Nasa aton an solosyon waray sa iba. Ngan kon natudlok ka ha iba an tulo nga tudlo mo nabalik ngahaw ha imo. Amo la unta makabulig ine nga akon pan waydong. An iyo ubos nga sangkay.

Subject:    People of Samar
Name:    Brian Whitehurst
Address:    22/2 Glennis Close, Gosnells 6110, Western Australia
Email:   maureenandbrian@optusnet.com.au
Telephone:   (08)9490 2861
Date:   24 June 2008

I would bring your attention to Pastora Fele Koistra who runs a church at San Isidro, a small village on the Delores River. She gave up everything in Australia to go and serve her people in San Isidro where she is helping many Samarnans

Subject:   Job alert for intercity of Catbalogan
Name:   Cityboy
Email:
Date:  06-22-08

Carpenters, painters, masons and metroaides, these are all needs by Catbalogan City now.

Subject:    Job alert
Name:   Celso V. Orendain Jr.
Address:   Brgy. Payao Catbalogan City
Email:   cels_d_pritender@yahoo.com
Telephone:   09283913842
Date:   June 19, 2008

kindly post the lists of jobs available in the inter city of Catbalogan.

Subject:   Update on Guiuan Airport??
Name:   BJ
Address:   Manila
Email:   guiuanairport@yahoo.com
Date:   June 5, 2008

In your news dated May 15, 2008 that says "PGMA’S SONA project, the Guiuan airport rehabilitation now ongoing "appears to be misleading because anyone who hails from Guiuan can attest that there is no ongoing construction nor related works or activities going-on on said project.

It is also worthwhile to note that the PIA news dated 5/18/08 at http://www.pia.gov.ph/default.asp?m=12&r=&y=&mo=&fi=p080518.htm&no=04 has revealed millions of pesos have been allocated and spent for the project ("P10 Million and P15 Million was allocated in 2006 and 2007") and "P70 Million programmed for 2008" to be released to complete the job.

Please correct this report. Why not inspect the site and see for yourself first hand information if there really is a project going-on at Guiuan airport.

We were in Guiuan this Dec 2007, and apparently no such activities can be observed in or around Guiuan vicinity, much less at the main site itself.

Is this worth reporting to the Ombudsman instead?

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