Life on the Front Page

BELIEVE it or not, this is my 76th column for the year.

At three times a week, it should come as a no-surprise.

I should really not count.

But sometimes, I feel I am not doing enough in my life.

Especially that I call myself a writer.

Having the numbers kind of comforts me.

It tells me something is being done at a given time.

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Aside from My Life as Art, I also write Frontpage for the weekend.

As I write this, I have already published 14 stories for the Frontpage since I started on March 4

If things went well over the weekend, you would have the 15th story last Saturday, June 24.

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I like my forays on the front page.

It’s a story with a photo.

It’s a photo and a story.

And the story is news; more like good news.

Feel good stories.

Art. Sports. Beauty. Sex. The creative life.

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I’m not so sure that I am not going into politics stories in the future.

I really hope I do not.

Although sometimes, I feel that it would be nice to read something light about our politicians.

Like their candid takes on life.

Their favorite color, favorite movie—those sorts of things.

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But God forbid I write about the failed Ungka bridge.

Or the people shot in a drug bust operation.

Or the maimed drunk in a hit-and-run.

I know what I want in my Frontpage stories:

Art. Sports. Beauty. Sex. The creative life.

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The biggest conceit of my Frontpage story is the “I was there” element.

How I get involved in the story.

My first story was Bike & Sketch.

It was about a Sunday that Rock Drilon and his young artists in Dumangas went on a ride, ended up on my farm Hacienda Dom Pedro, and even sketched my treehouse La Choza.

The bike and sketch project went on for a while; but after a few weekends, and the crazy weather, I’m not so sure if they have kept it up.

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My second story was the announcement of the 2023 Peter’s Prize.

Three categories have been opened: 3-minute Silent Film, Pandemic Literature Chapbook, and Hiligaynon Love Poetry.

The fifth story was the announcement of the 2023 Palanca Awards.

So yeah, maybe I’m the guy who reports on literary contests and their announcements.

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My third story featured a runner.

Just this young man, S-Boy, who I have always known to be fat as a kid, and who has dramatically transformed himself physically.

For the story, I ran 12K with him in my hometown.

I called the story “Running with the Biggest Loser”.

Since then, I have been running with S-Boy and the boys (plural), and have been with them to several races.

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In fact, my eighth story took me to Pandan, Antique to run the Malumpati Eco trail with three of them.

Four of us went.

“Biggest loser” Ss-James Maguillo, ultra runner Rady Divinagracia, student athlete Marbert Celiz, and I drove to Pandan for the run.

They did the marathon, I did the 10K.

I should not be mentioning that I had a foot injury in the week prior.

But I did. I mean, I mentioned it.

Because that’s a fine excuse not to run the full marathon. Haha.

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Update: Since Pandan, I ran with the boys to the Philippine-Australia Friendship Heritage Run in Iloilo City.

When I couldn’t do 23K practice run with them in our town, I followed them on my bike.

The Dumangas Team who ran the Malumpati Eco Run recruited another, and they recently did the 1st Bacolod City (Charter Day) Marathon.

Why it wasn’t in the news was mostly because I wasn’t there in Bacolod to cover it. Haha.

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I told you already, I wanted to be there where it happened.

To only report what I have personally witnessed.

Or those things that I can personally vouch.

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For the KANTINA story, the artist residency with Marika Constantino in Roxas City, I went to Roxas, stayed the night, interviewed the artist Julius Redillas, and rode with artist Arel Zambarrano, his wife, and our mutual friend Daniella Caro.

Think of road trip for a story!

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More backstories of my Frontpage stories next time.

Because life is more than just what is printed on Page One./PN