Dead Mag

4. WOMAN UNBOUND

“The pen is mightier than the sword,” goes the saying by English author Edward Bulwer-Lytton.

Writing has served as a ruthless weapon that sparked the fires of revolution and brought empires to their knees. History is witness to the power words held, and that influence hasn’t ceased since the downfall of Babel.

In the Philippines, several writers have made their mark in steering the course of history. Personally, I can’t think of a great leap in recent civilization that hasn’t been influenced by words. Novels, letters, newsprint, manuscripts, journals—the ink never runs dry.

One person whose contribution to Philippine literature remains relevant is Lualhati Bautista.

Born and raised in the capital of the country, Bautista was educated during her primary and secondary years in the Philippine public-school system. She was a journalism student during her college years before leaving university and focusing on her writing.

As a novelist, Bautista keeps her reader’s eyes open to the realities of Philippines society. Her voice is loud and clear in portraying the atrocities behind events of her story’s time. In addition, she has highlighted the role of women in her stories—as a student, mother, worker, and advocate—and their unparalleled contribution in the lives around them.

Bautista writes with rawness and unbridled emotion of a character you can recognize in yourself or someone you know; you cannot finish her book and end up denying the truth. Her works are a lesson on history.

The strength and realism of her writer’s voice has propelled her works into spotlight, being recognized in writing circles over the past few years. These organizations include Palanca Awards and Film Academy of the Philippines. She also held several positions in writing organizations, such as the Screenwriters Guild of the Philippines and Kapisanan ng mga Manunulat ng Nobelang Popular.

One of her notable works to date is Dekada ’70, wherein she wrote of suffering, pain, cruelty, and heroism at the backdrop of probably one of the most tumultuous events at present day Philippines, the 1972 Martial Law. Copies of the novel are still in print today. It was eventually translated into screenplay. Bautista also tackled on the aftermath of that grueling time in Desaparesidos, the first novel of hers that I actually read. I was left paralyzed, angered, and traumatized by that work, and yet it is the reality that we, as countrymen, found so difficult to swallow. 

That collective apathy resonates to this day.

She has two other novels I have in print, namely Gapo, and Bata, Bata, Paano Ka Ginawa?

I look forward to the time when I can finally read them.

Her books sit on my bookshelf both as a reminder and as motivation. Textbooks didn’t teach me empathy; stories did. Reading her novels is a rude awakening from misperceptions brought by familial influence and my societal apathy, rattling me into accepting the harsh truth.

At the same time, her stories serve as inspiration to me both as a professional and as a hobbyist. These days, my pen bleed of horrors of present time. I haven’t stopped since.

Love,
scrubstains