FOR THE nth time, my friend Ronelo Ladiao has sent me a set of interview questions for his blog.
The “theme” of the interview is the Palanca Awards because I just won my 20th and 21st Palancas, and I attended the awarding ceremony with a “kabogera” outfit.
Then, the interview beautifully segued to my life in the Philippines after my repatriation in August.
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Of course, I understand Ronelo’s excitement about the crazy things I am, and will be, doing in our small island.
I’m pretty sure that you will be excited about them too, so I’m sharing the four-part interview here in my column.
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RSL: In an online news article, it was noted that you haven’t won a Palanca in four years; and yet, people think of you as the perennial Palanca winner. How did that happen?
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ThePSN: Well, to be fair, I didn’t win a Palanca only in 2018 and 2019, so that’s just two years. Haha. The other two years, 2020 and 2021—well, the Palanca decided not to hold the contest because of the pandemic, so I do not count those two years as my losses.
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Indeed, in the past years, like the decade from 2006 to 2017, I only had one year (2009) when I didn’t win a single Palanca award. That’s probably the reason why people are getting tired of hearing about me winning the Palanca again and again, year after year.
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Also, because I’m a rather high profile writer in Iloilo, my wins are usually covered by radio and print media. Plus, I’m pretty active in social media, so any Palanca win on my part is definitely greatly publicized.
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It also helps that I am a dresser; that I wear fashionable and colorful clothes at the Palanca awards ceremony.
My standout fashion helps remind the public that I win every year because they see me with a different red carpet-worthy attire every time. Pink in 2007, all-white in 2010, Indian silk in 2012, quek-quek tangerine in 2014, purple brocade in 2015, and so on and so forth.
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RSL: Did you ever think about quitting or retiring after pandemic, or after so many various achievements?
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ThePSN: The pandemic changed my attitude toward the value or importance of things, yes. But I don’t think it really slowed me down.
In fact, during those first three dreadful Covid years, I was busy writing and publishing and giving online workshops, and just doing my thing.
I was simply relentless in building my online presence because that’s the only way to connect with most people during the pandemic; and as I theorized, post-pandemic.
I consider myself generally retired from competition, and from the workforce.
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To be honest, I really feel less competitive now that I am 53. And as a more senior person, I am just a happy endorser of the “you do you, I do me” idea nowadays.
If delusional kids want to do crazy, I let them do crazy. If the world as we knew it is ending with a lifestyle and culture-altering pandemic, who are we to dictate the direction of the next generation?
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But just as I embrace Gen Z’s (and even Alpha Gen’s) right to be crazy, I’d be totally smacking them if they can’t accept my own brand of crazy. I’ll deal with your crazy; you got to deal with mine.
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RSL: You are famous for your grand entrances, or, in the language of beauty pageants, “pasabog”—that is, when a candidate has a new creative move or unique spectacle to show onstage. What was your “pasabog” for Palanca 2022?
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ThePSN: The Palanca was established in 1950. It would have been 70 years old in 2020, but because of the two-year Covid hiatus, its 70th year happened to be in 2022.
I wanted to mark Palanca’s grand historic 70th year in a grand memorable way, and I have always argued that the Palanca night is the Oscars of Philippine Literature. It’s a red carpet thing. And if it is not, it should be; and we should start treating it as one.
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I thought that the two-year hiatus is a good restart button to rethink the Palanca event, and if we are changing for the “better normal”, then I was going to receive my award with a dress that celebrates life and vibrancy, and a springing back from the dreadful pandemic.
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I wanted to come to the Palanca dazzling and spectacular. If you call that “pasabog”, so be it. I just want glam and spectacle in this age of Instagram and TikTok.
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Shabby writers, poor and suffering artists, who can’t dress well is an image of the past. It is so 20th century.
Well, I am a successful writer. I have earned money from my writings enough that I can afford dressing up when I pick up my 20th and 21st Palanca awards.
It would be such a shame to be a 21-time Palanca winner, and come to the party in a poor person’s clothes! (To be continued as “Mr. Universe and I”)/PN
