I’M STILL saying it: The Palanca Awards Night is the Oscars of Philippine Literature.
If it’s not a red carpet event, it should be.
Why should writers have the image of being dugyot, unkempt, drab, and unfashionable?
That’s so starving artist drama.
So past centuries.
***
I am a writer.
But I am not just a writer.
I am also an actor, a performer, a stunt artist.
I am a social media influencer.
I am a model.
So, it doesn’t hurt that I dress up at events like the Palanca Awards.
In fact, people look forward to it.
People seem to expect that I add glamour to literary and art events like gallery show openings, exhibits, and even lectures.
***
At Zoom conferences, I wear prostitute or pokpok red lipstick.
And no one can speak against it because it’s MAC. Haha.
Of course, some people call out my red lipstick.
But what do they know?
Can they afford it?
I wear red lipstick to draw attention to my lips when I talk.
Who knows that some people can only lipread? Haha.
***
In my face-to-face lectures, I also dress up to the max.
Because if people pay to hear me speak, why not give them something beautiful to gawk at also?
I am considerate and generous that way.
***
I do not look down on writers who do not dress up.
Wait, actually, I do.
If writers do not stop being shabby, who will respect them?
If they’re not respected, who will read their work?
***
If I will be honest, some people discover my works after they have discovered my reputation as an image and personality.
And it’s not necessarily a bad thing.
In fact, some of them just enjoy having selfies with me, never getting to read my works.
And seriously, how many of my Panay News readers ever read my Palanca-winning works?
***
But I like cultivating my image.
As a personality in Philippine Literature, it is important that I am also visually ang fashionably recognizable.
We live in the age of social media.
Of visual information, Instagram, Google, and TikTok.
***
After 21 Palanca awards including the Hall of Fame, I do not know for sure anymore—
Am I trying to win the Palanca contest to get a chance to dress up?
Or am I dressing up in the Palanca awards ceremony because I won?
***
Here’s the thing:
Because I am a Palanca winner, I can dress up and say anything I want.
How can you shut me up if I dress better than you, and if I have plenty of Palancas, and you have none?
But that’s just the smart-ass flippant me talking.
Seriously, you have to listen to me because I know how to succeed in this life. Haha.
***
Through the years, several designers have hinted about making clothes for me to wear at the Palanca Awards.
But I always stick with my instincts.
I usually go to the Segura siblings in Dumangas—Noe Rey Segura, and Debbie Segura Medrano.
I buy the fabric that I like, and they make clothes for me.
That’s how I promote local designers, artists, and artisans.
***
This year, Nalds Samiana insisted that he will design my Palanca Awards Night attire.
Nalds is the artist behind the label RDSJ (for Reynaldo Delmo Samiana, Jr.).
Although we are from the same town, I didn’t really know him until my stint as the First Filipino Author-Guest of the Sharjah International Book Fair in 2015.
It turned out, he worked for the wife of the big kahuna who invited me to the biggest book fair in the Islamic world.
(That’s his version; I cannot verify who the big kahuna is, or which personality invited me.
Although I tend to believe Nalds because he knows the Emirati royalty.
Like, he identified that I was seated next to an emirate prince in one of the sessions.)
***
Of course, I wanted to look stunning at the Palanca Awards night.
It’s my first Palanca post-pandemic.
And I am a two-time winner for the night.
Without a new Hall of Famer inducted this year, I am easily the literary celebrity to watch—a 10-year old Hall of Famer (installed in 2012), with a double win in Hiligaynon short story (1st Prize), and Children’s Poetry (2nd Prize).
The Hiligaynon short story is my tenth career gold medal, and that’s equivalent to a double Hall of Fame!/PN
