Ikatolong Juliana Arejola -Fajardo Workshop Sa Pagsurat-bikol

Kan Mayo 18 abot 20, ginibo an Ikatolong Juliana Arejola-Fajardo Workshop Sa Pagsurat-bikol duman sa Training Center kan CSSAC, Pili, Camarines sur.

Naalok man ako ni Jason Chancoco, sarong amigo na nagtotolod kan okasyon, na mag-ayon. Kaya tolong aldaw ako “nawara” sa Naga, yaon sa CSSAC, Pili. Maogma baga an pagtiripon duman sa Workshop ta hininguto na gayo kun pano man ngaya magkumpos nin rawitdawit. An tema iyo an teknikal na aspekto sa pagkawingkawing nin sarong tula’ na tama sa porma asin tama sa pandangog.

Idtong pigsumitir na mga rawitdawit pigrukitdukit asin pighimay kun saen nagkulang asin kun saen pwede pang pakarhayon na ngani matawan nin maray na pakasurat, mapagayon susog sa paghimate asin sa pagpili nanggad kan mararahay o maninigo’ na mga tataramon na pano nin kahulogan asin tagong simbolismo, mapukaw sa puso nin parabasa.

Mala ta haros maghiribi an kagsurat na iba ta natutuyawan na gayo kun saen nagkulang. Kritisismo na medyo palan magabat sa boot akoon kan suminurat ta aram ta man baga nalatob na gayo an siring na ehersisyo sa dangog, pangaran asin kakayahan nin sarong parasurat.

Pero, palibhasa nagpoporoon-poon pa man lang sinda, areglado lang ta ini an makakatabang sainda sa pagpagantad kan kalidad kan saindang mga sinurat asin tinogda’.

Sa parte ko garo sana ako paradalan, nagmamasid kan mga aktibidad asin kasibotan, kinakapa’ pa baga an importansya asin halaga kan siring na Workshop; dai man ako nagpadara nin rawitdawit, medyo supog ta mayo pa akong halawig asin hararom na kabatiran sa siring na pag-ngangata’(attempt) sa lantad nin literatura.

Ultimong aldaw, nagpirit akong magboses bilang reaksyon sa nakaaging Workshop ta gustong makakua man nin pa-ontol na tuyaw an mga kagtolod kan Workshop.

Duwang tema an binuksan ko na nakita ko dapat gayod ilakip sa siring na Workshop:

Enot, magtaong lektura sa mga nagbabali sa Workshop an manongod sa salaysay nin literatura nin bikol.

Sikyera, mata’wan sinda nin diit na pakaaram kun ano, saiirisay, anong mga klase, kasuarin sinururat an mga toklos (works) panliteraryo kan Bikol. Dai pwede nanggad na an modernong parasurat mayo lamang nin agimadmad sa bagay na ini.

Halimbawa, siisay an masasabi tang Ama kan Literaturang Bikol? Poon 1900, ano an mga nasurat na? Mga komedya, plusa, o mga nobena lang baga ini? Ano an mga rawitdawit kaidto anas lang pan-simbahan? Ano baga an kaibahan kan ariwaga, tigsik, dotok, tagolaylay sa ibang klaseng literaturang bikol? Dawa ngani an mga nasambit mas na itinataram (o iinaawit) ki isinusurat, ano an impluwensya ninda sa pagsurat? Sairisay an mga parasurat kaidto?

Malinaw na an modernong parasurat dai pwedeng mayo lamang pagkagamiaw kan AGI-AGI asin GIRA kan literaryong bikol. Pinaknit mo sinda kumbaga sa panahon asin nagsusurat sinda sa contextong kawang, mayong panakin asin mayong ginugunoan.

Dai ta man gayod menoson an mga paghingoa kan mga kamagurangan ta. Seguro, may maguguno man kita nin materyal sa mga sinurat ninda na lalong mapayaman kan mga susuraton ta ngapit.

Ikaduwang tema na dapat ka-rapot sa pagtais nin pagsurat iyo an dikit na giya o pata’naw kan tamang paggamit kan lenggwahe mismo na iyo baga an kasangkapan kun baga sa pagtogdok nin estraktura. Bako sana sa punto nin gramatika kundi sa punto nin bokabularyo, naguguma’ nya an sanga-sangang kahulugan kan kada tataramon na ginagamit.

An sarong poeta, nobelista, o para-osipon sa papel kumbaga, medyo dapat may sangkap asin maninigo na pakanood kan mismong lenggawaheng saiyang ginagamit sa pagtahi asin pagsuru-surogpon, ngani makahaman nin magayon na komposisyon. Dawa masabi tang may lisensya an parasurat, orog na an pararawitdawit, sa pagmukna’, dai man gayod pwede na rabaraba sana, maski saen makasorabag sa pagguhit an saiyang bolpen.

Sabihon tang an teknikal na kakayahan importante sa pagkawing nin rawitdawit pero importante man an bastanteng kaaraman kan mismong lenggwahe. Lalo na pati sa rawitdawit mas magabat an pangangaipo sa paggamit nin tataramon. Dapat malikay, masiri’, asin maingat kun arin an kataga’ na iguguhit.

Halimbawa, kun an gustong ipahayag iyo an “grabeng kaanggotan”, pwede gayod mas bagay isurat “nagsolwak an dugo ko” imbes magsurat “orag na gayo ko saiya.” O “rupit na siwo’,” imbes sabihon sanang “basa-basa siya.”

An sa itaas ilustrasyon sana kun ano ta maray na gayo medyo mayaman kita sa tataramon ta mas orog kitang makakapahayag kan satong nasasaboot kun kita nagbibilog nin rawitdawit, o anopaman na literaryong gibo.

An mga puntong binuksan ko duman sa pagtapos kan Workshop pinagtawan man nin reparo ni Carlo Arejola, saro sa panelista, na nagpadalagan kan kasibotan. Sabi niya, gayod sa ika-apat na workshop iaayon an mga temang ini ngani magtaong mas hararom na adal sa mga mabarali.

An keynote speaker palan duman sa workshop iyo si Prof. Ma. Lilia F. Realubit, Ph.D. na sa saiyang pambukas na pataratara, nagsabi “Ikatolong taon na ining pagtiripon kan mga parasurat Bikol sa tabang kan Premio Arejola na matawan nin lugar asin oras na magkaorolay asin magkasararo an satong mga isip asin boot manongod sa tema ngonyan na taon: An Parasurat Sa Bagong Panahon: Nagpupublikar, Nadadalan, Nadadangog, Yaon Sa Tahaw Kan Kasiribotan.”

Logod, magin pertinente an parasurat Bikol, yaon nanggad nakikitusay sa tahaw nin kasiribotan tataong magpulso kan kutabkutab kan banwaan.

Free Will and Determinism

As Catholics, the belief in Free Will is fundamental to our Christian philosophy.

We never doubted for a moment we are masters of our fate, or rather we were taught to believe so, the moment we begun our formal education. Being reared in Catholic schools, we never questioned the validity or truth in this belief.

Determinism which had spawned the seeds of Fatalism, never bothered us and it was an idea only held by people who, we believed, only wanted to put blame for their mistakes upon other people and, more so, to conditions and situations they believed were beyond their control.

But many things are changing. The advance of science, its unrelenting march towards more enlightened levels of awareness and the inexorable growth of knowledge are putting to great trial the validity of many long-held beliefs. They are, in fact, puting into serious question many centuries-old principles of that Christian philosophy we hold so dear.

Determinism is making a vigorous comeback riding on the crest of exciting findings in Genetics. Behavioral science tends to confirm genetic factors as well as environment play very important roles in shaping a person, and in the way he reacts or makes decisions in his life. Whatever part each plays in a man’s life is hard to unravel and the two perhaps are just so inextricably interwined one or the other cannot be said to dominantly determine the outcome.

Determinism now tells us what you are is because of what happened in the past. You make decisions not because you exercise your supreme power of free will but because such are simply reactions to causes. Everything it seems has been pre-determined. It is only a fool, we might say, who believes he is freely choosing to do that or this instead of the other. But to trace back the root of one’s action is to find a reason why he reacted the way he reacted. Ergo, he is not really very free in his action.

If it is a criminal action, it mitigates the seriousness of his crime. It may even be said it justifies and arguably exonerates him of the crime. In effect, determinism tells us one cannot be blamed and punished for an errant action which was literally, it would seem, dictated upon him by circumstances of genes and environment.

Determinism has long been trashed into the garbage by the Engligtened movement of the great Christian philosophers like St. Augustine but its simplistic approach to the complex situations of man’s fate finds attraction in many who have lost faith in a Supreme Being who is the First Cause; He gave us the free will to choose between evil and good but which faculty has been impaired because of the first sin of disobedience. But this is taking to task the issue with the aid of religion. This, of course, would not hold water with agnostics and atheists or those who nominally believe in God but does not believe and trust in his everlasting goodness.

Going back to the tenets of this unChristian philosophy, determinism therefore simply would want us to believe no one can be faulted and punished for a serious crime, or simply blamed for a misdeed or weakness because one’s genes have already written the blueprint for his determinate actions in the future.

Illustrating this point, it would give us an understanding why a man is a man of letters, privileged to have studied in the most exclusive university in Manila because his family simply could afford the costly education. His choice of career and his direction towards that university were a matter of family circumstances. The fact that his family was rich was also a matter of having good genes which instinctively guided his progenitors to be in luxurious cuircumstances.

It’s all a matter of cause-and-effect thing. You twist your head when you hear a loud noise to see the source of noise. You whack the fellow next to you when he has pushed you as to disturb your peace. You cussed one because he has cussed you first. You decided to grab back a pencil because it was yours and the other fellow took it from you. Perhaps you could decide not to grab it back but the urge to do so is greater. But you could say you can will it not to grab it back but it would sound silly if I tell you that reaction has a more compelling reason for its adoption. What you thought was an exercise of free will was simply an accomodation for that reason, say, you feared it might result to greater violence.

Sounds silly but the cause-and-effect argument appears valid. In fact, proponents of determinism tell us that with the First Big Bang it started the ball rolling. It is the Great Evolution of Darwin where the inexorable force of Nature moves along, closely and imperiously following the minutest instructions imprinted in the DNA helix built into each living cell.

And we are intimately part of that Nature, neither beyond or above it but bound into it, also moving along according to our DNA imprints. This is the crux of the tenet of determinism. This determinate, unassailable, uneditable movement fulfills a predetermined route and a predetermined end, with our Will totally impotent to reverse, to reform or to restructure. It is fatalism of the highest order.

We are what we are: bungling, sinful, weak, and ineffectual. What we do can never be blamed on us because we are, although unknowingly, simply following the ineluctable flow of Nature.

We are no better than animals. Just as animals kill, we also kill and for so many reasons which determinists would tell us should mitigate or even justify the crimes of murder or manslaughter because we have weaknesses brought about by faulty genes and unideal environments. This philosophy removes all notions of moral obligation, responsibility and the reality of sin. It, in fact, goes against all notions of ethics and in the Christian belief that we can merit reward or punishment for our acts.

With this philosophy we can never rejoice in the capacity of man to conquer his own self. We have taken away hope and faith. Hope as to nurture expectations for a better life and faith as to innocently trust in a God who is in effective control of his wonderful creation.

Mga Gologolo, Ginogoop

Sabi malanit kun magduta’ sa baga
Mapapaso’ ka, mababaklas an kublit pa
Arog gayod kaini an mamoot sa babae
Magayon kuta, igwang nang parabaribi

Hare na pagrani, maski anong lumay kan dawani
Igoop na lang an mate, sigboha an kirikiti
Malipot na si’wag bayaeng ihaplas
Sa naghohoto-hoto mahalnas na halas

Laman lang yan, bakong dyosnon na mawot
Higop nin pulospugos sa puson na girok
Kapahaan boot mong iharok sa ibang tapayan
Magrorip ka sa ibang salog na langoyan

Pakulpaa an kurabkutab kan daghan
Palsoka an laad sa matang nangangakan
Higota an habay mabagol an yaon sa ka’ka’an
Turoging nanok, sa pangiturogan magtimasang!