Pagtatapat ng Hinaharap: Pananaw XV is calling for submissions

Ang Pananaw ang opisyal na folio ng UPLB Perspective. Kasalukuyan ng tumatanggap ang Pananaw ng mga akdang pampanitikan at dibuho para sa ikalabing-limang limbag nito.

Sa gitna ng mga umaapaw na panawagan para sa makatwirang pagtugon sa kasalukuyang krisis, patuloy tayong pinapangakuan ng pagbabago. Ngayon na nag-umpisa na ang karera sa pagpapalit kay Duterte, patuloy ang pagpapanata ng mga kandidato at kanilang mga partido sa isang panahon ng paghilom, pag-ahon, pagmamalasakit, at malinis na pamumuno kung saan inuuna ang interes ng masa. Kasabay ng mga pangakong ito ang mga Pilipinong nagsusumikap mairaos ang araw-araw, sinusugal pati ang kanilang kalusugan sa pagbubukas muli ng ating lipunan.

Sa pagdating ng mga alon ng pagbabago, umiiral sa ating isip ang mga katanungan patungkol sa mga bagay na sakaling nag-aabang sa atin at sa mga pagbabagong maaari nating asahan. Pinagninilayan natin ang hinaharap na hindi pa nabubunyag, kasabay ng mga hiling para sa kabutihan ng lahat. Ngunit, ang alingawngaw ng kasaysayan ay nananatiling babala na bagaman maaaring magbunsod ng katatagan ang krisis bilang tugon sa pagbabago, maari rin ito maging kabiguan. Ibinabalik nito ang banta ng isang nanggigiit na nakaraan, puno ng pang-aabuso, kasinungalingan, delusyon at mga hangarin na di natutupad. Sa gitna ng sumusungaw na kolektibong trauma¸nabubura ang alaala ng kasaysayan dulot ng humihinang pandama sa takbo ng oras at pagbubukod-bukod natin sa lipunan. Sinasamantala ng mga mang-aapii ang ugali nating makalimot upang muling buhayin ang kanilang imahe sa hangarin na makabalik sa posisyon ng kapangyarihan.

Tayo ay kasalukuyang nasa rurok ng ating landas kung saan ang mga susunod nating hakbang ay maaaring magmarka ng tagumpay o kabiguan laban sa kalupitan. Lumilingon sa atin ngayon ang hinaharap upang ilarawan ang mga pagbabago at ihulma ang mga aksyong tunay na maglilingkod para sa interes ng mga mamamayan. Tayo ay inuudyok na labanan ang paglimot ng katotohanan at paggawa ng mito; na kumawala sa alimuom ng panlilinlang at pagpapakalat ng maling impormasyon; na magpumigil sa umuulit na nakaraan at paurong na landas. Pinapaalala sa atin ang mga katagang #NeverForget at #NeverAgain, na hindi lamang tumutokoy sa pamumuno ng isang diktador ngunit pati sa lumalawak na kasaysayan ng pag-aabuso na patuloy binubura. Ang mga katagang ito ay hindi mahihiwalay sa isa’t-isa pagkat sila’y sumasandigan sa pagitan ng nakaraan at hinaharap; sa hindi mahihiwalay na lakas ng paggunita at pagkilos. 

Sa ikalabing-limang limbag ng Pananaw, uusisain ng folio ang temang “Pagtatapat ng Hinaharap.” Sa ating hamong pagharap sa hinaharap, sinusubok ng folio na tuklasin ang mga maisasagawang kinabukasan nakaugat sa ating nakaraan. Ito ay isang pagsasaayos ng magulong kasalukuyan upang tangkaing makalikha ng espasyong progresibong umuunlad—isang pagbawi sa mga ninakaw na naratibo upang muling ihayag ang mga walang pagmamaliw na katotohanan. Ito ay pag-alala sa kasaysayan habang nakikilahok rin sa pagbuo nito. 

Sa panahon ng baluktot na katotohanan at walang kasiguraduhang hinaharap, ang PananawXV ay isang plataporma kung saan matatala at masusubok ang mga naratibo habang muling binubuo ang mga ito. 

English Translation

Pananaw is the official folio of UPLB Perspective. For its fifteenth issue, Pananaw is now accepting written and visual submissions.

Amid uproars for better responses to a continuing crisis, we begin to be fed with promises of change. Now that the race to replace Duterte has commenced, presidential candidates and their various parties vow a time of healing, recovery, compassion, and clean governance where the interest of people comes first. These vows come in a time where everyday Filipinos struggle to overcome each day, risking their health as we start reopening our society. 

As tides of change come ashore, questions about what lies ahead of us and what changes should we expect loom in our minds. We speculate on an uncertain future that has yet to unfold, hoping for the best.  However, the echoes of history remain to be a forewarning that in some cases, crisis may propel resilience but it can also mark their downfall. It brings to light the threat of a persisting past riddled with fraud, abuse, false hopes, and failed pursuits. Amidst our collective trauma resurfacing, the blurred sense of time and withdrawal from society threaten to wipe our historical memory. Oppressors seize our tendency of forgetfulness while they rehabilitate their image in pursuit of power once again. 

We are at a tipping point where the next steps could mark our victory or defeat against atrocity. The future turns to us now to define the transformations and shape the actions that will truly serve the interest of the people.  We are urged to work against amnesia and myth-making; to escape the mist of deceit and disinformation; to resist a repeating past and backwardness. We are reminded of the calls #NeverForget and #NeverAgain that not only harks back to a dictator’s rule but to an erasure of a broadening history of injustices as well. These two phrases cannot be divided from each other as they draw from the interdependence of the past and the future, in the inseparable power of memory and action. 

This is the task that the Pananaw folio aims to explore in its 15th issue, with the theme “Pagtatapat ng Hinaharap”.  In the challenge to face the future, the folio seeks to explore actionable futures anchored in a usable past. It is a restoration of disarrayed order in an effort to create a space expanding forward—a reclamation of stolen narratives to reconstruct integral truths. It is remembering history and simultaneously taking part in building it. 

In a time of distorted truths and uncertain futures, Pananaw XV is a platform to document and challenge narratives while shaping new ones. 

Submissions Guidelines

PANANAW accepts submissions from UPLB students (registered or not), faculty, and alumni. Only one (1) submission per person will be accepted. It can be done as individuals, via collaboration, or as a whole organization. Non-UPLB students, faculty, and/or alumni are only allowed to submit collaborative works with UPLB students, faculty, and/or alumni.

We are accepting written and visual works in English and Filipino: from poetry, short stories, literary and critical essays, one-act plays, and/or screenplays to illustrations, comics, photographs, mixed media, and/or visual art in any other medium. We do not, however, accept entries that have been previously published in other publications.

Text submissions must be attached as a PDF file and a Google Docs link. Please indicate if the text is to be printed in a specific format. There is no required font style, size, spacing, and word count.

Visual/graphic submissions must be attached as an image file (.JPEG/.PNG/.IMG/.PDF) with an aspect ratio of 7:5 or 5:7 per page and a resolution of 300 dpi. Please indicate the title, medium, and dimension (for non-digital works) and include a 3-5 sentence description of your work.

All contributors must attach the following information in the email:

– Full name/s

– Course & college, student number (for registered students)

– Email address

– Brief bionote of not more than 250 words

– Links to web portfolios and/or social media (optional)

Please submit your entries/inquiries to pananawuplb@gmail.com with the subject line “PANANAW SUBMISSION: [Title of submission], [Full name/s]”

We will acknowledge submissions and inquiries within the month. Submissions will be reviewed by Pananaw UPLB on the basis of readability and correspondence to the folio’s theme. Please take note that not all contributions will be published in the folio.

Deadline for submissions is on April 10, 2022.

Upon submitting their entry, the author shall retain ownership of the copyright of their work. However,  Pananaw UPLB reserves the right, upon consultation with the author, to edit portions of the work to suit the guidelines of the publication

You can view Pananaw’s previous issues here: http://issuu.com/uplbperspective.
Visit Pananaw’s Facebook and Instagram pages for more updates. [P]