Gaba ug ang mahait nga dagang

The third Carcar Lecture held last April 13, 2013 featured “Gaba in Epifanio Alfafara’s Short Story” presented by Fely Letras, and “No Apologies: Si Sinforosa Alcordo ug ang Mahait Niyang Dagang” presented by Sonrisa Samson. Gaba is our concept of God’s punishment or the Filipino counterpart of karma, while dagang is Cebuano for the writing pen, hence mahait nga dagang means sharp pen.

Epifanio Alfafara (1882-1933) was a politician (Bise-Presidente and Presidente of Carcar in the early 1930s), juez auxiliary of Sibonga, and an orator.  His political campaign was always on good morals. He translated from Spanish to Cebuano the works Doce Pares de Francia, El Conde de Monte Cristo, Flor de Luna, and La Pasion del Redentor.  His original Short Story, “Si Naldo, ang Buang” was the focus of the presentation.  Naldo was the son of a well-to-do family who lived an abundant life and never developed a sense of responsibility. He spent a lot of money on his vices and fooled around with different women. When his parents died of cholera, he continued his extravagant life until nothing was left. He became very poor and all his friends and neighbors humiliated him which made him leave his hometown to start a new life. Remorseful, he lived a life of a “crazy” man believing that all his misfortunes were his punishment from God or his “gaba.”  He blamed the women for his misfortunes.  The topic of gaba generated a very animated discussion.  A question was raised regarding gaba as very negative. How can we make gaba work positively? Someone replied that gaba works positively when it serves as a deterrent to a prospective wrong doing – “Sus, ug dili pa lang ko mahadlok og gaba, ako na unta tong gikulata tong tiguwanga.” (If I weren’t afraid of gaba, I would have beaten that old man.)

The second lecture “No Apologies: Si Sinforosa ug ang Iyang Mahait nga Dagang” featured Sinforosa Alcordo (1905-1996) who was recognized as one of the first to venture into journalism, then “a new field for women” in the pre-war years. On Aug. 31, 1969, the Lubas sa Dagang Bisaya or Ludabi recognized her significant contribution to the development of the Cebuano language. She married at a young age her former elementary teacher, and had 13 children. She used the pen name Sola when she wrote extantly for The Freeman which together with Bag-ong Kusog and Ang Suga were the dominant periodicals in the pre-war period.  Based on her published works, Sinforosa’s strength was her role as a social commentator rather than as an expressive writer, no-nonsense attitude especially when it came to her ideas on ethical issues and human relationships. She emphasized certain matters such as relations between men and women, proper conduct and behavior, etc.  She seemed wary regarding the issue of women’s suffrage and its possible adverse effects on the home and family. In her columns, she wrote about the tragic consequences of rumor-mongering, strongly condemned the double standard which excuses a man’s actions but punishes the women in similar circumstances. She questioned the force of social convention that legitimizes which is highly oppressive and unfair to women: “Kung lalaki gani ang matumba sa natad sa kahilayan, bangonon ug tahoron gihapon sa katilingban.  Apan kung babaye ang mapukan, ‘oros na lang,’ wala’y usang molingi.”  In her column, “Unsay Makapalagot Nimo,” she expressed her disgust for men who “sow their wild oats,” then refuse to acknowledge paternity of their offsprings.  She also hit the next-door neighbor with the “keeping up with the Joneses”

attitude, or crab mentality.  She was ballistic against certain women who were hypocritical.

In another column “Malingaw Kag Dili,”  she gave an unsolicited advice on the notion of an “ideal” mate.She had a preference for men with a golden heart, not necessarily good-looking, very understanding – “Kung kaloy-an mo ako, panggaon ko gayud ikaw ug maayo. Tudloan ko ikaw unya sa pagpanursi, paglung-ag, pag-utan, pagpamunak ug pagkutaw sa tubig sa litse nga ipainom mo unya sa atong ‘Baby,’ samtang ako tua sa sine.”

In the didactic pieces and works expressing her opinions on social norms and relationships, she struck her readers as a forceful, unapologetic social commentator made more memorable with her sharp insight, her excellent command and creative use of Cebuano and her rootedness in her native Zaragosa (boundary between Carcar and Aloguinsan).

Congratulations to the presenters Lety Letras and Sonrisa Samson and to the Cebuano Studies Center headed by Dr. Hope S. Yu and the Literature Department of the University of San Carlos for a commendable project.  The fourth lecture will feature Brigido Alfar and Galileo Varga and this will be held on the last Saturday of May.