Modern Filipino
What does it mean to be a Filipino today?
Living away from home has both confronted and illuminated my identity as a Filipino, taking me through a journey much like island-hopping across the many shores of our cultural archipelago
Every island of experience is rich, complex, and part of a whole.
The Calling of a New Day
Ceramic sculpture
(24 x 30 cm)
The rooster’s crow welcomes each new day in the Philippines. I hear that sound with more than just the promise of sunrise, but the promise of a people ready to act with courage and to call forth a new dawn for the nation. I wish for us to rise as a people and to confront the problems of our times with a bold, defiant, and revolutionary cry.
Becoming
Oil paint on canvas board
(18x24 cm)
A bird that anchors to the ground yet reaches for the heavens is sundered between earth and sky. In splitting, there is both ache and emergence. It is the process of becoming.
The Indigenous Boy
Oil paint and oil pastel on canvas
(18x24 cm)
An indigenous boy from the Maitum tribe grows up in a community both culturally rich and geographically vulnerable due to local terrorist groups residing in the area. We had planned a solar lamp distribution trip together with the SendToGive team, which we ended up cancelling at the last minute due to reports of guerilla weapons discovered in that area. Fear had painted the town as unsafe, yet our teammates who continued with the trip came to meet one of the most well-preserved local cultures they had ever encountered. This disconnect reveals a larger issue of how negative perceptions often isolate communities, keeping them from the support and recognition they deserve. For a boy in Maitum, the question becomes urgent: will his future be defined by inherited risk and marginalization, or by the opportunity to preserve his heritage while shaping a better narrative?
The Relentless Pursuit of a Dream
Oil on canvas
(30x40 cm)
Randy Babiera is a Filipino fisherman who never finished high school. When his father left, he dropped out to help support his family. Now, at 50, Randy sits with pencil and paper, diligently studying through remote learning to finally earn his diploma. A high school degree may not dramatically change his circumstances at this stage in life, but his determination is a powerful reminder that dreams are worth pursuing purely for the personal desire to realize them. To me, Randy embodies what so many social entrepreneurs fight for: a world where everyone has the chance to realize their dreams, no matter the odds or the timing.