Wazzup Pilipinas!
I have attended several seminars, conferences and gathering of educators
which all aim to refresh teachers with certain pedagogies, to discuss
new trends in education as well as academe-related issues which I
think are a rehash of the old ones. Hence when someone invites me for
another conference I would just smile and blatantly say “thank you”.
Last
Sept 10-12 2013, I was asked to join the National Conference for
Language and Literature sponsored by CETA. Thinking it was like any
other usual conferences, I didn’t bother to prepare. I just took my pen
and my notebook and wait for the dawn of the great ennui. Seated at the
last row, I browse at the copy of the program, wishing for the seminar
to start. Then my eyes caught a familiar name, the keynote speaker in
this conference is no other than the national artist F. Sionil Jose. I
began to be uneasy. I want to go home to get the book THE PRETENDERS and
ask him to sign it.
The program started and I could not wait to
see him. Then he walked to the stage. I couldn’t feel the aura of being
the national artist in him although I must admit that there was
something in him that I couldn’t explain. He got the microphone and
asked if there were any among us who lives in Rosales, Pangasinan. I
wanted to raise my hand, stand and forget that I come from Rizal.
However, he might talk to me in his dialect and it would really be
embarrassing if I would not be able to respond properly.