This time of year, I remember dear artists and writers whose lives I shared all too briefly: Felicito Abiva, Shirley Advincula, Carol Afan, Nick Agudo, Wilfredo Alberca, Asuncion Albert, Estrella Alfon, Zeneida Amador, Lilia Pablo Amansec, Ang Kiukok, Carlos Angeles, Pacifico N. Aprieto, Francisco Arcellana, Liwayway Arceo, Monico Atienza, Lamberto Avellana, Jose Ayala,
Inday Badiday, Concesa Baduel, Filemon “Billy” Balbastro Jr., Gopal Baratham, Corinta Barranco, Nazario D. Bas, Brigido C. Batungbakal, Manuel Principe Bautista, Betty Go-Belmonte, Luis Beltran, Leonidas Benesa, Teodoro Benigno, Trinidad Benito, Ishmael Bernal, Benjamin Bernales, Mike Bigornia, Nida Blanca, Mario Bolasco, Raul Bonoan SJ, Art Borjal, Santi Bose, Lino Brocka, Jose Buhain,
Aurelio Calderon, Jeremias A. Calixto, Giovanni Calvo, George Canseco, Guadalupe Carbonell, Celso Carunungan, Gabriel Casal, Levi Celerio, Claro Ceniza, Renato Constantino, Adrian Cristobal, Andres Cristobal Cruz, Jesus Cruz, Jose Cruz SJ, Patricia Melendrez-Cruz,
Concepcion Dadufalza, Edilberto Dagot, Petronilo Bn. Daroy, Joy de Castro, Pio De Castro III, Horacio de la Costa, Adul de Leon, Ricaredo Demetillo, Francisco Demetrio, Eduardo Deveza, Fe Dizon, Rafael Donato FSC, Maria Luisa Doronila, Martin Drury, Antonio Dulalia,
Antony Easthope, Jean Edades, Anacleta Encarnacion, Emigdio Enriquez, Virgilio Enriquez, Nieves Epistola, S. V. Epistola, Merito Espinas, Clemencia Espiritu, Aurelio Estanislao, Ariston Estrada, Frankie Evangelista, Winnie Evangelista, Doreen Fernandez, Pacita Fernandez, Rudy Fernandez, Wili Fernandez, Marcelino Foronda, Henry Francia, Hilario Francia Jr.,
Lamberto Ma. Gabriel, Carolina Garcia, Rita Gomez, Andrew Gonzalez FSC, NVM Gonzalez, Salvador Gonzalez, Leonor Orosa-Goquingco, Joey Gosengfiao, Sidney Greenbaum, Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero, Luisa Mallari-Hall, Atang de la Rama Hernandez, Sid Gomez Hildawa, Eduardo Hontiveros SJ, Alejandrino Hufana, Dominador Ilio, J. Eddie Infante, Nick Joaquin, Estelita Juco, Ogie Juliano, Lucrecia Kasilag, Maria Kalaw Katigbak,
Emmanuel Lacaba, Amado Lacuesta Jr., Serafin Lanot, Jose Lansang Jr., Pura Kalaw Ledesma, Leandro Locsin, Raul Locsin, Salvador P. Lopez, Rogelio Lota, Ella Luansing, Mochtar Lubis,
Jose Maceda, Fidela “Tiya Dely” Mendoza-Magpayo, Cesar Majul, Armando Malay, Frank Mallo, Vicente Manansala, Raul Manglapus, E. Arsenio Manuel, Antonio Manuud, Bert Marcelo, Nonoy Marcelo, Josefina Mariano, Epifanio Matute, Isagani Medina, Felicidad Mendoza, Eddie Mercado, Helen Meriz, Maningning Miclat, Graham Millington, Carminia Miraflor, Dominador Mirasol, Lina Espina Moore, Alfredo Morales, Santiago Adv. Mulato,
Orlando Nadres, Julie Fe Navarro, Clovis Nazareno, Ana Maria Escalante-Neri, Antonio Ma. Nieva, Evaristo Nievera, Valerio Nofuente, Wilfrido Nolledo, Bienvenido Noriega Jr., Alfeo Nudas SJ, Ramon Obusan, Onib Olmedo, Blas Ople, Sedfrey Ordoñez, Franklin Osorio, Fe Otanes, Rey Paguio, Loreto Paras-Sulit, Emy Pascasio, Benjamin M. Pascual, Benjamin P. Pascual, Guillermo Pesigan, Manuel Pichel, Joaquin Po, Andy Poe, Fernando Poe Jr., Nina Estrada Puyat,
Carlos Quirino, Jose Quirino, Jess Ramos, Felicitas Reyes, Godofredo S. Reyes, Evelyn Ribaya, Carolina Rionda, Pete Roa, Ruth Roa, Raul S. Roco, Francisco Rodrigo, Ma. Teresa Escoda Roxas, Ben Rubio,
Bonifacio Salamanca, Alfrredo Navarro Salanga, Dionisio Salazar, Oscar Salazar, Leopoldo Salcedo, Rachel San Miguel, Lucio San Pedro, Romulo Sandoval, Josefa Saniel, Cirio Santiago, Bienvenido N. Santos, William Henry Scott, Raman Selden, Jesus Sibal, Bonifacio Sibayan, Rogelio Sicat, Chat Silayan, Vic Silayan, Felixberto Sta. Maria, Elpidio Sta. Romana, Osmundo Sta. Romana, Vito C. Santos, Agustin Sotto, Trinidad Tarrosa Subido, Conchita Sunico,
Josefina A. Tabujara, Alfredo Tiamson, Edilberto K. Tiempo, Rolando Tinio, Lito Tiongson, Romeo Togonon, Cesario Torres, Filonila Tupas, Vic Vargas, Joven Velasco, Rey Ventura, Danny Villanueva, Rene O. Villanueva, Manuel Viray, Wilfredo Virtusio, Virgilio Vito, Yoshiko Wakayama, Mary Walter, and Leopoldo Yabes.
I also remember my bridge-playing friends (Linda Campos, Phyllis Harvey, Syed Zeyaul Hoda, Paquito Javier, Dioscoro Papa, Helen Saad, Vic Santiago, Teresa Yuchengco, and Sachiko Zobel), my fellow Fulbrighters (Corazon Agrava, Marcelo Fernan, and Max Soliven), my fellow UPSCANs (Francisco Abao Jr., Ramon Casas, Violeta Calvo-Drilon, Mervyn Encanto, Generoso Gil, Bienvenido M. Lim Jr., Emmeline Quinio, Wilfrido Santiano, and Raquel Zaraspe-Ordoñez), and my literary sister Lina Santos Cortes Raquion (daughter of my literary father Bienvenido N. Santos).
Please say a special prayer for my mother Pacita Ronquillo Cruz, in her youth a short story writer, and my father Ricardo Castillo Cruz, a scientist who loved to read.
NATIONAL BOOK AWARDS: Due to limited space, the awarding ceremony of the National Book Awards is strictly invitational. If you are the author, publisher, or designer of any of the nominated books and have not yet received your printed invitation, please contact me at isaganicruz@gmail.com.
CALLING ALL UPSCANs: The University of the Philippines Student Catholic Action (UPSCA) will have a Grand Alumni Homecoming on Dec. 6, Saturday, at the UP Solair Auditorium from 4 to 9 p.m. For particulars, contact upsca.diliman@gmail.com.
US-TRAINED FILIPINOS TO HELP LAGUNA TOWN: The Philippine Fulbright Scholars Association, the Fulbright Philippine Agriculture Alumni Association, the East-West Center Association Philippines, the International Association of Hubert H. Humphrey Fellows Philippines, and the International Visitor Program Philippines Alumni Foundation have adopted the fifth-class municipality of Magdalena in Laguna as their common community outreach project. The members of these alumni associations will donate their time and expertise to the municipality to make it a model for development.
CALLING CHED: Is there such a thing as a provisional university or university only for one year? Apparently, CHED has invented this category, giving it to a school last July, even though the school has not met all the requirements for university status.