LAGLAGIP

Cigarette-smoking Blas Ople, then Labor Minister, was the guest of honor and speaker, and with his booming voice, exhorted the writers. The young and sultry Imelda Papin was guest singer and her husky voice was capturing the anxiety and loneliness of unrequited love.
It was in the evening of January 13, 1979 at the Focus magazine building in Port Area, Manila. The cold wind from the bay wafted through the windows of the office of Focus where the awarding rites for the year's outstanding writers in poetry, essay and fiction were held.

The winners who received their prizes in cash were Peter La. Julian, Prescy Supnet, from Narvacan, Ilocos Sur; Sammy Sta. Maria, Benjamin Afuang, Joel de los Reyes, Romeo Navarro, Enrico Enerio, Wilfredo Aberca, and fellow Ilocano Maximo Ramos, who bagged the top prize in the essay level.

I was one of a 7-man ecumenical group that translated the Bible into Iluko from the so-called original languages of Hebrew and Greek. I was the layman official representative of the Roman Catholic church. The others were: Fr. Godofredo Albano (RC). now dead; Patrocinia Tayaban(United Methodist), Rev. Gerry Tovera (?), Rev. Juan Marigza, Pastor Anacleto Guerrero, now dead, and Rev. Noel Osborn as coordinator. It was a project of the United Bible Societies through the Philippine Bible Society. Mrs. Rosalind R. Camat was secretary. The whole book (that included the Apocrypha for the RC) was launched in Vigan sometime in the 1980s.

The first Iluko Bible revision started in 1986 ( I resigned as an employee of the Department of Public Information, where I started work in 1979 when the project ended) with me as coordinator and revision member. The others were Fr. Alfredo Ancheta, Rev. Eusebio Tanicala, Mrs.Perlita Rabago of the Wesleyan church. The principal venue was in Baguio, in an apartment in a three-story building owned by the Dulays along Marcos highway; then for a change we went to where members can get the venue for free: Rosales, Pangasinan, San Fernando, La Union (we paid the bill), and Sta. Catalina, Ilocos Sur, where Fr. Ancheta was town parish priest. I was photographed with teachers of the Nagtupakan Elementary School in Sta. Catalina along with Fr. Ancheta (extreme right in top photo)



Captions: PLJ with the late Kerima Polotan (bw pix), the winners with the late Blas Ople, Hawaii governor Linda Lingle with Ilocano writers in a Hawaii hotel