blackshama's commentary on Philippine issues

I just came from this year's installment of the book fair at SM Exhibition Center at the Mall of Asia complex in Pasay City. The book fair has been held in MegaMall, the World Trade Center, and now at the SMEX. But the SMEX is much smaller than the WTC, thus it felt a bit crowded. The usual bookdealers were there and they cater to the academic sector. But the university presses had a good selection of works by Filipino writers. This suggests that even with the high inflation rate and the economic crunch, publishers still are upbeat. This is evidenced by the crowds that were buying books. The National Historical Commission (NHC) booth is a history bibliophile's dream. Aside from books by Gironiere, Rizal, Del Pilar,Mabini and Sinibaldo de Mas, the NHC recently reissued Patricio Mariano's translations into Filpino of Rizal's Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo . These early translations of Rizal's novels are in itself literary gems. In my family's library, we h...