VIDEO REPORT IN EL109

Lilia Quindoza Santiago [1949-2021], LQS to friends, was an award-winning writer, teacher, anthologist, literary
critic, translator, and interpreter, known for her outstanding research on Philippine languages [Ilokano and Tagalog],
Southeast Asian studies, popular cultures, gender and sexuality, and literature. She was born on 5 February 1949 in
Manaoag, Pangasinan, but grew up in Baguio, and went to Baguio City National High School. In 1972, when the
Philippines was placed under martial law by Ferdinand Marcos, she was one of the student activists rounded up,
arrested, placed in detention centers, and tortured by the military.
She taught for over thirty years at the University of the Philippines, where she was Full Professor and Associate for
Fiction at the Likhaan: Sentro ng Malikhaing Pagsulat. After retirement from the UP, she taught nine years at the
University of Hawaii at Manoa, where she was Assistant Professor of Ilokano at the Department of Indo Pacific
Languages and Literatures.
She was chosen Makata ng Taon of 1989 by the Surian ng Wikang Pambansa [now the Komisyon sa Wikang
Filipino] on the basis of her poem “Sa Ngalan ng Ina, ng Anak, ng Diwata’t Paraluman.” She authored over 20
books, including her poetry collections Kagampan [Kalikasan Press, 1989] and Asintada [University of the
Philippines Press, 1997] an her short story collection Ang Manggagamot ng Salay-Salay at Iba Pang Kuwento
[Kalikasan Press, 1989]. She also authored the novel Ang Kaulayaw ng Agila [University of the Philippines Press,
2002], which won the Grand Prize at the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature in 1999. In 2004, she
won the Gawad Balagtas from the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas [UMPIL] and was recipient of the
Outstanding Professional Service Award from the U.P. Alumni Association.
She also authored and edited Filipina I: Poetry, Drama, Fiction [New Day Publishers, 1984] and Filipina II: An
Anthology of Contemporary Women Writers in the Philippines [New Day Publishers, 1985], both co-edited with Mila
Astorga Garcia and Marra PL. Lanot, Synthesis, Before and Beyond February 1986: The Edgar M. Jopson Memorial
Lectures [Edgar M. Jopson Memorial Foundation, 1986], Synthesis 2: Where Has All the Power Gone?
[ Interdisciplinary Forum, 1988, co-edited with Manuel F. Montes], Dahil sa Butil ng Palay: Ang Pasyon ni Jaime
Tadeo at ng Magbubukid na Pilipino [Philippine Peasant Institute, 1992], Women Empowering Communication: A
Resource Book on Women and the Globalization of Media [Isis International, 1994, co-edited with Margaret
Gallagher], Mga Idea at Estilo: Komposisyong Pangkolehiyo sa Wikang Filipino [University of the Philippines Press,
1995], Ang Aklat Likhaan ng Tula at Maikling Kuwento 1995 [Likhaan, University of the Philippines, 1996], Tales of
Courage & Compassion: Stories of Women in the Philippine Revolution [HASIK Inc., 1997], Sa Ngalan ng Ina:
Sandaang Taon ng Tulang Feminista sa Pilipinas, 1889-1989 [University of the Philippines Press, 1997], In the
Name of the Mother: 100 Years of Philippine Feminist poetry, 1889-1989 [University of the Philippines Press, 2002],
Mga Panitikan ng Pilipinas [C & E Publishing, 2007], Sexuality and the Filipina [University of the Philippines Press,
2007], and Filipino Poetry and Martial Law 1970-1987: Clenched Fists and Yellow Ribbons [Edwin Mellen Press,
2016].

In 2005, she was Fulbright Visiting Professor at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Since 2018, she also
taught at Tidewater Community College in Norfolk, where she was adjunct professor of English. She was also a
contributing writer for Hawaii Filipino Chronicle.
Her work was always geared towards achieving social engagement and peace. She once wrote: "One of the most
powerful weapons that enable people to build peace is the imagination. It is the imagination that creatively charts a
new way of doing things, a new order. In the most solitary confines of detention when I had only the wall and the self
to talk with, I fought desolation by keeping my mind at work. I imagined and wrote several stories to and of myself. I
was re-inventing myself and began to discover there were other selves other than the one that was with me. Those
other selves were not as bitter and resentful, even as they were rebellious and free. Those other selves I imagined
were better persons because they were not as shackled and restricted and repressed as I was. The imagination and
desire to be free led me to write poetry."

Si LILIA QUINDOZA SANTIAGO ay naging “Makata ng Taon” ng 1989 sa bisa ng kanyang tulang “Sa Ngalan ng
Ina, ng Anak, ng Diwata’t Paraluman.” Premyado din ang kanyang mga koleksiyon ng tula: ang “Dung-aw at iba
pang tula” (1977), “Ordinaryo” (1990), at “Mga Larawang Pisikal” (1995). Ang mga tulang ito ay kasama sa
dalawang aklat ng tula na nalimbag na, ang Kagampan (Pregnant, Kalikasan Press, 1989) at Asintada (U.P. Press,
1997). Kuwentista rin siya at may koleksiyon ng maikling katha, Ang Manggagamot ng Salay-Salay at iba pang
kuwento (Kalikasan Press, 1989) at editor ng iba’t ibang libro at mga sulatin. Ang kanyang nobelang “Ang Kaulayaw
ng Aguila” ay nagwagi ng Grand Prize sa nobelang Filipino sa Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature.
Si LQS ay anak nina Victorino Quindoza ng Sta. Cruz, Marinduque at Buena Cadanilla ng Solano, Nueva Vizcaya,
at kabiyak ng makata-mang-aawit na si Jesus Manuel Santiago, ina ng apat na anak na sina Haya Pag-asa, Halina
Mandala, Balagtas Himigbayan at Daniw Plaridel. Ipinanganak sa Manaoag, Pangasinan ngunit lumaki at nag-aral
sa Lungsod ng Baguio, napagsasanib niya sa kanyang mga sulatin ang usapin ng kababaihan kaugnay ng mga
katutubo, mga taga-Iloko at iba pang etnolinggwistikong grupo sa Pilipinas. Nagturo siya ng panitikang Pilipino at
malikhaing pagsulat sa U.P., at naging Associate for Fiction sa Likhaan: Sentro ng Malikhaing Pagsulat, U.P.
Diliman, Quezon City.
Noong 2004, pinagkalooban siya ng GAWAD Balagtas ng Unyon ng  mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL) at
nagkamit din siya ng Outstanding Professional Service Award mula sa U.P. Alumni Association. Noong 2005,
naging Fulbright Visiting Professor siya sa Old Dominion University (ODU) sa Norfolk, Virginia U.S.A.
Siya ay naka-base ngayon sa Hawaii, U.S.A.

LILIA QUINDOZA-SANTIAGO Ph. D., Philippine Studies, University of the Philippines, 1991

Works.
Poetry. Kagampan, 1989; Asintada, 1997
Fiction. Ang Manggagamot ng Salay-Salay, 1995 Literary Criticism. Mga Idea at Estilo, 1995; Sa Ngalan ng Ina,
1997
Biography/Nonfiction. Dahil Sa Butil ng Palay: Si Jaime Tadeo at ang Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas, 1992; Tales
of Courage and Compassion: Stories of Women In the Philippine Revolution, 1997
Libretto. Andres, staged by the Philippine Ballet Theatre (PBT), 1996, 1997; Josefa Llanes Escoda,Girl Scouts of the
Philippines, 1998.
Awards. National Centennial Commission-Women's Sector, Gawad Chancellor U.P. Diliman, Urian, Palanca,
Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino, Surian, CCP.
The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people in the Philippines have a distinctive
culture[vague] in society and also have limited legal rights. Gays and lesbians are generally tolerated (if not
accepted) in Filipino society.[citation needed] Despite recent events that have promoted the rights, general
acceptance, and empowerment of the Filipino LGBT community, discrimination remains. Homosexuals in the
Philippines are known as "bakla", though there exist other terms to describe them.[citation needed] Similarly, Filipino
lesbians are generally known as Alfa.[citation needed]
According to the 2002 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Survey, 11 percent of sexually active Filipinos between the
ages of 15 and 24 have had sex with someone of the same sex.[2] According to Filipino poet and critic Lilia
Quindoza Santiago, Filipino culture may have a more flexible concept of gender; kasarian (Tagalog for "gender") is
defined in less binary terms than the English word;[3] kasarian means "kind, species, or genus".[4]
ANG PAGIGING BABAE Lilia Quindoza Santiago

Lilia Quindoza Santiago • Writer and editor • Her works focus on feminism in the lives of the indigenous people, the
Ilocanos, and other ethno-linguistic groups in the Philippines. • She used to teach Philippine literature and Creative
Writing at the University of the Philippines. • She is also an associate for fiction in the Institute of Creative Writing in
U.P. Diliman. • At present, she is an assistant professor of Ilokano language and literature at the University of
Hawai'i at Mānoa.

Ayaw kong isumpa ang pagiging babae Sa panahong ito, kabarong makata, Kahit pa sugatan ang lahat ng sulok Ng
puso ko't kaluluwa. Ayaw kong isuko ang kayariang Ako rin ang bumubuo. Di ko ipamimigay Ang mumunting butil ng
diwang Ako rin ang bumubihay.

Totoong "kasumpa-sumpa Ang maging babae sa panahong ito" Kung panatag nating aakuin Ang hinulmang
pagkatao Sa mga nagdaang siglo Nang walang pagtangi sa sarili O walang pagsalungat sa pang-aapi.

Ngunit ang ganang akin Ang pagkababae'y marami pang kahulugan Bukod sa pagtutol sa kostumbre't kaugalian.
Ang pagiging babae'y pagkatha Ng mga tulang di pa nalilikha; Ang pagiging babae'y pag-awit Ng awiting di pa
naririnig; Ang pagiging babae'y pagtuklas Ng daigdig na di pa natutuklasan;

Ang pagiging babae'y paghubog Ng mundong hindi pa nabubuo; Ang pagiging babae'y pagluwal Ng buhay na hindi
nararanasan.

Ngunit higit sa lahat, ang pagiging babae'y Higit pa sa lahat ng ito Na tayong kababaihan lamang bilang tao Ang
tanging makatatanto.

Obituary
Dr. Lilia Quindoza-Santiago, “LQS” to friends and colleagues, “Nani” to her children and grandchildren, was born in
Manaoag, Pangasinan on February 5, 1949. She grew up in Baguio City, went to Baguio City Highschool, and
became an AFS Scholar in the year 1966-1967. She obtained her B.A. in English (cum laude) in 1971, MA in
Comparative Literature, 1980 and a Ph.D. in Philippine Studies, 1990 from the University of the Philippines. She was
a member of the Pi Gamma Mu International Honor Society.

LQS was a full-blooded educator. To say that teaching was her passion is an understatement. She was a Full
Professor at the University of the Philippines (UP) where she taught for over thirty years. In UP, she was also an
Associate for Fiction at the Likhaan: Sentro ng Malikhaing Pagsulat (Creative Writing Center). In 2005, she was
Fulbright Visiting Professor at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. Upon retirement from UP, she taught at
the University of Hawaii (UH) Manoa where she was Assistant Professor of Ilokano at the Department of Indo Pacific
Languages and Literatures and handled all levels of Ilokano language courses as well as literatures and Philippine
drama. She retired from UH Manoa in 2016 but resumed teaching in 2018 as an Adjunct Professor of English at
Tidewater Community College in Norfolk, Virginia. As a teacher, she went above and beyond the confines of the
classroom. Her all-out support would go as far as bringing a student to the printing press herself so the student could
publish his first book, or generously writing beautiful verses for a student’s first short film. Students were transformed
from being mere pupils to being loyal adoring fans, with some even turning into second daughters/sons whom she
welcomed inside her house anytime.
LQS was a prolific and versatile writer who mastered multiple literary forms. Her works had bagged Grand Prizes
across diverse categories in different award giving bodies, among which is the most prestigious literature award
giving body in the Philippines – the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature. Her portfolio of works
include Sa Ngalan ng Ina, Ng Anak ng Diwata’t Paraluman. (In the Name of the Mother, the Child, the Diwata and
Paraluman) for which she won Makata ng Taon (Poet of the Year) in 1989 a distinction given by the Surian ng
Wikang Pambansa [now the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino], Kaulayaw ng Agila (Eagle’s Lover) a novel which won
the Palanca Grand Prize for the novel in Filipino in 1999, Bayanggudaw (Wanderer) her Tagalog short story which
won the Palanca Grand prize in 2013. Sounds of the Earth, a story in English also won first prize in the Philippines
Free Press literary awards of 2006.

LQS authored, edited, co-edited and written many books among them are In the Name of the Mother: 100 Years of
Philippine Feminist Poetry (UP Press, 2002), Sexuality and the Filipina (UP Press, 2007), Mga Panitikan ng Pilipinas
(Literatures of the Philippines, C & E Publishing, 2007) Kagampan (Pregnant) Poetry in Filipino with English
translations (Kalikasan Press, 1989); Ang Manggagamot ng Salay-Salay at Iba Pang Kuwento her short story
collection [Kalikasan Press, 1989]; Tales of Courage and Compassion: Women in the Philippine Revolution (Hasik,
1996) and Filipino Poetry and Martial Law 1970-1987: Clenched Fists and Yellow Ribbons [Edwin Mellen Press,
2016]. Two of her books, Sa Ngalan ng Ina (1997) (In the Name of the Mother) and Asintada (1997) (Sharp Memory)
won recognition in 2008 as two of the best 100 books published by UP Press in the last 100 years.

LQS was honored as an Outstanding Alumni for Professional Service in Arts and Letters by the University of the
Philippines Alumni Association (UPAA, 2004) and given a Plaque of recognition for her lifetime achievement in
Philippine letters by the UMPIL (Unyon ng Manunulat na Pilipino or Union of Filipino Writers) and the Maria Paz
Mendoza Guazon award for outstanding woman in arts and letters.

LQS was predeceased by her mother Buena C. Quindoza, father Victorino M. Quindoza Sr., older sister Priscilla Q.
Asarias and niece Alana Joy “Lani” Q. Asarias. She is survived by her husband of 43 years, Jesus Manuel Santiago,
daughter Haya Pag-asa and husband Joel Florendo, daughter Halina Mandala and partner Lipa, son Balagtas
Himigbayan and wife Mia Dela Cruz Santiago, son Daniw Plaridel and partner Jackie Alejandro, brother in-law Joe
Asarias, sister Rebecca and husband John Obcemane, brother Victorino (Cesar) and wife Linda Quindoza, brother
Gerry and wife Jennifer Quindoza, grandchildren Elaya Sarita Yzobelle and Elyana Ashia Florendo, Kyrene Agatha
and Kyrene Anika Santiago, and many nieces and nephews whom she cared for as her own.

Through her long list of awards and accomplishments, LQS was simply Nani to her children and grandchildren. She
was such a caring and loving matriarch of the Quindoza-Santiago brood. Her chicken arrozcaldo and seafood kare-
kare would be sorely missed.
During her UH Manoa retirement speech in 2016 she said: "Kanayon a nakalukat dagiti dalan ti wayawaya ken
ayat." The roads of freedom and love are always open. Indeed, as she journeys her way through eternal life, all of us
who were left behind, shall always have those roads she paved for us to marvel and remember.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, February 20th, 2pm at the Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home, Kempsville
Chapel.

Her ashes shall be brought back to the Philippines where a small celebration of her life would be held on March 8th,
International Women’s Day, as a tribute to the phenomenal woman that she was and will always be in the hearts and
minds of those whose lives she touched.

PagPuPugay at pagkilala kay LQS Respected professore

Makabuluhang buhay Prolific writer
Magiting na feminista at aktibista Went to BAGUIO IN 1962
Pakikibaka sa minimithing pagkakapantay One over 350 GRADUATES
Interest at Karapatan ng kababaihan Writer of the year
LQS mas kilala Graduated 1966
Makata, mananaliksik, guro College
36 years in UP English MAJOR
Retired, Ilocano studies, University if Hadii in Manoa – President of Club
9 yrs.
FQS first quarter storm– initial known to many of us
Tide Water Community College who survived the critical years of ph history
Panitiikan ng Pilipinas Made a difference
Sa Ngalan Ng Ina (1997), by prize-winning poet-critic Engaged in activities of Kabataang makabayan
Lilia Quindoza Santiago, is, to date, the most
Malayang kilusan ng bagong kababaihan
comprehensive compilation of feminist writing in the
Philippines.
Nagturo rin sa UP Baguio A FEMINIST FICTION WRITER POINTS OUT ‘ the
media
Lumaki sa baguio
Research and translated “Panulaan ng mga
Dona Aurora Elementary School
kababaihan” English, tagalog, Ilocano
Baguio City High School
Ang isa makata nagsimula sa reklamo ng reklamo,
UP College in Baguio meron tayong dapat ipagreklamo at dapat
ipaghimagsik, pero tapos na tyo roon, ibig sabihin,
1971 graduate , Bachelor of Arts Comparative
weve made our point. Kung talagang ganito ang
Literature, Cum Laude
buhay ng babae, mula noon, hanggagang ngayon,
Teach- Former Up College of Baguio -Instructor 1 – saan tayo patungo? PANO natin mapapaganda ang
1975 mundo ngayong narito na tayo. Ngayon, kit ana natin
ang lahat, kita na natin ang kabuuan. Tama na ang
Instructor 3 – 1977 – 1981 pagkaawa sa sarili, dapat humakbang naman doon.
Lumipat sa Departamento ng Filipino at PANITIKanng Dapat humantonng naman sapagtatanghal sa sarili,
pilipinas sa UP Diliman ng pagkababae. Maramu na sigurong kabataang
babae ngayon na gumagawa nito. – from sarilaysay,
Naging kawani ng kumite ng Public Information tinig ng dalawangpung babae sa sariling danas bilang
manunulat.
Visions and Counter Visions – “ We have learned to
transform reveries and daydream into visions”
Visioning is always creative exercise.
“Sa Ngalan ng Ina/In the Name of the Mother: 100
LQS – Last Quarter Storm Years of Feminist Poetry”
20 books about women and society This book was edited by poet Lilia Quindoza-
Santiago. “It is the first collection of Philippine poetry
She believes that writing confronting about the issue
by women of this scale and magnitude, beginning in
of sexuality is important and the oppressive treatment
1889 up to the country's centennial celebration,” says
is genders in our contemporary society.
Faye Cura. “Containing scholarly texts on the
HIGH SCHOOL women's movement and feminist poetry, it exposes
women's participation in the grand project or ideal of She taught and wrote in Ilokano, Tagalog and English,
‘nation-building’ or ‘writing the nation.’ Super cool too and received awards for her books and works,
because it unequivocally declares itself as a feminist including “Sa Ngalan ng Ina (In the Name of the
collection.” Mother): 100 Years of Philippine Feminist Poetry” that
was published bilingually by UP Press. Santiago was
A writer forged by the flames of martial law
Makata ng Taon (Poet of the Year) in 1989 and
Lilia Quindoza Santiago, passionate teacher of recipient of a plaque of recognition from the Komisyon
language and activist mentor, dies Feb. 16 at age 72 ng Wikang Filipino. Her published research include
“Mga Panitikan ng Pilipinas” (Philippine Literatutes)
and “Sexuality and the Filipina.”

Read more: https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/379533/a- She authored over 20 books, edited several literary

writer-forged-by-the-flames-of-martial- anthologies, was a literary critic, translator and
law/#ixzz6rskfwp9U interpreter for Language Services Hawaii and a
Follow us: @inquirerdotnet on Twitter | inquirerdotnet contributing writer for Hawaii Filipino Chronicle. She
on Facebook turned 72 just 10 days before she died.

Prolific and multiawarded writer, literary critic and Her passing has elicited many virtual eulogies online
educator Lilia Quindoza Santiago died on Feb. 16, from the local community of writers, academics and
leaving as her legacy a voluminous and celebrated many individuals whose lives she touched as both a
body of work, and many lessons taught across diverse teacher and a writer—and through her activism.
fields of discipline.
Filmmaker Sari Dalena posted her grief on Facebook:
Santiago retired as an assistant professor of Ilokano “Paalam, Tita Lilia Quindoza Santiago! You have
language and literature at the Department of Indo- deeply touched my life with your feminist poems and
Pacific Languages and Literatures at the University of writing—your ‘Sa Ngalan ng Ina’ / ‘In the Name of the
Hawaii at Manoa (UHM), and worked at Tidewater Mother.’ ‘Asintada,’ ‘Filipino Poetry and Martial Law’
Community College as an adjunct professor of transformed me. You were a generous mentor who
English. She also worked as a consultant to the wrote beautiful verses for my first short film. I still kept
National Foreign Language Center, a research the precious manuscripts you gave me. Love you, Tita
institute of the University of Maryland, up to the time of Lilia! Rest in Peace.”
her death.

POLITICAL PRISONER Powerful writing

Her character was, in a way, forged in the hell of
Writer and activist Aida CF Santos recalled Santiago
martial law as surely as gold is purified in the intense
with profound condolences for her friend’s bereaved
heat of a crucible. She had been a student activist and
kin: “Mahigpit na yakap sa pamilya ni Lilia Quindoza
a political prisoner of the Marcos regime, under which
Santiago—barkada simula noong 1960s, kasama, ka-
she was detained and tortured at the military camp of
manunulat, guro at ina sa kanilang mga anak ni Jess.
Fort Bonifacio before joining the faculty of the
Matinding pagdadalamhati mula sa aming lahat. (Tight
University of the Philippines (UP), where she taught
embraces for the family of Lilia Quindoza Santiago—a
for three decades, and later, for nine years at UHM.
friend since the 1960s, companion, cowriter, teacher
Her teaching career saw her take on such posts as and mother to her children with Jess. All of us offer
professor of English, Philippine languages (Ilokano our most heartfelt condolences).”
and Tagalog), Philippine and Asian (Southeast Asian)
In her Facebook post, Karapatan secretary general
Studies, Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies and
Tinay Palabay spoke of the power of Santiago’s
Popular Culture. She was also an award-winning
writing: “Hindi ko man siya naging guro sa
writer and lifelong scholar. As prolific as she was in
unibersidad, ang kanyang mga panulat ay nag-iwan
her writing, teaching was her passion.
ng napakaraming aral para sa aking kamalayan.
Nitong mga nakaraang taon, finally, nakilala ko na
siya at nakaugnayan ko siya sa mga aktibidad para sa midwife and was also popular as a hilot [T].[2] Her
mga bilanggong pulitikal, bilang dating bilanggong services were sought after not only by pregnant
pulitikal din si LQS. Pakikiramay kay Koyang Jess at women but by others who had problems with their
sa buong pamilya. (Even if she was not my teacher in bodies. She could heal young women who had
university, her writings have left so many lessons for dysmenorrhea, fix dislocated joints and had herbal
my consciousness. I finally got to know LQS over the cures for inflamed skin. She was a mang-aatang [G],
last few years and I was able to interact with her on [3] one who ministered to the sick by food offerings
activities for political prisoners. Condolences to Kuya and prayers. She also did buniag iti sirok ti latok [I].
Jess and to their whole family).” [4] a ritual of rebaptism described by Isabelo de los
Reyes in his book El Folklore Filipino.[5] In this ritual,
Palabay also included Santiago’s poem “Sa Ngalan ng
the spiritual leader prays over a sickly child and gives
Ina, ng Anak, ng Diwata’t Paraluman” in her post. The
her a new name. Inang did a simple rite: she would
last four lines of that poem deliver the power of the
utter a new name then place an egg on a plate and
divine feminine at prayer: “Basbasan ang aking
when the egg could stand then the new name was
pagsalakay sa karawagan, / Pagpalain nawa ako sa
adopted. She rebaptised my two sisters so that they
taimtim na paglaban / Ngayon, hanggang
would not be so sickly.
katubusan. // Sa ngalan ng ina, ng anak, ng diwata’t
 
paraluman. (Bless my assault on cowardice. / May my
heartfelt battle be victorious / Now, until redemption. // Many women believed Inang had the power to heal
In the name of the mother, of the goddess and the their barrenness; she had the power to make them
muse.)” pregnant, bear children and give birth more easily.
Stories about her skills as midwife included being able
to fix the position of the child in the womb. When the
Syncretic Ethnosexual Rites: baby's feet came out first during labour she would put
Intersections of Sexuality and Ethnicity among the little feet back into the womb, slowly massage the
Filipinos womb to help the baby tumble and possibly turn
around head first toward the cervix and come out
Lilia Quindoza Santiago through normal delivery.
 
I remember asking Inang Onor how she was able to
do the things she was doing—that is, helping people
get rid of their illnesses, helping women give birth or
even helping them get pregnant. Inang said it was a
Introduction gift from God Almighty, her 'Apo Dios a Mannakabalin'
[I]. Inang Onor was a devout Seventh-day Adventist
HER INSPIRATIONS IN WRITING FEMINIST
and went to Sabbath every Saturday.
STORIES
 
The midwife,her auntie, and her teacher during her
Ninang Lourdes is a woman from the Ibaloi tribe of
masters degree
Benguet province in Northern Luzon. When she
 
embraced the Catholic faith, she continued to
celebrate the indigenous rites she had known from
I begin with stories of three women who taught me childhood. She became my mother's best friend. I
important and practical lessons on sexuality, ethnicity remember the Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays
and citizenship. Inang Onor is a partera [I] when she and my mother would go to church early in
or comadrona [T],[1] which are terms Filipinos use to the morning. They wore white Catholic Women's
mean midwife. She assisted my mother in giving birth League (CWL) attire with blue sashes around their
to me. So I consider myself 'home-made.' My older waists. Because Ninang Lourdes did not like hospitals,
sister and I were both born at home through Inang she gave birth at home too. Her days of giving birth
Onor's skills as a partera. She was self-taught as a became occasions for neighbourhood gatherings
because she would invite everyone into her backyard Both women embraced their religions in order to
to await her baby's first cry. She would sponsor engage in rituals and make their vocations legitimate.
a canao [Sp],[6] also known as kanyaw in Ilokano, It was mainly through rites and rituals that they could
which is a ritual among peoples of Cordillera, a region vigorously assert their ethnicity and sexuality. To do
in Northern Luzon, Philippines. Canaos celebrate this, they had to have an abiding faith in the teachings
birth, courtship and marriage, victory in war, and of the church to which they belonged.
harvests. Paeans are sung to the gods to heal illness,  
to make rain during a drought or seek help during
Inang Onor, needed the Seventh-day Adventist
moments of danger and death. That she still
doctrine to gain grounding and credibility in the
celebrated the canao and even encouraged others to
community. This is especially important with reference
join her in these rituals is testament to her
to her crucial role in the processes of human health
commitment to keep ethnic roots intact. She was
and reproduction. I admired her resilience in faith, but
determined to preserve and even propagate the rites
more than that, she taught me the unique power of
of her upbringing and blend these with her catholic
woman to procreate and to sustain the life of a
faith.
community. I think one of the reasons I was never
 
afraid to give birth myself was because I knew I had
The third woman is Dr. Dolores Feria, my teacher in Inang's blessings by me during labour. Birth giving,
comparative literature at the University of the she had taught me, is a ritual, a necessary social rite
Philippines in the 1970s Apart from inspiring me to that was needed by society to keep itself alive.
study world literature and learn of socially engaged,  
protest literature, Dy, as we fondly called her, became
Dolores Feria is another story. She is my own perfect
my close friend especially during the imposition of
example of how one can choose one's citizenship in
martial law in the Philippines. Dolores Feria was born
order to live a fuller and more meaningful life. She
Dorothy Stephens, an American citizen from
embraced Philippine life and became Filipina with
Marcellus, Washington but changed her name to
intense patriotism, an identity act which put her in
Dolores when she opted to marry Rodrigo Feria, an
trouble with the Marcos dictatorship. I was her student
Ilokano and a good friend of Carlos Bulosan. She
at the University but we were peers in those dark days
opted to become a Filipina, lived and died in the
as we fought the fascists through the underground
Philippines.
movement during martial law. She advocated for a
 
literature of refusal among Third World writers: 'the
What are the lessons that I learned from these refusal to accept the freaked out cynicism of the
women? One is resilience in belief and faith to assert overdeveloped world.'[7]
ethnicity and sexual roles. Sexual roles, broadly  
defined here refers to differentiated work and
She authored The Long Stag Party[8] which analyses
responsibilities for men and women in society.
and criticises Filipino machismo as embedded in
Another is the significance of rites and rituals in
family, social and political life. It was from her that I
summoning a community and the third is recognition
learned some of the most radical changes that are
of the virtue of choice in the affirmation of ethnicity in
desirable for Filipinos. From her I learned how gender
citizenship.
and sexuality could be deployed for affirmative action
 
towards citizenship.
Inang Onor and Ninang Lourdes were able to  
reconcile and blend their own ways of looking at the
I use their stories now as personal references for a
world with colonialist introduced religions. For Ninang
discussion of the significance of sexuality, the
Lourdes, to be a devout Catholic and still practice the
language/s of the body in rites and rituals that bind
native canao, which is considered a pagan animistic
community. These stories lead to an understanding of
rite was perfectly all right. For Inang Onor, there was
the intertwining sexual and ethnic norms and
no problem in becoming a devout Seventh-day
processes in the Philippines. These processes, I
Adventist and practising as healer of body and spirit.
argue can lead to more harmonious social and even
political life and relations. They illustrate how The Ati-atihan predated Spanish colonialism and is
responsible citizenship can be moulded in the believed to have begun in the thirteenth century.
Philippines and in places where Filipinos have [16] The rite is a form of Dionysiac revelry and festivity
migrated throughout the world. where drinking, chanting and dancing are done to the
beat of drums. The participants are mostly adult
males. When the Catholic Church accepted the
Syncretic communal ethnosexual rites indigenous Ati[17] into its fold, the Ati-atihan was
  transformed into a Christian ritual and became festivity
in honour of the birth of Jesus Christ, or the Santo
Anthropologists historians and sociologists define
Niñno. A common belief is that the Ati-Atihan began
syncretism as the presentation of belief systems that
when datus from Borneo fled their islands, landed in
widely differ and sometimes even contradict each
Panay and were received cordially by the natives. The
other yet are blended and become one in ritual.
natives called Ati who were mostly black nomadic
[9] Syncretic broadly defined then means the melding
tribes then ceded their lands to the newcomers as
or welding of ethnic indigenous traditions with colonial
they trekked to the mountains to find newer fields to
foreign traditions. The blending of animistic rites which
cultivate. But this story of the Bornean Datus in Panay
are considered pagan with the Catholic liturgy is a
has been subjected to scrutiny by historians and has
good example of syncretism Filipinos have reinvented
been found wanting in terms of historical accuracy.
Catholicism because of the melding and welding of
[18] So, the story is now considered only a legend or a
ethnic rites with the liturgy of the Catholic faith.[10]
myth. Anyway, the myth still tells how every year at
 
the time of harvests, the Ati would come down from
Rites and rituals are distinguished from political rallies the mountains to celebrate the bountiful harvest and
and popular assemblies in terms of organisation and dance with those on the plains. Those who have
purpose. Political rallies, popular assemblies and settled in the lowlands meet the Ati. In harmony with
cause-oriented mobilisations are largely run by the Ati, the lowlanders paint themselves black.
organised forces and often focus on issues of current  
concern. Rites on the other hand are structured along
Held for two weeks from the second Sunday of
custom and traditional lines. In rite and ritual, people
January in Kalibo, Aklan, the last three days of
come together to partake voluntarily and of their own
celebration turn wild as people adorn themselves in
accord to celebrate custom or tradition. People who
colourful attires, paint their bodies and faces black, at
partake in customary rituals follow what the occasion
times using mud, then march through the streets with
preaches and demands.
the rhythmic beating of drums and shouting, 'Hala
 
Bira, Puwera Pasma!'[Ceb]. (Go, Go, Dig, Punch,
Syncretism is manifest in Philippine religious rituals Save us from fatigue). This celebration of plenitude
such as the Ati-atihan in Kalibo, Aklan,[11] the Sayaw and harvest was appropriated by the Catholic
sa Obando which features street and altar dancing in authorities in the colonial period because they could
Obando, Bulacan,[12] the Santacruzan which is now not stop the indigenes from observing festivity during
held in various parts of the archipelago,[13] and the harvest time. Churchgoers were then made to observe
feast of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo, Manila. the festival also as the celebration of the birth of the
[14] These rituals are well attended. People from the child Jesus which can arguably be interpreted as
community and other areas in the country, tourists and festivity over birth with all its blessings of life and
foreign visitors are present in large numbers during abundance. The slogan, 'hala bira' has overtones of
these rituals. Filipinos claim ownership of these rites sexual virility and pleasure.
even as Catholic authorities appropriated them as part  
of colonisation and Catholic indoctrination.[15]
Why does the Ati-atihan become wild in the last three
days after novenas and prayers? Why did the friars
choose to adopt the Ati-atihan as the rite in
The Ati-atihan [T] as a masculine celebration of virility
celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ? There can be
 
as many explanations but I believe that the friars
understood that this was a celebration of men's virility. persisted in the celebrations. The Catholic authorities
The men release libidinal energy when they shout had to adopt the rite as part of church ritual.
'Hala Bira, puwera pasma!' [Ceb] (Go, go, avoid  
fatigue) as they beat drums and sometimes take off
The three patron saints of the festivity are St. Pascual
clothes in the streets and dance almost naked.
Baylon to whom people, mostly women, pray for
suitable partners.The services of St. Claire are
invoked by couples wishing to have children, and the
The Sayaw sa Obando [T] (Dance in Obando) as
Virgin of Salambao is prayed to by those wishing for
fertility rite
prosperity and wealth. Fisherfolk narrate this anecdote
 
about how the Virgin of Salambao was found as an
The Ati-atihan as celebration of virility and abundance image floating in the sea. They then attempted to set
of harvest is related to the Sayaw sa Obando. (Dance sail for Malabon but their boat would not move; when
in Obando) which is a fertility rite. Couples dance to the fishers rowed in the direction of Obando, their boat
Saint Claire, Virgin of Obando to seek grace and was able to set sail. So the people believe the Virgin
blessings to have a child. Others dance thankful for of Salambao is for the inhabitants of Obando.
having been blessed with children. Celebrated on 17,  
18 and 19 May every year as feasts of Saint Pascual
While most of the crowds sing the traditional song, a
Baylon, Saint Claire and the Virgin of Salambao,
more rowdy and sacrilegious song is sung by men
people sing, dance, drink, beat drums in the street
alongside the procession and by the less devout
procession that finally enters the church. At the altar,
participants who want to add colour to the festivity.
masses of people continue to dance and sing. The
The song, as I recollect, is sung humorously but
traditional religious song in my own recollection as I
illustrates interrogation of the rite itself and even hints
attended the festival over the years was about the
at spousal infidelity and abuse:
request for spouses from Saint Claire, the patron saint
of those who wish to have children.

Santa Clarang pinong pino (St. C

Santa Clarang, pinong-pino (St. Claire, most pure) Kami po ay bigyan n'yo (Plea
Anak po kami'y bigyan n'yo (Please bless us with a Ng
child)
asawang labintatlo (Thirt
Pagdating po sa Obando (When we reach Obando) (Who
Sa golpe walang reklamo
batte
Ipagsasayaw ng pandango [T]. (We will dance the pandango).

  Philippine national hero Jose Rizal, in his novel, Noli

Me Tangere,[21] used the tale of the miraculous
The sayaw (dance) is done mostly by women and this
impregnation of women by St. Claire of Obando as a
song is also sung mostly by women accompanied by a
satiric device to criticise the abuses of priests during
band. The rite is feminine with the women dressed in
the Spanish conquest in the Philippines. The heroine
Philippine attire such as the terno, the tapis and
of the novel, Maria Clara is known to have been born
the saya and dance the pandango in the streets and
as a result of a miracle of St. Claire as her mother,
at the altar.[20]
Dona Pia Alba, danced in Obando. But in reality,
 
Maria Clara is sired by an abusive priest, Padre
People in the town believe that the sayaw or dance, Damaso who violates his vow of chastity to have an
like the Ati-atihan, predated Spanish colonisation. affair with Dona Pia Alba. Pia Alba is married to a
People of the town narrate that at one time, the Chinese businessman, Don Santiago de los Santos.
celebration was banned from going inside the church Rizal configured Padre Damaso, with a similar satiric
because of the rowdiness of the crowd. But the people intent that is expressed in these sacrilegious lyrics and
overtones by a public not entirely convinced of the The Santacruzan is procession in honour of St.
message and effectiveness of the miracle in the dance Helene and her son Constantine who founded the
ritual. cross of Jesus in Christian mythology. This is one of
the rites for women in the month of May. The other
rite, Flores de Mayo, is held at the beginning of the
The Black Nazarene: a ritual for male absolution of sin month. In the Flores de Mayo, young women carry
  flowers to the altar in honour of the Virgin Mary.
 
The feast of the Black Nazarene is traced to the
worship of a burnt statue of Christ transported from The Santacruzan, is a re-enactment of St. Helene's
Mexico to the islands in 1607.[22] Celebrated on 9 finding of the cross of Jesus Christ with her son
January every year, this festivity is a crowded ritual of Constantine. In this ritual, the community's girls and
males in procession at the church of Quiapo, hub of women with men as their escorts are garbed in
the city of Manila. The devotees, mostly men, luxurious attire to perform some twenty-five different
surround the fallen and burnt Christ statue and roles in the procession, starting with the Methuselah,
attempt to get their bodies near him. Some men throw the banderada (flag or banner woman) the Aeta (the
pieces of cloth, towel or kerchief for the sacristans indigene) the Mora, (the Muslim women) then the
guarding the statue to wipe on the icon. The different queens or Reynas—Reynas Fe, Esperanza,
sacristans then throw back the pieces of material to Caridad, Abogada, Sentenciada, Justicia, Judith,
their owners in the crowd. The owners, who are lucky Sheba, Esther, Samaritana, Veronica, the Tres
to get back their pieces of cloth, use them in an Marias, Marian, Ave Maria, Paz, Propeta, Cielo,
attempt to heal various types of bodily ailments— Virgines, Reyna de los Flores and Reyna Elena
sickness, deformity or disability. The cloth may also be (Queen Helene) who is the most illustrious of them all
used to relieve an aching heart or a tormented soul. and wears the most exquisite of gowns. Often, the
  most beautiful women in the town are selected to
represent various queens, some of whom are derived
The centre of the celebration, the Quiapo church in
from the Bible but some are already invented
Manila, is surrounded by vendors hawking different
characters—from local realities like the Aeta to
kinds of herbs, candles, rosaries and other religious
represent the Aetas and the Mora to represent Muslim
items. Some of the herbal items vended around the
communities.
church are known to be an aid for procuring an
 
abortion. Women boil the herbs drink the juice extract
and expect to abort foetuses from unwanted Seen today, in all its gorgeousness, the Santacruzan
pregnancies. There is thus, a curious semiotic becomes an occasion for a woman or a man to look
significance of the fallen and burnt Christ vis-à-vis the for a partner. A most recent development of the
male devotees as they practice penance for their sins Santacruzan is its appropriation and observance by
and the surrounding environment that peddles herbs Filipino gays. The Babaylan, a Manila-based group of
for abortion and its consequences to sinners. The gays staged a Santacruzan in 2007 in observance of
'almost all' male crowd, which generally numbers over one of the Lantern Parades held annually at the
a million yearly, prays for the forgiveness of sins. University of the Philippines grounds. The use of the
There is a powerful message implicated by this ritual ritual by gay men is a declaration not only of 'coming
in a fiercely Catholic country that condemns adultery, out' as gay but also as an appropriation of a rite that
abortion and sins of lust related to sexual and illicit belongs to all citizens, not just to the richest clans or
pleasure—as well as abortion. to the most beautiful of women. Gay santacruzans
have mushroomed all over the country and are
positive indicators of acceptance by the gay
The Santacruzan as a come on for courtship and community of the effects of ethno-sexuality in positive
mating citizenship.
   
The episodes and the actions that are shown in all negotiation with settlers to preserve lands, bodies,
these rituals are native inventions. The sequential harvests as all these assure the preservation and
order by which the rites are observed, the adulation promulgation of the race, the genealogy, of the puli [I]
for the icons varies in accordance with the customs or the angkan [T]. Conservation of the culture,
and traditions of the place and are improvised upon language and heritage become significant but are
depending on the milieu and the particular community pursued at a later time because before all these
which holds or sponsors the rite. Entire communities happen, there has to be a meeting, a connection
participate in these rites; guests are invited to share between matters of sexuality and ethnic progeny.
and partake of the revelry and the food. Tourists from  
different places of the world who want to learn and
The festivities are a way of announcing and
study the rite come and stay and mingle with the
proclaiming that the season for mating and the
celebrants.
processes that follow—courtship, marriage,
 
procreation and birth giving—has begun and that
In these rituals, one can witness very clear anyone eligible could partake in all the celebrations
intersections, interrelations, interactions of sexual and be blessed through rituals. Men and women who
norms and ethnic practices. I use the term syncretic reach the age of puberty become eligible for marriage.
ethno-sexual rites here because of the use of They announce their status in the festivity. They may
indigenous custom for initiation into the sexual world. also, through these rites, announce their sexual
The participant celebrants, through traditional songs preferences and orientations as in the gay
and dances and prayers collectively express and Santacruzan.
manifest a desire for ethnic perpetuation and  
celebration. The desire for ethnic perpetuation
Ethno-sexual rites for these communities are made
connotes sexual procreative acts as well as ethnic
public and people come out, shedding all inhibitions,
commemoration. Whole communities march in towns
to release physical and libidinal energy. Sexuality or
and villages invoking blessings for continued virility,
sexualities are unfolded for the public as the
fertility and overall well-being of body and spirit.
merriment becomes a rite of passage and a good
 
occasion for socialisation. For ethnic Filipinos,
Celebrations like these are better explained from their therefore, matters of sexuality have always been out
ethnic beginnings. These festivities were intended to in the public sphere and these are matters that invite
create space for the expression of various forms of talk, reflection and discourse. However, the
desire, collective and individual. They signal initiation catholicisation process tended to ignore this aspect of
into adulthood. Young men and women are introduced the ethnic peoples' lives. The Spaniards' desire to
to the sexual world thus the flirting, sexual seduction, catholicise created some kind of moral turgidity as the
display or virility and the release of libidinal energy. priests who presided over the liturgy either purposely
The Ati-atihan and Santacruzan festivel are now so erased or glossed over the sexual overtures of the rite
popular that many towns and municipalities all over in order to observe these as 'proper' canonical
the country have adopted them. The Ati-atihan Catholic rituals.
becomes the starting ceremony to call upon citizens to  
come out, join the celebrations and actively participate
This moral turgidity by the Catholic priests may be
in the feast. The Santacruzan serves as a central,
sourced from the writings of the early chroniclers of
crowning and final rite of the festival.
the Spanish conquest. They had bared their intentions
early on of colonising the bodies of the natives since
they misunderstood the man-woman relationships
Rite as negotiations to encode identity
among the indigenes.[23] They insisted that men
 
lacked control over their wives. They wrote that
These ethno-sexual rites traced from their cultural sometimes, men tolerated even 'adultery' by their
roots are important processes in defining and wives.[24] Their self-righteous intent to preside over
encoding identity. The Ati-atihan for instance, is a the bodies and sexual desires of
the pintados[25] insisted on the 'lewdness and viewpoint and centuries-long experience of ethnic
unchastity of the women'[26] who persisted in their Filipinos, I believe I have helped start a conversation
conduct. They narrate how the women were even for a healthier and more open, wholesome discussion
encouraged by their mothers because they incurred of sexuality in the diverse ethnic and language groups
'no punishment.'[27] These observations betray lack of in the Philippines.
understanding of the sexual freedom of the pre-  
colonial woman and of the premium placed by
It will benefit Filipino communities to seek common
communal life on ethnic and racial perpetuity.
ground and start from their roots as it were, in the
 
resolution of various conflicts and problems that
The priests, Juan P. Noceda and Pedro Sanlucar pervade social and political life. Mounting these kinds
made a dictionary of the Tagalog language of rituals and infusing them with a communal
entitled, Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala in 1754 and significance can be explored. Putting up the Ati-atihan
in this, and in many dictionaries of Philippine for example, to call attention to the desire to eliminate
indigenous languages, they are known to have the social divide between lowlander and highlander
omitted vocabulary pertaining to sex and sexual populations would be useful. Making street dances
matters.[28] However, ethnic Filipinos were smart and processions as community processes that
enough to have these inscribed in their oral and engender and define can promote the common good.
performative literatures and this explains the existence Finally, continuity and perpetuation of the race can be
and persistence of these ethno-sexual rites. These promoted by opening up discussions and
rituals continue to gain supporters among local and conversations on the intersections of sexuality and
indigenous communities and they are consciously ethnicity as self-affirming modes of identity formation
performed to mark identity, celebrate virility and and responsible citizenship. Resilience and
fertility and seek blessings for the health of body, mind negotiations can be valuable tools in resolving
and spirit. differences. The mounting and observation of rites to
seek absolution for misguided steps and actions is
also a possibility.
Sexuality and social agency  
 
I am aware that national and global developments
Sexuality has always been a matter that is made have made discussions of ethnicity and sexuality
public because coming to terms with one's sexuality intricate and complex. Feminist theoreticians speak of
and sexual orientation is a social as well as a public the sexualisation of race and racialisation of sex—'that
act. Robert Padgug affirms this as he claims that sex is raced and race is sexed' and which suggests
sexuality, although a part of material reality, is not in that there is such a thing as ethno-sexuality.[32]
itself an object or thing.[29] He believes sexuality to be  
part of a process, or rather, a group of social relations
Ethnicity has become a complex and perplexing issue
consisting of different kinds of human interactions.
because of layers of definitions and re-definitions,
Sexuality insists on the relational and consists of
delineations, boundaries and borders. People have
activity and interactions—active social relations and
crossed and crisscrossed ethnic borders and ethnic
not simply 'acts' as if sexuality 'were the enumeration
progenies. Intermarriages have given birth to creole
and typology of an individual's orgasms a position
and mestizo classes. Sometimes four, five or even six
which puts the emphasis back on the individual alone.
races are mixed in the blood of one person. One can
[30] In other words, one cannot claim to be a sexual
have Spanish, Filipino, Japanese, Chinese-
being without having or knowing sex. Sexuality is the
Portuguese, Hawaiian ethnicities. Ethnicity today, like
totality of one's sexual knowledge, beliefs, attitudes,
sexuality is negotiated. The limits, the boundaries for
values and behaviours of individuals.[31]
definitions expand and contract according to place,
 
time and milieu. Joane Nagel is right in claiming that
In forwarding the social, rather than simply the ethnicity is not merely a feature of one's ethnic
individualistic notion of sexuality, from the standpoint, ancestry; that the social definition of one's ethnicity
and nationality is decided and given meaning through centuries now.
one's conscious interactions with others and that an  
individual's ethnicity is as much the property of others
A coming together of these diverse cultural groups, a
as it is the person's making the ethnic claim.[33]
communing with and sharing of similarities and
 
differences can help define commonality as well as
The age of globalisation, cyberspace and digital community. Ethno-sexual rites, syncretic, indigenous
technology has contributed to the preservation, or native have the capacity to bring together the
conservation and documentation of ethnic identity. diverse and continually diversifying groups into some
Peculiarity and uniqueness are captured, and ethnic kind of recognition of commonness in vision and
identities are becoming more distinguished. There are desire. A voluntary and willful recognition of a positive
even more exact sciences that determine progeny and multicultural, multiethnic identity is possible. Such a
more fascinating technology to preserve memory. recognition will contribute to social vitality and
Filipinos wherever they may be in the world today progress. The rites and rituals like the ones I have
should take advantage of these developments. I am described above can be very useful in achieving this.
partial to memory, because memory serves both as a
link to the past, and a bridge to the future. Memory is
both resistance to subjection and a weapon against
cultural interloping and encirclement. That is why I
treasure the memory of the three women who have
taught me early in life, some very basic lessons on
ethnicity and sexuality.
 
Inang Onor will always remind me to celebrate birth
and to choose life and health over everything else.
Ninang Lourdes will always remind me to keep my
feet on the ground, keep my roots intact and stay
close to home and hearth, even as strange
orientations fly overhead, and of course, Dolores Feria
is the quintessential exile in an ethnic country—a
woman who chose freedom over servility.
 
I say this now as Filipinos roam the globe with
memories of the homeland and with their sexualities
and ethnicities always expanding and contracting by
choice and by necessity. There are over a hundred
different ethnolinguistic and sectoral Filipino groups
and these are culturally diverse groups which have
different languages and literatures, differences in
tastes in food, clothing, shelter, landscape and
architecture, forms of worship, beliefs, customs and
most of all, agendas for social progress and
development. Yet, differences cannot at once
constitute disadvantage. Differences per se are no
impediments to progress and can even be used to
promote progress. Difference becomes corrosive only
when they are manipulated to produce exploitative
power relations. This is what has happened for