Where the Sky is Upside Down

We stopped in the middle of the sea. The four of us in a boat knew each other in different degrees. It didn't matter. 

At that moment, 'freedom' was risk- abandoning life vests and boat, along with my father's template words I never heed- "wag masyadong malakas ang loob at malaki ang tiwala, Jen" ("not too brave, nor trusting, Jen"). 

But I've decided that I'm more curious than I am scared. 

The four of us plunged in different directions, crossing each other's currents once in a while in smiles we could not open to speak. Never mind the words, they didn't matter.

We stayed in a fishing village in Palawan, where people were taught by the soil and tides how to live. 

"People of the world", their name would suggest. The Tagbanua group sings of an epic about an adventurer named Dumaracol. The hero's tale is sung during the waxing moon, or as part of ceremonies for the dead. 

The chanting slowly dies down. The people of the world shift to new ways of living.

The series of photos were taken during a trip to Palawan to document the dying epic, Dumaracol, of the Kalamianen Tagbanua. 

This research has been conducted by Sir Eulalio Guieb III, and I am very honored to have been part of this team :)

For Nay Pipin, Kuya Susoy, Kuya Nanding, Nay Lydia, Kuya Nickson, Aina, Benjie, and all the warm people of the fishing villages and islands. 

For Palawan, the birthplace of my many firsts,

where time is free for the taking, and where the sky is upside down.

I went home and told my father I misplaced his words but I found something else. 

It was neither in the church nor in the heavens. And it invited us to swim. That, I heeded.

Sandwiched in the middle of two of the most awesome men I've come to know, my favorite professor, Sir Eulalio Guieb III and his son, Julian.