As soon as my name was called, photos of my various life stages faded in and out of the big screen. Then an excerpt of one of my books was voiced and scrolled up. On stage I was handed a heavy and awesome wooden trophy hand-carved by national artist and writer Manuel Baldemor.
It was moment so special I have no words to describe how I felt.
In my two-minute speech, I had wished to express the gamut of feelings churning my guts. I tried, but sometimes, words are inadequate to say it all:
"I am a true-blue Ilocana. In my time, the medium of instruction was English. Imagine my shock and awe when I came upon Florante at Laura in my High School Filipino class. Although the language was difficult to understand, I found the words beautifully written.
"Unfortunately, I had no chance to learn this beautiful language because the children’s books and classics in those days were all in English. Also because after graduating from UP, I went abroad for further studies.
"Many years later, back in the Philippines, I followed my heart and focused on writing—in the language that I read in books and taught me in school. I had dreamed of writing in Filipino, too, so I wrote a piece, which I slaved over for days, and sent it to my friend, Luis Gatmaitan*, for his comments.
"The piece came back with more comments than my original manuscript. So I wrote another piece and sent it to him. After maybe the 5th try, Luis returned the manuscript to me and said, 'Grace, ang payo ko, mag-English ka na lang!' (Grace, my advice is, stick to English!)
"Forty published children’s books later, I read on Facebook that UMPIL has recognized my work in English. I read and re-read my name aloud. Me?! A GAWAD BALAGTAS awardee?! In my joy, I jumped so high—if I were taller, I might have reached the sky.
"To UMPIL, you can’t imagine how honored I am for this recognition. It means the world to me. Please be assured that this true-blue Ilocana, who writes only in English, will treasure this GAWAD BALAGTAS forever and ever.
"I offer it to the One who enables me to write."
* * *
*A Palanca Hall-of-Fame Awardee, an excellent writer in Filipino, and a pediatrician, whom I fondly call my BFF
(to be continued)
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