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1) Dead Stars. (1925) by Paz Marquez-Benitez - 3 STARS
This is the first Philippine short story written in English. Paz Marquez Benitez
(1894-1983) was among the first generation of Filipinos trained in the American
education system which used English as the medium of instruction. She was a mem
ber of the first freshman class of the University of the Philippines, graduating
with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1912. Her prose is most of the time lyrical a
nd her choice of words is very eloquent. It's just that I thought Alfredo's char
acter is caricaturist and the way he is portrayed is quite unrealistic for a rat
ional man.
2) The Bolo. (1927) by Loreto Paras-Sulit - 3 STARS
Two sisters who are so poor they have nothing to eat anymore. Their only hope is
to sell a historical bolo that dates back during the time when Malaysia was rul
ed by a king. The plot is interesting, the prose is crisp and succinct. However,
the denouement is a bit lacking.
3) Desire. (1928) by Paz Latorena - 4 STARS
This is a very intelligent short story. It poses two questions that I never thou
ght of asking myself. One for each gender. For women: if a man looks at you with
sexual malice, do you get flattered or annoyed? For men: can you really appreci
ate women more than their physical beauty?
4) Zita. (1930) by Arturo B. Rotor - 2 STARS
Feels very ordinary. A man teaching his daughter from the province on how to be
a lady so when she comes to the city, she would not be looked down by the city f
olks. I did not really enjoy reading this because of the abrupt changes in the p
oint of view and the insertion of descriptions of milieu and seem to just have c
ome from nowhere.
5) Footnote to Youth. (1930) by Jose Garcia Villa - 5 STARS
Heart-breaking story. I remember reading this when I was in high school and it d
id not have the same impact now that I am a father to a 17-y/o teenager. The cyc
le of life. The worries of a parent when their child asks for permission to marr
y. Simply beautiful.
6) Conservation. (1931) by Juan Cabreros Laya - 4 STARS
Laya was a Pangasinense and he was able to include local colors to this beautifu
lly sad story. There are some disorientating sentences and it took time for me t
o figure out the relationships of the characters. However, once you have that cl
ear, the story is really solid that I thought I should give this a 5-star too. B

ut just to be fair to Villa in #5 that is really wonderful.

7) How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife. (1934) by Manuel E. Arguilla - 5 STA
RS
Said to be "The Most Famous Philippine Short Story in English," this is another
story in the collection that evoked a stronger meaning to me now that I am a mid
dle-aged man. The first time I read this was when I was 12 and a freshman high s
chool and I just brushed this aside as a school requirement. Now that I am 47, t
he deeper meaning like Baldo's (the narrator) family is the Philippines and Mari
a (his brother's wife) is the Americans puts my reading into a totally different
perspective.
8) Five Snapshots. (1936) by Lina Flor - 4 STARS
Soledad S. Reyes has said this about Lina Flor: "she is the most neglected Filip
ino writer." I don't know Lina Flor but if this story can be the basis, I think
Reyes has made a good point. The story is beautiful: she made use of 5 high scho
ol pictures (snapshots) to tell, in only 7 pages, the life story of these 5 girl
s. Lina Flor spent only 7 pages what Muriel Sparks did with 128 pages in her mas
terpiece The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (2 stars).
9) It Isn't Just Horses. (1938) by Alfredo E. Litiatco - 3 STARS
This reminded me of Michelle Van Eimmeren who picks up stray kittens on the stre
ets. It also poses the question: why do human beings need to die?
10) The Mats. (1938) by Francisco Arcellana - 4 STARS
The very first work of Arcellana (born 1916) who is one of the National Artists
of the Philippines for Literature. His prose seems to be simple because he uses
exact words yet his setting is vivid and detailed. The story is about a family w
hose father works out of town and brings home gifts when he comes back home. One
of those gifts is a bundle of specially-made mats for all the members of the fa
mily including those that have already died.
11) Blue Blood of the Big Astana. (1941) by Ibrahim A. Jubaira - 4 STARS
Jubaira is the leading Muslim fiction writer in the Philippines. I find this sto
ry special because it proves that even if Muslims and Christians have different
religions, our love for each other as countrymen can transcend whoever we consid
er as God. Another universal truth that is in this story is the wheel of life: s
ometimes you're up, sometimes you're down. So, always be nice to everyone.
12) Yours, Faithfully. (1945) by Lydia Villanueva Arguilla - 4 STARS
Arguilla was the wife of the Arguilla in #7 who was killed by the Japanese soldi
ers in 1944. This story, Yours, Faithfully is about the relationship between two
Filipino teenage women and the young American soldiers at the time when the Ame
ricans came back to release the Philippines from Japanese soldiers.
13) My Father Goes to Court. (1947) by Carlos Bulosan - 5 STARS
Bulosan was said to be "The Greatest Filipino Overseas Writer" during his time.
This story, My Father Goes to Court is something that I've read and heard before
and I recalled the ending when I was reading it. This is the funniest story in
this anthology.
14) The Summer Solstice. (1947) by Nick Joaquin - 4 STARS
This story was my New Year's read a couple of weeks back so I did not read this
again. What I really liked about this book were the sexual tension and the stron
g portrayal of female protagonist despite the fact that the setting was during t
he American occupation of the Philippines and the patriarchal setup was the prac
tice.
15) The Boarding House. (1948) by D. Paulo Dizon - 3 STARS
Another story with sexual undertone. However, that undertone is treated with res

traint, something that is not normally done anymore by the current authors in Ph
ilippine Literature. Nowadays, authors do not care whether the sexual undertone
is offensive to readers. I think handling delicate subjects with restraint is a
mark of a good writer.
16) The Chieftest Mourner. (1949) by Aida Rivera-Ford - 4 STARS
I still enjoyed this even after 32 years from the first time I read in in Philip
pine Lit class I had in college. This is a story told by a secondary character (
niece) whose aunt has a poet husband. The poet husband gets tired of her aunt (N
umber 1) so he looks for another girl (Number 2) and dies in that girl's arms. T
he main part of the story is set at the wake with the two women in attendance.
17) Pattern. (1949) by Carmen Guerrero Nakpil - 4 STARS
Reading this is like hearing what goes on in the mind of a smart single woman wh
en she is being wooed by less smart men. Beware for the single men trying to mak
e a move with a brainy women in the bar. You might think that you are handsome,
God's gift to women when in fact they despise your corny pick up lines.
18) My Brother's Peculiar Chicken. (1950) by Alejandro R. Roces - 5 STARS
Funny on the surface but if you dig deeper it challenges the convention of putti
ng labels to people or things. Sometimes, we only think of black and white and w
e totally miss the fact that gray exists. One of the best enduring and deathless
stories in the book. Enduring because it is one of those I've read before and n
ow it has a different meaning to me.
19) Magnificence. (1950) by Estrella Alfon - 5 STARS
This short story tackles delicately the issue of child molestation. Since this w
as written in 1950 when this topic was not yet openly discussed in public (proba
bly because, unlike nowadays, this did not happen everyday), you have to read be
tween the lines and help yourself by supplying what was unsaid. But Alfon passed
it with flying colors.
20) The Virgin. (1951) by Kerima Polotan-Tuvera - 5 STARS
The best story written by a female writer in this collection so far. But it is d
efinitely not the mushy cheeky one like Dead Stars (#1). Miss Mijares in this st
ory is 34 and still a virgin. She is a smart woman and she spent her years takin
g care of her dying mother and sending her nieces to school. You can feel her lo
neliness and her longings to be touched by a man or to have children.
21) Lupo and the River. (1952) by N. V. M. Gonzales - 4 STARS
The story of a young boy and his friend, a bagong salta in a small barrio. The l
atter falls in love with the step-sister of the boy and the boy becomes a witnes
s in an attempted rape. The story has a beautiful depiction of a life in the pro
vince especially in a farm near a river. Brings back memories of my teenage year
s in our coconut plantation.
22) The Wedding Dance. (1953) by Amador T. Daguio - 5 STARS
A very good story about mores and marriage beliefs and practices in the mountain
province. While reading I remember Celso Ad Castillo's (RIP) Aliw-iw, a movie s
tarring Rio Locsin in the '70s. I have not seen Nora and Christopher's Banaue. I
have a feeling that this heartfelt story probably inspired either or both of th
ose.
23) The God Stealer (1958) by F. Sionil Jose - 3 STARS
I was expecting more from this book. I thought that I would easily give this a 5
-star rating. The characters are well-defined. The theme and the setting are bot
h interesting. However, it just did not really fly for me. I was expecting more
being an F. Sionil's fan and having this as the story that Isagani Cruz chose to
be included in this showcase of Philippine's best.

24) Faith, Love , Time and Dr. Lazaro. (1959) by Gregorio C. Brillantes - 3 STAR
S
Very profound. A father who is a doctor and a son who is a young man (not a doct
or) tend to a dying woman. The doctor treats her just like anybody - a patient.
His son sees something else that the woman needs before she dies. It is a confli
ct between believing and doubting, between science and religion. However, it is
not preachy.
25) The Day the Dancers Came. (1960) by Bienvenido N. Santos - 5 STARS
The book tells the story of the aging Filipino-Americans in the US during the 50
's when local entertainers (dancers mostly) come to the US to perform. The two l
onely old "gays" would want to invite the young girls and boys to their apartmen
t probably to satiate their thirst for fun.
26) A Wilderness of Sweets. (1963) by Gilda Cordero-Fernando - 5 STARS
The story is about the last days of the Japanese occupation here in Manila. The
Japanese are being chased out by the Americans. The storytelling is unforgettabl
e: it is done in a straightforward kind of way and not heavy on emotions but the
sad part at the end of the story really hooks up one's heart.
27) Lover Boy. (1965) by Lilia Pablo Amansec - 4 STARS
This is just a 15-page short story. Yet, Amansec was able to tell a powerful sto
ry within a story within a story. This Palanca-winning story has some explicit s
ex scenes or to be specific, (view spoiler). However, the narration is engaging
even without that scenes.
28) Everything. (1966) by Tita Lacambra Ayala - 4 STARS
Deceiving. At the onset, one thinks that this Palanca-winning story is just a si
mple lamentation of a busy mother who attends to the daily needs of her husband
and children. Busy, busy, busy. Yet in the end, on page 7 (this is short-short),
what goes on in her mind will shock you.
29) Kulisising Hari. (1968) by Edilberto K. Tiempo - 5 STARS
Disturbing. This is not a fun light read and it is edgy, i.e., to pushes your sa
nity to its edge. It is well-written though. I prefer this story compared to the
longer one by his wife (see the succeeding story).
30) Un Bel Di. (1968) by Edith L. Tiempo - 3 STARS
This long story is too artsy-patsy for my taste. It is about the generations of
the past, no matter how many years ago, have an influence to our lives at presen
t time. I like the subtle way she did this but I thought that the length of the
story could have been cut into half and the effect would be the same.
31) Ark. (1969) by Resil B. Mojares - 4 STARS
Amusing read. Cleanliness is next to godliness. But the meaning of cleanliness h
ere includes getting rid of the dead people and dead cockroaches. One of the wri
ters here who values brevity. As Shakespeare says: "Brevity is the soul of wit."
Well done.
32) People of Consequence. (1969) by Ines Taccad Cammayo - 4 STARS
Very interesting. It portrays the all too-human desire for upward social mobilit
y (or being "people of consequence") in a rural setting. In the Philippines, we
call these people the T.H. (short for trying hard), i.e., they are low class peo
ple trying hard to fit into the higher society. In the past they are called the
social climbers but we rarely use that term now. I think there is no social ladd
er to climb anymore. We just have two strata: the rich and the poor and here in
the Philippines and the huge population in between are left to decide where they
belong.
33) Ritual. (1970) by Cirilo F. Bautista - 5 STARS

My first time to read a Cirilo F. Bautista. He is one of the few writers elevate
d to the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature Hall of Fame. With only t
his story as a basis, I think he deserved being a hall of famer. This story is a
bout a native in the mountain province who gets educated and when he goes back t
o the mountain, tries to bring changes that challenge the deep-seated beliefs an
d traditions of his people. Bautista is said to be more of a poet than a fiction
prose writer so this work has a poetic feel in it but still the story is solid
and cohesive.
34) Human Resources. (1970) by Lina Espina Moore - 5 STARS
Quite different from the other stories so far included in this anthology because
the protagonist in this story is somebody you'll despise and yet you will feel
sympathy and probably relate to him. Also, there are characters here who are Ger
man and French and that was a breath of fresh air because stories in the past wo
uld only have our colonizers in them.
35) Tell Me Who Cleft the Devil's Foot. (1973) by Luning Bonifacio-Ira - 4 STARS
Tells the story of a corporate worker who after working for 20 years in an adver
tising company is laid-off and at 43, has to face the unknown. Her children are
still young and in their school years. The husband is very supportive on how she
wants to spend her life. The intro says about ennui but I did not feel it at al
l. I thought the character was busy in her mind.
36) Sunday Morning. (1979) by Rowena Tiempo-Torrevillas - 3 STARS
Rowena is the daughter of Edilberto (see #29) and Edith (see #30) and if genetic
s would be the basis, she must be a good writer too. Maybe to differentiate hers
elf from her parents, she writes speculative fiction like this story that is set
in 2017. Philippines is no longer a country as it is part of the bigger country
that seems like run by the U.S.
37) Oldtimer. (1982) by Jose Y. Dalisay, Jr. - 5 STARS
Similar setting as #25 but this one is about a Filipino man who makes it big in
New York through hard work. When he wants to run for a position, people turn him
down because he does not have the right level of education. The prose is crisp
and a joy to read.
38) The Goddess. (1983) by Ninotchka Rosca - 3 STARS
Tells a story of an old man and a young girl akin to a worshipper and his goddes
s. The plot is thin by Rosca's prose made the story quite interesting.
39) The White Horse of Alih. (1984) by Mig Alvarez Enriquez - 3 STARS
Tells the tale of a Muslim who goes amok. It does not state what's the reason bu
t one can deduce that it has something to do with the Christian-Muslim conflict
but the conflict is in the interior of the story.
40) The Reprieve. (1984) by Susan S. Lara - 4 STARS
A heartfelt story of a family whose head, the father, suffers from stroke and th
ey all have to adjust to him. There is nothing original in the approach but the
stream-of-consciousness of the father is similar to Balzac's Old Goriot.
41) The Homecoming. (1985) by Paulino Lim, Jr. - 5 STARS
Tells the story of a Fil-Am who visits Manila for the first time after 20 years.
With Martial Law as the backdrop, Lim made a home run by depicting Manila oppos
ite to that of what the First Lady wanted the world would like to see.
42) Family Rites. (1986) by Rosario Cruz-Lucero - 4 STARS
The story centers on the mother-daughter relationship particularly on how much w
ould the mother like to pass on the life lessons she had with her own mother to
her teenage daughter.

43) Ghost. (1990) by Connie Jan Maraan - 3 STARS

Tackles the many superstitions related to death with Manila as the setting parti
cularly the Tayuman-Tondo area. Its attack is light but the impact it creates is
somewhat serious.
44) Portents. (1991) by Jessica Zafra - 5 STARS
Acerbic yet funny writing. Made me miss Zafra's prose. I better read Twisted aga
in.
45) The Music Child. (1991) by Alfred A. Yuson - 5 STARS
Very interesting read. It is a story of a child who can not speak but can mimic
the sounds that he hears and can even sing beautiful tunes. However, while readi
ng you would feel that the people around the boy reflect his situation as if the
ir story is the one being told through the boy's situation.
46) How My Cousin Manuel Brought Home a Wife. (1992) by Charlson Ong - 4 STARS
Inspired by #7 above, Ong puts a spin in the story by infusing the Chinese-Filip
ino subculture in the story and turning its theme to a more serious tone. Howeve
r, I still prefer #7 for sentimental reason.
47) Lizard. (1992) by Marianne Villanueva - 4 STARS
Disturbing. It is about a mother and her daughter and their relationship centere
d on being pianists. The revelation in the end will shock you.
48) The Painting. (1993) by Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo - 5 STARS
The only fantasy short story in this anthology and I enjoyed this tremendously.
It has a story within a story with the frame story about a priest. It is fun and
yet will make you think.
49) The Axolotl Colony. (1993) by Jaime An Lim - 5 STARS
Heartfelt storytelling about a poor Filipino man in the US divorced by his wife
who also takes custody of their children. His sadness can infect you.
50) Touch. (1998) by Lakambini Sitoy - 5 STARS
What a story to cap the book! I did not know that Sitoy writes this great! The s
tory is told in the point-of-view of the daughter of an old bedridden man and yo
u will have to read up to the last page to know the real score between them. You
will have to read oh so carefully to feel what the daughter feels because she i
s an unreliable narrator.
What a wonderful book!