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Karina Lagdameo-Santillan

A Filipina from Manila, Philippines. A longtime Humanist. A Creative Director and Advertising Communications professional for many years, she has been active in the Community for Human Development, facilitating workshops for personal and social change to help build a culture of peace, nondiscrimination and nonviolence. She is currently a freelance writer and a volunteer editor-writer for Pressenza in Asia.

The Gift: A recipe on asking for that which we truly need

On humanism and spirituality     As a student in an all-girls Catholic school, we all went to Mass every Friday. After communion, the priest encouraged us to pray for our intentions before ending the mass with a “going away…

When the duende awakens

A Poem and a Backstory       When the duende awakens, Sends a signal from deep within, From faraway.   When the duende arises, Sings a melody– crisp and clear, From high above.   When the duende alights, Swells…

Moments in Time #1: In an Igorot Hut

POEM     It is midnight. Inside an Igorot hut.   Round and dark and empty Just a platform suspended above.   We climb up and lay down.   You and I, side by side, supine. Suspended in midair. Eyes…

Luis “Junyee” Yee, Jr.: A Portrait of an (National) Artist as Filipino

ARTIST’S PROFILE I first met Junyee when I was a student at the University of the Philippines in the early seventies. Together with some artist friends, we would later visit him when he began living in the campus of UP,…

Poetic Openings in the Time of Covid 19

POETRY             <A Prelude> In the early days of the Co-vid 19 pandemic, everyone was trying to come to grips with the isolation that the lockdown imposed on almost everyone. Anxiety over the unknown was…

A walk in the rain

POEM         The raindrops were shining like stars On the grass.   Fallen from the sky They lay quiet, evanescent.   There they were Stars we don’t see during the day.   Unseen but ever-present As I…

With Eyes Closed

POEM         I close my eyes And I see a world As big and as wide As no eyes can embrace.   I close my eyes And I see a void From where all things Can be.…

The Taho Man

POEM   Sometimes, when the timing is right The taho man passes by my gate Just as I am outside Sweeping yesterday’s dead leaves away.   Sometimes, when he passes by my gate I have enough coins to buy a…

Philippine Elections 2022: TheNewPH Campaign for Voter Registration

SOCIAL MEDIA         A day after the annual Philippine independence day which is celebrated every June 12, my Facebook newsfeed showed posts like this. Following the hashtags reveal a campaign launched and spearheaded by Mega Magazine, a…

Meditations on a Paul Gauguin Painting: Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? 

POEM/PAINTING         Where do we come from… Where do I come from The womb of the mother Shaped from the past From the ancestors of my ancestors From living cells Incubated in the oceans Emerging from the…

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