Quick update on the filming of my Baybayin documentary in Manila. 1 word….change

So much has changed since I lived here from 1996-2003 and visited last visited in 2005

While all the annoying crap like traffic, poverty, lateness and etc is still here, there’s a growing youth scene fueled by a sense of Filipino pride. However, I don’t yet know what the context is of the pride. I have an idea but I would need more time to come to any conclusions.

So far, I’m about 1/3 though my filming. I had the please to interview Dr.Bonifacio Comandante for about 2 hours about his research. Above is a sketch of where he believes the Baybayin Ka character came from.

Prior to coming here, I forgot that we would be in the middle of elections (May 10). Some of the people I had scheduled asked to postpone until after May 10. There seems to be some election day jitters considering this is the 1st time electronic ballots will be used. A failure of elections could really screw up this project. Either way, I’ll be documenting it as an underlying theme. In fact, all the non-Baybayin stuff is an entire project.

Yes, there is a Baybayin community here in the Philippines and it is alive.

I found the “Subtle Energies” of Baybayin and bean seeds interesting as well as Baybayin on the Manunnggul Jar. What do you think? Download the paper.

In 2008, Bonifacio Comandante developed seven forms of movement, miming the ancient script and referred to it as the Liping Baybayin.He developed a fitness dance and aerobic exercise, not patterned after Western fitness programs but acting out each Baybayin character. He describes another wellness exercise “to be better than Tai-chi and smoother (to perform) because Baybayin (characters) are not angular (in form).”

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