Zamboanga, its waters, and its people are the settings for UPMin Instructor Sigrid Marianne Gayangos’ first published collection of stories. 

“The tropical seas, the ocean, the waters, and vast archipelagic realms become sites of the unknowable, sometimes even forbidding places that refuse to give up their stories,” wrote fellow Mindanaoan writer Kristine Ong-Muslim in the foreword to the book.

“Laut: Stories,” Gayangos’ newly published book, features 13 stories set in the author’s birthplace of Zamboanga. Now based in Dumaguete City, the author was in Davao to meet her UPMin students, and the UPMin Department of Humanities took the opportunity to hold a book launch and author’s talk. 

The discussions touched on how the author began writing, her conscious choice to take inspiration from her roots, the process of revision, and the challenges that come with being a Mindanaoan writer.

“The stories contain the reality and experiences of interethnic communities. It taps into their political consciousness. It has queer and sociopolitical themes, and dives deep into the marvelous and fantastic,” said UPMin student Daryll.

According to the author each story has a different approach relating to how she understood water. “...there’s turbulence. It’s erratic, it’s unpredictable…it’s also scary—we never know what’s underneath,” she said. Despite these things, writing, she admits, has allowed her to explore the depths of water through the stories she wrote. 

Despite her works being categorized under speculative fiction, Ms. Sigrid expressed how it tackles realities that seem more familiar than readers think.

“Laut: Stories” may sound marvelous or nonrealist, but she explained that these were tales she grew up with, coming from a long line of fisherfolks, and were what helped shape her stories. 

During the talk, she expressed how seven of the stories were “major overhauls” of her thesis collections, while the six other stories are new. 

The UP Mindanao Department of Humanities held the book launch and author’s talk for “Laut: Stories” by Instructor Sigrid Marianne Gayangos on 4 May 2023, moderated by Associate Prof. John Bengan. The book is published by UP Press and is also available online.

The Catalunan Pequeno National High School (NHS) team was the Champion in the “Saribuhay Davao Region Wildlife Quiz Bowl” co-organized by the UP Mindanao Biological Society (BioS) student organization and the Philippine Eagle Foundation and held on May 27, 2023, at the Mapua MCM Auditorium in Davao City. The team will represent the Davao Region in the National Wildlife Quiz Bowl to be held in Ormoc City in November 2023. Digos City Senior High School and Bato NHS of Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur, came in second and third place in the field of twenty-one Davao Region high schools.

On the same day, UP Mindanao students gave talks on 20 unique and threatened Philippine wildlife. The Biology 151 Wildlife Studies students introduced and described the Tamaraw, the Rufous Hornbill, the Philippine Flying Lemur, Guttman’s Stream Frog, the Warty Pig, the Philippine Eagle-Owl, the Mindoro Bleeding Heart (bird), the Visayan Spotted Deer, the Philippine Bulbul (bird), the Palawan Peacock Pheasant (bird), the Philippine Slow Loris (primate), the Philippine Crocodile, the Giant Softshell Turtle, the Philippine Pangolin, the Northern Luzon Giant Cloud Rat, the Philippine Flying Fox, the Mindanao Flying Dragon, the English Orchid, the Golden Crowned Flying Fox, and the Winghead Shark.       

Finally, professionals from the academe, government, and non-government organizations gave educational and inspirational talks on aspects of the biological profession. Davao Oriental State University Professor Ann Cabras spoke on "The Importance and Joy of Studying Beetles." UPMin alumna and San Pedro College Professor Elsa Mae Delima-Baron spoke on "Why Frogs Matter and How We Can Conserve Them." Dept. of the Environment & Natural Resources-Region XI Development Management Officer Jeon Carlo Bendijo gave the "State of Wildlife Conservation in the Davao Region." Entrepreneur and Thinnk Farm founder and CEO Ariestelo Asilo narrated "From Disability to Possibility: The Power of Dreams and Service." Finally, Philippine Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Executive Director Lisa Paguntalan discussed "The Power of the Youth in Conservation: The PhilBio Experience."

Event sponsors Cantilan Bank President Gen. William Hotchkiss (Ret.) and Energy Development Corporation Watershed Mgt. Officer Ms. Marisol Pedregosa extended invitations for the students to visit their establishments in their closing messages.

The awarding ceremonies of the “Saribuhay Davao Region Wildlife Quiz Bowl” show (front row, left-right) champions Mariam Bajo, Andrea Olar, and teacher Kamsha Pempina of Catalunan Pequeno National High School, 2nd placers Chaerish Say-a, Alexa Cualquera, and teacher Miraluz Laranjo of Digos City Senior High School, and 3rd placers Paul Felisilda, Aleah Salihudin, and teacher Ronavie Gonzales of Bato (Sta. Cruz) National High School. The event sponsors are (Back row, left-right) Phil. Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Executive Director Lisa Paguntalan, Cantilan Bank President Gen. William Hotchkiss (Ret.), Phil. Eagle Foundation Exec. Dir. Dennis Salvador, Energy Development Corporation Wildlife Biologist & Watershed Mgt. Officer Marisol Pedregosa, UPMin Biological Society President Peter Miles Royeca, and UPMin Instructor Dr. Jayson Ibañez. 

University of the Philippines Mindanao (UPMin) teams were in Basilan on May 1-5, 2023, to orient and prepare Grade 11 students for the UP College Admission Test (UPCAT) to be held nationwide on June 3-4, 2023. This followed the UP Office of Admissions’s decision to open UPCAT Test Centers in these underserved regions as requested by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and the Ugnayan ng Pahinungod Mindanao, the UP’s volunteer service unit in UPMin. The UPMin Pahinungod’s Affirmative Action Program (AAP) team gave UPCAT Orientations and Simulations to students from different schools who converged in Lamitan National High School (NHS), Maluso NHS, and Basilan NHS.

The Lamitan City BARMM Ministry of Basic Higher & Technical Education’s (MBHTE) Division Superintendent, Dr. Myra Makabung, Administrative Officer Mr. Efren Lindio, and their team coordinated the UPMin team’s visits in the province, which is composed of one Department of Education and two MBHTE divisions. Basilan MBHTE Schools Superintendent Dr. Tim Undain-Sanchez and counterpart Isabela City DepEd Superintendent Dr. Julieto Fernandez also welcomed the UPMin team’s visit. UPMin School of Management’s Assistant Professor Rodgessa Lopez, Ugnayan ng Pahinungod Mindanao Director Michael Gatela, and Associate Marie Lyn Cayunda constituted the Basilan team.