While Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince) written by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry in 1943 now has over 300 translations in different languages worldwide and is now considered the world’s most translated book (not counting religious works), there have been surprisingly only two translations of his book in the Philippines (Filipino and Bicol). El Diutay Principe is only the third edition featuring a Philippine language. The Little Prince is a classic French novella about a pilot who gets stranded in the desert after a plane crash and encounters a little fellow who asks him to draw a sheep for him. Through the course of their meeting, the pilot rediscovers the true meaning of life and what people should value the most. When I came across the book in 2013, I found that I could relate very well to the negative image given to “growing up” in the book. When the idea to translate the book into my mother tongue was presented to me, I didn’t think twice. I thought, ‘a lot of people my ...
“Escuro ya. Noma sale na casa.” This is probably something that you would hear in Zamboanga city when darkness sets in. While the streets are well lit and safe, most Zamboangueños prefer to stay indoors at night. In fact you wouldn’t see a lot of night life or business establishments that are open at night in the city. This is changing little by little though, especially with the recently opened Paseo del Mar. Paseo del Mar is a park located near the fort Pilar. It is very popular both with the young and old. It becomes packed when the sun starts to set at around five thirty in the afternoon. I have personally witnessed the sunset at Paseo del Mar and I can really say that it was breathtakingly beautifully. For me, it can best the famous Manila bay sunset any time of the day. The word escuro , in my opinion, may come from the Spanish oscuro . According to the book of Esteban A De Ocampo titled The Ternateños, this word also exists in the Chavacano de Ternate. He spells i...