The Naga We Know

Naga, as it is rightly called, is indeed the 'Heart of Bikol.' People from all over the region come here to learn, to listen, to eat, to look good, to pray to Ina. Truly, they come here for all the reasons in the world...At the hang-out of the local media called Kantong Putikon, the irrepressible pundit Nick Prieto shared stories like that of a desperate man who wanted to end his life by lying flat on the railroad tracks of the PNR only to die of hunger after waiting for days for the train which did not arrive, like Beckett's Godot. Right across the old provincial capitol building with its characteristic arched entrance, and before the national hero's stony gaze, Kalamay, so named after the sticky-rice cake he peddled about the city, presided a nightly debate centered on the Bible, and sometimes on the Marcos government. - H. Francisco V. Peñones Jr.

Published in 2013 by Anvil Publishing, Inc.