Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ernesto Larios A and Nature in His Works
Ernesto Larios A and Nature in His Works
net/publication/332092818
CITATIONS READS
0 427
1 author:
Hope Yu
University of San Carlos (Philippines)
38 PUBLICATIONS 11 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE
Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:
All content following this page was uploaded by Hope Yu on 27 December 2020.
HOPE SABANPAN-YU
&
Hope Sabanpan-Yu
Man could really not keep his hand to himself. Nature was
in a sad state. Because the trees were disappearing, there
were many floods in the world that took many lives If
nature could talk back against human transgression, their
faces would long have swollen with shame.(1998a: 161)
Emesto D. Lariosa
"Exchange"
UniversityDrofTn
Hooe S Yu teaches in the Department of Languages and Literature at the
Carios, Cebu. For discussion of her paper she can be reached at
<[email protected]>.
240 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY
\
242 PfflLIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY
140). Later in the story, an unidentified man rapes Delia one night while
she is alone because the aunt she lived with went to the city. The only
thing she knows is that she scratched the man's neck with hcv shavp
fingernails. At the wake, Edgar is revolted to find the late mayor's body in
the coffin with scratches on his neck.
In this story, Lariosa portrays images of the natural, rural
landscapes that interact with the actions of the characters as well as with
the readers' comprehension of the social landscape of Cebu. Through the
images in the story, he illustrates the interweaving between the destruction
of the physical landscape (birds) and the use of guns and force for the
purposes of patriarchy and power. At the same time, Lariosa's work
^rig^ges and critiques the Cebuano patriarchal thought of the time that was
tied to a reason/nature — man/woman dualism used to rationalize physical
and sexual inequality.
In When birds no longer come to roost," Lariosa's view on nature
shows itself through the contrasting images of destruction and
regeneration, the fonner becoming a space of alienation and oppression
for the nature lovers and the latter becoming a visible image of possibility
- planting more mangrove trees. His story is rural and offers a complex
look at the Cebuano power structures and its changing physical
environment.
Although no name is given, this story appears to take place in a
rural island town in Cebu. The story displays a working knowledge of the
key developments of the time - to protect areas identified to be bird
sanctuaries. Throughout the last half of the twentieth century, Cebu was
becoming established as an important city in the South and along with that
rise came tourist attractions. Along with these developments there was a
pronounced need to protect nature that essentially guaranteed ecological
regeneration.
Early in the story, Lariosa introduces us to the protagonist's views
and to the natural landscape(2003: 139):
Waldo went through the mangrove. I notieed the quiek rush of the tide
as the water reached Waldo's knees. And then the burst of several rifle
shots. In a while, we saw Waldo grinning, as he lugged the dead birds.
"This will make a good appetizer for the mayor's guests, not just
something for you to play with." . . . Together with my classmates
Elena and Delia, I turned pensive and quiet. Elena bent her head. I
knew what she felt. She was embarrassed with what her father's right
hand man had done.
244 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY
Here, Lanosa presents familiarity with the power structure involved in the
abuse of nature. This is significant since it indicates an understanding of
what forces are in play in the particular ecosystem discussed. By focusing
on the interaction between human beings and nature, Lariosa stresses the
seemmg naturalness of the act of killing as game. It also introduces the
mmdset that Lanosa critiques, which is a recurring theme in the story
In ConsefTing Words, Daniel Philippon tells us' that
environmentalists "have traditionally identified two major categories of
value: mstrumental(or utilitarian) and intrinsic (or inherent) value"(2004-
S? K- value if it is useful, and inherent value
thflfnH u ^ Lariosa's portrayal of
the intrinsic value -
1 mangrove, the trees and the sea are all present - they are
charartil value shown, it is in the scene where some
other charaSers"^Th^ elightful but also as "game" in the perspective of
system. ^ human intrusion into the natural
depict tL'Dkm^'nf
T u?
continues to
® oppression of woman - with the race of Delia
The people and the enviromnent are adversely affected by the operations
ofthe cement plant. Eight years after Samuel moved away, he continues to
hear news of people suffering lung and skin dise^es, of plants Md
vegetables withering, and ofrivers carrying toxins fmdmg flieir way to Ae
sea and killing the fishermen's source of livelihood. Lanosa causes the
reader to imagine the effects of environmental pollution on the natural
world and while following the growth of the cement plant, the reader is
ready'for the connections that Lariosa makes between human domination
over other humans and human degradation ^ represents
Samuel's parents, as well as Ruben and the company he represente
become taages of patriarchal domination, associated with misuse of
246 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY
capitalists.
m Ihe annsSamuel
of hisgets shotatdurine
parents the fil,in a,
the htoSl ""^'^'""aness
^'s°lved
and with involving the relationshirbetwe^^
nature. "Simon's shore" / T^" presents a problem
other
hough, which also considers humnn ' f ^y^ayon ni Simon) (1998b)
-olved as happily as "Ethan ^He^rs t, ^
non-dominant sustainable existence with n Z ^ Peaceful
'0 give up the desire to possess amreTr one L "
Simon's shore" hiphliahto u ^ caprice,
the shoreline of Salagduong. Wht it offeA""" Presented by
bvT° I, ® ""■""8'' "tt bountiful sef theT°"™''^ residents
xrr:art,dt f ~t:rthTrt
rClS):^"'"' .He P~t hvtinthatpte:
[A]ccording to Tatay, thev had h.
thai Ihei, calch would met'" "''rcf using dynamite so
conscientious with their fishing unlike n h '"'^fused. They were
said to use dynamite and poison such ac elsewhere who were
of Salagduong arc teeming with fish m, ^Hat is why the seas
greed of men. The fish™ re «"!'« not harmed by
a 'Phed, giving bounty to the
ERNESTO LARIOSA AND NATURE IN HIS WORKS 247
In the city, the noise was overwhelniing. There was so much dust in the
streets. There was chaos and the deafening uproar of its vehicles. The
evenings glistened with flickering lights disturbed only by the noise of
the bars and the different dance halls and night clubs like the disco and
karaoke bars. Their women were dangerous because they carried
diseases.
More than these, he "heard on the radio that there were lots of killing,
robberies, fraud and other crimes" being committed in the city (190).
Having witnessed a snatching incident, Simon, along with the other
spectators, comes to terms with the fact that the police were not really
doing their job. But he does meet good people who "adopted him and
made him work in their shop while he pursued his commerce depee. No
matter how successful Simon becomes, he decides to retum home to
Salagduong(1998b: 193):
I ran my eyes over all the areas I had missed. The trees had multiphed.
Eleno had fulfilled the order in my letter to plant more trees. This
would be to protect the watershed. To control the water flow so that
there will be no flooding. I heard the chirping of the birds m the trees as
ifthey were happy at my retum.
sin sell ihis? Where will their wives and ehiidren bathe?"
248 PHILIPPINE QUARTERLY OF CULTURE & SOCIETY
WaoM (20067and°S,I'"K
responsibility for environmental He (2006b), Lariosa attributes
showing how taowSr"r'.''^f^'^tton to speeiftc social actors by
between^e;:L„T.S;]:7p<::M:7^^~f
knowledge of the characters and the reato
disorepandes
effectively read in an emnnUnoi a. ' These two stones are
epistemological claims are vital to ecoSir^ !^°™Prehends
to refer to Ulrich Beck at this point for i •
that
appropriate
distribution ofrisk has become as important
the
andmdustrialized societies ofbetween
perceptual distance the poslwSM W^r Jyf
ecoWi^i ^^alth in
expenence means every individual fart. dangers and everyday
security
the moreandoneevery pers™the"7
knows, greater the e '■^"h »d
™rld-
importance of risk grows because of m •!. '"^^ttirity. The
eontOTporary environmental dangers onera7 T f "hich
'There's oriy one t^et for those who joined the contest and that is the
"«•
best played roles that try to profit from nature and that invisibly structure
their lives. With the sacrifice of the birds comes the title of best in
shooting slingshots that most of the story's characters not only accept but
long for, making no connection between the system that makes it possible
for them to live and their own physical decline.
The question of knowledge is raised most explicitly in
"Crackshot," as in the other stories, by the large gap between the localized
knowledge of the characters and the even wider natural, historical
knowledge necessary to appreciate the relations of power in which they
are embedded. Berto and Eming's localized environmental knowledge is
too insignificant to be explained while ultimately showing its tragic
irrelevance in the sport culture that dominates their town.
The stories reveal that the celebration as well as the degradation of
human life and the desecration ofthe natural world is not simply a mistake
- there are alternatives. For the reader to simply shrug them off is to
become comolicit in the very exploitation that the stones represent. The
force of Lariosa's narratives lies in bringing to public light the matenal
conditions and underpinning relations that are often ignored and giving
them moral significance.
references CITED
Beck, Ulrich , „
1992 77;^ Soc/e/y. London. Sage.
Gaard, Greta and Patrick Muiphy ^ (eds.), Ecofeminist