Mabaya Book Relaunch on World AIDS Day Dec 1 

This is not the first time we’re featuring Paul Cardenas on the site.  We interviewed him previously when he launched his first book Kahel—a collection of Tagalog poems inspired by his experience as a survivor.

This year, on World AIDS Day, Paul Cardenas relaunches his second book Mabaya, a collection of poems and stories for and about people living with HIV in the Philippines. He is joined by writers, poets, and spoken word artists who all contributed and collaborated on the book. He dedicates this to all those who are infected, died, and have mourned the loss of a loved one because of the disease.

There’s still so much we need to know about Paul. We asked him some questions we didn’t get to ask him the first time.

How are you doing? What have you been up to since Kahel?

Amazing as always! I’ve been extremely busy at work as Senior Manager for IT Systems Engineering after I launched my first book “Kahel” last February 2020. It was a rollercoaster ride because It was very hard to balance my passion in writing and my daily professional work life. But I still continue what I love to do, writing poems. During daytime, I hustle with managing IT business projects and technical trainings at 8-5, Monday to Friday BUT at the end of the day, I read books from my favorite Filipino authors, Marcelo Santos III, Eugene Evasco, and Rolando Tinio. And before I go to bed, I’ll write two to three spoken word and short poems as my stress reliever.

But after Kahel, which is focused on mental health awareness, I started writing poems about HIV and AIDS… though I already had some poems and spoken words about PLHIV or People living with HIV and AIDS in the Philippines. I started writing poems about HIV/AIDS after one of my best friends died to the illness caused by AIDS. I wrote more poems about AIDS awareness every night because as an HIV Advocate, I want and I need to spread knowledge, end the stigma, and get the right information about HIV and AIDS in the Philippines.

How exactly did you start writing poetry? Was it something that you were already interested in as a kid? Was there a definitive book, movie, or character (or any reference) that influenced your writing style?

I started writing poems when I was 7 years old. I had this pre-school pad paper that I used for writing poems. Poems about animals, nature, family, and friends. Those were just very simple two-to-three liner poems that I used to show to my Mama. Something like…

“I want to go

at the end of the rainbow.

Befriend that little man

and give me a box of Legos”.

But what I really love to do is to write short stories and novels about mystery, aliens, and dinosaurs. Not because Science is my favorite subject and NatGeo is my favorite channel, but because I enjoy reading “Goosebumps” and watching “Are you Afraid of the Dark”.

What I love about these books is that you can choose your own adventure, a gamebook series where the reader chooses the story. And that’s the time I started to have an interest in writing my own stories and develop twists in the ending.

I remember, I was writing short stories and sharing it to my grade school classmates and I want them to criticize it so I can develop and re-write on what to enhance in the story.

And then, I joined poem writing contests, oratorical speech contests, and even poster making contests from Grade one until High School. I got multiple awards from these competitions. But there are also times that I lose in poem writing contests. I felt bad but thank God, my Mama is always there for me.  My Mama just told me “If you lose, that’s okay. Just remember, you’re already winning with the talent that God gave you”.

During my teenage years, I enjoy listening to Lauryn Hill’s album “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” because my heart was rhyming on every line and in every song. My favorite is “Everything is Everything”, and it is one of the songs that inspired me to write poems. Also, I’m in love with Avril Lavigne’s 2002 album “Let Go” because the songs are combination of angst and glee. And if you’ll read my poems, they are a combination of anxiety and hope.

Moreover, when I was in High School, I started to love reading Filipino books and comics such as “Florante at Laura”, “Funny Komiks”, and “Pupung”. From writing English poems, I am now in love with pure Tagalog poems. Because I enjoy reading books from Rolando Tinio. “Ang Sitsit sa Kuliglig” is one of my favorite books from Sir Tinio.

“Malalim yung mga tula, sobrang nakakasakit ng ng ulo”

But I’m writing down all of those deep and beautiful Filipino words and practice using those in a normal conversation with friends and family.

“Ang ganda ng wikang Filipino. Ang sarap pakinggan ng Tagalog”

But when I started working, and I have no time for writing poems anymore, I started reading poems from Marcelo Santos III and spoken words from Juan Miguel Severo.

Marcelo Santos III is the most influential artist for me. I’m soooo in looooooove with his poems and started writing spoken word poems about love, anger, hope, faith, and second chances in life.

You now have two books. Congratulations! Can you share with us your experience with self-publishing? What were the challenges, if any?

Thank you! I am not expecting that I’ll publish books in the future. I thought I’ll just be engaged with my laptop for 8 hours and do IT business for good. LOL!

But, I have no idea where or how to publish books. I just started to continue my passion in writing poems during my bedridden days last 2013 because I was diagnosed with blood cancer (Leukemia). I wrote a loooot of poems with different themes and just enjoy doing that because that time I was jobless… I was completely at the rock bottom. I only have my Steno notebooks and my pen with me.

But instead of being depressed under my blanket and coping up with my illness, God suddenly slapped me on the face… and then I realized, I have a lot of poems!

So, I tried to enroll a short course to “Malikhaing Pagsusulat sa PUP” but unfortunately the course was already closed. Instead, the director gave me a reference if I want to publish a book. He handed me a piece of paper with the person to contact including the publisher and the publishing company.

So it was Seven Eyes Production and sir Gerome Nicolas Dela Pena helped me on reviewing and proofreading my poems and develop it to a shining armor called “Kahel” and “Mabaya”.

Luck is on my side last 2015 because I got a job again, a good one. A career that I wasn’t expecting. So with the help of my new 8 to 5 job, I earn money, save it for my health, for my future, and for my next poetry books.

Again, there are a lot of challenges especially if you have a daily job and at the same time writing and publishing books. I just need to weigh it and balance my work and passion. Quitting? Nope. It’s not me.

“Madalas ako mag-quit before, wala tuloy naging magandang direksyon ang buhay ko”.

We need updates! Tell us about Mabaya.

“Mabaya” is my second book. It signifies color “Red”. Color red is the symbol of love… and also the advocacy color for HIV/AIDS.

Mabaya supports people living with HIV (PLHIV) in the Philippines. It is an anthology. A collection of poems and stories from various Filipino Poets and Spoken Word Artists. Some of these artists also struggled from discrimination due to HIV/AIDS, mental health issues, and gender inequality. I developed Mabaya as an anthology because I want to use this platform for new poets like me, spoken word artists, and writers as new voices for empowerment and to inspire people.

Title: MABAYA | Mga Tula ng Galit at Pangamba

Contributors:

Background: An Anthology | A collection of spoken word poems for People Living with HIV/AIDS in the Philippines

Price: PHP 380

Where to get it: Direct message to Paul Cardenas Facebook page: https://facebook.com/pablobahaghari

Why are you re-launching Mabaya on World AIDS Day?

December 1 is an international day dedicated to raise awareness and end the stigma on AIDS caused by HIV. This is the day to voice out and get the right information about it. I dedicate this book to all those mourn, who are infected, and who have died of the disease.

Poetry saved me and I will continue to write poems, share my knowledge, deliver the right information, and inspire people.

Can you share with us a favorite line of verse from “Mabaya”

I have two favorites!

This is from my poem “Mabaya”:

“Ipapasan sa aking puso’t isipan ang mga prase’t metapora,

kahit na ang aking pluma ay unti-unting naglalaho ang tinta.

Habang marunong pa ako magbuntong-hininga,

ang aking mga tula’y patuloy na magbibigay pag-asa”

The second one is from the featured quote of my book “Mabaya”:

“Para sa mga noon’y tinatangi,

at ngayon’y tinatanggi”

What can we expect from you next year? Any plans?

I have an upcoming book by the end of 2022. It’s the third color. But I’ll save this one first. Hahaha. BUT I’m excited to publish more colors in the coming years.

Where can people follow you on social media?

You may follow me on the following platforms:

Facebook page: https://facebook.com/pablobahaghari

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoYc0fS_SIUwZCBpvUPX5wA

My poems are also available in Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/22MjLK9SqDTRDrCYDQcOO6

*This post was updated to add the names of contributors to the book Mabaya.