1. Rene Estella Amper’s
Reported by
Joshua “Gwapo” S. Abel De Guzman

2. Rene Estella Amper

 He was born on October 18, 1940 in Boljoon, Cebu.
As physician he has served as head of the Boljoon
rural health unit; as poet, he has participated as an
Asia Foundation Writing Fellow at the Silliman
University. Summer Writers' Workshop in 1968 and
1969. He has also shared the 2nd Palanca prize in
poetry in 1989 with Fatima Lim for a collection called
All Else Is Grass. His works have been published in
12 Poems (1969) and Collected Poems (1990). He has
been mayor of Boljoon.

3.  According to (Logronio & Lumayno, 2008), the persona
talked about the socio-political problems of their hometown.
He wrote to Pedro to inform him of the developments that
were taking place in the town and how these advancements
altered the simplicity and beauty of the town and affected
the townsfolk. He mentioned the destruction of the forests to
make way for the feeder road and how this event in the
modernization of their town affected the farmers. He also
revealed the vices that the farmers were slaves to. He cited
the behavior the people displayed in church. He flippantly
discussed how women became more acquisitive. He was also
able to imply that colonial mentality was operative in the
minds of the people when he stated “remember us to your
American wife, you lucky bastard” and “P.S. Tasyo, the old
goat, sends your lizard his warmest congratulations”. The
persona also meant to confront the problems at hand.

5. Tradition & Modernity

Pete, old friend,
There isn’t really much
change
In our hometown since
you left.
A steel bridge named after
the congressman’s wife
now spans the gray river
where Tasyo, the old
goat, had split the skin of
our young lizards
to make us a man many
years ago.

6. Thank you for listening…