Because of the Title

Dear Lizette Daluz,

Bought your Ang Hari ng Komyut: Ang Pagkilala during this year’s MIBF. And I discovered it while at work. What made me remember the title is not the National Children’s Book Award for Best Reads but the title itself.

I am one of the many in the metro who commute five days a weeks, twice in a day. I have ridden jeeps, pedicabs, tricycles, buses, trains, calesas, and even the ferry on Pasig River, as well as taxis. There are only few vehicles in the metro I have not boarded, the kuliglig, the padyak on the PNR tracks, and the PNR train—the last one, I’ve made a number of attempts but never get to.

Reading your book made me relive my years when I still worked at Intramuros, which was where I had my first job. It was also where I first waded in flood waters because of a storm while going home.

While I am proud that I never did a 1-2-3 on anyone, I unintentionally alighted from a jeep without paying because I was mentally preoccupied with something. It was so embarrassing when the driver called out to me to pay the fare. That scarred college me. Still, I don’t pay too early because I have learned to wait to pay only when the jeep has begun to go. That came from seeing other passengers transferring to a passing jeep and getting a move on faster, which looked smarter.

As I finished your book, I flipped back to the cover and wondered if it has a sequel. To me, that’s how it sounds because of the title.

If you feel like surprising your readers and the lovers of Hari.

Thank you so much for writing.

Respectfully,

Mati Serraño