This is the blog of Ian Rosales Casocot. Filipino writer. Sometime academic. Former backpacker. Twink bait. Hamster lover.
The Boy The Girl
The Rat The Rabbit
and the Last Magic Days
Chapbook, 2018
Republic of Carnage:
Three Horror Stories
For the Way We Live Now
Chapbook, 2018
Bamboo Girls:
Stories and Poems
From a Forgotten Life
Ateneo de Naga University Press, 2018
Don't Tell Anyone:
Literary Smut
With Shakira Andrea Sison
Pride Press / Anvil Publishing, 2017
Cupful of Anger,
Bottle Full of Smoke:
The Stories of
Jose V. Montebon Jr.
Silliman Writers Series, 2017
First Sight of Snow
and Other Stories
Encounters Chapbook Series
Et Al Books, 2014
Celebration: An Anthology to Commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Silliman University National Writers Workshop
Sands and Coral, 2011-2013
Silliman University, 2013
Handulantaw: Celebrating 50 Years of Culture and the Arts in Silliman
Tao Foundation and Silliman University Cultural Affairs Committee, 2013
Inday Goes About Her Day
Locsin Books, 2012
Beautiful Accidents: Stories
University of the Philippines Press, 2011
Heartbreak & Magic: Stories of Fantasy and Horror
Anvil, 2011
Old Movies and Other Stories
National Commission for Culture
and the Arts, 2006
FutureShock Prose: An Anthology of Young Writers and New Literatures
Sands and Coral, 2003
Nominated for Best Anthology
2004 National Book Awards
Of all the contemporary Filipino Christmas songs written, "Pasko Na, Sinta Ko" is probably the most covered, most well-loved composition. Written by composer Francis Dandan and lyricist Aurelio Estanislao, the song neatly bridges the Filipinos' love for Christmas traditions with our intrinisic love for love, period. Written as a harana (seranade), it gushes with all the lovesick earnestness that has made the Philippines the ballad capital of Southeast Asia....
...But it's more than the Christmas season that inspires this little online tribute to the song. Early this year, we received the tragic news that the song's composer, Francis Dandan, took his own life. As related by arranger Lorrie Illustre in an online posting, Francis had studied at the U.P. Conservatory of Music and was a protege of National Artist Professor Lucio San Pedro. He had a lot of compositions not in the pop category, but most people will know "Pasko Na, Sinta Ko", popularized most especially by Gary Valenciano.
"He committed suicide," wrote Lorrie Illustre. "He shot himself in the head. Sad thing is, the reason why he committed suicide is that 'hindi na niya kayang mabuhay' due to financial difficulties. He is survived by his wife and 7 kids."
It's hard to imagine that the composer of one of the Philippines' most durable pop classics should have had to suffer through a destitute existence.