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This is the blog of Ian Rosales Casocot. Filipino writer. Sometime academic. Former backpacker. Twink bait. Hamster lover.

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Friday, April 25, 2025

entry arrow9:00 PM | Finding Melanio

Every time I see an anthology of regional writing, especially in Binisaya, the portion allocated to Central Visayas, particularly from Negros Oriental, is always zero. Like, wala jud. And I’m always like, “Madahaaaan...” Makasapot baya usahay. This is why I’m currently compiling works in Binisaya from the province, especially from decades past, and some discoveries have been amazing.



Like finding out about a mambabalak from Pamplona named Melanio E. Relatado, who used to write balak in the 1960s. My sister-in-law, Daisy, is a Relatado. So I casually asked her if she knew him. “He’s my father,” she told me. Like, what? Like, how did I not know this? Then again, many others don’t. Melanio Relatado used to contribute to Bisaya Magazine and the Philippines Free Press, but the poem below, titled “Larawan, Pahawa!” and published on 6 November 1968, is the only thing I have of him:

Naghigda ka niining timawa
Matag mingawng gutling sa paginusara:
Yam-id ang pahiyom ‘mong makabibihag
Naghimaraot ‘nng masulub-ong kalag;
Maidlot ug ‘tuling mga bangkaw
Lagbas ‘ning dughan, ang ‘lulot ‘mong panan-aw;
Lanog sa biaybiay ‘ning sa paglaom ilo na
Ang mahunihong tagingting sa imong katawa.

Busa lagi ‘tawon, Larawan, pahawa na
Uban sa kalipayng imong gipangita:
Pasagding sa kasakit ako mag-antos
Kay ‘na maoy angay ‘ning alaot ug kabos;
Hinaot ‘ta nga kalipay sa gugma imong mapupo
Samtang sa asgad mga luha ako magpatulo.

I’m also looking for other writers as well: Prospero V. Cañete of Bais, Felix B. Samson of Tanjay, Agustin N. Manalop of Bais, Sotero O. Nocos of Guihulngan, Linalang Timawa of Dumaguete, Leonardo A. Visorro Jr. of Dumaguete, and Norberta T. Elnar. Does anybody know these people? They used to contribute to Bisaya Magazine from the 1950s to the 1970s.

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