Birdman in Guiguinto

Once upon a time in faraway Guiguinto, there was an autobiographical art exhibit told in cartoon panels, curiously titled "The Sky is the Langit" and curated by Erwin Romulo, and a launch of The Book of Birdman under Istorya imprint, both by the peripatetic artist animator Roxlee, also known among his close-in as Roquito, surely a pioneer of Philippine independent animation among the first who put moving drawings and illustrations in the local filmgoers' awareness.

- JUANIYO ARCELLANA

No joke, no joke, he has also been given a lifetime achievement award by the FAMAS some years back for his gung-ho guerrilla style of filmmaking, which, come to think of it, is ironic considering he was being honored by one of the movie establishments. But he'll take whatever comes his way, and thank you with a primal.

Recently he messaged an invite for the Guiguinto affair sometime in November then postponed to early December due to an infamous series of typhoons, saying the Bulacan town is just a point-to-point bus ride away, after which you can ask the help of a tricycle driver to take you to the Istorya studios on a certain street in a certain barangay, you can take his word for it that you won't get lost unless primal fate directs you otherwise.

He had already sent an advance copy of Book of Birdman by courier to the apartment, how the book itself could be epitome of the independent graphic novel, long after his first foray into the publishing world, Cesar Asar in the Planet of the Noses.