‘Tanaw: Ang Kasunduan,’ a theatrical adaptation of Romeo Palustre Peña’s ‘Isang One Dalawang Zero’ took center stage at the AEC Little Theater during the MSEUF Literature Festival 2025, bringing life to the historical and political struggles of Bondoc Peninsula, April 23.
Rooted in Peña’s allegorical narrative, the play followed Siglo, the “apo ng bayawak,” as he came of age in a society shaped by colonial violence, class oppression, and cultural displacement. Mythical figures such as crows, bayawak, and aswang symbolized these enduring crises.
Peña, a Catanauan native and keynote speaker at the event, shared how he drew the novel’s narrative from his hometown and the plight of coconut farmers in the province. He highlighted how, despite the coconut’s economic value in the country, farmers remained marginalized and underappreciated.
“Kapag nagsusulat kami, ginagamit namin ang panitikan para magkaroon ng malaking pagpapahalaga ang mga Pilipino sa industriya ng niyog sa ating bansa,” Peña said. “Kakaunti na ang mga kabataan na gustong maging magsasaka ng niyog.”
“Makikita natin na yung panitikan ay nagiging saligan kung paano natin hinaharap ‘yung mga sitwasyong panlipunan,” he added.
For the play director and scriptwriter Yssa Aranilla, a College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) student, staging the play served not only as a tribute to literature but also as a political statement.
“Ang inspirasyon ko kasi, bukod kay Dr. [Romeo Peña], na nabasa ko ‘yung novel, is tamang-tama siya since election season sa paparating na May, so malaking hugot ko rin ‘yon kasi may allegory siya na political,” Aranilla said.
Aranilla also emphasized the role of arts in engaging the public with truth in entertaining ways.
“I think a lot of people kasi, they find truth boring. So one way to convey the truth is to make it creative or doon sa part na puwede sila mag-enjoy. In that way, ‘yung pasok ng information sa kanila is something na bukod sa factual, … nag-eenjoy din sila, pero ‘yung enjoyment na ‘yun may path to enlightenment,” she expressed.
Student actors from CAS performed the play before an audience of over 300 attendees.
Meanwhile, the Literature Festival also hosted individual competitions in poetry, essay, and flash fiction writing, along with group contests in mural and installation art. #
