A day of many traditions

APRIL 23 was a particularly significant literary milestone because it marked the 400th death anniversary of two illustrious names in world literature: William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes, who coincidentally died on the same day.

The tradition of Día del Libro has its origin in Barcelona, Spain, that has men and women exchanging roses and books. Instituto Cervantes, the cultural arm of the Spanish Embassy, has been observing the tradition in Manila for many years.

In 1995, Unesco chose the date as World Book and Copyright Day, to pay tribute to books and authors and to reawaken in everyone the many delights of reading. It was not meant merely to promote the printed format that we know and love. It was meant to be a celebration of reading, publishing, and copyright, activities that are equally important in this age of technology, as they were when books were the primary format for transmitting knowledge.

In years past, the National Book Development Board (NBDB) and the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) jointly commemorated the day, highlighting the importance of books and protecting the rights of their creators. At a particular previous celebration, I remember the catchy slogan we had which continues to ring true: “Reading Rocks, Copyright Rules.”

And each year, too, Día del Libro would have its own parallel celebration.

Thus, the joint celebration and collaboration on April 23 of the NBDB, IPOPHL, Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF), and National Commission on Culture and the Arts with Instituto Cervantes was a milestone, a merging of these celebrations which has been long in coming. There is also added significance that this is happening in our own Buwan ng Panitikan or National Literature Month, now on its second year. The choice of month is deliberate because April 2 is the birth date of our greatest poet, Francisco Balagtas, born 228 years ago.

The centrally located Ayala Triangle—made available by Ayala Land Inc.—was transformed into a hub of reading and culture. It was an ideal venue, being also a stone’s throw from the fairly new home of Instituto Cervantes on the ground floor of the Philippine Stock Exchange Building.

Another valued member of the team was the WTA Architect + Design Studio with its Book Stop, a pop-up library that endeavors to bring the reading experience to the countless communities in our midst with no access to books (yes, hard to fathom in this day and age). Avid readers flocked to this streamlined structure of a reading nook, knowing that one could pick a book to take, as long as one had another with which to replace it. I could not resist taking an Eric Carle picture book I had not read, with the promise to bring a few books by Filipino authors in exchange. (The Book Stop is at the Ayala Triangle until May 7. Go and browse, take a book and read al fresco, preferably close to sundown. Do bring books to keep the shelves full.)

The day was marked with long-stemmed roses, although the KWF had sampaguita bracelets, too, though not as plentiful as the more reasonably priced and readily available red roses. The Instituto Cervantes staff wore sleek black T-shirts, enduring the summer heat, to proudly show off quotes by authors writing in Spanish. There was Jose Rizal’s famous line from “Mi Ultimo Adios”: “Voy donde no hay esclavos, verdugos ni opresores” (I go where there are no slaves, hangmen nor oppressors).

The NBDB offered free silk-screening of quotes from recent National Book Award titles, including the bestselling trio: Nikki Alfar’s “Wonderlust” (“This, she finally understands, is love: this drive to give, rather than simply receiving; to provide, rather than endlessly wanting; to build, rather than merely opening a window, a heart, legs”), Eliza Victoria’s “Dwellers” (“We are what we remember. Or what we choose to remember. If we lose our memories, we lose ourselves”), and Manix Abrera, he with the cult following, with his drawing from his wordless award winner, “14.”

There was a long queue all day long for what Instituto Cervantes described a “quixotic” task—the process of copying by hand “Don Quixote de La Mancha” by 500 volunteers who were given two minutes to copy a few sentences. Every participant also received a rose.

Lawyer Louie Calvario of IPOPHL lectured on copyright, beginning with an intriguing question concerning the selfie taken by a macaque in Indonesia in 2011. Who owns the copyright, the photographer who “staged” it or the monkey who successfully did a selfie? That was only the beginning of a lively discussion, with the US Copyright Office’s declaration that copyrights are only for works produced by human beings. In this case, the copyright was neither for the monkey nor the photographer.

Día del Libro, Araw ng Aklat, World Book Day. Call it what you wish, what is common is our love, our passion, our fervor, our alab for books. And the honoring of books not only as a written medium, but also one of the greatest, most enduring artifacts of human achievement.

Neni Sta. Romana Cruz (nenisrcruz@gmail.com) is chair of the National Book Development Board, a trustee of Teach for the Philippines, and a member of the Eggie Apostol Foundation.