by Michellan Sarile-Alagao

Image by Brendo Boyose on Pexels. (All photos and videos on Pexels can be downloaded and used for free).

It had been decades since rain fell on the town of San Quebrado, but the dead trees did not mind. You can tell a tree is dead by the lack of leaves, the smooth patches and vertical cracks on its trunk, the overall stillness when you stand beside it. There is no shade under any tree and the wind does not blow in San Quebrado, so it is always hot. 

Some people assume a dead town would be cooler. It should be cool, like cadaver-cool, my tito used to joke. That makes no sense, I finally explained to him after what was probably the twentieth time he made the joke. A dead body adjusts to the ambient temperature during algor mortis, and does not remain cool throughout. I was eager to show off what I had learned about medicine and science. He sighed and smiled sheepishly, his shoulders sagging a little. I didn’t mean to be rude. I should have just chuckled in agreement. 

Eventually we reached that town, where trees are memories and flowers are echoes. By now, I know what that place meant to my tito, how he knew he would go back one day, and how he was the only living boy to escape San Quebrado.

Image by cottonbro studio on Pexels. (All photos and videos on Pexels can be downloaded and used for free).

Panelists: Vida Cruz-Borja, Gabi Francisco, Carljoe Javier; Moderator: Kenneth Yu

AI is a man-made tool. Like all tools, it can be used the right way and the wrong way. A hammer can be used to build furniture or to destroy property; a knife can be used to cook and prepare food or to stab someone. Like any tool, AI in the right place and with the right intent can help make human lives easier. The four of us got together to discuss this issue as readers, writers, editors, publishers, educators, and ethicists, because we are seeing this tool being misused from our respective and varied points of view. 

Midway through this written online panel, we realized there was no way to cover everything we wanted to discuss. The tangents were just too numerous, veering in all directions, because AI is one tool that could affect the majority of the aspects of human life. We hope that this written panel would instigate insightful and thoughtful discussion among its readers because–believe us–if the trajectory of AI continues, there may be no way to avoid it in the future anymore. 

Mayumi Cruz is a multi-genre Filipino author whose body of works includes fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and translation.

She writes diverse, cross-genre fiction with emotionally-charged and thought-provoking plots. Her books, Chroma Hearts: A Psychological Thriller, and The Black Widow, have received awards and recognition. Some of Mayumi’s writings have also appeared in Philippines Graphic and other online publications. To date, Mayumi has more than twenty (20) published books, available online and in print.

Beyond writing, Mayumi is also an artist, a website designer, a screenwriter, and a freelance editor. With a degree in Economics and a master’s degree in Educational Management, she is also the founder of Pinoy Indie Authors, a volunteer-run community of independently-published, cross genre Filipino writers.

      | Website: www.mayumi-cruz.com

      | Facebook: MayumiCruzAuthorPage

Let’s meet the panelists for “Humanity in Stories”, a written panel scheduled for upload sometime mid-May 2026. A brief introduction on how this came about can be found here.

Carl Javier started writing for broadsheets and magazines in the Philippines over 25 years ago. In the time since, he has worked in literature, comics, publishing, academe, nonprofits and social enterprise, film and television, and entrepreneurship. At present,alongside his work as a media consultant and freelance writer, he is the Executive Director of Data and AI Ethics, where he works to advance Responsible AI and human-centered tech policy. He teaches Creative Writing at the Fine Arts Department of the Ateneo de Manila University and serves on the Board of Advisors of the De La Salle University’s AB Philosophy & Artificial Intelligence program.

Let’s meet the panelists for “Humanity in Stories”, a written panel scheduled for upload sometime mid-May 2026. A brief introduction on how this came about can be found here.

Gabi Francisco is a classically trained soprano who now performs in the English / Music / Drama classroom of her alma mater, Regina Maria Montessori. She has taught every level from preschool to college over the course of nearly two decades. A lifelong reader, she was a founding member of Ex Libris Philippines, and writes book, music, and theatre reviews. On weekends she soaks in as much art and literature as she can, so she can pass her love for the arts on to her students. She passionately believes in the transformative role of arts education in nation-building.