I DIDN’T know Ernesto Lariosa as a public servant, like when he was with the National Food Authority (NFA). I wasn’t assigned to National Government agencies when I was a reporter so I didn’t have any dealing with him when he was with the said agency. I only met him during that phase of my life when I sought to improve my writing skills.
By writing, I mean creative writing. I went straight to professional media after my second arrest in the late ‘80s, so the development of my journalistic writing skills was guaranteed. But I was hungry for some guidance on literary writing. And I thought I could get that by being with people with the same leaning.
The first thing I did was join creative writing workshops where I met some Cebuano writers like the late Temistokles Adlawan, who was at the University of the Philippines workshop in Tacloban City when I joined it in the ‘90s. It was then that I got acquainted with Tem’s group, the Bathalan-ong Halad sa Dagang (Bathalad), the leading Cebuano writers’ group.
I soon joined a Bathalad congress not as a participant but as an observer. I felt small in the midst of giants in Cebuano writing mainly because most of my literary output were in English. Ernie then began what would become a protracted wooing for me to join the group. I told him I would do so once I feel my output in Cebuano would be enough. I am still a Bathalad outsider, though--meaning that I failed to fulfill Ernie’s wishes until he died.
Ernie had visibly slowed down after his retirement from the NFA, more so after he turned over his Superbalita tasks to another Bathalad veteran, Lam Ceballos. I don’t know the extent of Ernie’s contribution to the shaping of the Cebuano Superbalita is officially using but it must have been substantial. I can compose articles in Cebuano but I don’t have as much grasp of the language, especially grammar, as Ernie.
Ernie or Erning can be considered one of the pillars of Cebuano writing. His friends can cite many instances of him exhibiting his jolly ways, especially when inebriated, but I don’t want that to overshadow his works. Ernie championed writers in Cebuano, the reason why Bathalad was formed. There are many so-called champions of the Cebuano language but only few who are also writers or who are also passionate of the writing craft.
With Ernie’s passing, the light has dimmed a bit for writers in Cebuano but it will continue burning. When he was alive, Ernie and the others in his generation devoted much of their time to nurturing young writers who are now starting to make a difference in the Cebuano writing scene. These young writers are mostly in Bathalad, improving their grasp not only of Cebuano but more so of their craft.
By the way, Ernie was one of those who showed up for the Capitol-funded history project administered by the University of San Carlos. I wrote the history of Tudela town and I don’t know if he completed the writing of the history of San Fernando town. So we called each other “historian” every time we met. May this “historian” rest in peace.