LIRA elects new officers

Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika at Anyo (LIRA), the oldest and leading organization of poets writing in Filipino, elected a new set of officers during its virtual general assembly held on July 18, 2021.

Doctor-poet Joey A. Tabula was elected as the new LIRA president, replacing Aldrin Pentero, who served for three consecutive terms from 2015 to 2021. Dr. Tabula, a former Vice President of LIRA, serves as the Publisher of LIRA and a board member of Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL). He was the editor of From the Eyes of a Healer: An Anthology of Medical Anecdotes (Alubat Publishing, 2017), co-editor of BULAWAN: Interviews with Filipino Medical Oncologists (Alubat Publishing 2019), and Pagninilay: Hinga, Hingal, at Hingalo sa Panahon ng Pandemya (UP Manila, 2020) and was a panelist in the 2020 and 2021 Creative Non-Fiction Writing Workshop for Doctors of the Bienvenido S. Santos Creative Writing Center.

Joining Dr. Tabula in the LIRA leadership are volunteer-poets Mia Francesca Lauengco (Vice President), Agatha Palencia-Bagares (Secretary), Adelma Salvador (Treasurer), and Edbert Darwin Casten (Public Relations Officer). Lauengco is a communication strategist by profession and was the former Public Relations Officer of LIRA (2015 to 2017). Palencia-Bagares, a public servant, is one of LIRA’s newest members. Salvador is a two-time Palanca awardee, serving her second term as LIRA’s Treasurer. Casten is a product of several national writer’s workshops and also a newly sworn in member of LIRA.

The new leadership will face the challenge of continuing LIRA’s cultural programs while adapting to the “new normal” prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. One of these programs is the annual LIRA Poetry Workshop (Taunang Palihang Pampanulaan), an intensive training-workshop for poets who are committed to excel in their craft and dedicated to the fostering of literature, language, culture, and national identity.  Other programs include lectures on literature, language, communication skills, and cultural heritage appreciation through the organization’s various outreach programs.

Founded in 1985 by National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario (Rio Alma), the organization had successfully honed some of the Philippines’ most admired poets including Victor Emmanuel Carmelo Nadera, Romulo Baquiran Jr., Michael M. Coroza, Roberto Añonuevo, Rebecca Añonuevo, Jerry Gracio, and Edgar Calabia Samar. In 2011, the organization was recognized as one of the Ten Accomplished Youth Organizations (TAYO) for its service-driven activities related to poetry by its poet-volunteers.

For more information on LIRA, visit the Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika at Anyo Facebook page or e-mail palihanglira@gmail.com.

Press release from LIRA