A local shirt brand once again collaborated with award-winning author Lualhati Bautista for a shirt design.
This time, Linya-Linya, also a content creator, highlighted a line from Bautista’s award-winning 1988 novel “Bata, Bata…Pa’no Ka Ginawa?” into a message for the public ahead of the 2022 national elections.
The quote reads: “Lahat ng panahon ay hindi panahon ng mga takot at pagtitimpi; Lahat ng panahon ay panahon ng pagpapasya.”
On its Facebook post, the retail brand said the team is honored to collaborate with Bautista again.
“Isang karangalan sa Linya-Linya na makatuwang sa isa namang makabuluhang kolaborasyon ang premyadong manunulat at kinikilalang tinig ng ating panahon– si Lualhati Bautista,” it said.
Bautista also previously promoted her collaboration with Linya-Linya on her account.
The novel won her the prestigious Carlos Palanca Awards for Literature in 1984.
Bautista’s other critically acclaimed books include “Dekada ‘70” and “Gapo.”
In a statement, Bautista emphasized the importance of getting involved in the country’s state of affairs.
“Mahalaga at makapangyarihan ang boses ng bawat isa sa atin…Tayo mismo ang dapat magsuri. Kailangan nating makisangkot sa mga problema ng bansa natin. Tayo ang huhubog sa kinabukasan natin at pati ng mga susunod na henerasyon,” she said.
Bautista, who’s also a political critic on social media, also said that a simple phrase is enough to convey an impactful message.
“Hindi kailangan ang maraming salita para magpaabot ng mensahe. Tama na ang isang linya, isang konting salita. Ang mahalaga ay ang titimo sa isip natin,” she said.
Ali Sangalang, Linya-Linya creative director, associated a quote from Bautista’s book with choosing the country’s leaders in the coming polls.
“When choosing our leader, we are also choosing our own future– dapat lang na makialam at maki-alam tayo sa mga nangyayari at mga nangyari na. Kaya naman for our second collaboration with Lualhati Bautista, we decided to immortalize a remarkable piece from her novel ‘Bata, Bata…Pa’no Ka Ginawa?’” Sangalang said.
“We believe that this will inspire more people to reflect on their choices and get more involved in social issues,” he added.
The first time the shirt brand and the author teamed up for a project was in March 2021 in celebration of Women’s Month.
That time, the local brand immortalized a line from one of Bautista’s social media posts.
The line reads: “Sundin ang tibok ng puso. Sundan ang sariling bahaghari.”
READ: ‘Sundin ang tibok ng puso’: Excerpt from Lualhati Bautista’s viral post gets turned into a shirt
Bautista previously received an offer to have Dekada ’70 published as a Penguin Classics, an international publishing company.
The company only carries a few titles from Filipino authors.
These include works from Jose Rizal, Nick Joaquin and Jose Garcia Villa.
READ: ‘Dekada ’70’ Penguin edition? Lualhati Bautista gets offer to have novel published