Encounters by UBC KABA

COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT ‘ 24’ 25

Patricia Bueno

VP Communications - Creatives

Dala Malaya Sosa

AVP Communications

Ela Chua

Graphics Director

Danie Pascual

Graphics Director

Nia Pizarro

Zine Director

Renee Salva

VP Communications - Marketing

Ethan Mas Marketing Director

Nico Saguin

Visual Media Director

Isha Balboa

Visual Media Director

Santi Samson

Web Director

EDITOR’S NOTE

Kumusta! We are thrilled to present you the first issue of Kabazine for this school year! It has been a while since we’ve shared our creative endeavors, and so we made this comeback issue special for you! This year is also special as we decided to open our doors to everyone in UBC, especially its Filipino community. We want to invite every Filipino creatives to contribute their unique perspectives and artistic expressions. We are hoping not only to build a stronger relationship with our members, but also become a platform and voice for the Filipino community of UBC.

Our theme for this issue is “Encounters”, inspired by Halloween, the rich tapestry of Filipino folklore and mythology, and also the horrors of reality. These stories, whether they are real or kwentong barbero, have shaped our culture, traditions, and beliefs.

Inside this issue you will find a collection of poetry, short stories and illustrations, photographs, and entertaining facts. We hope that not only you enjoy this issue, but also feel inspired by the creativity and talent of our community.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE

Nia Pizarro

Zine Director

Welcome to the first Kabazine issue of the school year! I can’t imagine any theme more fitting for my first ever zine. Every single year, I spend my summer months waiting for autumn to return.

Finally, it’s the season of bingewatching iconic horror films. The season of glancing behind you during nighttime strolls, certain a dark figure is stalking your shadow. That, to me, describes precisely what horror is: the flawed human eye, shuddering at a beast of its own making.

And what greater beasts than the ones born from Filipino folklore? Throughout this issue, you’ll find them lurking throughout the wonderfully eerie, creative contributions from our community—whether it’d be ghosts, humanoids, or monsters, of all shapes and sizes. I do hope you sense their presence here, and I hope they haunt your pages. Enjoy the issue!

MAGKAIBA

Collection of Poems

Nathan Mallari, Year 2 Arts

“I'm an undergraduate psychology student at UBC who does poetry in my spare time. I write a lot of free verse but sometimes dabble in sonnets and other rhythmic forms. My poems introspect on my relationships, Asian-Canadian identity, and authenticity.

Magkaiba was inspired by the insecurity acknowledging my Filipino identity and how others close to me dealt with and experienced racism. Its poems bring a desire to not be different but to belong in a society that continues to "other" BIPOC bodies and experiences. They also highlight the tension of growing up as a 1.5 or 2nd+ generation immigrant who feels stuck in two different cultural worlds.”

FOMO

they said my dad wasn’t good enough for his job and for this country this dream that he had carried for all his life was gone and buried beneath the pain and aggression between the racism and desperation something he worked hard for 20 years dissipated like his drying tears fast forward, I'm in the car and father says to me

son don’t beat yourself up when you don’t fit like a puzzle piece because they may bring you down even when they don’t say it they hold flowers in their hands but keep thorns inside their pockets yet I’ve seen your beauty and the stories you’ve tell

I think this generation begins to unravel this bleeding past the problem is I want to be you instead of who I'm made to be because I think I’d gain all the smiles if my skin were lighter, more than a peach I thought I would finally belong if I knew all the players on the NHL and spend all my Sundays watching CFL yet all I am is brainwashed by a spell and now I see two sides of the coin my dad’s hurt and my own self-worth rooted in trying to belong to you ending with both parties leaving hurt

How Much?

How much do I have to go through?

How much do I have to prove to you?

My greatest fear in life is being told “Go back where you came from”

Even I doubt if I belong here

My motherland had brought me to tears

With the same words that shook

The muscles in my heart

What fine line do I have to balance

Between an ethnic poser and an artist?

What stereotype unfounded would please

The systemic masses?

No matter how much I say, “I’m more than my eyes anyways”

Some stare like zoo visitors

At windows with exotics never seen before

So how much do I have to prove?

How much do I have to go through

To make my eyes worth seeing

And my voice more appealing?

Untitled

She stares at the mirror so thoughtfully

As if counting the dots was her pastime

But counts to three for that curved body

Of North Shore Mountains-- ever so sublime

Amoeba-like eyes that see no evil

His frames a window to a lost soul

Manufactured black hair he thinks people

Have already read him from head-to-toe

They could see her as a page from the book

Or a post-modern masterpiece mélange

He could have been an actor-- sans the looks

If they didn’t drown his voice in sound

I wonder the lengths it takes to go through

To change and be seen out of the rearview

“NAKA-KABA!!”

What Pinoy urban legends do you know of/are familiar with?

Ahumanoidsnakeresidinginthebasementof afamousmallinManila.Itwasrumoredthat thehumanoidsnakeisthechildoftheowner andthatoneofthefittingroomswouldopen uptoitslair.Mostofitsvictimsare beautifulwomenandoneofitsrumored victimisafamousFilipinoactress.

Igotghostedbymydate withunknownintentions:(

IfyoudrivebyBalete Drive,aghostlywhitelady wouldappearatback passengerseatofyourcar.

Any stories of encounters with the unknown?

bBackathome(Philippines),thereusedtobea Wunchofbananatreesbyourkitchenwindow. dhileIwaseatinglunchbythatwindowone ay,Iheardaflockofchickensscreaming. aAsiftheywerebeingchasedbyaferal nimal.WhenIlookedout,Inearlygota wheartattackbecausetherewasadishelved omanstandingbythebananatree.Shehas bigredglowingeyes.

DoyouknowanyPhilippine mythologicalcreature?

OneofmyfavouriteisPasatsatandtheyare lowkeyunderrated.Theyareghostsofthe peoplewhoperishedduringworldwarii. Theyarewrappedinsideofabanigbecause coffinsarehellaexpensivebackthenand livingconditionsarepoor.Theywouldappear inthemiddleoftheroadandyouhavetostab themtogetridofthem.

Duwendes,youhavetosay t“tabi-tabipo”inplacessuchas aheforestorsomewherewithan nthill.That’swheretheyreside andifyoudidnotexcused yourself,yourpporoneofyour limbsmightgetcursed.

4TH FLOOR

Digital Drawing and Short Story

Patricia Bueno

There were rumors about the one of the floors of the school being haunted. A ghost, in all places, in a catholic school? Well one famous Filipino urban legend is that most catholic schools in the Philippines are built on cemeteries or burned down hospitals. Not our school though! Our school was really built from an old cemetery and an old burnt down school.

Some students have seen an apparition of a pale woman wearing our school uniform, roaming around the upper halls late at night. No one knows of her origin, however, many suspected she was a former student of our school. She would particularly haunt the small bathroom on the fourth floor. Some say she would appear behind you if you look at its mirrors, others would hear her wailing loudly.

During one of the overnight school retreats, two senior high school students got too brave and decided to roam around the upper hall when they are not supposed to. One of them felt the urge to take a piss and so they went into the small bathroom. When they entered, they saw the only stall is occupied; there was a pair of feet underneath the stall door. After waiting for a while and the urgency to relieve themselves, they decided to knock on the door and ask the occupant to step out of the stall.

“Wait.” A weak voice replied.

They knocked again. Curiosity got over them and they decided to peak inside the stall. The thing they saw made their blood run cold. It was the pale woman, sitting quietly at the corner of the stall, staring at them with her pupil-less eyes. Suddenly, there was a loud bang, as if somebody angrily punched the stall door.

“

SINABING TEKA LANG EH! (I TOLD YOU WAIT!)” A loud demonic voice echoed the room. The bathroom wall, doors, mirrors, and everything in the room started banging very loudly. The stall door suddenly flew open; there was no one inside.

“OH AYAN! PUMASOK KA! (THERE! GO IN!)”

Both seniors screamed off their heads and ran away. The whole class was so shocked when they came back to their assigned sleeping area; they were a mess and inconsolable. It is rumored that one of them moved to another school right away after that night, while the other suffered a breakdown and was sent to a healthcare institution.

The KABA Files:

Creatures of Philippine Mythology

Tikbalang

Physical Traits: It has a head of a horse, the upper body of a human, and long powerful legs that resembles the rear quarter of a horse.

Habitat: Known to lurk in mountains and rainforests in the Philippines.

Behaviour: Like Kapres, they like disorienting travelers and are not capable of harming humans. There is a belief that you can tame a Tikbalang if you manage to pluck a hair from it. If it rains from a clear sky, it means a Tikbalang is getting married.

Kapre

Physical Traits: Tall, dark-skinned, hairy, and muscular. A Kapre wears a bahag and often wears a magical belt that has the ability to let them become invisible to humans.

Habitat: They dwell on big trees such as acacias, bamboo, mangoes, and banyan (balete).

Behaviour: They are known to smoke large cigars and disorient travelers. Although mischievous, they are not evil creatures. They are considered protectors of forests and their inhabitants.

Manananggal

Physical Traits: During daytime, it has an appearance of a beautiful woman. At nighttime, it would severe its upper torso and sprout huge bat-like wings to fly and search for victims.

Habitat: Human communities.

Behaviour: It preys on pregnant women and feeds on their unborn children. To ward them off, you have to seek off its lower torso and sprinkle either salt, crushed garlic, or holy water on them.

Kaperosa

Physical Traits: A ghostly woman with a faceless, long black hair and most of the time, wearing a white long dress. Its demonic counter part wears an all black gown.

Habitat: Most commonly seen hanging around Banyan trees (balete), empty buildings, roads, forests, and roads. They can appear anywhere.

Behaviour: She is a restless soul seeking for justice, revenge, or completing any unfinished business. A Kaperosa can also ask you to help them search for their lost children, husbands, and or lovers.

Aswang

Physical Traits: Aswangs are shapeshifters. It takes any form it wants such as dog, cat, bird, or other animals. They are known for their long black tongue, one of their means to pierce flesh and suck blood.

Habitat: Human communities and under houses.

Behaviour: It eats children and solitary pedestrians. Like Manananggals, it also preys on pregnant women to feed on their unborn children.

BE THE MOUTH

Microfiction Story

Nia Pizarro

When she was seven, Livia lost her baby teeth, buried them along a forest streamlet, and demanded the waters to consume everything her mother wouldn’t approve of. Be the mouth I can’t have, she said. Scream everything I can’t.

Now she can’t find her molars, and Hollywood horror producers want her baby mouth back. After countless audition room disasters, so does Livia. Go feral, a producer insisted after her feeble attempts at screaming. Full-on canine, baby.

Livia screamed for him. The producer flinched before thanking her for her time. Now rushing water sloshes between her toes as they search the streambed for something sharp and rotting. Her hometown, blustery and gray, sits quieter than she expected. Growing up, every tantrum was muffled in floods. Every scream, swallowed by her mother’s scolding. Upon Livia’s return, old neighbours warned her to stay away from the woods’ rivers—a thunderstorm was brewing near.

How could she? Her bones lay beneath her feet. Forest creatures scramble for shelter as the skies gray, but she stands firm over wet gravel and spiraling cedar roots. As a rabbit leaps across the grass, a flash of white shimmers in its mouth—a tooth. A human molar.

Livia’s heart skips. Without thought, she lurches forward, loses her footing, and dives facefirst onto the waters of her rushing mouth.

She spits out a pebble as she gazes ahead. “Give it back,” Livia whispers to the rabbit. It’s all her voice can do nowadays. “It’s mine.”

The first drops of rain sprinkle the ground. Nibbling on her rotten molar, the rabbit squeezes into a melon-sized burrow. Knees stinging as Livia stands, she cries out in agony—a shriek so agonizing, morning birds flee from the gangly birch boughs above.

Can you run that line again? the blossoming storm rumbles. Shriller, and with more teeth?

Livia rubs the skin on her knees, grimacing at the rain. At her ankles, her gushing mouth drools as it gnaws on her toes.

RECAP Gallery

Break The Ice 2024: Kablast to the Past!

KABA’s first major event of the year is a success! Attendees enjoyed the fun icebreaker activities and classic Filipino cuisine as they vibe to Filipino 90s jams.

October would not be complete without a haloween celebration (and halo-halo)! Guests were entertained by costumes and karaoke numbers as they make their own halo-halo.