Almost a hundred writers and writers-at heart attended the inaugural year of 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬 in celebration of the 𝗡𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 on 𝐒𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 25, 2026. Serving as the students’ 𝗟𝗜𝗧 203 – 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲 course project under the tutelage of 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝘁. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗿 𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗔. 𝗙𝗮𝗺𝗼𝘀𝗼, seventeen performances from the 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 students and professors colored the virtual screens as stories of Mindanao were brought to light, cementing the identity of the 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐨𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞

With the event’s theme 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗦𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘀: 𝗟𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬, the MA Literature program hits the mark as they reintroduced their hometowns, sharing their communities’ unique customs and beliefs, and shedding light to their personal struggles anchored on symbolisms present in their homeland.

The event was attended by the 𝐕𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐀𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬, 𝗗𝗿. 𝗝𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗶𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝗡𝘂𝗲𝘃𝗮, 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬’ 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐧, 𝗗𝗿. 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗼, as well as the students and faculty members of the different 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐨.

In her welcoming remarks, Dr. Sonico highlighted the importance of writers in immortalizing lived narratives to preserve stories that will serve as a long-lasting legacy that the future generation will use as an anchor point in tracing how far they’ve come.

These are the entries during MindaSpeaks 2026:

𝙇𝙮𝙯𝙝𝙖 𝘼𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚 𝙀𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙖 – “𝙇𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙈𝙚 𝘽𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙉𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝘾𝙤𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙖𝙩𝙤” 𝙅𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣 𝘾𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙡𝙤𝙜𝙤 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙨 – “𝙎𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙏𝙖𝙜𝙪𝙢”

𝙅𝙪𝙣𝙚𝙡 𝙂𝙖𝙧𝙨𝙪𝙩𝙖 – “𝘿𝙖𝙩𝙪 𝙎𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙮”

𝙅𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙃𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙮 𝙂𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙖 – “𝘽𝙪𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙣”

𝙋𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙅𝙧. 𝙂𝙧𝙪𝙢𝙤 – “𝙇𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩”

𝙅𝙚𝙣𝙣𝙚𝙙𝙮 𝙅𝙪𝙚𝙯𝙖𝙣 – “𝙏𝙖𝙜𝙖 𝙎𝙮𝙪𝙙𝙖𝙙”

𝙁𝙪 𝙑𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙘 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣 – “𝘿𝙞𝙧𝙞 𝙎𝙖 𝘼𝙢𝙤𝙖 𝙨𝙖 𝙄𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙖”

𝙒𝙖𝙡𝙩 𝙇𝙚𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙎𝙖𝙢𝙨𝙤𝙣 – “𝘽𝙚𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙖𝙧-𝙛𝙚𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙙:𝙀𝙣𝙝𝙮𝙥𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙣 𝘿𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢”

𝙎𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩𝙨𝙚𝙡 𝙀𝙡𝙤𝙞𝙨𝙖 𝙎𝙚ñ𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙨 – “𝙇𝙖𝙬-𝙪𝙮 𝙨a 𝙆𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜-𝙠𝙖𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜”

𝙅𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙍𝙖𝙯𝙚𝙡 𝙏𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙪𝙖𝙣 – “𝘼 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙗𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙘”

𝙇𝙪𝙞𝙨 𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙙 𝙏𝙖𝙥𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙧 – “𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙂𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙖𝙣”

𝙅𝙤𝙚𝙢𝙖𝙧 𝙅𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝘽𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙡 – “𝙎𝙪𝙜𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙖 𝙋𝙖𝙜𝙩𝙪𝙤 𝙪𝙜 𝙋𝙖𝙜-𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙩” 𝙍𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙟𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙤 – “𝘼𝙣𝙜 𝙋𝙪𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 𝙨𝙖 𝙎𝙪𝙗𝙖”

𝘿𝙤𝙣𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙝 𝘼𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙡𝙤 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙚 – “𝙈𝘼𝙡𝙞𝙩-𝘼”

Meanwhile, the MA Literature professors presented their scholarships in honor of Mindanao locking the program’s commitment in upholding and promoting not just their literature, but also the people who got to live in it.

The event ended with 𝐃𝐫. 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐨 𝐋𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐘𝐮 the 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 program expressing his gratitude to the participants including the participating SUCs around Mindanao leaving words of encouragement to continue expressing love for the culture and literature.