Disguise: A Literature Review

          

 image by rappler

            John Bengan, the author of the 2013 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature first place winner, “Armor”, wrote the masterpiece of a story entitled Disguise as well. This story became the bridge for Bengan to receive his second Carlos Palanca Award first prize in the short story category.

     image by chloeinthedark 

           The story, Disguise, revolves around a town Mayor, who one night, decides to disguise himself as a taxi driver in order to catch criminals who prey on said drivers. In the whole course of the story, he was able to come across three different passengers, each of them giving the Mayor different feels and experiences as the Mayor drove them to their chosen destinations. As he was driving around town, he was able to reminisce about how the town looked before he became the official mayor, and how the town progressed as he sat in position. The story also shows how the Mayor is with the ordinary citizens in their town; he jokes around, talks to them casually, and he treats them to one of his favorite places that serves batchoy. The story itself is already interesting, but as the conflict rises, it gets more of the reader’s attention. The vigilante side of the Mayor was shown in the story as he fights for a matter that needs to be handled head-on as he drives around town. Later on, as the Mayor hands the matter over to the officials, a small commotion is made, giving the Mayor no choice but to show off his power and authority to end the issue once and for all. The story ends as the Mayor decides to call it a night and heads home.

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           Now if given only the synopsis, no one would really think that the story would give out a lot of real-life context from the actual world, it simply looks like a synopsis of an innocent short story that does not have a context relating to the real world. If the story and its context are both analyzed properly, the reader would easily understand that Disguise is about the current president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte and his life as a mayor in Davao before he got elected as the president of the country. Bengan gave the readers an idea on Duterte’s leadership and attitude towards the citizens when he was still mayor of the town. He was portrayed as someone who would put matters in his own hands if needed, especially if the lives of ordinary citizens were at risk. 

           This being said, it is difficult to not compare the way he was portrayed in the story with the way he is now, four years after he became the president. The leadership and initiative that was shown in the story is now nowhere to be seen. In the year wherein the global pandemic hit hundreds of countries and places, and affected the lives of millions of people around the world, the competency of the administration led by Duterte cannot be seen at all in the country he is supposed to lead. Compared to how the Mayor in the story was, Duterte now fails to empathize and connect with the ordinary Filipino citizens. He no longer places himself in the shoes of the less fortunate as opposed to the Mayor of the story literally living in the shoes of a taxi driver. The priority of the government in the middle of the pandemic is not close at all to the welfare of the Filipino citizens, nothing near with how he was portrayed in the short story of John Bengan. 

       image by emilyelizabeth

           In totality, the short story was a good read as it depicts or represents something that happened in real life. It is also worthy to mention how the writer, Bengan, wrote the short story in a way that he is able to give the readers a chance to easily imagine the scene they are reading. It is the type of story that is very straight to the point in a way, but as the reader understands the context behind it, it gets more captivating. Disguise gave the readers a new perspective on how politicians have a choice on how to handle things and situations, as well as a choice to not do anything at all. 

Reference: 

MindaNews. (2017, September 06). 5 Mindanawons among Palanca winners. Retrieved September                        11, 2020,  from                                                                                                                                                                                                      https://edgedavao.net/the-big-news/2017/09/06/5-mindanawons-among-palanca-winners/