Diaspora Ad Astra

"So it may be that we’ll last into the future, when we all have jetpacks and rocketships. But what will the future be with Filipinos around? And how do we envision our
future then?"

As the saying goes, per
aspera ad astra
—from hardship to the stars. We may go through severe problems in our present but we should never give up reaching for our
future.

The anthology
Diaspora Ad Astra: Science Fiction from the Philippines
represents science fiction made by Filipinos FOR Filipinos. This collection of stories
looks at the future of Filipinos as we ask and wonder: will we be exporting human workers to Mars or will we be ruling a new Empire of Humanity? Or will we be running a guerrilla war against mad
robots as the rest of homo sapiens flee into space in derelict battleships?

Because of this, we’ve collected these Filipinos stories that look into a multitude of possible futures. Moreover, with these stories, we offer you hope that there will
be a future where Filipinos will still– whether we attain greatness or not– play a role on the stage of humanity.

Welcome to the future of Filipinos shaped by Filipino dreams.

Preface

“I want to be an astronaut when I grow up.”

That’s what a little girl said in a commercial I saw decades ago.

“No, you can’t,” said a little boy.

“Just because I’m a girl?” was the response. Then the commercial proceeded to promote female empowerment.

As a kid back then, I actually agreed with the boy. But it wasn’t because I thought women couldn’t be astronauts. I didn’t think the boy could be an astronaut
either. No, they both could never be astronauts. It was such a ludicrous idea. They were Filipinos.

At an early age, Philippine reality had limited my imagination. Even today, I’ve been told by those who worked in Philippine media that Filipino audiences would not
accept local science fiction shows. Oh, they love
Star Wars
,
The Matrix
,
Iron Man
, even super robot and cyberpunk anime. But once they see Filipinos in high tech worlds,
they don’t buy it. Fantasy and horror, sure. We love our
aswangs
. But space travel?

Filipinos do not develop spaceships for exploration or space cruises. The Philippines is not considered a high tech country. But we do contribute to world technology. We are
part of it. As workers, designers, users, and as writers. In this collection, contemporary writers look at Philippine reality and explore the possibilities of science and technology. Some create
intimate portraits of future human life. Some look to our history. Others look to the stars.

Science fiction is based on reality but it is also supposed to transcend it. It is about possibilities. When we fail see that then we will be forever mired in our defeatist
mindset.

Now, a Filipino will be going to space. Not as part of a Filipino space ship but as part of a global project. We are part of a global community. All of us have dreams of the
stars.

Emil M. Flores

Quezon City

April 2013

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the writers and readers who look beyond the visible and see what is possible. The country needs more from you and more of you.

A big thank you to my wife who knows my dreams and pushes me to make them real. Thanks to Joseph Nacino for spearheading this project. To the stars indeed.

E.M.F.

Cover design based on the book cover for the print edition by Oscar Bryan Alvarez.

First Introduction

The Future of Filipinos is in the Stars

Some time ago, I found myself having a debate with some friends on the question if there is greatness in Filipinos. My friends view the whole situation with a pessimistic eye
and state that there is nothing to be proud of in being Filipinos.

Obviously, I stated otherwise: I declared that whether we– Filipinos as a race– become great or not, it’s an on-going process for us. That we are still
finding ourselves as a state, a nation or a race amidst the daily grind of surviving. But that doesn’t mean we should close the book and make a final judgment on Filipinos in general.

Admittedly, it’s ironic that we Filipinos have lasted this long. We’ve had massacres a-plenty (from Jabidah to Maguindanao) to Martial Law, and this stretches back
all the way to the invasion and colonization of the Spanish, the Americans and the Japanese.

But we’ve also had some good spots: we have Filipino artists and athletes who’ve gained international recognition, the men and women doing their share as part of
the United Nations peacekeeping group, OFWs who go out into the world to do a good job in order to feed their families, national heroes who managed to stand up for our country’s pride against
overwhelming odds and powerful nations, and people who do what’s right instead of what’s pragmatic.

So it may be that we’ll last into the future, when we all have jetpacks and rocketships. But what will the future be with Filipinos around? And how do we envision our
future then?

This anthology will look into the future (near or far). Will we still be exporting human workers to Mars or to Alpha Centauri? Will we be ruling an Empire of Humanity? Or will
we be running a guerrilla war against robots that we’ve invented as the rest of homo sapiens flee into space in derelict battleships?

If you think about it (or if you read these stories), you’ll see how different Filipino science fiction is from their Western science-fiction counterparts. Our type of
science-fiction doesn’t dwell much on technological advances like Isaac Asimov’s robots , Arthur C. Clarke’s satellites or even William Gibson’s digital revolution. Rather,
we’re more concerned about the human face of technology—and specifically of how we Filipinos will
live
with these new technologies.

So yes, these stories will be focusing on Filipinos as characters in these stories. These are
our stories
and this is
our future
. With these stories, we hope
to show you a future where Filipinos will still– whether we attain greatness or not– play a role on the stage of humanity.

Joseph F. Nacino

Series Editor 2012

Introduction to the Digital Edition

This is Your Postcolonial Science Fiction

Someone once asked me: why bother with Science Fiction? Among all the genres and subgenres of speculative fiction, Science Fiction is supposedly the most Western in thought and story. Any Filipino tale about the future, technology, and science might be a slavish copy of the form rather than a vehicle for thought on what makes us Filipinos.

But I disagree: among the three genres, Science Fiction is actually the best genre to appropriate in order to talk about our own history. If a type of writing like Science Fiction could be used to deliver the Western World’s message and culture, why not subvert the trend and adopt Science Fiction for our own purpose?

It’s similar to how our own people have managed to make themselves an integral part of the world’s informal service industry. Yes, we are domestic workers, nannies, drivers of the world. But we are also the people the world misses when we are gone.

For example, we are the ones who teach the world’s children, from our homegrown values to our ubiquitous swear words. Trust me, it’s fascinating to see French children use Filipino profanity like
“p*tang-ina mo!”
like it was their own.

So yes, it might not be something to be proud of, being servants in another country. But somehow, our OFWs carry Filipino ethics and culture wherever they go, like hard work, family values, etc. And maybe these French children will remember the stories and values told to them by their Filipino yayas even after they grow up.

I guess the point I’m trying to make is that I think some metaphors in stories can be best conveyed by a vehicle like Science Fiction, because historically, Science Fiction has its own link to colonialism, and I think it’s the best tool to write postcolonial stories in relation to our own history. Hence this ebook edition of
Diaspora Ad Astra: An Anthology of Science Fiction from the Philippines
.

Yes, we still need time to shape and sharpen our stories—or History—the right way. But like a virus (whether biological or electronic) that’s trying to take over a system, I think we’ll be able to get it right.

Joseph F. Nacino

2014

Taguig City

The Malaya

By Dean Francis Alfar

Addendum to incident report during zero-point refueling, extracted from the audio log of Lt. Alexander Dimacali (vessel’s chief engineer)

DIMACALI: Vessel in lockstep mode for zero-point refueling. Warm dark matter filament identified and approach protocols observed. Gamma ambients within acceptable parameters.
Refueling commenced at UST 1545, Engineer Tatalon at point. Refueling estimated completion UST 1922.

At UST 1731 Arenas reports audial bogey in his helmet, declines suggestion that it is static or that his receiver caught background noise. Tatalon violates protocol and returns
to vessel, leaving zero-point coupling unattended. I took the point personally and resumed refueling at UST 2013.

There seems to be some damage to one of the WDM filament extractors, given Tatalon’s irresponsible leave-taking. Nothing that cannot be fixed later.

Official reprimand to Tatalon a given.

There is nothing to hear out here.

Draft of an incomplete branching game, coded by Eng. Michael Tatalon (vessel’s syseng); extracted from Tatalon’s personal tablet; entitled
“
Human Attack Simulator
”; with audio commentary directed to Lt. Maximo Canlaon (vessel’s chief topiarist)

TATS: Max, here’s a bit of what I’ve been working on. When it’s done, we’ll actually have something new to divert ourselves from this tedious mission.
And thanks for asking how I’m doing. Fuckass “suck my cock and don’t call me Alex” gave me hell about the ‘incident’ and actually issued a formal repri. Fuckass.
I heard what I heard like I told you. That sound—you believe me, right?
□
□
□
Anyway, here’s what I promised you. It’s skeletal, Max, but I have faith you’ll
work your word mojo and expand the basic text. I
□
you’ll like it. I call it HAS—Human Attack Simulation—and
□
first human killed will be the mighty fuckass himself.
I’ll see you and the plants soon.

0001

Ho! The crèche is under attack!

0004 Report to the ailing Queen

0012 Seek out and attack the humans!

0020 Flee in shame

0002