BY JUSTINE AMORA, ANDRE AMPIG & RHUELLA SALDUA/UM Interns
MINDANEWS held its 3rd Mindanao Book Festival on Wednesday, May 21, 2026, a 3 Day festival running from May 21 to May 23, 2026, in partnership with and organized in Ateneo de Davao University, with the theme “Writing Mindanao, Righting Mindanao.”
The event was formally opened by Jeremy Bong Eliab, vice president of Ateneo de Davao University, by delivering an opening speech.
“Books are vessels of memory; they carry voices across time, they help us listen more deeply than headlines allow, they ask us to slow down, and slowing down is already a radical act today. We live in a time when falsehood can travel faster than truth, and disinformation not only confuses people, but it also damages trust, divides communities, weakens our ability to speak to one another, and makes people suspicious of facts, institutions, history, and even their neighbors. That is why this festival matters, it brings together the very communities that help defend truth: writers, journalists, historians, archivists, teachers, librarians, students, researchers, artists, and religious communities,” said Eliab.
A speech was also made by Dr. Patricio “Jojo” N. Abinales, a professor of the University of Hawaii-Manoa, who briefly discussed the significance of the history of Mindanao.
“The history of the Philippines is not complete without Mindanao.” Abinales said as he proceeded to give the following lies made towards Mindanao in the past years: First is the beleaguered fortress and Muslim Mindanao, second lie is that some trading only went on within Muslims and foreign traders, third one is occasional contact, the fourth one is alienation of Christians and Muslims under the Spanish colonialism and worsened under the Americans.”
On the second session of the Book Festival, the Forum on Independent Publishing commenced with Ricardo M. De Ungria, poet, editor, and former chancellor of UP Mindanao; Dr. Mansoor Limba, author, translator, and founder of Elzi Style eBookshop; Yasmin Arquiza, publishing director of Pawikan Express; and Sophia Escarza, founding member of Onomatopoets and member of Tridax Zines and Cotabato Literary Circle, as the forum’s speakers, sharing their insights, experiences, and ideas on being an independent publisher.
The event ended with the presentation of the Mindanao books published from July 2022 to May 2026, the official launching of various authors’ books, including Reynaldo D. Raluto, Parish Priest of Libona, Bukidnon, who published “Integral Ecology Ministry” and Bong Sarmiento, author of the book “To Mine or Not to Mine.”
