Illustrado’ is not an autobiography. Only the ideas are autobiographical; the ideas of bitterness, frustration, unchanging society, an individual lost, social awkwardness… The book satirises archetypes from across Filipino society, and I felt that the least I could do was offer myself up, too. Miguel Syjuco Read Quote
I love my homeland, but it’s an absurd country. Politics in the Philippines is like spectator sports! Miguel Syjuco Read Quote
I look at western literature and especially North American literature, and I feel like it gets bogged down so much with all of that, with domestic stories and relationships and a woman dealing with the loss of her husband. Miguel Syjuco Read Quote
There is that potential of the expats coming back to the Philippines. But sadly they are no opportunities, no incentive for them to come back home. Successive governments have, in fact, been training them to export them rather than working on the economy to welcome them home. Miguel Syjuco Read Quote
With ‘Ilustrado,’ I set out to change the way we read literature, and I think I failed spectacularly. In fact, I know I failed. In reaching further than I could, I may not have produced a life- or literature-changing book, but I did produce one I am proud of. Miguel Syjuco Read Quote
I have to believe that literature can effect change; otherwise, I would have no purpose in my life and would have wasted four years on ‘Ilustrado.’ Miguel Syjuco Read Quote
I don’t see myself as any different from all the other Filipinos who have gone abroad looking for opportunity, to be a nurse, a labourer, a maid or a prostitute. Miguel Syjuco Read Quote
When you live in the Philippines or a country like that, you develop something of a very thick skin because you’re confronted every day with all of the problems all around you. Miguel Syjuco Read Quote
I grew up with a very privileged background. My father served as one of the cabinet ministers in Arroyo’s government, and he’s been a congressman for many years, and he’s running again. Miguel Syjuco Read Quote
The Philippines, it has a politics of patronage. Family and favors, in addition to the old cliche of guns, goons and gold, really do still hold a lot of sway. Miguel Syjuco Read Quote
