I was born in an idyllic in Bicol graced by the sun and the sea, and grew up catching dragonflies and chasing grasshoppers in our grassy front yard, flying kites along the beach on lazy afternoons, and frolicking in the murky flood around our house after a strong typhoon. When the Fransiscan Friars arrived in our place for the first time some centuries ago, they thought they were at the shore o…