“Fantasy is more popular in the Philippines given our rich heritage of folklore and mythology. Science fiction on the other hand, suffers from the difficulty of achieving suspension of disbelief in the readers. The Philippines is generally still not perceived as a technologically innovative society despite the scientific and technological achievements of our scientists and engineers,” Emil Francis Flores, professor at the Department of English and Comparative Literature at the University of the Philippines Diliman, told me. Flores is also one of the editors of the Filipino science fiction collection Diaspora Ad Astra: An Anthology of Science Fiction from the Philippines, which we will go over later. According to him, Filipinos are also “users of technology but the technology is mostly perceived to be foreign,” and he hoped that this perception will change. Although there’s an apparent short supply of Filipino science fiction books in circulation, I’ve managed to find 11 of them. Just a quick note for everyone: Philippine literature has more speculative fiction that incorporates sci-fi, so you’ll mostly find “science-sy” spec fic books in this list. And though that’s the case, there are also books that perfectly fall under the sci-fi genre. Finally, this list also features both Filipino authors from the Philippines as well as those from its diaspora. According to Flores, a book titled Mapping New Stars that aims to help inform people and encourage Filipino students to write more science fiction will come out soon in the Philippines. That’s some good news, as it would breed more Filipino science fiction writers in the future. In this collection, however, he edited science fiction stories for Filipino young readers, which might be the first in the Philippines. The collection features stories from known Filipino spec fic writers such as Victor Fernando Ocampo, Nikki Alfar, Eliza Victoria, and Gabriela Lee. This is really sure to please. If you want to read science fiction in the lens of Filipinos, look no further. Set in a reimagined, far-future Intramuros, New Intramuros is a city replete with technological marvels. But beyond its high walls lies aswangs, or monsters in Filipino folklore. I find the worldbuilding intricate and dense; it offers a glimpse of Manila a hundred years into the future. Despite the title, the stories in the collection incorporate both fantasy and science fiction. One story features a tiyanak, a small, mythical creature in Philippine mythology, and there are also aliens and genetic clones in other stories. Moreover, some stories explore the world between literary and genre fiction. It’s the best of both worlds, and it’s a noteworthy addition to a meager selection of Filipino sci-fi books. Alyosha, on the other hand, finds himself on the receiving end of prejudice as he’s blamed for the death of the princess. The two soon join together to fight their enemies. Instead of killing her, however, the Commonwealth trains her to become one of them, taking advantage of her extraordinary skills. But Ia feels imprisoned within the Commonwealth, so she plans her escape — until her colleagues throw a wrench into her plans. Lee’s writing is eloquent, and this is her debut book. But for the meantime, enjoy this list of Filipino horror books.
