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An Ecocritical Reading of Selected Sidays in Baldesco’s Poetic Anthology “Kawit”

This paper unpacked and unearthed the ecocritical semantics in the Sidays of Filipino writer, Nemesio “Totoy” Baldesco who is widely recognized for his works in Siday, a form of Philippine poetry known for its distinct use of the Waray language spoken in the provinces of Samar and Leyte. Anchored on the principles of Ecocritical Theory, this paper sought to explore the ecocritical semantics (i.e. the symbolic lines, images, and symbolisms), and environmental meaning present in the six ecological Siday pieces from Baldesco’s poetic anthology. Results show that Baldesco’s Siday pieces contain ecocritical semantics that didactically moralizes people to protect the environment. Furthermore, the Siday pieces also moralize how humans should protect, preserve and conserve the environment. This paper concludes with a discussion on the need to promote and expand literary studies involving local literature in the Philippines.