The idea came up one November night over P25 tapsilog: a publication that would reorient Filipino readers with Pinoy pop culture.

“We thought that the Philippine media is not properly covering Philippine youth and pop culture, and that there was too much focus on the glamorous and glitzy lifestyle patterned after what was popular in the West. We’ve been Westernized throughout the years that we need to remind ourselves that we have our own culture,” says Don Carreon, who, with Paolo Mariano and Bimbo Santos, came up with Kanto, a semiannual zine in 2006 when they were senior journalism students at the University of Santo Tomas.

Sold at Datelines in Cubao, Bokswagen Experiment, an indie store in Quezon Avenue, and F*ART Gallery in Kamuning for P30, Kanto is written primarily in Filipino.

“We felt it seemed unfit if we talk about our culture using a foreign language. We wanted to go against the grain since most publications these days are in English. It’s also easier to satirize the interesting parts of our culture if we write in Filipino,” explains Paolo.

They’ve come a long way from their idealistic selves now that they’re out of college and working the daily grind: Don and Bimbo are with the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, while Paolo writes for the 24-hour sports channel Solar Sports.

“We’re more sober now,” says Bimbo, the brain behind Kanto. “We see the value of the Mercedes as much as the Carabao, though we now try to exert more effort in writing about the Carabao than rallying against the Mercedes.”

Labor of love
Think of them as more like cheerleaders than street protesters. Not really a bad metaphor as the team really needs a lot of encouragement given that everything is out of pocket. Each of them contributes P300 monthly to pay for the photocopying and other related expenses.

“Kanto has always been a labor of love,” Paolo justifies. “The only earnings we get are once-in-a-blue-moon compliments from readers.”

The group has come out with a graduation and a Halloween issue so far. The recent November run included, among many others, an article on which makes the better girlfriend: a manananggal or a white lady; reviews of the Erik Matti film Pasiyam and the Toni Gonzaga-Sam Milby starrer You Are the One; and a feature on the Rene O. Villanueva biography, Personal: Mga Sanaysay sa Lupalop ng Gunita.

The “Tag-ulan” (rainy season) issue is set to come up this month. By December this year, they hope to bring Kanto online to reach more readers.

“After we go online, if God and Santa Claus like us enough, maybe we can finance both an online and print version of Kanto. It’s a long shot, but it’s worth trying,” says Paolo.

For inquiries, contact kanto_zine@yahoo.com