Happy first birthday, Stack Natin!

This space for the Filipinos of Substack, from the Filipinos of Substack, is one year, two (published) guest posts, eleven digests, and 111 directory entries old. Bring out the cake.

Bring out the balloons, the confetti and the cake—today Stack Natin turns one.

How time flies, doesn’t it?

I mean, it doesn’t feel like a year since Stack Natin officially went live, opening the directory up for submissions. And then we started doing our monthly What We’ve Been Writing digests—one month ahead of schedule, come to think of it—spotlighting the best writing from Filipino writers on this platform, and also attempting to capture the stories that we’ve been preoccupied with at a given time. (So there’s the Philippines getting its own Michelin guide—formally unveiled just a couple of days ago—and then there’s the never-ending fight against corruption in the Philippine government.)

And then we opened our doors to your guest posts. Honestly this has been one of the best parts of the Stack Natin experience so far: the privilege of helping shape other people’s stories, whether as an editor or as a frustrated graphic designer. After two rounds of submissions we’ve read

Regina Peralta 🇵🇭

’s piece on tracking down her expanded family tree, and

Bom

’s piece on how artificial intelligence isn’t always helpful. (And there’s one more piece that should go live next week.) I must mention that the third round of submissions, for publication next year, is still open, at least until later this month.

And all this time, we’re still finding each other, as more Filipinos are joining Substack. This project did start as a series of Substack Notes tagging each and every Filipino (and part-Filipino) writer we could find, an ever-longer list of backgrounds, perspectives and styles. As I write this, there are now 111 publications on the Stack Natin directory. Behind them are journalists, pundits, media personalities, authors, bookworms, artists, subject matter experts, a surprisingly sizable number of chefs, and the whole lot of us who have always loved writing. Funny how we end up being pretty much equal while on here.

Nope, the directory does not list every Filipino writing on Substack, of course. Realistically that wouldn’t happen, but wouldn’t it be nice if it did? But they’ll have to submit their publications to the directory—and that’s happening year-round, so if you’re reading this and want in on the list, you’re very much welcome to do so.

All that happened in the last twelve months. It seems to be a lot, and yet it feels I haven’t had enough time to do everything I wanted to do. Well, I’ve got to give myself grace: this isn’t my primary Substack publication, and I have a day job, too. Some of the things I want to do tend to be big projects, like artist interviews. Some of them also require some financial breathing room, like some of us meeting up for coffee. But then, there’s still time.

Still, the shape of Stack Natin one whole year in would not be like this if not for your support—the Filipinos of Substack who joined the directory, and even those who haven’t but were graceful enough to allow their pieces to be included in our digests. And even if you’re not Filipino, thank you! Our subscribers come from all over the world, and it warms the heart to see people interested in voices and stories from a part of the world that otherwise doesn’t receive a lot of attention, unless it’s as a cautionary tale.

It’s worth remembering that Stack Natin is not just a place for the (many!) Filipinos of Substack to come together, but also as a means to spotlight perspectives that this platform insists on hiding with its algorithm, buried underneath the nth essay on The Life of a Showgirl or Donald Trump destroying American democracy like it’s the only one that matters. (Not that we aren’t capable of writing about those topics.) Heck, most of us are still not allowed to monetize our publications because of geographical limitations that can be easily fixed if the overlords of this platform really want to. Not that I want to paint this project as solely one of resistance, as it’s very much about community too—but Stack Natin is here to tell Substack, and the world, that we are here, and that we have stories to tell, stories that are worth reading and listening to.

We’ll continue to do this in the years to come, or at least while we still have the energy to do so. (And perhaps for as long as the Filipino community on here continues to grow, as long as there’s no grand exodus to a “shiny and new” platform or something.) I’m thinking up of ways to even better highlight some of the writers on the Stack Natin directory. You can, of course, help out. Why not recommend a post that might be worth checking out? (I will admit that fiction is my personal blind spot, and I want more such pieces on the digests.) Why not be part of the directory, or our submission rounds? Or why not subscribe and find your next favorite read? Every little counts. Maybe one day we’ll finally have that gathering and bring this whole thing offline, for once.

But, for now, allow me to once again thank you for your support. It’s time to bring out the cake. Or, in our case, a Nutella kouign amann from Wildflour with a candle on top.