Introducing Stack Natin: spotlighting Filipino writers and creatives on Substack

We're here to bring together Filipino writers and creatives on Substack and beyond—and put a spotlight on our voices and stories.

Welcome to Stack Natin, a Substack publication putting the spotlight on Filipino stories, writers and creatives across this platform and beyond. Whether they are in the Philippines or elsewhere around the world, we believe that our stories and experiences can help everyone see the world a little differently, and hopefully, appreciate what makes us different—and what makes us the same.

Stack Natin translates to “Our Stack” in Filipino, because this is very much your project as well. You can take part by getting listed in our directory, bringing together Filipino writers in one place and providing you with a place to find your next favorite read.

We’ve got many plans for Stack Natin, from monthly digests to exclusive essays and everything in between. We’ll reveal more details as we go along, but for now, an origin story…

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Ang nakaraan… / Previously on…

Okay, I’ll drop the royal we at this point, because I’m surprisingly not used to it anymore.

I have been on Substack for almost two years now as of this writing, and only in the last couple of months did I realize that there are a lot of fellow Filipinos on here—not just those writing from here in the Philippines, but also members of the diaspora, as well as those born to Filipino parents, across the world. Artists, essayists, journal writers, journalists, and people cosplaying as journalists (well, that’s me). For some reason, we just never thought of looking for each other, until we all started finding each other.

Is it because we’re just the type to blend into the scenery? That’s not exactly true, but then again, Filipinos are hard to categorize. The Philippines sits in Asia, but its people are not many people’s idea of Asian—although, to be fair, this is a problem of Malaysia and Indonesia too. This is a predominantly Catholic country in a region that’s predominantly Islamic—although it doesn’t mean we’re all socially conservative folk. Dig into our customs and you’ll find connections to places all over the map: stuff we got from Chinese and Malay traders, from Spanish and American colonizers, and from our own peoples as well—although the jury’s still out on whether we’re doing a good job of preserving our own heritage.

What is the Philippines known for? Being good at karaoke? Ube? Rose from 90 Day Fiancé? Oh, right—Olivia Rodrigo just casually dropped her being Filipino on The Tonight Show. Maybe you know us as caregivers and domestic workers and seamen. Or maybe you know us from watching Miss Saigon at the West End, or from one of our under-the-radar pop stars at South by Southwest.

Even within the Philippines, it’s difficult to pin down what Filipinos are. This is a country of over 7,000 islands, and there are definite differences between a Manila guy and a Cebu guy, between someone from Ilocos and someone from Davao. It’s easy to understand why people just don’t bother finding out—we ourselves are equally guilty of this. But it doesn’t seem right to reduce us to a trendy product or a cautionary tale for Western democracies.

But don’t get me wrong. Stack Natin is not a flag-waving blind cheerleader for the Philippines. The aim is much simpler: bring together all these perspectives from Filipinos all over the world. It’s an attempt to redress the balance especially in a platform like Substack, which is heavily biased towards Western voices, and don’t even provide monetization options to Philippines-based writers, as well as pretty much the rest of the world. There’s no telling if this project will change things in that front, but at least you, the reader, can go beyond your four walls and see what we have to say.

And really, it’s just an excuse for all of us Filipinos on Substack to say hello to each other in a language other than English. Sure, we’re good at it—pero iba rin ‘yung nakikipag-usap ka sa kinalakihan mong wika.

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Susunod… / Up next…

So, what’s the plan? I mentioned it earlier—submissions for the directory are now open, and hopefully the monthly digests of the best writing from Filipino writers will start early in 2025. And somewhere along the line, there’ll hopefully be exclusive essays, interviews and other features, but we’ll figure it out as we go along.

Right now you can get involved by getting yourself listed in the directory. And if you’re keen to be a bigger part of Stack Natin, let’s chat over at stacknatin@gmail.com.

And if you’re not Filipino? Oh, you’re very much welcome here. Stack Natin means “Our Stack”—and not just “our” as in “us alone”, but “our” as in “all of us”. Subscribe to get the latest posts in your inbox (or app) and, maybe, see a side of your world that you haven’t noticed before.

You can also follow us on Instagram at instagram.com/stacknatin.

By all means, Stack Natin is not the only one attempting to represent the Philippines in this international stage. We’re just one of many. I hope that you join us on this journey, wherever it may take us.

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Before I wrap this up, my thanks to the many Filipino writers on here who have been encouraging, but especially to

andrea claire

,

Barb Natividad

and

christa lei (they/them)

for their invaluable feedback.

And, finally, a tip of the hat to the

Asian Writers Collective

team for pretty much providing the template for this project. We are all in this together.