The ‘creative heart of Naga’ was devastated by Kristine. People come to the rescue.
MANILA, Philippines – Severe Tropical Storm Kristine submerged many parts of the country, most especially Bicol and Naga City. While Kristine had left Naga City at an economic loss, historical and cultural spaces were also devastated.
Such was the case of the city’s premier independent bookshop and beloved cultural hub, Savage Mind.
Before the storm hit, Savage Mind owner Kristian Cordero shared that his family, along with the bookshop’s staff, had already taken measures securing their books and paintings as high up as five feet.
They knew to prepare: Super Typhoon Enteng had left the city in waist-deep flood as a tropical storm just two months prior.
Cordero said that although they were at a loss that time, they were able to bounce back in a matter of days.
But Kristine brought floods 15 feet deep — deeper than what the book store had prepared for — drowning precious manuscripts and artworks.
Savage Mind expressed their grief on their Facebook page on October 24.
“We are totally devastated. What we hold now in this darkest night is the fortitude to bear the same kind of suffering that impels us to always learn to share what we hold dearly — our love for arts, for books, and for Bikol.”
Savage Mind asked for help to rebuild Bicol’s sole independent bookshop and have set up a solidarity relief fund for those willing to donate.
Artistic hub
Since its founding in 2018, Savage Mind has served as a space for regional artistic expression, hosting events like readings of Bicolano literature and screenings of films from the region. Its companion art space, Kamarin, has housed exhibitions from local artists since 2022. The hub is considered an all-in-one site for the community.
“Buhay na buhay yung lugar (the place was thriving), so it’s just so disheartening because this happened because of some miscalculated risk,” Cordero expressed.
Due to the storm, precious collections were lost, including historical artifacts, first editions of books, treasured paintings, and other meaningfully collated materials like those from university presses around the country.
Community response
With the hub becoming a beloved spot for Filipino art and connection, it’s no wonder there is an outpour of eager support from artists and citizens alike to fight for its rehabilitation.
Social media user Neni Sta Romana Cruz commented on one of Savage Mind’s Facebook posts: “Of course… how can we not rebuild Savage Mind: Arts, Books, Cinema? A treasure that can’t be lost.”
Foreign authors like Czech authors Bianca Bellová and Martin Štefko, Kazakkhstani writer Юрий Серебрянский, and Indonesian author Eka Kurniawan shared their solidarity with Savage Mind. Nadia Wassef, author and fellow bookshop owner in Egypt, also shared her grief on Savage Mind’s destruction.
Rizalyn Sahagun, a teacher in Naga, shared moments of her and her students’ visits in Savage Mind via Facebook.
Sahagun wrote in her caption: “Sa ngunyan, hagad ko man sa gabos na nakaibahan na ipangadyi asin magtabang kitang magrimpos liwat nin paglaom para sa Savage, para sa mga kurasmag ni Sir KC, para sa Bikol!”
(For now, I also ask everyone involved to pray and help us gather hope again for Savage, for Sir KC’s cats, for Bicol!)
Apart from friends and allies, Cordero also noted that even complete strangers have shown their solidarity for Savage Mind: “They must have visited the place once or twice or they have seen the events. Most of these people got so heartbroken, some of them are planning to visit the space. They kind of regret that they won’t see it anymore the way we curated it. The way we put things together.”
“I think ‘yung community response na iyon ay nanggagaling dun sa frustration na (I think that community response comes from the frustration that) a garden of ideas, a garden of dreams, is lost for now,” Cordero added on the overwhelming support they had from netizens.
Rebuilding Savage Mind
Cordero said that part of his grief was he could only monitor the situation from Germany. He was a delegate to the Frankfurt Buchmesse book fair when Kristine fell upon Naga. But fellow artists and people from Ateneo de Naga University had personally checked up on the space post-flood.
Savage Mind estimates its losses at P15 million.
“We’re back to zero. We have to clean up the area, assess the damages and losses, and salvage what can be salvaged. But the amount of flooding left us with almost (nothing). Everything is gone,” Cordero lamented.
While grateful for the response they are garnering online, Cordero highlighted that there is still real work to be done, and that there is an actual space that they need to revive. “May space na kailangang muling buhayin. (There is a space that needs to be revived.)”
Cordero also hopes that people would support other independent bookstores like Mt. Cloud in Baguio, Solidaridad in Manila, those in Cebu and Dumaguete, and small presses. Savage Mind hopes that people can also support other spaces for reading and connecting to communities.
Despite the desolation, Cordero recalls of hope. “The physical space may have been destroyed but the community spirit remains… floating. It is still there.” – Rappler.com
Felise Calza is a Digital Communications intern at Rappler. A caffeinated writing major, she is a Communication Arts student at the University of the Philippines – Los Baños. She also enjoys getting involved in collective zines, thrifting, and assembling melodramatic song playlists.