PH's biggest book fair returns to 'Get Lit'

 

By Manila Bulletin Newsroom

Published Sep 9, 2026 07:49 am

The Manila International Book Fair (MIBF), the Philippines' longest-running and most highly anticipated literary event, returns to the SMX Convention Center Manila, Pasay City, from Sept. 9 to 13, 2026.

This year’s grand five-day fair embraces the energetic theme "Get Lit: Reading in a New Light," welcoming visitors daily from 10 am to 8 pm for an unforgettable showcase of books, creative culture, and learning.

Organized by Primetrade Asia, Inc, MIBF 2026 promises a vibrant atmosphere packed with massive book discounts, author signings, and interactive showcases from top local and international publishers.

Returning alongside the main fair is the School World segment, a dynamic hub designed to give educators, academic leaders, and students direct access to the latest educational technologies, learning materials, and modern teaching tools.

This year's massive floor plan boasts a powerhouse roster of participating companies and exhibitors ready to offer exclusive deals and fresh releases. Attendees can look forward to exploring giant retail spaces and flagship booths from major bookstore chains and educational publishers, including Fully Booked and National Book Store, as well as 19th Avenida Publishing House, Abiva Publishing House, Adarna House, Anvil Publishing, and Ateneo de Manila University Press.

Also joining the extensive lineup are C&E Adaptive Learning Solutions, Central Book Supply, Lampara Publishing House, Megatexts Phil., Milflores Publishing, Rex Education, Scholastic Philippines, and the Vibal Group.

Fans of pop culture, comics, and contemporary fiction will be thrilled by the collections from Comic Odyssey, Komiket Studios, Precious Pages , Psicom Publishing, and Summit Publishing.

For those seeking spiritual and inspirational reads, exhibitors like Bayard Assumption Media Foundation, Claretian Communications Foundation, OMF Literature, Paulines, and St Pauls will be present.

The international literary scene and specialty publications will also be well-represented, with major players and organizations like Alkem & Penguin Random House SEA, Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd., the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines bringing a wide selection of global bestsellers and essential heritage materials.

To help fairgoers navigate the packed schedule and discover participating vendors, the newly refreshed MIBF website is now officially live at www.manilabookfair.com. Visitors can easily browse full exhibitor lists, event timings, and venue details to plan their ultimate book fair itinerary.

Tickets for MIBF 2026 can be secured online via the SM Tickets website, with entrance passes also available directly at the venue throughout the event. Onsite admission is priced at Php 50.00 for regular attendees, while students and senior citizens can enjoy a discounted rate of Php 35.00 upon presenting a valid ID at the counter.

In honor of educators, MIBF proudly supports National Teachers Month (NTM), themed "My Teacher, My Hero," by offering free admission to all teachers upon presenting a valid School ID at the counter. In line with this celebration, Metrobank Foundation, the lead proponent of NTM, will also be hosting special activities for teachers at their booth throughout the fair.

The MIBF is mounted in cooperation with the Asian Catholic Communicators, Inc. (ACCI), Book Development Association of the Philippines (BDAP), Overseas Publishers Representatives’ Association of the Philippines (OPRAP), Philippine Booksellers Association, Inc. (PBAI), and the Philippine Educational Publishers Association (PEPA). The event is also proudly championed by its supporting organizations, the National Book Development Board (NBDB) and My Teacher, My Hero.

Helping bring the joy of reading to wider audiences are MIBF’s official media partners Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Manila Times, Manila Bulletin, Manila Standard, BusinessMirror, Lifestyle Inquirer, GMA, Philippine Graphic, Click the City, and Arkadymac.com.  

WHO ARE OUR NEXT PILYAMAZING COVER GIRLS?

Shared post from Maria Ces Seidel

No photo description available.

Maria Ces Seidel

 is with PILYA BLOG Magazine.

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**WHO ARE OUR NEXT PILYAMAZING COVER GIRLS?**

**Pilya Blog Magazine – 11th Anniversary Issue | October 2026**

Servus! Our next Cover Girls are not just pretty faces—they are **FIGHTERS!** And they each have a powerful story to tell.

**Fighter #1:** A **single working mom living abroad**, far from home, building a life with courage, determination, and a whole lot of *laban!*

Living in the **Home of Guinness Beer**, she has learned that life abroad isn't always a pint of fun! Her story is one of **profound resilience, resourcefulness, and grit**—the kind of strength that keeps you standing when life throws you a few unexpected punches.

**Fighter #2:** She believes that **true martial arts are not simply about fighting.** They are about **self-expression, personal growth, discipline, and continuous learning.**

Always expanding her horizons while inspiring and guiding others, she proves that the strongest warriors don't just fight battles—they **grow, learn, and empower.**

THOSE WERE THE DAYS...

 

During my time as radio host in different radio stations in the Philippines, this song has been requested innumerable times. "Those Were the Days" is a song credited to Gene Raskin, who put a new English lyric to the Russian romance song "Дорогой длинною" (literally "By the long road"), composed by Boris Fomin (1900–1948) with words by the poet Konstantin Podrevsky. It deals with reminiscence upon youth and romantic idealism. It also deals with tavern activities, which include drinking, singing and dancing.

Mary Hopkin's 1968 debut single of "Those Were the Days", which was produced by Paul McCartney of the Beatles, and arranged by Richard Hewson, became a number one hit on the UK Singles Chart and on the Canadian RPM Magazine charts. The song also reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, behind "Hey Jude" by the Beatles.

McCartney also recorded Hopkin singing "Those Were The Days" in other languages for release in their respective countries: In Spain, Qué tiempo tan feliz;in (West) Germany,  An jenem Tag; in Italy, Quelli erano giorni; in France, Le temps des fleurs.

Yes, time flew by. I think about sitting in a jet plane. Almost November 2024 again. Wow!

Do you always count the days up to the next legal holidays without being on duty? Or do you start as early as September longing for Christmas? And do you wish the weeks or months hopefully pass by like an assault up to the next possible salary increase?

Many times, we are really in too much of a hurry while feeling uncomfortable if we notice how time flies. We have  no time for someone or something or even for ourselves.

When I was still a teenager, I was longing to be an adult already. Later, I enjoyed listening to my grandmother's stories such as "Once upon a time" or "When I was young" from her "yesterday's life"... .

After a couple of years, especially while observing that time really flies like a racket to the moon, I also have the same question in mind: Are the present hours and days less valuable?

Of course, each day has its own set of happiness and trials. But it also holds very high possibilities of us taking the initiative to do or to move something, if... !

Many of us retreat into the past and forget their present existence. A possible topsy-turvy world of a golden youth tries to let us forget that also the past has had its share of disappointments, pains, tears, darkness, tricky as well as desperate days... yes, lost days, irretrievable time... .

Without having achieved anything, we dream our impossible dreams from last to future and vice versa. We forget that between yesterday and tomorrow is our valuable present. Well, now well then - if we know just how to fulfill this period.

"Once upon a time there was a tavern

Where we used to raise a glass or two

Remember how we laughed away the hours

Think of all the great things we would do?

Those were the days, my friend

We thought they'd never end

We'd sing and dance forever and a day

We'd live the life we choose

We'd fight and never lose

For we were young and sure to have our way..."

The destruction of God’s creation in Palawan

 

By Fr. Shay Cullen

There is a long-running war in the Philippines, and it is being waged by three super-rich mining corporations in Palawan against the Filipino people and God’s creation there. The firms are planning to cut down more than 188,765 magnificent primeval trees with permits from their contacts in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).  Their impending destruction is likely without the approval of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. This environmental crime will be laid on his doorstep unless he stops it.

Ongoing open-pit-mining operations are being compared to environmental crime scenes, as the mining companies named below, with the DENR’s approval, have planned to wreak more devastation. The nickel ore extracted from such operations is of little benefit to the Filipino people. It enriches the Chinese, who get 90 percent of the raw ore exports to make the stainless steel and batteries that are sold back to the Philippines. The rest are exported to Indonesia, Japan and South Korea. Two Japanese-owned processing plants in the Philippines semi-process the raw ore and export it to Japan. The Filipino people get no benefit because corrupt officials divert the funds earned when the mining companies pay taxes. Most of the nickel extraction and refining is funded by Japanese state-owned banks.

The destruction of Philippine rainforests deprives every Filipino and environmentalist of these magnificent natural wonders, their wildlife and their protective climate cover. The trees targeted by mining companies with DENR permits are not covered by the moratorium passed by the Palawan provincial government in March 2025. Gov. Dennis Socrates led the provincial government in declaring a 50-year moratorium on all new pending mining applications in Palawan under Provincial Ordinance 3646. It is designed to guard and protect the rainforests’ unique status as the only original old-growth rainforest in the country. The “last ecological frontier,” they say of Palawan, which also has huge mangroves and coral reefs. The mining firms are expanding their open-pit or surface mining operations by cutting millions of trees in the process. Bishop Broderick Pabillo of Taytay told religious leaders to take a stand to protect the forests and speak out against environmental destruction, and called on the people to save Creation.

Palawan as a whole was designated as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Man and Biosphere Reserve in 1990 and is revered worldwide as a rare home of species found nowhere else on Earth. Its forests are full of rare and unique species, such as the Palawan bearcat, Palawan pangolin, and the majestic Manggis tree. These forests have an immense capacity to absorb carbon dioxide and hold back climate change and protect the nearby marine life in the Coral Triangle. Indigenous communities have lived in Palawan for millennia.

Environmental villains

Now come the villains, the moguls behind this planned environmental devastation, as they move to expand their operations. Environmental advocates point out that massive swathes of primary forest and ancestral lands have already been cut down and cleared. In Berong, the DENR has authorized the cutting of additional 26,617 trees at one time. Like in the flood-control corruption scandal, more dirty money is passing hands. Bishop Pabillo said reforestation was “a big lie.” Tree nurseries and seedlings cannot replace a thousand-year-old primeval rainforest.

The Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corp. (RTNMC) and Ipilan Nickel Corp. are destroying the rainforests. RTNMC is the oldest and largest subsidiary of Nickel Asia Corp. (NAC), which holds a controlling 60-percent equity stake in the company. Its board chairman is no less than Jose Isidro “Lito” N. Camacho. He serves as the NAC group chairman, overseeing its governance. Then there is Maria Patricia Z. Riingen, the board’s vice chairman, and President and CEO Martin Antonio “Dennis” G. Zamora. Zamora directs the executive operations of both the NAC and RTNMC. They also own 65 percent of Taganito, and 100 percent of the Cagdianao, Hinatuan and Dinapigue operations. Ipilan operates in Brooke’s Point in southern Palawan. It plans to cut down 60,359 trees. Berong Nickel Corp. (BNC) operates in Aborlan in central Palawan and is planning to cut down 71,405 trees.

The people behind these corporations are immensely wealthy, but it seems money is never enough for them. The good, innocent people named here, perhaps, know nothing about the destruction and permanent irreparable damage their companies are doing to the Filipino people. History will never forget or forgive them.

Perhaps, they suffer from misinformation or are ignorant of the destruction being done, which is condemned around the world. In destroying the Philippines’ rainforests, driving wildlife and rare species to extinction, and damaging marine life, they are part of a crime against nature and the Filipino people. Shame on those who allow it. They will provide no benefit whatsoever for Filipinos; they will leave behind a washed-out, denuded wilderness. God’s creatures — trees, flowers, animals and people — all gone, forever.

This environmental crime scene is made possible by the DENR that has granted these companies special tree cutting and earth-balling permits (STC/EP) to make room for open-pit mining operations. These operations are supported by a 25-year national mineral production sharing agreements (MPSA) handled by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB). The mining companies need to get an environmental compliance certificate (ECC) to ensure adherence to ecological laws, free, prior and informed consent from Indigenous communities if the mining area overlaps with ancestral domains, and local government unit endorsement from the host community. These they do not have, according to local church groups and networks like the Save Palawan Movement and Alyansa Tigil Mina. They have bravely stood with Indigenous peoples and launched major campaigns exposing corrupt government-approved permits. They are fighting to block the STC/EPs that threaten to clear over another 218,000 trees across Brooke’s Point, Bataraza, and Aborlan.

On Sept. 1, Pope Leo XIV opened the season of creation and warned that war and environmental degradation were driving a “vicious cycle” of ecological destruction, poverty and further conflict in the world. War against the environment, against people, and against creation is destroying the habitat and the life of the people. We do well to heed Pope Leo’s words: “War also leaves behind social and ecological destruction that endures for generations.”

shaycullen@gmail.com