Bisaya's Manding Karya

Cabigon began her life-long writing adventure at a time when writing was thought to be an exploit only for men. She first wrote in secret, hiding her identity behind various pen names one of which was Mak.

All her life, she preferred the freedom of being a freelance writer and turned down all offers of editorship of this or that paper, except for a short stint as associate editor of Babaye sa Sugbo.

Cabigon had already been contributing to Bisaya since its inception in 1930 but it was only after the war that she started writing her famous advice column, Panid Ni Manding Karya. It was Francisco Candia, Bisaya editor, who invited her to write an advice column on matters of the heart. Cabigon, however, ended up giving on almost everything else, from how to find lost fathers to how to get an education while being married.

She said she received an average of 20 letters daily and tried answer them all, if not through her column then through the post office by mailing her responses. Hers was a well-known address and some advice-seekers even went to her home at 11 Sanciangko St.

Source from Sun*Star Weekend