Just say the word, and the bleach will drain itself from the icon of Jesus on the jeepney door. Blood rushing backwards, puncture wounds sealing shut, faces shrinking into rosebuds. Until all that’s left is Holiday Inn and the bastard child. Our bodies are temples of worship but we will chop off the hands of anyone who touches our sisters without consent. Love brought Lazarus back to life. This is how I met my beloved, in the morgue, martyred by four gunshots to the chest. He was twice my age and reeked distinctly of Tanduay Ice. Beside us, his best friend lay face-down with a silver knife in his back. What, this silly thing? He said. Don’t worry about it, hijo. You heard the man. Rehab pamphlet, PAGASA Signal 5, uncle dearest, brown boy suicide, who cares? At the table, we say grace for dinner, and I moan at the emptiness where my father used to sit.

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Jennelyn Olaires became the subject of a media frenzy in 2016 after being photographed cradling the body of her husband Michael Siaron, who was shot dead for being a “drug pusher.” Commentators compared the image to the sculpture Madonna della Pietà by Michelangelo.

According to the Book of John, Jesus Christ resurrected his friend Lazarus four days after his entombment.

Tanduay Ice is a type of alcoholic drink in the Philippines.

Hijo means “son” or “young boy” in Spanish.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) has a five-tier rating system for tropical cyclones, with wind signal five (“super typhoon”) being the strongest at 185 km/h or higher.