JORDI Verdaguer is a successful lawyer from Barcelona, although perhaps the most surprising aspect of his biography is his connection to the Philippines. Jordi is in charge of the Editorial Hispanoárabe (Hispanoárabe Publishing House), where the Colección Oriente (Orient Series) of books is housed, the only one in the world that publishes books in Spanish by contemporary Filipino authors. Because yes, unknown to many, the literary tradition where Pedro Paterno, José Rizal, Jesús Balmori and Antonio Abad published their novels is still alive and has a handful of dedicated writers in a language that is almost extinct in the Philippines.

Where did your interest in the Philippines come from?