The author delivered the following remarks during the 'Books and Breakfast' meeting with German publishers at the 75th edition of the Frankfurter Buchmesse, one of the world's largest book festivals, where the Philippines was chosen as the guest of honor in 2025.

AS co-head of the translation committee of the Philippine participation in 2025 as a guest of honor in this most prestigious book festival in the world, may we, dear friends of the German publishing industry, bring your attention to some of the best books we have written in the languages and histories that speak about the Philippines. Director Anthony Balisi and I agreed to present this tapestry by highlighting these titles — 'Andrea,' a novel by Rom Factoran, and 'Yñiga,' a novel by Glenn Diaz — two names, two women, that we would like you to consider committing to your kind memory and hopefully by way of translation and our collaboration, their stories may be shared to the German public and the rest of the world, these women, which like the character of Sisa in Jose Rizal's novel 'Noli Me Tangere' is given the task and burden of searching for that elusive sight of hope in the deepest and darkest forests of our lives.