11/11/2025
๐ก๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ๐
8 November 2025
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐: ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐
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๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐
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Manila, PhilippinesโRey S. Bufi, known to thousands as Kuya Rey, received the National Alliance of Reading Advocates' (NARA) highest honor today as Guest of Honor to the 2025 NARA Conference, recognizing his transformative impact on Philippine reading advocacy and his role in training a generation of Filipino storytellers.
The two-day conference, themed Odisea ng Lingkod-Mambabasa and running November 8-9 at the National Library of the Philippines, opened with READ Chief Daniel Lorenzo Mariano presenting the NARA Agenda 2025-2030. Kuya Reyโs keynote address, โDiscovering the Storyteller in Me,โ connected his decade of grassroots work to the conferenceโs mission of building sustainable reading cultures from the community level.
โWith over ten years of telling stories, Kuya Rey is a name well-known in everyoneโs reading advocacy journey,โ reads the citation presented by NARA, the National Book Development Boardโs flagship alliance of over 150 reading advocates.
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๐ค๐ช๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ฎ ๐ค๐ ๐ ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐๐จ๐ฉ๐
The citation traces Kuya Reyโs transformation from corporate volunteer to full-time advocate: โThe Storyteller Kuya Rey came to be in the last decade, when opportunity struck at his corporate workplace, thus allowing him to nurture a passion for storytellingโthe same one that would sprout communities and build linkages wherever he walked.โ
Through consistent volunteer work, Kuya Rey laid the groundwork for the โImagine, Create, Shareโ immersion model that became the cornerstone of The Storytelling Project. This three-phase approach trains local parents, teachers, and older students to become kwentistas, ensuring that the love of reading can flourish sustainably.
โHaving told thousands of stories across the Philippinesโthrough storytelling sessions, workshops, documentaries, demonstrations, conferences; through books; and even through television, film, and digital platformsโKuya Reyโs voice has virtually been heard by a whole generation of Filipinos,โ the citation notes. โBy cultivating imagination, he unlocks a childโs confidence, inspiring them to dream beyond their present circumstances.โ
๐ฝ๐ช๐๐ก๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐พ๐ค๐ข๐ข๐ช๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐๐๐จ, ๐ฝ๐ช๐๐ก๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ
The citation emphasizes Kuya Reyโs most significant achievement: multiplying his impact through others. โIn turn, Kuya Rey has inspired thousands of Filipinos to become stewards of their own respective reading communities.โ Rather than creating dependency on external interventions, Kuya Rey empowers communities to build their own reading ecosystems.
โHe embodies the relentless service expected of a reading advocate, having traveled across rivers and mountains to reach the nationโs most isolated communities through his social enterprise Basa Bookstore,โ the citation continues. โBooks and stories in tow, he has empowered communities to seek and build progress through imaginative means.โ
The citationโs closing declaration captures why Kuya Reyโs work matters: โInasmuch as how oral traditions are passed down through storytelling, Kuya Rey has reinforced the role of the storyteller as a vital and active part of nation-building. Kuya Rey bears the honor of having taught a generation of Filipino storytellers who not only teach a child to read but also teach a community how to love reading.โ
This connection between storytelling and nation-building formed the heart of Kuya Reyโs keynote address. The kwentista serves as both bridge and catalyst, making literature accessible while cultivating the imagination that drives communities to seek books, build libraries, and prioritize reading.
The 2025 NARA Conference concludes tomorrow, November 9, 2025, building on the foundation that advocates like Kuya Rey have laid, one story, one child, one community at a time.
For more information, visit books.gov.ph or contact [email protected].
