Rochel Ellen Bernido

(also known as Rocky Bernido) is a Filipina bilingual and experimental essayist.

Among the hundreds of entries submitted worldwide, she was hailed as a finalist by the Iceland Writers Retreat Alumni Award for demonstrating distinction in writing. She also became the sole recipient of the creative nonfiction fellowship at the IYAS La Salle National Writers Workshop from a pool of over a hundred applicants in 2025. The same piece then bested 400 entries and was chosen to be part of the 25 outstanding contributions to the 19th issue of Likhaan: The Journal of Contemporary Philippine Literature.

For her creative nonfiction, she received multiple awards from the Normal Awards for Gender-inclusive Literature, the University of the Philippines’ LIKHAAN: Institute of Creative Writing, and San Beda’s Red Chronicles.

She grew up in Payatas—the site of the infamous landslide of garbage in the Philippines, which crushed hundreds of houses in the early 2000s. Having spent nearly two decades of her life there, and being at the receiving end of the negligence of various local government units, her writing is greatly informed by ecocriticism and intersectional feminism. In her experimental essays, she sees legal forms (e.g., curriculum vitae, ID, etc.) and transforms them into formats that can be used as effective mediums to engage readers and narrate her story.

My Recent Work

Likhaan: The Journal of Contemporary Philippine Literature •

Fill In The Blanks

On July 10, 2000, hundreds of houses in Payatas, Quezon City, were crushed in a landslide of garbage. Briefly after the tragedy, our family of three moved into our new home in Payatas.

The experimental essay "Fill in the Blanks" rummages through the waste of my youth spent in my hometown brandished as a “landfill” area. Following the format of a resume, my story narrates the generational trauma of filling out forms which exposed our lives to different levels of discrimination.

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Written by: Rochel Ellen Bernido/Rocky Bernido
Sentro ng Wikang Filipino UP Diliman •

Kung Nakakababa ba ng Matres ang High Heels

The personal essay “Of High Heels and Pelvic Floors” (Kung Nakakababa ba ng Matres ang High Heels) chronicles the author’s story using the Metro Rail Transit stations in Metro Manila as markers. The piece struts through the author’s journey as a female first-time job-junter who was raised in the belief that the woman wearing a pair of heels is “sexy,” “powerful,” and “appealing.”

Her story coursed through her commute to one of her first few job interviews, from the rush hour of Commonwealth, stampede in Araneta Center-Cubao MRT station, heavy traffic in Santolan, to the chaos in Ortigas—all while she was wearing a pair of high heels.

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Written by: Rochel Ellen Bernido/Rocky Bernido

ABOUT

Rochel Ellen Bernido (aka Rocky Bernido) is a Filipina bilingual and experimental essayist.

Among the hundreds of entries submitted worldwide, she was hailed as a finalist by the Iceland Writers Retreat 2026 Alumni Award for demonstrating distinction in writing. In 2025, she became the sole recipient of the creative nonfiction fellowship at the IYAS La Salle National Writers Workshop, selected from a pool of over a hundred applicants. The same piece she submitted for the workshop later bested 400 entries and was chosen as one of the 25 outstanding contributions to the 19th issue of Likhaan: The Journal of Contemporary Philippine Literature.

For her creative nonfiction, she received multiple awards from the Normal Awards for Gender-inclusive Literature, the University of the Philippines’ LIKHAAN: Institute of Creative Writing, and San Beda’s Red Chronicles.

She grew up in Payatas—the site of the infamous landslide of garbage in the Philippines, which crushed hundreds of houses in the early 2000s. Having spent nearly two decades of her life there, and being at the receiving end of the negligence of various local government units, her writing is greatly informed by ecocriticism and intersectional feminism. In her experimental essays, she sees legal forms (e.g., curriculum vitae, ID, etc.) and transforms them into formats that can be used as effective mediums to engage readers and narrate her story.