O ayan ang tagal nating hinintay, sulit naman at anim na oras niyang sinagot ang mga katanungan niyo.
Medyo mahirap gawan ng buod ang AMA ni Bob Ong kasi parang kapalastanganan na hindi ilagay ang mga kaisipan at ideya na napakahusay niyang binuo.
Pero sisikapin ko. So anong na-miss niyo?
Team Adobo siya, pero slight lang ang lamang ng Adobo. (Leche.)
Pichi pichi with coconut siya. (Leche ulit. Pero okay lang, first time pa yatang may nanalo an #teamniyog)
And he's okay with pineapple on pizza. And he prefers thick crust. Kumakanta siya ng april boy songs, with wedgie kapag nagvivideoke.
He likes All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, Life of Pi and Tiny Book of Tiny Stories. But his influences are Mark Twain, Robert Fulghum, Lewis Carroll, Dave Barry, Annie Dillard, Jerry Seinfeld...
May impostor siya sa CDO, ang alam niya eh prof... aware siya at may litrato siya nong impostor niya. Kakahiya humihingi ng discount ang fake Bob Ong.
And hello, he's frugal, and he earns well. So aspiring writers take your cue from him, second book pa lang pwede na siyang magretire. He sleeps late, 1Am kadalasan. Pero he says every day is like Saturday morning, chill lang kahit maraming chores.
He's married. a5ffein4ted6: Mr. Bob Ong, may Mrs Ong na ba? sibobpo: Oo. Oh come on, stop gasping and threatening to commit suicide, do you really think people with sense of humor are single for long?
Usapang ballpen: "Noon, Pilot. Ngayon masaya na ko sa tambak na giveaways at binili kong pack ng Bic Ultra Round Stic Grip. Basta sumusulat nang matino."
May history sila ni redkinoko. Parang gusto ko tuloy hingin yung tinatagong kopya ni redkinoko na pinakiusap ni Bob Ong na wag nang ilabas. :)
Feelings ni Bob Ong tungkol sa Pilipinas: "For the record, I didn't like Erap. I was against Erap. But at the last minute, I just thought another EDSA wasn't the best way to go. (Pun?) Funny thing is, 16 years later, I don't know wtf happened. I can't answer your question because this country just doesn't go from A to Z. It just keeps on going criss-cross and full circle. It defies physics and logic. Maybe that's the reason we never learn, because we couldn't explain what we did, why we did and how. Ganoon yung naliligaw, di ba? It's easy to find your way back when you can trace your steps and identify your surroundings. But in our case, we just find ourselves in a situation without knowing how we got there. So it takes another round of mistakes hoping we'd finally get it right somehow. No, I don't think how we are now is a direct consequence of what happened then. How we are now is probably a direct consequence of how we've always been." Tangina mo Pilipinas umayos ka.
Bob Ong thinks Wattpad is a good platform for would be writers, but that shouldn't stop there. People should also seek out other books that might be more fulfilling and more educational for them, not just what's popular. Having these wattpad books contributes to lowering our standards when it comes to literature.
He wants to keep his identify and his life private. He did confirm that the Bob Ong brand is NOT a collective. For those na makulit and still wants to guess, he dated himself in the AMA, and he also pointed to another interest other than writing. Pag nakuha niyo ito, malamang you'd have a shorter list of suspects. Pero sarilinin niyo na lang.
Bob Ong for president? Slogan: "Tumabi ang ayaw masaktan." His leadership? Like Duterte, but he'd go after everyone, walang pili. "Sinabi ko na noon na magiging tyrant ako. Kaya hindi ako puwede maging presidente. Ang pinagkaiba ko nga lang siguro sa kasalukuyan, magiging well-rounded ako. Walang pagdidiskitahang iisang uri sa lipunan. Equal opportunity punisher. Pareho ang turing sa drug pushers at sa malakas at madalas mag-videoke."
Like Trillanes and Gascon, we can't expect him to be back in Reddit soon.
On the Philippines' current situation: Malungkot. Lipas na ako sa galit(?)...hinga na lang nang malalim at sana bumilis ang mga araw at matapos na ito.(Ibang dimension e. Time space warp.) In another thread, he says "Sobrang siraulo, hindi ko maiwasang maalala ang Alice in Wonderland."
Advice for aspiring writers: Sa huling silip ko sa Wattpad ay meron din pala itong ibang genre. Napakadali nang maging manunulat ngayon (o mag-umpisa) dahil kahit paano ay may instant outlet ka na. Ang drawback siguro ay ang paghigpit din ng kompetisyon. Malinaw na kailangan mong mahigitan sa galing ang iba, pero malinaw din na hindi ito magiging biglaan. Laging kong payo ay mag-umpisa sa kung nasaan ka. Natatawag mo ba ang pansin ng pamilya, mga kaibigan, katrabaho, kakilala mo? Kung hindi tumatawag ng pansin ang talento mo sa mga katabing tao, baka kailangan muna magsanay bago maghanap ng atensyon. Sumali ka sa writing contests, mag-submit sa lahat ng nagso-solicit ng contribution, magazines, maging sa school paper. Start small, palaki nang palaki. Kung tingin mo namang umaapaw ka sa galing with superdabest writing skills, kahit mga post lang sa FB aani ng daan-daang likes over time. Sa madaling salita, pagtiyagaan lang munang daanan lahat ng dapat daanan hanggang sa lumaki ang following, o hasain nang maigi ang talento para tipong kahit isang social media post lang e viral ka na at iimbitahan na sa show ni Ellen.

About his books

• He wants to turn Alamat ng Gubat and Ang Mga Kaibigan ni Mama Susan into movies.
  
• Macarthur is personal to him.
  
• No favorties among his books, but ABA would always hold a special place because it opened doors for him.
  
• Medyo may something sa movie adaptation ng ABA although hindi niya sinabi talaga na ayaw niya, in fact he says it was a fun movie.
  

Quotable quotes:

• One major misconception about BO is that he is linear. Shifting from one style to another. Truth is I'm circular. I tell you stories about something else because there is also that story to tell; but I could easily go back--and I will go back--to what we were talking about. No shift. The stories I tell are already in queue long before I considered writing them. Thanks and God bless you, too.
  
• Transparent naman ako sa opinyon ko sa politika sa lahat ng social media accounts ko. Hindi ako masaya sa mga nangyayari, pero patuloy kong ipinagdarasal ang pangulo, ang bansa, at ang mga Pilipino.
  
• Anong lasa ng nutribun? Wheat bread na expired.