NEW YORK. For storybook enthusiasts, The Jaguar’s Pact: A Covert Alliance is a compelling and exciting read, perfectly suited to welcome the beginning of 2026. Written by New York based author Florante Coronel, originally from the Philippines, the book has drawn strong interest from readers who enjoy docudrama and history-based narratives. Its appeal is especially notable among Asian American communities in New York City, particularly Filipino readers.
Published in English, the novel is a haunting political thriller set on the island of Mindanao, spanning the late 1970s through the early 2000s, a region scarred by martial tribal chieftaincy who stumbles upon buried agreement forged during the Marcos regime.The story explores the cost of survival, the burden of inheritance, and the dangerous tension between loyalty and justice.
“The novel is set in Mindanao, my place of birth. I was born in Pigcawayan, Cotabato, spent my pre-teens in Cotabato City", said Florante who is a professional in a family care and senior services company in Queens, New York. "The City was a lot more peaceful in the late 60’s. My family moved to Davao City when I was approaching my teenage years. I spent some memorable summers in the mountains of Davao City at the foot of Mt. Apo, bordering on Bukidnon province, the setting for my novel. I did extensive travels in that area, both in my pre-teens and years after the martial law era in the late 80‘s and onwards".
Flo, that’s what he’s called, is also the current Board Chair and CEO of United Federation of Filipino-American Educators (UNIFFIED) Cooperative, Inc, and serves as Public Relations Director of the National Board and Membership Ambassador of the New Jersey Chapter. “My love for writing was influenced by my mother, a literature teacher, who exposed us to works by Shakespeare, The Iliad, and The Odyssey. As a teenager, I later became drawn to the novels of Harold Robbins”, said Flo in the interview with the New York Reader.
"I want my readers to feel or think that this part of Mindanao, the areas bounded by Davao City, Bukidnon province and parts of Lanao del Sur, has a very unique situation. There are conflicting beliefs and practices by different residents: the indigenous peoples, the Muslims, Christians, the communist insurgents and the military settlers. And yet, they seem to co-exist peacefully with one another, and learn to set aside their fear, and anxiety, believing that the other groups are also human beings. That’s why, they didn’t abandon the place", said Flo, explaining about the book. 
The Jaguar’s Pact is now available in Amazon, in Paperback or E-book edition. To reach the writer you can check on his FB: flo coronel, IG @flocornell, X@flocornell928 and Linkedln: flo-coronel
Source: TheCreativeTalk.com
