F.
Sionil Jose
Francisco Sionil Jose (b. Rosales, Pangasinan; 3 Dec 1924.) He is the son of
Antonio Jose an Aglipayan minister, and Sofia Sionil. He is married to Maria Teresa
Jovellanos with whom he has seven children. He had to help support his family at
a young age raising hogs and working as a farm laborer. He studied at the Rosales
Elementary School, Far Eastern University High School, and the University of
Santo Tomas (UST). After WWII he took pre-medicine courses at the Manila
College of Pharmacy and Dentistry, then at the UST, shifting to liberal arts later on.
He was editor-in-chief of the university paper The Varsitarian. In 1947, he joined
the staff of Commonwealth, a Catholic magazine. He went to work with the United
States Information Service (USIS) as assistant editor. Later, Jose became managing
editor of the Sunday Times Magazine, editor of Comment, and managing editor of
the Hong Kong-based Asia Magazine. He founded the Philippine chapter of the
PEN international organization. After working briefly in Sri Lanka as information
officer for the Colombo Plan Bureau, he returned to the Philippines in 1965 and set
up the Solidaridad Bookshop cum publishing firm and a short-lived art gallery in
Ermita, Manila. He runs the bookshop with his wife. He is publisher and editor of
Solidarity, a monthly magazine on current affairs, ideas and the arts. He has been
writer-in-residence at the National University of Singapore, 1987; visiting research
scholar, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, 1988; and
professorial lecturer, De La Salle University, 1984-1985. Jose's first novels were
serilazed in the Weekly Women's Magazine: The Chief Mourner, 1953, The Balete
Tree, 1956, the second version of which was published in 1977. In 1962 he
published the best known of all his novels, The Pretenders. His other novels are My
Brother, My Executioner, 1979; Mass, 1982; Po-on, 1984; Ermita, 1988; and
Viajero (Traveller), 1993. He has published the following short-story collections:
The God Stealer and Other Stories, 1968; Selected Works, 1977; Waywaya: Eleven
Filipino Short Stories, 1980; and Platinum: Ten Filipino Stories and Olvidon and
Other Stories, 1988. He also wrote a novella, Two Filipino Women, 1981, and has
authored a poetry collection, Questions, 1988. His writings have also appeared in
literary journals and anthologies all over Asia and in American and German
publications. Jose is a multiawarded fictionist whose works have been translated
into several languages: Russian, Latvian, Ukranian, Dutch, Indonesian, and Ilocano.
He has won three first-prize awards in the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards
for Literature for the short stories, “The God Stealer,” 1959; “Waywaya,” 1979; and
“Arbol de Fuego” (Firetree), 1980; a Palanca grand prize for his novel Mass , 1981;
and a second prize for his essay “A Scenario for Philippine Resistance,” 1979. He
also won the grand prize in the CCP Literary contests for the novel Tree, 1979; three
first-prize awards from the National Press Club, 1957, 1961 and 1962; the Fernando
Ma. Guerrero Memorial Foundation Award for Literature from UST, the Republic
Cultural Heritage Award for Tree, and the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award
from the city government of Manila, all in 1979; the Tawid Award for Cultural
Nationalism from the Ilocano Heritage Foundation, and the Ramon Magsaysay
Award for journalism, literature, and creative communication arts, 1980. He also
received the Smilth-Mundt Leader Grant, 1955; two Asian Foundation grants, 1955
and 1960; the Asian and Pacific Council fellowship, 1971; and the Outstanding
Alumnus Award from UST, 1974. He became national Artist for Literature in 2001.
Amado V. Hernandez
Amado V. Hernandez (Amado Vera Hernandez) aka Amante Hernani, Herminia
dela Riva, Julio Abril. b. Tondo, Manila 13 Sept 1903 d. Manila 24 March 1970.
National Artist in Literature. He is the son of Juan Hernandez and Clara Vera. He
married sarswela actor and kundiman queen Atang dela Rama. He studied in
Gagalangin, Tondo, the Manila High School, and the American Correspondence
School where he finished a bachelor of arts degree. He began his writing career, as
a journalist and later editor of various pre-WWII Tagalog newspapers, like
Watawat, Pagkakaisa, Makabayan, Sampaguita and Mabuhay Extra. He joined the
Akademya ng Wikang Tagalog and the Manila Press Club, During WWII; he served
as an intelligence officer for the resistance. After the war, he was appointed and
elected as councilor of Manila in 1945 and 1947, respectively. He sponsored
ordinances aimed at promoting worker's rights and freedom. As he immersed
himself in the labor movement in the late 1940's and early 1950's, Hernandez's
sympathy for the working class grew into strong identification with their struggle
for social justice and liberation. He represented the Newspaper Guild of the
Philippine in the country's biggest and most militant labor federation, the Congress
of Labor Organizations (CLO). In 1947, he was elected the president of the CLO.
Because of pursuing the worker's cause, he was imprisoned in 1951 for alleged
subversive activities. He was released on parole in 1956 after five years and six
months of detention, and was finally acquitted of all charges in 1964. He returned
to journalistic practice, writing as a columnist for Taliba from 1962 to 1967, serving
as editor of the radical newspaper, Ang Masa, until his death 1970.
Hernandez's poetic sensibility was initially developed in literary circles. During the
second decade he was a member and vice-president of Aklatang Bayan where he
associated with Lope K. Santos, Valeriano Hernandez- Peña, Iñigo Ed. Regalado,
and Julian Cruz Balmaseda; later he joined Ilaw at Panitik, where he became close
to Jose Corazon de Jesus, Florentino Collantes, and Deogracias Risario. He wrote
poems on sundry topics for his daily column “Sariling Hardin” (My Own Garden)
in Pagkakaisa from 1926 to 1932. He continued writing poems for his column
“Pangkasalukuyan” (Today) in Mabuhay from 1932 to 1934. In 1929 he challenged
de Jesus, the acknowledged “King of Balagtasan,” to debate in verse on the issue
of nationalism and independence. For almost a month, they articulated their
positions daily in the newspapers they worked for: de Jesus in Taliba, Hernandez in
Pagkakaisa . In 1940, he published his first anthology of poems entitled
Kayumanggi at Iba pang Tula (Brown and Other Poems). His prison ordeal
provided the creative impulse of most of the poems in his collection, Isang Dipang
Langit (A Stretch of Sky), 1961 and the epic, Bayang Malaya (Free Country), 1969,
both of which were written behind bars. Most famous of his poems are “Isang
Dipang Langit,” “Panata sa Kalayaan” (Oath to Freedom), “Bartolina” (Solitary
Confinement), “Ang Dalaw” (The Visit), and “Kung Tuyo Na ang Luha Mo Aking
Bayan” (When Your Tears Dry Up, My Country).

He published short stories in different newspapers among them “Wala ng Lunas”
(No More Remedy), “Kulang sa Dilig” (Needs Watering), “Langaw sa Isang Basing
Gatas” (Fly in a Glass of Milk), “Dalawang Metro sa Lupang Di-Malipad ng Uwak”
(Two Meters in Land That Stretches Forever), “Ipinanganak ang Isang Kaaway sa
Sosyedad” (An Enemy of the Society is Born), “Isang Ulo ng Litson” (Head of a
Roast Pig), and “Kislap ng Utak,Pawis ng Noo” (Sparkle of Brain, Sweat on the
Forehead).
His experiences as a guerilla, labor leader, and a political detainee were shaped into
the novels Mga Ibong Mandaranggit (Birds of Prey), 1969, and Luha ng Buwaya
(Crocodile's Tears), 1972.
Hernandez wrote plays based on prison experiences: Muntinglupa , 1957; Hagdan
sa Bahaghari (Stairway to the Rainbow), 1958; Ang mga Kagalang- galang (The
Venerables), 1959; and Magkabilang Mukha ng Isang Bagol (Two Sides of A
Coin), 1960. He has written many essays, among them, “Si Atang at ang Dulaan”
(Atang and the Theater), “Si Jose Corazon de Jesus at ang Ating Panulaan” (Jose
Corazon de Jesus and Our Poetry), and “Pilipinismo: Susi sa Bayang Tagumpay”
(Filipinism: Key to a Successful Country), among others. In these works, he
exposed what he perceived to be the neocolonial nature of Philippine Society and
pushed for nationalist and progressive agenda to end the long history of the workers'
and people's oppression.
In the pre-WWII era, Hernandez won more than 20 awards for his short stories and
poems. In 1925, he was proclaimed “Makata ng Ilaw at Panitik” (Poet of Ilaw and
Panitik). In 1931 his story “Wala ng Lunas” won two gold medals also from the
Ilaw and Panitik. His stories, “Pilipinas” (Philippines) and “Kayumanggi” (Brown),
both won first prize in the Commonwealth Literary Contest in 1938 and 1940,
respectively. He won the Republic Cultural Heritage Award for Isang Dipang
Langit, 1962; the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature fro his four
plays: Muntinglupa, 1958, Magkabilang Mukha ng Isang Bagol , 1961, both first
prize winners; and Hagdan sa Bahaghari, 1959, and Ang mga Kagalang-galang ,
1960, both second prize winners; the NPC-ESSO Journalism Award for his novel
Luha ng Buwaya, 1963, his “Pili sa Pinili” (Chosen form the Select) in Taliba, 1964,
and for his essay, “Report on Indonesia,” in 1965; the Patnubay ng Sining at
Kalinangan award from the city government of Manila, 1964; the first Balagtas
Memorial Award from the Cultural Center of the Philippines for Bayang Malaya ,
1969; and the Tanglaw ng Lahi Award from the Ateneo de Manila, 1970. He was
proclaimed National Artist for posthumously in 1973 for “his contribution to the
development of Tagalog prose.”
Francisco Lazaro
National Artist for Literature (2009)
(February 22, 1898 – June 17, 1980)
Prize-winning writer Lazaro A. Francisco developed the social realist tradition in
Philippine fiction. His eleven novels, now acknowledged classics of Philippine
literature, embodies the author’s commitment to nationalism. Amadis Ma. Guerrero
wrote, “Francisco championed the cause of the common man, specifically the
oppressed peasants. His novels exposed the evils of the tenancy system, the
exploitation of farmers by unscrupulous landlords, and foreign domination.”
Teodoro Valencia also observed, “His pen dignifies the Filipino and accents all the
positives about the Filipino way of life. His writings have contributed much to the
formation of a Filipino nationalism.” Literary historian and critic Bienvenido
Lumbera also wrote, “When the history of the Filipino novel is written, Francisco
is likely to occupy an eminent place in it. Already in Tagalog literature, he ranks
among the finest novelists since the beginning of the 20th century. In addition to a
deft hand at characterization, Francisco has a supple prose style responsive to the
subtlest nuances of ideas and the sternest stuff of passions.”
Francisco gained prominence as a writer not only for his social conscience but also
for his “masterful handling of the Tagalog language” and “supple prose style”. With
his literary output in Tagalog, he contributed to the enrichment of the Filipino
language and literature for which he is a staunch advocate. He put up an arm to his
advocacy of Tagalog as a national language by establishing the Kapatiran ng mga
Alagad ng Wikang Pilipino (KAWIKA) in 1958.
His reputation as the “Master of the Tagalog Novel” is backed up by numerous
awards he received for his meritorious novels in particular, and for his contribution
to Philippine literature and culture in general. His masterpiece novels—Ama,
Bayang Nagpatiwakal, Maganda Pa Ang Daigdig and Daluyong—affirm his
eminent place in Philippine literature. In 1997, he was honored by the University of
the Philippines with a special convocation, where he was cited as the “foremost
Filipino novelist of his generation” and “champion of the Filipino writer’s struggle
for national identity.”
Alejandro Roces
National Artist for Literature (2003)
(July 13, 1924 – May 23, 2011)
Alejandro Roces, is a short story writer and essayist, and considered as the country’s
best writer of comic short stories. He is known for his widely anthologized “My
Brother’s Peculiar Chicken.” In his innumerable newspaper columns, he has always
focused on the neglected aspects of the Filipino cultural heritage. His works have
been published in various international magazines and has received national and
international awards.
Ever the champion of Filipino culture, Roces brought to public attention the
aesthetics of the country’s fiestas. He was instrumental in popularizing several local
fiestas, notably, Moriones and Ati-atihan. He personally led the campaign to change
the country’s Independence Day from July 4 to June 12, and caused the change of
language from English to Filipino in the country’s stamps, currency and passports,
and recovered Jose Rizal’s manuscripts when they were stolen from the National
Archives.
His unflinching love of country led him to become a guerilla during the Second
World War, to defy martial law and to found the major opposition party under the
dictatorship. His works have been published in various international magazines and
received numerous national and international awards, including several decorations
from various governments.

Carlos P. Romulo
National Artist for Literature (1982)
(January 14, 1899 – December 15, 1985)
Carlos P. Romulo‘s multifaceted career spanned 50 years of public service as
educator, soldier, university president, journalist and diplomat. It is common
knowledge that he was the first Asian president of the United Nations General
Assembly, then Philippine Ambassador to Washington, D.C., and later minister of
foreign affairs. Essentially though, Romulo was very much into writing: he was a
reporter at 16, a newspaper editor by the age of 20, and a publisher at 32. He was
the only Asian to win America’s coveted Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for a series of
articles predicting the outbreak of World War II. Romulo, in all, wrote and
published 18 books, a range of literary works which included The United (novel), I
Walked with Heroes (autobiography), I Saw the Fall of the Philippines, Mother
America, I See the Philippines Rise (war-time memoirs).
His other books include his memoirs of his many years’ affiliations with United
Nations (UN), Forty Years: A Third World Soldier at the UN, and The Philippine
Presidents, his oral history of his experiences serving all the Philippine presidents.