Literature during the american period
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This document summarizes Philippine literature during the American period from 1900-1941. It describes 3 groups of writers - those writing in Spanish who focused on nationalism, those writing in Tagalog who lamented country conditions and promoted the native tongue, and those writing in English who initially imitated American styles and themes but later found their own voice. It provides details on notable writers from each group such as Nick Joaquin, Carlos Romulo, Paz Marquez Benitez, and NVM Gonzalez and their significant literary works.
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Literature during the american period
- 1. Literature during The American Period
Editor's Notes
- EL GRITO DEL PUEBLO (Ang Sigaw/Tinig ng Bayan) itinatag ni Pascual Poblete noong 1900 EL NUEVO DIA (Ang Bagong Araw) itinatag ni Sergio Osmena noong 1900 EL RENACIMIENTO (Muling Pagsilang) itinatag ni Rafael Palma noong 1900 Manila Daily Bulletin-1900
- The inspiration of our Filipino writers in Spanish was Rizal not only because of his being a national leader but also because of his novels NOLI and FILI. These two novels contained the best qualities of a novel ever written, in English or in Filipino. Those who were inspired to write in praise of him were Cecilio Apostol, Fernando Ma. Guerrero, Jesus Balmori, Manuel Bernabe and Claro M. Recto.
- Cecilio Apóstol (November 22, 1877 – September 8, 1938) was a Filipino poet. His poems were once used to teach the Spanish language under the Republic Act No. 1881. [1] He was born in Santa Cruz, Manila and studied at the Ateneo de Manila where he finished his Bachelor of Arts, before studying law at the University of Santo Tomas . During the early years of American occupation he worked as a journalist for the revolutionary newspapers Independence , The Brotherhood , The Union , Renaissance and Democracy . His pseudonym on his work at the La Independencia , under Antonio Luna , was Catulo . [2] He later joined the Nacionalista Party which wanted the independence of the Philippines from the United States. [3] He was a member of the Philippine Academy from 1924 until his death. Apóstol wrote in English and Spanish, and composed poems that demonstrated his mastery of Spanish. He composed the poem Al Heroes Nacional (To the National Hero) which is dedicated to José Rizal . [4] In the book of poems, Pentélicas, he described landscapes evoking a vivid images. He died in Caloocan , Rizal .
- polyglot - multi linggual one who can speak, read and write more than six languages Fernando María Guerrero (1873 — 1929) was a Filipino politician, journalist, lawyer and polyglot who became a significant figure during the Philippine 's golden period of Spanish literature , a period ranging from 1890 to the outbreak of World War II in 1940. [1] Contents [ hide ] 1 Biography 2 Poetry 2.1 Original in Spanish 2.2 English translation 3 See also 4 References 5 External links [ edit ] Biography Guerrero was born to a highly educated family. His father was Lorenzo Guerrero, a painter and art teacher and his mother was Clemencia Ramirez. He began writing literature at a young age. He excelled in the facility of language and obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from the Ateneo Municipal and the Bachelor of Laws degree at the University of Santo Tomas and wrote journals during the years 1898 to 1900. He became a lawyer and he taught criminology and forensic oratory. He served as chairman of the board of study at the law school La Jurisprudencia (The Jurisprudence) . He also became a councilor, secretary of the senate and secretary of the Philippine Independence commission. He was also a director of the Academia de Leyes (Academy of Regulation) . Apart from Spanish , Guerrero spoke Latin and Greek and he was an editor of El Renacimiento (The Renaissance) , La Vanguardia (The Outer works) and La Opinion (The Opinion) . He was a member of the First Philippine Assembly , the Academia Filipina (Philippine Academy) and also became a leader of the Municipal Board of Manila. He was also a correspondent to the association Real Española de Madrid (Spanish Royal of Madrid) and his book of Spanish poems, Crisálidas , was published in 1914 by the Enciclopedia Filipinas (Philippine Encyclopedia) . His other poems written after 1914 appeared in a compilation called Aves y Flores (Hail and Flowers) . Guerrero died on June 12, 1929, coinciding with that year's anniversary of the República Filipina (Philippine Republic) . A school in Paco , Manila was named after him in his honor. [1] He was writer of the lyrics of songs such as "Flor filipina". [ edit ] Poetry A 1913 poem written by Guerrero: [ edit ] Original in Spanish “ A Hispania Oh, noble Hispania! es para ti mi canción, canción que viene de lejos como eco de antiguo amor, temblorosa, palpitante y olorosa a tradición para abrir sus alas cándidas bajo el oro de aquel sol que nos metiste en el alma con el fuego de tu voz y a cuya lumbre, montando, clavileños de ilusión, mi raza adoró la gloria del bello idioma español, que parlan aún los Quijotes de esta malaya región, donde quieren nuevos Sanchos, que parlemos en sajón. [2] ” [ edit ] English translation “ To Spain O, Noble Spain! This song is for thee A song that comes from afar Like an old love Trembling, palpitating Fragrant with tradition To open thy candid wings Under the goldness of thy sun Which we've received into our souls With the fire of thy voice In whose brightness ride The keys of hope, My race adored the glory Of the beauty of the Spanish tongue That is spoken even by the Quijotes From this Malay region, Where New Sanchos are longed for Instead of speaking in Saxon tongue. ” man so gifted in writing was Fernando Ma. Guerrero, son of highly educated parents: Lorenzo Guerrero, a notable painter and art teacher, and Clemencia Ramirez. He showed signs of a genius in his youth with facility for language. His father hired for him a private tutor for home education. He pursued and obtained the Bachelor of Arts degree from the Ateneo Municipal, and the Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Santo Tomas. He joined the staff of La Independencia , a revolutionary periodical, and wrote incisive articles and editorials in beautiful Spanish – making it the most dynamic and influential Newspaper. He was appointed secretary of the Supreme Court by General Antonio Luna. He wrote for La Patria and established his own paper, La Fraternidad . At El Renacimiento he was made City Editor, then later Chief Editor. Through the sheer power of his editorials this paper became outstanding. His love for literature knew no bounds. He must have had storms of ideas swirling in his fertile mind. He wrote both prose and poetry; his favorite theme was “eternal sadness of things.” He believes in “purifying nature, wrapping her in a garment of beauty to cover her deformities. True and supreme art is the most common perfect interpretation of the aesthetic emotion.” Guerrero was the major lyric poet before and after the revolution, until the introduction of English literature in our schools. Known as the “Prince of Filipino lyric poets” in Spanish, he also played the flute and guitar. In Spanish lyric poetry, he was unsurpassed by his contemporaries. His poetry, like a prism, sparkled with different color-tones; sometimes, it was musical like a tropical love song; sometimes, it was classically grand; sometimes, it was tinged with melancholia; sometimes, it was stirring with heroic grandeur. Guerrero was above all a national poet. He felt and thought as a Filipino, lived as a Filipino and died as a Filipino. He loved the Philippines with passionate fervor, and in limpid and elegant Spanish, he sang the mountains and rivers, seas and forest, flowers and women, heroes and martyrs, and sunrises and sunsets of his beloved land. Politics attracted him, too. He became the Leyte representative to the Malolos Congress, and was elected deputado to the Philippine Assembly in the year 1907. He authored the first labor bills in the Philippines- ensuring workmen’s compensation, and the right of employees to form labor unions. Due to his nationalism, he became Secretary of the Independence Commission. Against libel suits filed by the American Constabulary, for a series of publication on documented abuses and killing in Cavite, Batangas, and Cebu, Guerrero win a court victory. Thus, El Renacimeinto rose to its greatest glory, which enhanced his popularity. Crisalidas was the title of his book of poems considered by Enciclopedia Filipinas as one of the ten best books o the Philippines. He stood in the frontline of the local golden era of Spanish literature for four decades since 1890. Fernando Ma. Guerrero – he came like a silent storm of brilliance, brightening the crown of dark night, when the country’s ship of liberty was sailing but began sinking. Or like a thousand flowers blooming in a riot of colors, as the country bide farewell to Spanish, as it faced its inevitable fate, and embraced the English language. Thousand of colorful flowers wilted when he died on June 12, 1929, with his death meaningfully falling on the anniversary of the Republic. http://filipinoheritage.zxq.net/sikatpinoy/fernando_guerrero.htm
- Claro Mayo Recto, Jr. (February 8, 1890 – October 2, 1960), was a Filipino politician, jurist, poet and one of the foremost statesmen of his generation. He is remembered mainly for his nationalism, for "the impact of his patriotic convictions on modern political thought". [2] He was born in Tiáong , Tayabas (now known as Quezon province ) of educated, upper middle-class parents, namely Claro Recto [Sr.] of Rosario, Batangas , and Micaela Mayo of Lipa, Batangas . He studied Latin at the Instituto de Rizal in Lipa , Batangas from 1900 to 1901. Further schooling was at the Colegio del Sagrado Corazón of Don Sebastián Virrey. He moved to Manila to study at the Ateneo de Manila where he consistently obtained outstanding scholastic grades, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree maxima cum laude . He received a Masters of Laws degree from the University of Santo Tomás . Contents [ hide ] 1 Politician 2 Recto the jurist 3 Poet, playwright, essayist 4 The 'finest mind of his generation' 5 Criticism 6 Death 7 Speeches and writings 8 Further reading 9 Footnotes 10 External links [ edit ] Politician Claro M. Recto, Jr. launched his political career as a legal adviser to the first Philippine Senate in 1916. In 1919, he was elected representative from the second district of Batangas . He served as minority floor leader for several years until 1925. His grasp of parliamentary procedures won him the accolades of friends and adversaries alike. He traveled to the United States as a member of the Independence Mission, and was admitted to the American Bar in 1924. Upon his return he founded the Partido Democrata. In 1928, he temporarily retired from active politics and dedicated himself to the practice and teaching of law. Recto found the world of academia restrictive and soporific. Although he still engaged in the practice of law, he resigned from his teaching job in 1931 and reentered politics when he ran and won a senate seat and was subsequently elected its majority floor leader in 1934. He was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court in 1935 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt . As a jurist he held his own in famous debates even against the U.S. Attorney General with whom he waged a war of words on the question of ownership of military bases in the Philippines. He presided over the assembly that drafted the Philippine Constitution in 1934-35, which was in accordance with the provisions of the Tydings-McDuffie Act and a preliminary step to independence and self-governance after a 10-year transitional period. The Tydings-McDuffie Act was created in response to the Hare-Hawes-Cutting Act which, through the urging of Quezon , was rejected by the Philippine Senate. The original bill would have allowed the indefinite retention of U.S. military and naval bases in the Philippines and the American imposition of high tariff and quotas on Philippine exports such as sugar and coconut oil. A few minor changes were made and the Tydings-McDuffie bill was passed and signed into law by President Roosevelt. Together with then-Senate President Manuel L. Quezon (who eventually was elected first president of the commonwealth), Recto personally presented the Commonwealth Constitution to U.S. President Roosevelt. The consensus among many political scholars of today judges the 1935 Constitution as the best-written Philippine charter ever. Its author was mainly Claro M. Recto. In the 1953 and 1955 elections, Recto denounced the influ ence and coercion of the Church on voters' decisions—the Philippines having a 90% Catholic majority at the time. In a 1958 article in "The Lawyer's Journal" he suggested that a constitutional amendment be passed to make the article on Separation of Church and State clearer and more definitive. He also rallied against the teaching of religion in public schools. He served as Commissioner of Education (1942–43), Minister of Foreign Affairs (1943–44), and Cultural Envoy with the rank of Ambassador on a cultural mission to Europe and Latin America (1960). In 1941 he ran and reaped the highest number of votes among the 24 elected senators. He was re-elected in 1949 as a Nacionalista Party candidate and again in 1955 as a guest candidate of the Liberal Party . Claro M. Recto, Jr. is considered light-years ahead of his time. He foresaw the demands of a fast-moving global economy which his nation is incapable to meet even to this day. In a memorable speech on the eve of the 1957 presidential election where he raced against then President Carlos Garcia, he petitioned all sectors of society, and like Rizal , implored the youth: [3] “ The first task to participate seriously in the economic development of our country by pursuing those professions for which there is a great need during an era of rapid industrialization. Only a nationalistic administration can inspire a new idealism in our youth, and with its valid economic program make our youth respond to the challenging jobs and tasks demanding full use of their talents and energies. ” Recto was defeated and never became president. Since his time, subsequent administrations practiced with fidelity and enthusiasm what he called "subservience and colonial mentality", most of them with greed and rapacious intents. To the judgment of Recto and many political gurus, colonial mentality towards America by the sycophant Philippine government, and its evil twin—servility to the almighty dollar, are among the major contributories to graft and corruption, which in turn have paralyzed the nation's economy. During the presidency of Corazon Aquino , however, where Aquino initially fought for the R.P.-U.S Bases Treaty but ultimately acquiesced to the will of the people, the Philippine Senate rejected its renewal. In September 1991, by a slim majority led by Senator Jovito Salonga , the lawmaking body rescinded the agreement, effectively ending U.S. military presence in the Philippines. [ edit ] Recto the jurist In the years before English became the principal tongue of the Filipino elite, Recto was known as an abogado milagroso (lawyer of miracles), a tribute to his many victories in the judicial court. He wrote a two-volume book on civil procedures which in the days before World War II was standard textbook for law students. His prominence as a lawyer parallels his fame as a writer: he was known for his flawless logic and lucidity of mind in both undertakings. He served the wartime cabinet of President José P. Laurel during the Japanese occupation. Together with Laurel, Camilo Osías , and Quintín Paredes , he was taken into custody by the American colonial government and tried for treason. In his defense, he wrote a treatise entitled "Three Years of Enemy Occupation" (1946) wherein he convincingly presented the case of patriotic conduct of Filipinos during World War II. He fought his legal battles and was acquitted. [ edit ] Poet, playwright, essayist The Spanish language was where he was reared and schooled. Alongside Tagalog , it was Recto's mother tongue, although he was equally adept in English. His initial fame was as a poet while a student at the University of Santo Tomás when he published a book Bajos Los Cocoteros (Under the Coconut Trees, 1911), a collection of his poems in Spanish. A staff writer of El Ideal , and later La Vanguardia , he wrote a daily column, Primares Cuartillas (First Sheets), under the nom de plume Aristeo Hilario. They were prose and numerous poems of satirical pieces. Some of his work still grace the classic poetry anthologies of the Hispanic world. Among the plays that he authored were La Ruta de Damasco (The Route to Damascus, 1918), and Solo entre las Sombras (Alone among the Shadows, 1917), which were lauded not only in the Philippines, but also in Spain and Latin America. Both were produced and staged in Manila to critical acclaim in the mid 1950s. In 1929, his article Monroismo Asiático (Asiatic Monroism) was published, validating his repute as a political satirist. In what was claimed as a commendable study in polemics, he proferred his arguments and defenses in a debate with Dean Máximo Kálaw of the University of the Philippines where Kálaw championed a version of the Monroe Doctrine with its application to the Asian continent, while Recto took the opposing side. The original Monroe doctrine (1823) was U.S. President Monroe's foreign policy of keeping the Americas off-limits to the influence of the Old World, and states that the United States, Mexico, and countries in South and Central America were no longer open to European colonization. Recto was passionately against its implementation in Asia, wary of Japan's preeminence and its aggressive stance towards its neighbors. In his deliberation he wrote about foreseeing the danger Japan posed to the Philippines and other Asian countries. His words proved prophetic when Japan invaded and colonized the region, including the Philippines from 1942-45. His eloquence and facility with the Spanish language were recognized throughout the Hispanic world. The Enciclopedia Universal says of him: Recto, more than a politician and lawyer, is a Spanish writer, and that among those of his race (he is pure Tagalog on both sides), there is not and there has been no one who has surpassed him in the mastery of the language of his country's former sovereign. [4] [ edit ] The 'finest mind of his generation' Claro M. Recto, Jr. is considered the "finest mind of his generation". [5] Through his speeches and writings, he was able to mold the mind of his Filipino contemporaries and succeeding generations, a skill "only excelled by Rizal 's". [5] He left a mark on the patriotic climate of his time and a lasting legacy to those who succeeded him. Such icons of nationalism as Lorenzo Tanada , José Diokno , Renato Constantino , Jovito Salonga , refer to him as a mentor and forerunner. Teodoro M. Locsín of the Philippines Free Press, defines Recto's genius, thus: [5] "Recto is not a good speaker, no. He will arouse no mob. But heaven help the one whose pretensions he chooses to demolish. His sentences march like ordered battalions against the inmost citadel of the man's arguments, and reduce them to rubble; meanwhile his reservations stand like armed sentries against the most silent approach and every attempt at encirclement by the adversary. The reduction to absurdity of Nacionalista senator Zulueta's conception of sound foreign policy was a shattering experience, the skill that goes into the cutting of a diamond went into the work of demolition. There was no slip of the hand, no flaw in the tool. All was delicately, perfectly done... Recto cannot defend the indefensible, but what can be defended, he will see to it that it will not be taken." [ edit ] Criticism Gravesite of Claro M. Recto at the Manila North Cemetery. His critics claim that Recto's brilliance is overshadowed by his inability to capture nationwide acceptance. He could have been an exceptional leader, perhaps a great president, but his appeal was limited to the intellectual elite and the nationalist minority of his time. In the same article, political editorialist, Manuel L. Quezon III , laments this fact: "Recto's leadership was the curious kind that only finds fulfillment from being at the periphery of power, and not from being its fulcrum. It was the best occupation suited to the satirist that he was. His success at the polls would be limited, his ability to mold the minds of his contemporaries was only excelled by Rizal's...But he was admired for his intellect and his dogged determination to never let the opposition be bereft of a champion, still his opposition was flawed. For it was one that never bothered to transform itself into an opposition capable of taking power." [5] However, one possible explanation as to why Recto was never able to capture full national acceptance was because he dared to strongly oppose the national security interests of the United States in the Philippines , as when he campaigned against the US military bases in his country. During the 1957 presidential campaign, the Central Intelligence Agency ( CIA ) conducted black propaganda operations to ensure his defeat, including the distribution of condoms with holes in them and marked with `Courtesy of Claro M. Recto' on the labels . [6] [7] [ edit ] Death Claro M. Recto died of a heart attack in Rome , Italy , on October 2, 1960, while on a cultural mission, and en route to Spain , where he was to fulfill a series of speaking engagements. The US Central Intelligence Agency is suspected of involvement in his death. Recto, who had no known heart disease, met with two mysterious " Caucasians " wearing business suits before he died. US government documents later showed that a plan to murder Recto with a vial of poison was discussed by CIA Chief of Station Ralph Lovett and the US Ambassador to the Philippines Admiral Raymond Spruance years earlier. [8] [9] Recto was married to Aurora Reyes, with whom he had two sons. He had four children in his first marriage with Angeles Silos. [ edit ] Speeches and writings A realistic economic policy for the Philippines . Speech delivered at the Philippine Columbian Association, Sept. 26, 1956. ISBN B0007KCFEM On the Formosa Question , 1955 ISBN B0007JI5DI United States-Philippine Relations, 1935-1960. Alicia Benitez, ed. University of Hawaii, 1964. Three years of enemy occupation: The issue of political collaboration in the Philippines . Filipiniana series, 1985 Filipiana reprint. ISBN B0007K1JRG Our trade relations with the United States , 1954 ISBN B0007K8LS6 The evil of religious test in a democracy , 1960 ISBN B0007K4Y8W Solo entre las sombres: Drama en un acto y en prosa , 1917; reprinted 1999 ISBN 971-555-306-0 Asiatic monroeism and other essays: Articles of debate , 1930 ISBN B0008A5354 The law of belligerent occupation and the effect of the change of sovereignty on the commonwealth treason law: With particular reference to the Japanese occupation of the Philippines , 1946 Our lingering colonial complex , a speech before the Baguio Press Association, 1951 The Quirino junket: an Objective Appraisal , 1949 ISBN B0007K4A7W The Philippine survival: Nationalist essays by Claro M. Recto , 1982 Claro Recto on our Constitution, Constitutional Amendments and the Constitutional Convention of 1991 Our mendicant foreign policy , a speech at the commencement exercises, University of the Philippines, 1951 The Recto Valedictory , a collection of 10 never-delivered speeches, with English translations by Nick Joaquin, 1985 [1] [2] Vintage Recto: Memorable speeches and writings, edited by Renato Constantino, 1986 Recto Reader: Excerpts from the Speeches of Claro M. Recto . edited by Renato Constantino, 1965 ISBN B0006E72Z6 aro M. Recto was born in Tiaong, Tayabas (now Quezon) to Don Claro Recto, Sr of Batangas and Dona Micaela Mayo of Lipa. He showed signs of genius early in life. He studied Latin in the Instituto de Rizal and later enrolled at the Colegio de Sagrado Corazon . In 1905, he went to the Ateneo de Manila where he obtained the most outstanding grades. His average as freshman was 94%; as sophomore, 98%; as junior, 100%; and as Senior, 100%. He obtained in 1909 the degree of Bachelor of Arts, maxima cum laude . While studying law in 1909 at the University of Santo Tomas, he worked for Spanish newspapers, and later became editor-in-chief of El Ideal . A gifted writer and a poet, too, he joined La Vanguardia as a columnist, and published a collection of poems entitled Bajo los Cocoteros . He wrote verses on love, beauty and patriotism. As an essayist, he wielded his pen in defense of democracy. Paradoxically, he got excellent grades in all degree, but failed the bar examination because of low grade in civil procedure. He worked for a masters degree in US, then took again and passed the bar examination. He established his reputation as a dramatist by writing an award-winning one-act comedy: La Ruta de Damaso . It was followed by another: Solo Entre Las Sombras . He humble began working ass as staff member of the Philippine Commission in 1913, and three years later as legal adviser to the first Philippine Senate. He started his political xareer by winning a seat in the House of Representatives, and becoming Minority Floor Leader, then getting reelected for two consecutive times. He later won a seat in the Senate for the fifth senatorial district comprising Batangas, Tayabas, Cavite, Mindoro, and Marinduque. Again, he served as Minority Floor Leader. A fighter, he joined Quezon in rejecting Hare-Hawes Cutting Law which he said “Imposed a stranglehold on our economic life, and trampled our national dignity.” He became president of the 1934 Constitutional Convention, which drafted the Philippine Constitution, the first requirement towards independence. The Philippine Constitution was approved by President Franklin Roosevelt, who nominated him to the Philippine Supreme Court. The US Senate confirmed his appointment. Destined to play a key role during the Japanese occupation, he was appointed Commissioner of Education, Health and Public Welfare, and later, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, under Laurel’s war-time cabinet. Soon after the Second World War, he was detained by the United Forces, accused of collaboration with Japan, imprisoned and charged with treason. When President Roxas issued an amnesty, he did not take advantage of it, and instead worked for and got an acquittal from the People’s Court. To support his case, he published two books: Three Years of Enemy Occupation and The Law of Belligerant Occupation. Again elected Senator in 1949, he distinguished himself as a brilliant oppositionist. He fought many issues on nationalism and economic independence. Recto declined an appointment as ambassador to Spain and Italy, unwilling to relinquish his position in the Senate. He said, “Filipinism, nationalism: This is my unconquerable faith and burning hope.” He was chosen by the Philippine Free Press as one of the greatest Filipinos during the first half on the century. He received the following degrees, all honoris causa : Doctor of Laws from the University of Manila in 1936; the Doctor of Laws from the Arellano University in 1949; and the Doctor of Humanities from the University of the Philippines in 1960. In 1960, he was appointed Cultural Envoy with the rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary on the cultural mission to Europe and Latin America. Claro M Recto – a poet, parliamentarian, jurist, statesman, s strong advocate of Filipinism and nationalism- suffered a heart attack in Rome and died at age 70. In a hospital, with his wife by his side, he signed his last words: ”It is terrible to die in a foreign country.” http://filipinoheritage.zxq.net/sikatpinoy/claro_recto.htm
- Jesús "Batikuling" Balmori (January 10, 1887 – May 23, 1948) was a Filipino Spanish language journalist , playwright , and poet . Contents [ hide ] 1 Biography 2 Literary works 3 As ambassador 4 Death 5 References 6 External links [ edit ] Biography Jesús Balmori was born in Ermita, Manila on January 10, 1887. He studied at the Collegio de San Juan de Letran and the University of Santo Tomas, where he excelled in Literature. He was married to Dolores Rodríguez. Joaquín Balmori, a pioneer labor leader of the foremost organizer of Labor unions in their Philippines, was his brother. In his early years, Balmori was already gathering literary honors and prizes for poetry. In a Rizal Day contest, his three poems, each bearing a different pen name, won the first, second, third prizes. Later, he figured in friendly poetical jousts, known as Balagtasan (in reference to Tagalog poet Francisco Balagtás ), with other well-known poets in Spanish of his time, notably Manuel Bernabe of Parañaque and the Ilonggo Flavio Zaragosa Cano, emerging triumphant each time. Before the war, under the pseudonym "Batikuling", Balmori wrote a column called "Vida Manileña" for Vanguardia , a daily afternoon newspaper. It was a trenchant critique of society’s power elite, showcasing his gift for irony and satirical humor, as well as serious verses. After the war, he wrote a similar column, "Vida Filipina", for the Vox de Manila . However, the number of Spanish-speaking readers was already diminishing by that time. It was his work as a lyric poet, however, on which his fame and reputation rested. [ edit ] Literary works In 1904, when he was 17, he published his first book of verses, Rimas Malayas ; it was noted for its spiritual and nationalistic themes. A second volume containing his satirical verses, El Librode mis Vidas Manileñas , came out in 1928. In 1908, his poem "Gloria" was adjudged first prized winner in a contest sponsored by El Renacimiento . In 1920, another poem, "A Nuestro Señor Don Quijote de la Mancha", received the major award in a contest promoted by Casas de España. He reached the pinnacle of his success as a poet in November 1938 when his Mi Casa de Nipa , a collection of his best poems , gave him the first prize in the national literary contests held under the auspices of the Commonwealth Government, as a part of its third anniversary celebration. Critics began to notice his literary skills more when he joined a contest sponsored by the newspaper El Renacimiento in commemoration of Rizal Day. Three of his poems won. These were "Specs", "Vae Victis" (Woe to the Victor), and "Himno A Rizal" (Hymn to Rizal). In 1940, his Mi Choza de Nipa (My Nipa Hut), another volume of poetry, won grand prize in a contest sponsored by the US -sponsored Commonwealth Government . He wrote three novels: Bancarrota de Almas (Failure of the Soul), Se Deshojó la Flor (I Tear The Pages Out of The Flower), and Pájaros de Fuego (Birds of Fire) which was completed during the Japanese occupation. The themes of these novels revolved around the issues of sensuality, the privacy of morality, the existence of God, and man's limitations in society. He also wrote three-act dramas, which were performed to the capacity crowd at the Manila Grand Opera House : Compañados de Gloria , Las de Sungkit en Malacañang , Doña Juana LA Oca , Flor del Carmelo , and Hidra . In 1926, he and Bernabé were awarded the Premio Zóbel for his contributions to Philippine literature . [ edit ] As ambassador Balmori was sent abroad as Philippine Ambassador of Goodwill to Spain, Mexico, South America, and Japan. In Spain, Generalissimo Francisco Franco decorated him with the Cross of the Falangistas. [ edit ] Death He was traveling in Mexico when he suffered partial paralysis. He died of throat cancer on May 23, 1948, shortly after writing his last poem, "A Cristo" (To Christ), which he dedicated to his wife. At the time of his death, he was a presidential technical assistant and a member of the Philippine Historical Research Committee. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jes%C3%BAs_Balmori
- e studied in the Ateneo and taught Spanish in various institutions such as the University of the Philippines , Far Eastern University , Philippine Law School and the Instituto Español de Letran. He also became head of the Departamento de Español of the University of the Philippines. He was also a lawyer who graduated from the University of Santo Tomas who then became congressman for the Province of Rizal . He became editor of official documents of the Senate and in 1929, he successfully blocked the law against cockfighting by pleading that the pelea de gallos was the only remaining Filipino custom. In 1930, he was chosen a member of the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language in the Philippines for his academic and excellent performance. He was also named poet laureate in Spanish on 25 February 1950. He received two decorations from Spain for his untiring efforts in the propagation and conservation of the Spanish language - El Yugo y las Flechas (1940) and Orden de Isabela la Catolica (1953) . [ edit ] Award He was a recipient of the Premio Zobel in 1924 and 1926 for his Spanish translation of Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat . http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Manuel_Bernabe Rubaiyat - The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám ( Persian : رباعیات عمر خیام ) is the title that Edward FitzGerald gave to his translation of a selection of poems, originally written in Persian and of which there are about a thousand, attributed to Omar Khayyám (1048–1131), a Persian poet , mathematician and astronomer . A ruba'i is a two-line stanza with two parts (or hemistichs ) per line, hence the word rubáiyát (derived from the Arabic language root for "four"), meaning " quatrains ".
- Poet of the Heart (Makata ng Puso). These included Lope K. Santos, Iñigo Ed. Regalado, Carlos Gatmaitan, Pedro Deogracias del Rosario, Ildefonso Santos, Amado V. Hernandez, Nemecio Carabana, and Mar Antonio. 2. Poets of Life (Makata ng Buhay). Led by Lope K Santos, Jose Corazon de Jesus, Florentino Collantes, Patricio Mariano, Carlos Garmaitan, and Amado V. Hernandez. 3. Poets of the Stage (Makata ng Tanghalan). Led by Aurelio Tolentino, Patricio Mariano, Severino Reyes, and Tomas Remigio.
- Poet of the Heart (Makata ng Puso). These included Lope K. Santos, Iñigo Ed. Regalado, Carlos Gatmaitan, Pedro Deogracias del Rosario, Ildefonso Santos, Amado V. Hernandez, Nemecio Carabana, and Mar Antonio. 2. Poets of Life (Makata ng Buhay). Led by Lope K Santos, Jose Corazon de Jesus, Florentino Collantes, Patricio Mariano, Carlos Garmaitan, and Amado V. Hernandez. 3. Poets of the Stage (Makata ng Tanghalan). Led by Aurelio Tolentino, Patricio Mariano, Severino Reyes, and Tomas Remigio.
- Poet of the Heart (Makata ng Puso). These included Lope K. Santos, Iñigo Ed. Regalado, Carlos Gatmaitan, Pedro Deogracias del Rosario, Ildefonso Santos, Amado V. Hernandez, Nemecio Carabana, and Mar Antonio. 2. Poets of Life (Makata ng Buhay). Led by Lope K Santos, Jose Corazon de Jesus, Florentino Collantes, Patricio Mariano, Carlos Garmaitan, and Amado V. Hernandez. 3. Poets of the Stage (Makata ng Tanghalan). Led by Aurelio Tolentino, Patricio Mariano, Severino Reyes, and Tomas Remigio.
- Poet of the Heart (Makata ng Puso). These included Lope K. Santos, Iñigo Ed. Regalado, Carlos Gatmaitan, Pedro Deogracias del Rosario, Ildefonso Santos, Amado V. Hernandez, Nemecio Carabana, and Mar Antonio. 2. Poets of Life (Makata ng Buhay). Led by Lope K Santos, Jose Corazon de Jesus, Florentino Collantes, Patricio Mariano, Carlos Garmaitan, and Amado V. Hernandez. 3. Poets of the Stage (Makata ng Tanghalan). Led by Aurelio Tolentino, Patricio Mariano, Severino Reyes, and Tomas Remigio.
- LOPE K. SANTOS Lope K. Santos, a novelist, poet and author, and grammarian covered three periods of Tagalog literature – American, Japanese and the contemporary period. If Manuel L. Quezon is called the Father of the National Language, Lope K. Santos is called the Father of the National Language Grammar. He was also called the “Apo” of the Tagalog writers. BANAAG AT SIKAT was his masterpiece. Lope K. Santos - Father of the Filipino Grammar: Fighting for National Identity (Sep 25, 1879 – May 1, 1963) / From Silent Storms: Inspiring Lives of 101 Great Filipinos nd so was born a man- Lope K. Santos- whose destiny was yellow. Born to Ladislao Santos of asig, Rizal and Victoria Canseco, a native of Mateo, Rizal, Lope used K for his middle instead of letter C, because C was not part of the Filipino alphabet. Lope K. Santos’ love for Tagalog began when he won the dupluhan , the popular poetical joust in his time. This further developed when he pursued journalism, and when he became the editor of different Tagalog publications. His style as a poet was smooth, melodious and full of substance. A prolific writer in both prose and poetry, he wrote many novels and poems. In recognition of his literary works he was crowned Paham ng Wika . He wrote Balarila ng Wikang Pambansa – his masterpiece – the basis of the Filipino language grammar, whuich earned for him the title of “Father of Filipino Grammar”, Banaag at Sikat , a sociological novel, won for him the title of “Pillar of Philippine literature”. He was the first editor of Muling Pagsilang , and the founder of the first Filipino national weekly: Sampaguita . Norberto Lopez Romualdez, an assemblyman from Leyte, authored the National Language Law, or Commonwealth Act No. 184 which created the National Language Institute (NLI). The NLI was mandated to undertake exhaustive studies on existing dialects and languages in the Philippines, and to recommend one for adoption as a national language. On recommendation of the NLI, President Quezon proclaimed Tagalog as the basis of the national language on December 31, 1937. Two years later, as mandated by Commonwealth Act No. 184, Tagalog was proclaimed the national language of the Philippines. Lope K. Santos sought to propagate the national language through organized lectures, through cultural societies he founded all over the country, and as head of national language departments in various universities. He was named by President Quezon as the Director of Surian ng Wikang Pambansa . Because of his popularity, he was appointed Governor of Rizal (1910-1913), and later Governor of Nueva Ecija (1918-1920). By befriending the head- hunting tribes, he succeeded in minimizing their barbarianism, established settlements, and prepared the people for self-government. He became Senator (1921 -1922) representing the twelfth district, comprising Mindanao, Sulu, Mountain Province and Nueva Viscaya. As Senator, he authored the law creating Bonifacio Day, and championed the cause of labor. The pursuit of national language to him was a passion…like a silent storm ragging in his breast, He was operated on for an illness of the liver, and he had premonitions about his death. In his death bed he said to his wife, Mona, “My last hours on earth have come, but I regret that I will breathe my last without knowing what will happen to the Tagalog language…Whether indeed it will become the national language.” On May 1, 1963- Labor Day – Lope K Santos, the scholar, poet, novelist, journalist, labor leader, and “Father of the Filipino Grammar,” bade farewell to this world to meet his Creator.. http://filipinoheritage.zxq.net/sikatpinoy/lope_santos.htm
- Amado V. Hernandez was dubbed Makata ng mga Manggagawa (Poet of the Laborers) in our literature because he pictures in his poem the intense love for the poor worker or laborer. To him, a poem is a scent, bittersweet memories, and a murmur of flowing water. The pen is powerful and according to him, even a king can be bent by the pen. He contributed a lot of writings to literature like ISANG DIPANG LANGIT (A Stretch of Heaven), BAYANG MALAYA (A Free Nation), ANG PANDAY (The Blakcsmith), and MUNTING LUPA (A Small Plot), but his masterpiece is ANG PANDAY. Amado V. Hernandez - A Fearless Writer and Pillar in Tagalog Literature (Sept 13, 1903 – Mar 24, 1970) / From Silent Storms: Inspiring Lives of 101 Great Filipinos mado V. Hernandez (Ka Amado) was a pillar in Tagalog literature, and a great labor leader. He was born in Manila to a middle class family. He took a course on typing and stenography, but failed to complete a correspondence course in practical English. He married Atang de la Rama, a popular singer and zarzuela (operatta) star. Ka Amado was a well-known journalist during the pre-war years. From being a reporter of a morning daily, be became a star columnist, and therefore, Editor of Mabuhay. Coupled with this responsibility, he wrote poems and stories. As Vice-President of Aklatang Bayan, a writers’ society, he rubbed shoulders with Lope K. Santos, and Jose Corazon de Jesus, great Tagalog lyricists. Hernandez himself was honored as a Filipino lauŕeate. When the Japanese invaded the Philippines, he joined the guerrilla movement, and became an intelligence operative of Marking and Anderson, whose operations covered the mountain fastnesses of Sierra Madre. After the Second World War, he rose to become the President of the Philippine Newspaper Guild. From literature, he shifted his interest to mass movement and became a labor leader. He became the President of the Congress of Labor Organizations (CLO). The CLO served as the hope of the laborers for a better future- an organization fighting for job security, housing for the homeless, medical services for the needy, compensation for the guerrillas, and reopening of schools. He led the biggest labor strike that ever hit Manila. The political bureau of the Communist Party in the year 1950, was rounded by the military. The headquarters of CLO was raided, and Hernandez was “invited” to Camp Crame. This was the beginning of his ordeal. For six months, he was clandestinely transferred from one camp to another. After a year of prison, he was finally charged with rebellion, with murder, arson, and robbery. The main charge against him was that he had given a mimeographing machine to the Huks, the armed bureau of the Communist Party. He appealed his case to the Supreme Court, but stayed in prison for six long years. While in prison, he did not develop the paralyzing bitterness that afflicts ordinary souls. Silent storms must have raged in his heart and mind. While in prison he became more eloquent and the best of his flowers bloomed. He wrote a collection of 20 poems entitled Isang Dipang Langit , a poignant testimony of human endurance. Translated into English and Russian, it won for him the Republic Cultural Heritage Award. Also in prison, he wrote Bayang Malaya which later won for him the first Balagtas Award sponsored by President and Mrs. Ferdinand E. Marcos. Written also in prison, and considered his masterpiece, was Luha ng Buwaya . Also written in prison, he started a novel, Mga Ibong Mandaragit . A man of boundless energy and indomitable spirit, Hernandez found time to edit the Muntinlupa Courier, a small prison newspaper. When he gained his freedom he went back to regular writing and lecturing, and became a columnist of Taliba. In spite of his past experiences and the prevailing political climate, he remained a social critic. No other journalist holds a more distinguished record than Amado V. Hernandez: two-time awardee in the Commonwealth Literary contest; four-time winner of the Palanca Literary Memorial Award; winner for four consecutive years of journalism awards by the National Press Club; editor of four papers in the vernacular; and the first king of “Balagtasan.” Hernandez finally succumbed to rest for eternity … at age 67… http://filipinoheritage.zxq.net/sikatpinoy/amado_hernandez.htm
- Jose Corazon de Jesus - The Legendary Lyric Poet (Nov 22, 1896 – May 26, 1932) / From Silent Storms: Inspiring Lives of 101 Great Filipinos ose Corazon de Jesus was born in Sta. Cruz, Manila to Dr. Vicente de Jesus and Susana Pangilinan. Pepito, as he was called, studied at the Liceo de Manila where he got the Bachiller en Artes degree. From the Academia de Leyes , he obtained the Bachiller en Leyes degree, but he did not take the bar examination because he was preoccupied with writing. His literary inclination was manifested early in life. His first poem, Pangungulila , was written when he was 17 years old. In 1920, he worked for Taliba and began his famous column, Buhay Maynila . He caught the imagination of the readers through his appealing and incisive satire. Much of his popularity rested on lyrical jousts he had with Florentino Collantes. This literary genre was practically unknown until popularized by Jose. The first of these poetical encounters was Paruparo’t Bubuyog held at the Instituto de Mujeres in 1925. He excelled in the beauty of language, in charm and luxuriance of expression, and in dramatic delivery. Later on, he was proclaimed King of Balagtasan . Like a whirling silent storm, or a silent spring that wells up, he made immense contributions to Tagalog literature. His Buhay Maynila column alone published about 4,000 poems; Ang Lagot na Bagting , written in more serious trend, numbered about 800 poems. He also wrote some 300 short poems and prose. In the 15 literary contests he joined, he won either first prize or second prize. In lyrical jousts, he received three silver trophies and four gold medals. His poems like Ang Puso Ko, Ang Pamana, Ang Panday, Ang Manok Kong Bulik, Ang Pagbabalik , and Sa Halamanan ng Dios were features in poetry reading sessions in colleges and literary circles. They were also pieces for declamation contests. His heart was preserved by the government until it was buried with his mother. His body was buried under a tree in fulfillment of his wish expressed in two of his last poems – Isang Punong Kahoy and Ang Akasya . Pepito died of ulcer on May 26, 1932. He was only 36. http://filipinoheritage.zxq.net/sikatpinoy/jose_corazon_dejesus.htm oong siya ay mamatay, binigay ng pamilya niya ang kanyang puso sa isang museo ng pamahalaan kung saan ito itinago hanggang ilibing ito sa libingan ng kanyang ina. Inilibing siya sa sa ilalimng dagat sa Visayas, alinsunod sa kagustuhan niyang nakatala sa kanyang mga tulang Isang Malalim na Dagat at Ang Visayas . [ baguhin ] Samu't sari May isang paaralang elementarya sa Tondo, Manila na pinangalangan Jose Corazon de Jesus Elementary School bilang papuri sa kanya. Si De Jesus ang sumulat ng Bayan Ko na linatagan ng himig ng musikerong si Constancio de Guzman na naging awit ng mga Pilipino na tumutol sa batas militar na pinairal ng Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos mula noong 1972 hanggang 1980. http://tl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Corazon_de_Jesus
- urelio Tolentino. The dramatist in whom the Kapampangans take pride. Included in his writings were LUHANG TAGALOG, his masterpiece, and KAHAPON, NGAYONG AT BUKAS that resulted in his incarceration. Aurelio Tolentino (b. October 13, 1867 – d. July 5, 1915) one of the literary giants of the early 20th century Tagalog literature. Tolentino was a former Katipunero who joined Andres Bonifacio in locating secret headquarters in the mountains of Montalban and San Mateo, Rizal . They chose Pamitinan Cave as their quarter, until it was discovered by the Spaniards on April 12, 1895. He was captured during the outbreak of the revolution and was imprisoned for nine months. Later, he founded the Junta de Amigos , an organization comprised of Katipuneros which aimed to expel the American colonizers. After the Philippine revolution, Aurelio Tolentino concentrated on literature: becoming a playwright, novelist and orator in Spanish , Tagalog and Pampango . Some of his contributions include the following: drama/play- Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas (1902) and Bagong Cristo (1907); novel – Maring (1908) Buhay (1909) and Buhok ni Ester (1914). He is the editor of La Patria , El Liberal , El Pueblo , El Imparcial , Ing Balen and Ing Emangabisa n. He founded the Filipinas , a cooperative organization, and El Parnaso Filipino , a research institute for Tagalog literature, poetry and oration. http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Aurelio_Tolentino Aurelio Tolentino - one of the mystics of the Katipunan , a compadre of Andres Bonifacio , a nationalist writer in both Kapampangan and Tagalog. He coined the word dula for drama and ironically became known in history as the Father of Tagalog Drama for his anti-US colonial masterpiece Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas . A theatre at the Cultural Center of the Philippines is named Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino in his honor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapampangan_people
- The Tagalog Drama During the advent of the American period, Severino Reyes and Hermogenes Ilagan started the movement against the moro-moro ( a play on the Spanish struggles against the Muslims) and struggled to show the people the values one can get from the zarzuela and the simple plays. The people one should not forget in the field of writing are the following: 1. Severino Reyes. Father of the Tagalog drama and author of the immortal WALANG SUGAT. everino Reyes (12 February 1861 – 1942) was a Filipino writer, playwright, and director of plays. He used the pen name Lola Basyang . [1] [2] He was nicknamed "Don Binoy". Reyes is known as the "Father of Tagalog Plays" and as the "Father of the Tagalog Zarzuela ". [3] Contents [ hide ] 1 Biography 2 Works 3 Descendants 4 References [ edit ] Biography Reyes is one of the children of Andrea Rivera and Rufino Reyes. He was born in Sta. Cruz, Manila . He studied at the Colegio de San Juan de Letran . He started writing plays when he stopped studying at the University of Santo Tomas after the death of his father. He translated Spanish-language plays into the Tagalog language, until he was able to create his own original works. Reyes is one of the followers of plays performed at the Teatro Zorrilla , where he witnessed both the period of popularity and then the abandonment of the said theater house. [ edit ] Works Walang Sugat ("Not Wounded") - one of the most popular Philippine zarzuelas Other Tagalog zarzuelas written by Reyes were Minda Mora , Mga Bihag ni Cupido ("Cupid's Prisoner"), Ang Bagong Fausto ("The New Faustus"), Ang Tunay na Hukom ("The True Judge"), Ang Tatlong Bituin ("The Three Stars"), Margaritang Mananahi ("Margarita the Seamstress"), Ang Halik ng Isang Patay ("Kiss of One [Already] Dead") and Luha ng Kagalakan ("Tears of Joy") Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang ("The Stories of Grandmother Basyang") - a collection of fables with moral lessons [ edit ] Descendants Among Reyes' descendants are: Pedrito Reyes (Son) Efren Reyes, Sr. (Grandson) Severino Reyes II (Grandson) Efren Reyes, Jr. (Great-grandson) Severino Reyes III (Great-grandson) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severino_Reyes The son of Rufino Reyes and Andrea Rivera, Reyes was born in Sta. Cruz, Manila on February 11, 1861. He attended his early schooling in an institution owned by Catalino Sanchez. He then moved to San Juan de Letran College and later at the University of Sto. Tomas, where he studied philiosophy. Even while as a student, Reyes was employed as a laborer in the Tesoreria General de Hacienda. He also worked in various industrial and commercial firms. As a sideline, he also translated Spanish literary works in Tagalog, and vice-versa. [ edit ] Later Years Reyes was imprisoned in 1896 by the Spaniards because he was suspected to be a Katipunero. He was released afterwards and thereafter concentrated on writing zarzuelas. In 1902, Reyes founded and directed the Grand Compania de Zarzuela Tagala, which became famous during its time. The company travelled extensively, giving shows on neighboring towns and provinces. On June 14, 1902, the company staged his play Walang Sugat (No Wounds), a drama set in the historical events in Bulacan during the Philippine revolution. In 1923, Reyes co-founded the Liwayway, a Tagalog literary weekly. There, Reyes created the series Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang (Tales of Lola Basyang), a series of fairy tale stories told by Lola Basyang- a character Reyes based on a neighbor named Gervacia de Guzman. Severino Reyes died on September 15, 1942, when the Philippines was under the Japanese regime. The funeral procession was simple and quiet. http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Severino_Reyes
- Philippine Literature in English has its roots in the efforts of the American forces at the turn of the century to pacify the Filipino people and instill in them the American ideals of "universality, practicality, and democracy." By 1901, public education was institutionalized, with English serving as the medium of instruction. Around 600 educators who arrived in that year aboard the S.S. Thomas replaced the soldiers who also functioned as teachers. The people learned the language quickly, helped no doubt by the many support systems, e.g., books, magazines, newspapers, etc., outside of the academe. Today, around 80% of the population could understand and speak English The founding of Philippine Normal School in 1901 and the University of the Philippines in 1908, as well as of English newspapers like the Daily Bulletin (1900), The Cablenews (1902), and the Philippines Free Press (1905), helped boost the spread of English. The first ten years of the century already saw the verse and prose efforts of the Filipinos in such student publications as The Filipino Students’ Magazine (first issue, 1905), which was a short-lived quarterly published in Berkeley, California, by Filipino pensionados (or government scholars); the UP College Folio (first issue, 1910); The Coconut of the Manila High School (first issue, 1912); and The Torch of the PNS (first issue, 1913). But it was not until the ‘30s and ‘40s that Filipino writers in English emerged into their own. Newspapers and magazines were founded—like the Philippines Herald in 1920, the Philippine Education Magazine in 1924 (renamed Philippine Magazine in 1928), and later the Manila Tribune , the Graphic , the Woman’s Outlook , and the Woman’s Home Journal —that helped introduce to the reading public the works of Paz Marquez Benitez, Jose Garcia Villa, Loreto Paras, and Casiano Calalang among others. Cash incentives were given to writers in 1921 when the Free Press started to pay for published contributions and awarded P1,000 for the best stories. The organization in 1925 of the Philippine Writers Association and in 1927 of the U.P. Writers Club, which put out the Literary Apprentice , also helped encourage literary production. In 1939, the Philippine Writers League was put up by politically conscious writers, intensifying their debate with those in the "art for art’s sake" school of Villa. Among the significant publications of this fertile period were: Filipino Poetry (1924) by Rodolfo Dato; English-German Anthology of Filipino Poets (1934) by Pablo Laslo; Jose Garcia Villa’s Many Voices (1939) and Poems of Doveglion (1941); Poems (1940) by Angela Manalang Gloria; Chorus for America: Six Philippine Poets (1942) by Carlos Bulosan; Zoilo Galang’s A Child of Sorrow (1921), the first Filipino novel in English, and Box of Ashes and Other Stories (1925), the first collection of stories in book form; Villa’s Footnote to Youth: Tales of the Philippines and Others (1933); The Wound and the Scar (1937) by Arturo Rotor, a collection of stories; Winds of April (1940) by NVM Gonzalez; His Native Soil (1941) by Juan C. Laya; Manuel Arguilla’s How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife and Other Stories ( 1941); Galangs’s Life and Success (1921), the first volume of essays in English; and the influential Literature and Society (1940) by Salvador P. Lopez. Dramatic writing took a backseat due to the popularity of vaudeville and Tagalog movies, although it was kept alive by the playwright Wilfredo Ma. Guerrero. In 1940, the first Commonwealth Literary Awards were given by Pres. Manuel Quezon to the following winners: Salvador P. Lopez for Literature and Society (essay); Manuel Arguilla for How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife and Other Stories (short story); R. Zulueta da Costa for Like the Molave (poetry); and Juan C. Laya for His Native Soil (novel). During the Japanese Occupation when Tagalog was favored by the Japanese military authority, English writing was consigned to limbo. After the war however, it picked up anew and claimed the fervor and drive for excellence that continue to this day. Stevan Javellana’s Without Seeing the Dawn (1947), the first postwar novel in English, was published in the USA. In 1946, the Barangay Writers Project was founded to help publish books in English. Against a background marked by political unrest and government battles with Hukbalahap guerrillas, writers in English in the postwar period honed their sense of craft and techniques. Among the writers who came to their own during this time were: Nick Joaquin, NVM Gonzalez, Francisco Arcellana, Carlos Bulosan, F. Sionil Jose, Ricaredo Demetillo, Kerima Polotan Tuvera, Carlos Angeles, Edilberto Tiempo, Amador Daguio, Estrella Alfon, Alejandrino Hufana, Gregorio Brillantes, Bienvenido Santos, Dominador Ilio, T.D. Agcaoili, Alejandro Roces, Sinai C. Hamada, Linda Ty-Casper, Virginia Moreno, Luis Dato, Gilda Cordero Fernando, Abelardo and Tarrosa Subido, Manuel A. Viray, Vicente Rivera Jr., and Oscar de Zuniga, among many others. Fresh from studies in American universities, usually as Fulbright or Rockefeller scholars, a number of these writers introduced New Criticism to the country and applied its tenets in literature classes and writing workshops. In this way were born the Silliman Writers Summer Workshop (started in 1962 by Edilberto and Edith Tiempo) and the U.P. Writers Summer Workshop (started in 1965 by the Department of English at the U.P.).To this day, these workshops help discover writing talents and develop them in their craft. The Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards in Literature were instituted in 1950 and became synonymous with quality literature and the new writer’s rite of passage to fame. It gave awards in the various genres in English and Pilipino, and more recently, expanded its range to include categories for regional writings. Government recognition of literary merit took a turn for the better through the Republic Cultural Heritage Awards (1960), the Pro Patria Awards for Literature (1961), and the National Artist Awards (1973). Only the last survives today, and such honor and privilege had been given only to the following creative writers: Amado V. Hernandez and Jose Garcia Villa (1973), Nick Joaquin (1976), Carlos P. Romulo (1982), Francisco Arcellana (1990), NVM Gonzalez, and Rolando Tinio (1997) (Ed's note: Edith Tiempo was named National Artist in 2000). The prestigious international Magsaysay Award has also been given to just three Filipinos for their literary achievements: F. Sionil Jose, Nick Joaquin, and Bienvenido Lumbera. To this day, yearly awards are handed out by the Philippines Free Press and Graphic magazines for the best poetry and fiction published in their pages. Like the Veronicans in the thirties, writers continued to form groups, the better to compete with and advance one another’s writings. Notable of these literary barkadas are the Ravens in the fifties (with Adrian Cristobal, Virginia Moreno, Alejandrino Hufana, Andres Cristobal Cruz, and Hilario Francia Jr., among others), the Bagay poets of Ateneo in the sixties (Rolando Tinio, Bienvenido Lumbera, Jose Lacaba, and Edgar Alegre), and the Philippine Literary Arts Council in the eighties ( Gemino H. Abad, Cirilo Bautista, Ricardo de Ungria, Alfrredo Navarro Salanga, and Alfred Yuson). In spite of a lack of a critical tradition, poetry and fiction in English continue to thrive and be written with depth, sophistication, and insight. Among the important and still active fictionists of recent years are: F.Sionil Jose, Erwin Castillo, Ninotchka Rosca, Antonio Enriquez, Resil Mojares, Renato Madrid, Wilfredo Nolledo, Alfred Yuson, Amadis Ma. Guerrero, Jose Dalisay Jr., Jaime An Lim, Eric Gamalinda, and Charlson Ong. And among the poets: Emmanuel Torres, Cirilo Bautista, Gemino Abad, Federico Licsi Espino Jr., Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta, Emmanuel Lacaba, Marjorie Evasco, Simeon Dumdum Jr., Ma. Luisa Aguilar Carino, Anthony Tan, Elsa Coscoluella, Ramon Sunico, Ricardo de Ungria, and Marne Kilates. Dramatic writing never really took off after Guerrero and Joaquin, due perhaps to the awareness by the writers, especially in the seventies, of the implausibility and severe limitations of using English on stage. Nevertheless, theater in English continues to be presented through Broadway adaptations and the like by Repertory Philippines and other small drama groups. Not yet a hundred years old, Philippine writing in English has already established a tradition for itself and continues to help define—together with the literatures in the regions—the self and soul of the Filipino. http://www.ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/articles-on-c-n-a/article.php?igm=1&i=135
- The Period of Re-orientation (1898-1910) English as a literary vehicle came with the American occupation in August 13, 1898 and as they say, a choice bestowed on us by history. By 1900, English came to be used as a medium of instruction in the public schools. From the American forces were recruited the first teachers of English. By 1908, the primary and intermediate grades were using English. It was also about this time when UP, the forerunner in the use of English in higher education, was founded. Writers of this period were still adjusting to the newfound freedom after the paralyzing effect of repression of thought and speech under the Spanish regime. They were adjusting the idea of democracy, to the new phraseology of the English language and to the standards of the English literary style Writers had to learn direct expression as conditioned by direct thinking. They had to learn that sentence constructions; sounds and speech in English were not the same as in the vernacular. They had to discard sentimentality and floridity of language for the more direct and precise English language. Not much was produced during this period and what literature was produced was not much of literary worth. The first attempts in English were in two periodicals of this time: (a) El Renacimiento: founded in Manila by Rafael Palma in 1901. (b) Philippines Free Press : established in Manila in 1905 by R. McCullough Dick and D. Theo Rogers. POETRY In 1907, Justo Juliano’s SURSUM CORDA which appeared in the Renacimiento was the first work to be published in English. In 1909, Jan F. Salazar’s MY MOTHER and his AIR CASTLES were also published in this paper. It was also in 1909 when Proceso Sebastian followed with his poem TO MY LADY IN LAOAG, also in this same paper.
- By 1919, the UP College Folio published the literary compositions of the first Filipino writers in English. They were the pioneers in short story writing. They were then groping their way into imitating American and British models which resulted in a stilted, artificial and unnatural style, lacking vitality and spontaneity. Their models included Longfellow and Hawthorne, Emerson and Thoreau, Wordsworth and Tennyson, Thackeray and Macaulay, Longfellow, Allan Poe, Irving and other American writers of the Romantic School. Writers of this folio included Fernando Maramag (the best editorial writer of this period) Juan F. Salazar, Jose M. Hernandez, Vicente del Fierro,
- By this time, Filipino writers had acquired the mastery of English writing. They now confidently and competently wrote on a lot of subjects although the old-time favorites of love and youth persisted. They went into all forms of writing like the novel and the drama.
- By 1919, the UP College Folio published the literary compositions of the first Filipino writers in English. They were the pioneers in short story writing. They were then groping their way into imitating American and British models which resulted in a stilted, artificial and unnatural style, lacking vitality and spontaneity. Their models included Longfellow and Hawthorne, Emerson and Thoreau, Wordsworth and Tennyson, Thackeray and Macaulay, Longfellow, Allan Poe, Irving and other American writers of the Romantic School. Writers of this folio included Fernando Maramag (the best editorial writer of this period) Juan F. Salazar, Jose M. Hernandez, Vicente del Fierro, Their essays were truly scholarly characterized by sobriety, substance and structure. They excelled in the serious essay, especially the editorial type.
- . Political, social reflective essays: Through their newspaper columns the following became very popular: Federico Mangahas, Salvador P. Lopez, Pura S. Castrence, Vicente Albano Pacis, Ariston Estrada and Jose A. Lansang. b. Critical essays were espoused by Salvador P. Lopez, I.V. Mallari, Ignacio Manlapaz, Jose Garcia Villa, Arturo B. Rotor, and Leopoldo Y. Yabes. An example of this is Maximo V. Soliven’s THEY CALLED IT BROTHERHOOD. c. Personal or Familiar essays were written by F.B. Icasiano (Mang Kiko), Alfredo E. Litiatco, Solomon V. Arnaldo, Amando G. Dayrit and Consuelo Gar (Catuca).
- The next group of writers introduced the informal essay, criticism and the journalistic column . They spiced their work with humor, wit and satire. These group included Ignacio Manlapaz, Godefredo Rivera, Federico Mangahas, Francisco B. Icasiano, Salvador P. Lopez, Jose Lansang and Amando G. Dayrit. SHORT STORIES In the field of short stories, DEAD STARS by Paz Marquez Benitez written in the early 1920’s stand out as a model of perfection in character delineation, local color, plot and message. Other short stories published during this time were but poor imitations of their foreign models.
- The next group of writers introduced the informal essay, criticism and the journalistic column . They spiced their work with humor, wit and satire. These group included Ignacio Manlapaz, Godefredo Rivera, Federico Mangahas, Francisco B. Icasiano, Salvador P. Lopez, Jose Lansang and Amando G. Dayrit. SHORT STORIES In the field of short stories, DEAD STARS by Paz Marquez Benitez written in the early 1920’s stand out as a model of perfection in character delineation, local color, plot and message. Other short stories published during this time were but poor imitations of their foreign models.
- Si Francisco Benitez ang nagtatag at naging unang editor ng Philippine Journal of Education . Isa sa mga pinakamaganda niyang naisulat ay ang What Is An Educated Filipino na tumalakay sa pagbabago sa ating buhay panlipunan, pagbabago sa edukasyon, mga praktikal na gawain pati na ang masining na pagsasalita at pag-uugali. http://tl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francisco_Benitez FRANCISCO F. BENITEZ (1887-1951) Educator Francisco F. Benitez was born in Pagsanjan, Laguna on June 4, 1887. His parents were Higinio Benitez, one of the signers of the Malolos Constitution, and Soledad Francia. As a young boy, Benitez experienced the tense political situation his father was involved with, being a member of the revolutionary congress. He was with his father when the later was intercepted and detained by Americans. Fortunately, they were freed with the intervention of Cayetano Arellano. When peace was restored, Benitez pursued higher education at the newly established Philippine Normal School. He was one of its first graduates in 1904. In 1905, Francisco, after a short teaching career in Pagsanjan, was sent as a government pensionado to the United States. Three years after, he returned to the Philippines bringing with him the certificate he received from the Western Illinois State Normal School and a degree in Education, which he obtained from the Teacher’s College of Columbia. In 1909, Benitez was appointed assistant supervising teacher in Bacoor, Cavite. A year later, he was named principal of Paquil Elementary School in Laguna. He served this position until 1912. Benitez served as instructor at the Philippine Normal School (1912-1913) and at the University of the Philippines (1913-1914) before he was sent to take his Master’s Degree at Columbia University in the United Sates. When he returned in 1915, he was named director of the University of the Philippines School of Education. When the School of Education became the College of Education on July 1918, Benitez was appointed its Dean. The development of the UP College of Education was credited to Benitez’ untiring efforts and wise leadership. In 1929, he was one of those who received the “University Medal” from the Columbia University during its 150th Anniversary. In 1935, President Quezon created Educational Survey Committee tasked to review the educational system in the country and named Benitez as one of its members and chairperson of its subcommittee on teacher training. A few years later, all the activities in the country were disrupted by another war, this time against the Japanese. Nothing much was known about Benitez’s activities during the Japanese occupation. Soon after the liberation in 1945 and the Philippine government placed under the leadership of President Osmeña, the National Council of Education was revived and he was named its chairman. The President also appointed him Secretary of Instruction, which he served until May 1946. Soon after, he returned to his post as dean of the UP College of Education. All his life as educator, he was not only confined in the school premises and in serving brief appointments in the government. He had worked in the following: as honorary correspondent for the Philippines in the International Bureau of Education in Geneva, president of the Philippine National Federation of Teachers. He served as the World Federation of Education Associations, Institute of the Pacific Relations, Philippine-China Society, and the Japan-Philippine Society. The educator also contributed educational articles here and abroad among them were the “Educational Progress in the Philippines” and “Stories of Great Filipinos.” It was at the start of his deanship at UP that the Philippine Journal of Education, which he himself edited, came into being and further elevated his reputation in the field of education. Benitez believed that education plays an important role in developing a child to his full potentials. He was an advocate of an educational system that should be responsive to the needs of people, even the need of teachers for salary increases not only as incentives but also to build up their morale. A patriot by heart, he advocated that the students should develop the spirit of nationalism and love for national language. The Columbia University in the United States accorded Dean Benitez honors for his distinguished service to education in 1929. In the same year, he received the Doctor of Laws from the University of Manila. In December 1950, the Alumni Association of the University of the Philippines College of Education voted him Teacher of the Year. In 1951, the National University conferred on him a doctorate degree, honoris causa . President Elpidio Quirino had also recognized his service in the field of education in the country by giving him a citation of merit. This kind, amiable, and courteous educator, father of four and husband to Paz Marquez died on June 30, 1951 while walking along the Carriedo Street in Quiapo, Manila. References: Cornejo, Miguel. Commonwealth Dictionary of the Philippines . Pasay City, 1939. Manuel, E. Arsenio. Dictionary of Philippine Biography Volume 4. Quezon City: Filipiniana, 1995. http://www.nhi.gov.ph/downloads/ed0006.pdf
- Paz Márquez-Benítez (1894–1983) was a Filipina short-story writer . [1] [2] Contents [ hide ] 1 Biography 2 Other sources and further readings 3 See also 4 References [ edit ] Biography Born in 1894 in Lucena City , Quezon , Marquez - Benítez authored the first Filipino modern English -language short story , Dead Stars , published in the Philippine Herald in 1925. Born into the prominent Marquez family of Quezon province, she was among the first generation of Filipinos trained in the American education system which used English as the medium of instruction. She graduated high school in Tayabas High School (now, Quezon National High School ) and college from the University of the Philippines with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1912. [1] [2] She was a member of the first freshman class of the University of the Philippines, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1912. Two years after graduation, she married UP College of Education Dean Francisco Benítez , with whom she had four children. Márquez-Benítez later became a teacher at the University of the Philippines, who taught short-story writing and had become an influential figure to many Filipino writers in the English language, such as Loreto Paras-Sulit , Paz M. Latorena, Arturo Belleza Rotor , Bienvenido N. Santos and Francisco Arcellana . The annually held Paz Marquez-Benitez Lectures in the Philippines honors her memory by focusing on the contribution of Filipino women writers to Philippine Literature in the English language. [1] [2] Though she only had one more published short story after “Dead Stars” entitled "A Night In The Hills", she made her mark in Philippine literature because her work is considered the first modern Philippine short story . [1] [2] For Marquez-Benitez, writing was a life-long occupation. In 1919 she founded "Woman's Home Journal", the first women's magazine in the country. Also in the same year, she and other six women who were prominent members of Manila's social elites, namely Clara Aragon, Concepcion Aragon, Francisca Tirona Benitez, Carolina Ocampo Palma, Mercedes Rivera , and Socorro Marquez Zaballero, founded the Philippine Women's College (now Philippine Women's University ). "Filipino Love Stories", reportedly the first anthology of Philippine stories in English by Filipinos, was compiled in 1928 by Marquez-Benitez from the works of her students. When her husband died in 1951, she took over as editor of the Philippine Journal of Education at UP. She held the editorial post for over two decades. In 1995, her daughter, Virginia Benitez-Licuanan wrote her biography, "Paz Marquez-Benitez: One Woman's Life, Letters, and Writings." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paz_M%C3%A1rquez-Ben%C3%Adtez
- Zoilo Galang is the Filipino author of the first Philippine novel written in the English language A Child of Sorrow , published in 1921. [1] Si Zoilo Galang ay isinilang sa Bacolor , Pampanga noong Hunyo 27 , 1895 . Isa siya sa mga unang Pilipinong manunulat sa Ingles at patuloy na naging aktibo sa pagsusulat hanggang sa mga huling taon ng 1950 . Mula sa kanyang panulat ang A Child of Sorrow na nalathala noong 1921 . Ito ang unang nobelang sinulat ng isang Pilipino sa wikang Ingles. Noong 1925 ay lumabas ang katipunan ng kanyang mga maikling kuwento sa Ingles na ang pamagat ay The Box of Ashes and Other Stories . Siya ay binawian ng buhay noong taong 1959 . http://tl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoilo_Galang Ipinanganak si Zoilo Galang noong 27 Hunyo 1895 sa Bacolor, Pampanga. Lumaki siya sa tangkilik ng kulturang Kastila at nagkamalay sa ilalim ng impluwensiya ng kulturang Amerikano. Nagtapos siya sa Pampanga High School. Nagtrabaho siya bilang takigrapo sa Kastila at Ingles. Nag-aral siya ng abogasya na tila hindi niya tinapos. Sa sariling pananaliksik at pag-aaral nagmula ang marami at malawak niyang kaalaman na nakikita sa kanyang mga akda. Kilala si Galang sa kasaysayan ng panitikan sa Pilipinas bilang isang tagapagpaunang manunulat sa wikang Ingles. Siya ang sumulat ng unang nobela na pinamagatang A Child of Sorrow (1921), unang kalipunan ng alamat at kuwentong bayan sa Tales of the Philippines ( 1921), unang kalipunan ng mga sanaysay sa Life and Success (1921) at unang kalipunan ng maiikling katha sa The Box of Ashes and Other Stories (1924). Matatagpuan ang kanyang ilang sanaysay sa The Best Thing in the World (1924) at Master of Destiny (1924). Narito pa ang ilan sa kanyang mga isinulat: 1. Casaquitan at Ligaya, nobelang Kapampangan (Kahirapan at Ligaya, 1919) 2. Ing Capalaran – Ing Galal Ning Bie, nobelang Kapampangan (Ang Kapalaran –Ang Gantimpala ng Buhay, 1923) 3. Visions of the Sower, nobela (1924) 4. Capatac a Lua, nobelang Kapampangan (Isang Patak ng Luha, 1925) 5. Nadia, nobela (1929) 6. Springtime, nobela (1929) 7. Flower of Civilization, nobela (1950) 8. PPI Versus John Doe, nobela (1950) 9. For Dreams Must Die, nobela (1950) 10. Inspiration and Other Stories, maiikling katha (1957) 11. From Darkness to Light, maiikling katha (1957) Isa rin siya sa mga nagsikap na maipalimbag ang 20 tomo ng encyclopedia tungkol sa Pilipinas noong 1957 na muntik nang hindi mangyari dahil sa pagkasunog ng manuskrito noong Ikalawang Digmaang Pandaigdig. Naging abala rin si Galang sa pagsulat ng kasaysayan at mga babasahin para sa mag-aaral ng mababang paaralan, gaya ng Leaders of the Philippines (1932), Important Characters in Philippine History (1939), Mario and Minda (1940), Hero of Tirad Pass and Others (1949), Mr. Perez, Teacher (1950) at Home, School and Community (1950). Mula sa "Introduksiyon" ni Lourdes H. Vidal sa Ang Kapalaran ni Zoilo Galang, isang nobelang Kapampangan na isinalin ni LH Vidal (ADMU Press, 1991). http://www.panitikan.com.ph/authors/g/zgalang.htm 155. ZOILO GALANG, Kapampangan Encylopedist ZOILO GALANG. Filipino encyclopedist and the 1st English-language Filipino novelist. When I was a student, it was my most ardent desire to own an encyclopedia set. In our school library, I would spend hours poring over the pages of an encyclopedia, delighting in the wealth of facts, photos, charts and colorful illustrations that accompanied each entry as I did my special assignment. But sadly, I could never bring a volume home. I remember also the feeling of envy whenever I visited the homes of my cousins who owned volumes of “The Book of Knowledge”, kept in glass-covered cabinet case. Though I could borrow them—one book a a time—I knew I could never own a similar set, given our financial situation at that time. Then, to my great surprise, in my second year high school, I received from my parents, a brand new 12-volume Collier’s Encyclopedia set, beautifully bound in black and red, and lettered in gold. What a thrill it was to hold a book in my hands, the latest 1969 edition to be exact, crammed with so much information from A-Z, and sure to satisfy the bookworm in me with endless hours of reading pleasure. My father bought the Colliers’ on installment, paying 50 pesos monthly for a year, a hefty sum that certainly jumbled the family budget. I recognized this big sacrifice by promising to take care of my Colliers’, wrapping them in plastic and storing them in a newly-built open cabinet in my room where they would remain at all times, when not in use. While the British have their “Encyclopedia Brittanica” and the Americans have their “Encyclopedia Americana”, the Philippines, too, has its own encyclopedia thanks to a Kapampangan who single-handedly produced the 10-volume set first published in 1934. Zoilo Galang was born in Bacolor on 27 June 1895 and his young life was spent in that bucolic town, famed for its writers and artists. He went to school at the Bacolor Elementary School and then went to Manila to study at the Escuela de Derecho , the country’s eminent law school where he graduated in 1919. A self-starter, he learned typing and stenography in English and Spanish all by himself. Attracted to the English language, he took special courses at the University of the Philippines in 1925, then went to Columbia University for further studies in Literature. He was soon writing books of fiction, biography and philosophy, and his output was prodigious. His early poems saw print on the Kapampangan paper, “E Mangabiran" . He authored “A Child of Sorrow”, the first English novel written by a Filipino. This was later made into a movie in 1930. Other notable works include "Nadia", "For Dreams Must Die", "Springtime", "Leaders of the Philippines", "Glimpses of the World", "Life and Success", "Master of Destiny", "Unisophy" and "Barrio Life". But his greatest opus undoubtedly is the Encyclopedia of the Philippines, which began as a 10 volume set when first printed. Galang himself, edited and wrote entries for the book set which covered Philippine literature, biography, commerce and industry, art, education, religion, government, science, history and builders of the new Philippines. The Encyclopedia of the Philippines came with a general information and index. A second edition, destroyed by fire, was published in 1948. So positive was the response to Galang’s work that the encyclopedia project was expanded to 20 volumes in a later 1949 printing. There has been no new printing since 1958. The age of internet has definitely made information search easier than looking up an encyclopedia’s bibliography. An engine search like google and a click are all it takes. Then there’s the Wikipedia, with information content contributed by readers. Online, one can not only add, update and correct information but also post a variety of visual references. At the rapid rate information is changing, printed encyclopedias may just become obsolete in the future. But whatever, I will always treasure my old encyclopedia books, still complete and intact after all these 40 odd years, a valued part of my education, in a time when books were held dear by the hand and not read on screens. http://viewsfromthepampang.blogspot.com/2009/08/155-zoilo-galang-kapampangan.html A Child of Sorrow is a 1921 novel by Zoilo Galang . [1] It is considered the first Philippine novel written in the English language . [2] Critics have suggested that the novel was heavily influenced by the sentimentalism of the Tagalog prose narratives of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Child_of_Sorrow
- Carlos Peña Rómulo (14 January 1899, Camiling , Tarlac , Philippines – 15 December 1985, Manila , Philippines ) was a Filipino diplomat, politician, soldier, journalist and author. He was a reporter at 16, a newspaper editor by the age of 20, and a publisher at 32. He is the co-founder of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines . Rómulo served eight Philippine presidents, from Manuel L. Quezon to Ferdinand Marcos , as the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Philippines and as the country’s representative to the United States and to the United Nations . He also served as the Resident Commissioner to the U.S. House of Representatives during the Commonwealth era. [ edit ] United Nations In his career in the United Nations, Rómulo was a strong advocate of human rights, freedom and decolonization. During the selection of the UN's official seal, he looked over the seal-to-be and asked, "Where is the Philippines?" US Senator Warren Austin , head of the selection committee, explained, "It's too small to include. If we put the Philippines, it would be no more than a dot." "I want that dot!" insisted Romulo. Today, a tiny dot between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea can be found on the UN seal [ citation needed ] . In 1948 in Paris, France, at the third UN General Assembly, he strongly disagreed with a proposal made by the Soviet delegation headed by Andrei Vishinsky , who challenged his credentials by insulting him with this quote: "You are just a little man from a little country." In return, Romulo replied, "It is the duty of the little Davids of this world to fling the pebbles of truth in the eyes of the blustering Goliaths and force them to behave!", leaving Vishinsky with nothing left to do but sit down. [ edit ] President of the UN General Assembly He served as the President of the Fourth Session of United Nations General Assembly from 1949–1950, and chairman of the United Nations Security Council . He had served with General Douglas MacArthur in the Pacific , was Ambassador to the United States, and became the first non-American to win the Pulitzer Prize in Correspondence in 1942. The Pulitzer Prize website says Carlos P. Romulo of Philippine Herald was awarded "For his observations and forecasts of Far Eastern developments during a tour of the trouble centers from Hong Kong to Batavia." He was a candidate for the position of United Nations Secretary-General in 1953, but did not win. [ edit ] Philippine Presidential Aspiration Instead, he returned to the Philippines and was a candidate for the nomination as the presidential candidate for the Liberal Party , but lost at the party convention to the incumbent Elpidio Quirino , who ran unsuccessfully for re-election against Ramon Magsaysay . Quirino had agreed to a secret ballot at the convention, but after the convention opened, the president demanded an open roll-call voting, leaving the delegates no choice but supporting Quirino, the candidate of the party machine. Feeling betrayed, Romulo left the Liberal Party and became national campaign manager of Magsaysay, the candidate of the opposing Nacionalista Party who won the election . Rómulo, portrait by Soshana, oil on canvas, 1945 [ edit ] Secretary of Foreign Affairs He served as Resident Commissioner of the Philippines to the United States Congress from 1944 to 1946. He was the signatory for the Philippines to the United Nations Charter when it was founded in 1946. He was the Philippines' Secretary (Minister from 1973 to 1984) of Foreign Affairs under President Elpidio Quirino from 1950 to 1952, under President Diosdado Macapagal from 1963 to 1964 and under President Ferdinand Marcos from 1968 to 1984. In April 1955 he led the Philippines' delegation to the Asian-African Conference at Bandung . Rómulo, in all, wrote and published 18 books, which included The United (novel), I Walked with Heroes (autobiography), I Saw the Fall of the Philippines , Mother America and I See the Philippines Rise (war-time memoirs). [ edit ] Death He died, at 86, in Manila on 15 December 1985 and was buried in the Heroes’ Cemetery ( Libingan ng mga Bayani ). He was honored as the Philippines’ greatest diplomat in the 20th Century. [ citation needed ] In 1980, he was extolled by United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim as "Mr. United Nations" for his valuable services to the United Nations and his dedication to freedom and world peace. [ edit ] Awards and decorations Gen. Romulo (3d from R), as President of the United Nations General Assembly, talks with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru Rómulo is perhaps among the most decorated Filipino in history, which includes 82 honorary degrees from different international institutions and universities and 74 decorations from foreign countries: Philippine Congressional Quezon Service Cross , April 17, 1951 Philippine National Artist in Literature, 1982 United States Presidential Medal of Freedom , January 12, 1984 Boy Scouts of America Silver Buffalo Award Distinguished Service Star of the Philippines Philippine Gold Gross Distinguished Conduct Star Purple Heart Presidential Unit-Citation with Two Oak Leaf Clusters Philippine Legion of Honor (Commander) Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix from the Greek Government Grand Cross of the Order of Carlos Manuel do Cespedes from the Republic of Cuba Pulitzer Prize in Correspondence, 1942 World Government News First Annual Gold Nadal Award (for work in the United Nations for peace and world government), March 1947 Princeton University - Woodrow Wilson Memorial Foundation Gold Medal award ("in recognition Of his contribution to public life"), May 1947 International Benjamin Franklin Society 's Gold Medal (for “distinguished world statesmanship in 1947”), January 1948 Freeman of the City of Plymouth , England , October 1948 United Nations Peace Medal World Peace Award Four Freedoms Peace Award Named in the 100 Most Prominent Rotarians in the world Philippine Presidential Medal of Merit, July 3, 1949 Hero of the Republic Award, 1984 [ edit ] Anecdotes from Beth Rómulo through Reader's Digest (June 1989) At the third UN General Assembly, held in Paris in 1948, the USSR ’s deputy foreign minister, Andrei Vishinsky , sneered at Rómulo and challenged his credentials: “You are just a little man from a little country.” “It is the duty of the little Davids of this world,” cried Rómulo, “to fling the pebbles of truth in the eyes of the blustering Goliaths and force them to behave!” During his meeting with Josip Broz Tito of Yugoslavia , Marshal Tito welcomed Gen. Romulo with drinks and cigars, to which the general kindly refused. Their conversation went as follows: Tito: "Do you drink?" Romulo: "No, I don't." Tito: "Do you smoke?" Romulo: "No, thank you." Tito: "What do you do then?" Romulo: "I etcetera." At this, Marshal Tito was tickled by his reply and loudly exclaimed around the room, "I etcetera, etcetera, etcetera!" When the UN official seal, which depicts the world, was being selected, Romy looked it over and demanded, “where is the Philippines?” “It’s too small to include,” explained US Senator Warren Austin , who headed the committee. “If we put in the Philippines it would be no more than a dot.” “I want that dot!” Romy insisted. Today, if you look at the UN seal, you will find a tiny dot between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. [ citation needed ] Rómulo was a dapper little man (barely five feet four inches in shoes). When they waded in at Leyte beach in October 1944, and the word went out that General MacArthur was waist deep, one of Romy’s journalist friends cabled, “If MacArthur was in water waist deep, Rómulo must have drowned!” In later years, Rómulo told another story himself about a meeting with MacArthur and other tall American generals who disparaged his physical stature. "Gentlemen," he declared, "When you say something like that, you make me feel like a dime among nickels." [ edit ] Books I Saw the Fall of The Philippines Mother America My Brother Americans I See The Philippines Rise The United Crusade in Asia (The John Day Company, 1955; about the 1953 presidential election campaign of Ramon Magsaysay ) The Meaning of Bandung The Magsaysay Story (with Marvin M. Gray , The John Day Company 1956, updated re-edition by Pocket Books, Special Student Edition, SP-18, December 1957; biography of Ramon Magsaysay , Pocket Books edition updated with an additional chapter on Magsaysay's death) I Walked with Heroes (autobiography) Last Man off Bataan (Romulo's experience during the Japanese Plane bombings.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_P._Romulo Carlos Peña Romulo once wrote that each of his careers “might have been lived in a different country and a different age.” Soldier, journalist, educator, author, and diplomat, he was a definitive world figure of the 20 th century. Romulo grew up in the town of Camiling in the province of Tarlac in northern Philippines. He was born within the Spanish walled city of Intramuros, Manila, on January 14, 1898, at the twilight of one colonial regime and the dawning of another. His father, Gregorio, fought in the revolution for Philippine independence against Spain and, until surrender, America. The bitterness of the conflicts left an impression on the young boy—marking “the beginnings of a rebel,” as he called it—and he made a promise never to smile at an American soldier. His levelheaded father eventually welcomed American schoolteachers who came to Tarlac to teach English, however, becoming the first of the town’s elders to learn the language. Likewise, the young Romulo’s hatred abated not only because of his father’s example but also because he became friendly with an American sergeant. His father’s dream of an independent and democratic Philippines lived on. One of the last to take his oath of allegiance to America, the elder Romulo learned to accept the foreign power’s rulings except—as the young Romulo recounts in his memoirs—“in the manner of the flag.” “ The American law says we cannot display our flag in any public place,” Gregorio Romulo told his family. “Well, my bedroom is not a public place.” In World War II Romulo was aide-de-camp to General Douglas MacArthur. As a journalist he wrote a series of articles, after a tour of the Far East, about Japanese imperialism, and predicted an attack on the United States. For this he won the Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for Distinguished Correspondence, and it was MacArthur himself who delivered to his friend the good news. His skill at using words made Romulo the logical choice to become “the Voice of Freedom,” which broadcasted news of the war effort to Filipinos and Americans alike. Often contrary to Japanese propaganda, Romulo’s reports earned the ire of the enemy, who put a price on his head. But Romulo kept broadcasting until the Fall of Bataan, and abandoned his post only after MacArthur’s strict orders to leave. He flew first to Australia, eventually ending up in the United States in exile, leaving behind his wife and four sons. In 1924 Romulo married Virginia Llamas, a local beauty titlist. They met at a picnic and they married not long after being crowned King and Queen of a Manila carnival. She once commented that she was the type of wife who preferred to glow “faintly in her husband’s shadow,” to which one acquaintance quipped, “this didn’t leave much room to glow in”—a jab at Romulo’s height. Standing only 5’4” in his shoes, Romulo often made fun of his height. His book I Walked With Heroes opens with the anecdote about being the newly elected president of the United Nations—the first Asian to ever hold the post—and having to be “perched atop three thick New York City telephone books” just to see and be seen by all the delegates below the podium. When MacArthur fulfilled his promise to return to the Philippines, with Romulo at his side, it was reported that the American general was wading in waist-deep water. One correspondent, Walter Winchell, immediately wired back asking how Romulo could have waded in that depth without drowning. He also used his height to his advantage. “The little fellow is generally underrated in the beginning,” he once wrote. “Then he does something well, and people are surprised and impressed. In their minds his achievement is magnified.” Team members of the University of the Philippines debate team, with Professor Carlos P. Romulo (center). From left: Pedro Camus, Teodoro Evangelista, Deogracias Puyat, and Jacinto C. Borja. The photo was taken in San Francisco, California, April 18, 1928, and the caption reads: “Four students of the University of the Philippines, under the leadership of Prof. Carlos P. Romulo of the College Faculty, recently arrived in the United States on a tour of the world to debate the question of Filipino independence. The round-the-world debate on the Philippine question is academic and has nothing to do with politics.” This kind of understanding served him well as he began a career as a diplomat at the United Nations. Describing himself as the “barefoot boy of politics,” he had never before attended an international conference and was new to diplomacy. To add to this challenge, he was representing a small nation that had not yet achieved independence. (There already had been reports of Filipino delegates being ignored at international meetings.) Romulo—whose lifelong dream was to help build a body such as the United Nations—resolved to make the Philippines the voice of all small nations. As a signatory of the charter forming the United Nations in 1945, he spoke the famous line, “Let us make this floor the last battlefield” at the first General Assembly. There was at first silence, but then he received a standing ovation—the only one given to any speaker at that first General Assembly. Romulo launched himself fully into the world of international diplomacy, standing his ground against the big powers and committing himself to the causes of fledging nations. Dismissed by some, like Andrei Vishinsky, chief of the Soviet delegation, as a “little man from a little country,” Romulo was undeterred, fighting “like David, slinging pebbles of truth between the eyes of blustering Goliaths.” President of the UN General Assembly Carlos P. Romulo introduces US President Harry S. Truman to Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Vishinsky of the USSR, October 24, 1949, during the cornerstone laying ceremony of the UN headquarters in New York City. Dubbed by his colleagues “Mr. United Nations,” he was elected president of the United Nations General Assembly in 1949—the first Asian to hold the position—and served as president of UN Security Council four times, in 1981, in 1980 and twice in 1957. Despite all the triumphs, Romulo hit low points in his life. His eldest son Carlos, Jr., died in a plane crash in 1957, and his beloved wife died in 1968, near the end of his terms as president of the University of the Philippines, his alma mater, and, concurrently, Secretary of Education. “ I had to be outstanding,” he wrote, “to make the greatest effort to win, to prove I was capable not in spite of having been born a Filipino but because I was a Filipino.” Romulo served a total of eight Philippine presidents. His career as a public servant spanned more than fifty years, including seventeen years as Secretary of Foreign Affairs and ten years as the Philippines’ ambassador to the United States. As a soldier he was a brigadier general in the US Army, receiving the Purple Heart and the Silver Star for his service during World War II, and a major general in the Philippine Army. As a writer he authored sixteen books, two plays, and several poems. In 1982 he was named a National Artist for Literature by the Philippine government. He was also conferred the first Bayani ng Republika Award for his outstanding service to the Filipino nation and the rank of Raja of the Order of Sikatuna, an honor usually reserved for heads of state. By the time he died in 1985 he had served on the boards of a number of prestigious Philippine corporations, such as San Miguel and Equitable Bank. “The General,” as he was widely known, had received well over a hundred awards and decorations from other nations as well as over sixty honorary degrees from universities all over the world. Extolled by Asiaweek as “A Man of His Century,” he was the most admired Filipino in international diplomacy of the 20 th century. He was laid to rest in the state cemetery, alongside Philippine presidents and other great Filipinos, survived by his second wife Beth Day, whom he married in 1978. http://carlospromulo.org/bio/ August 16, 1941: Carlos P. Romulo had an editorial printed in the Philippines Herald . Entitled I AM A FILIPINO, it was reprinted in his book MY BORTHER AMERICANS in 1945 in New York by Doubleday & Co.
- Jose Garcia Villa (August 5, 1908 – February 7, 1997) was a Filipino poet , literary critic, short story writer, and painter. He was awarded the National Artist of the Philippines title for literature in 1973, [1] as well as the Guggenheim Fellowship in creative writing by Conrad Aiken . [2] He is known to have introduced the "reversed consonance rime scheme" in writing poetry , as well as the extensive use of punctuation marks—especially commas , which made him known as the Comma Poet . [3] He used the penname Doveglion (derived from " Dove , Eagle , Lion "), based on the characters he derived from himself. These animals were also explored by another poet e.e. cummings in Doveglion, Adventures in Value , a poem dedicated to Villa. [1] Early life Villa was born on August 5, 1908, in Manila's Singalong district. His parents were Simeon Villa (a personal physician of Emilio Aguinaldo, the founding President of the First Philippine Republic) and Guia Garcia (a wealthy landowner).He graduated from University of the Philippines Integrated School|University of the Philippines High School in 1925. Villa enrolled on a pre Medical school medicine course in University of the Philippines UP, but then switched to pre Law school|law. However, he realized that his true passion was in the arts. Villa first tried painting, but then turned into creative writing after reading Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson. [ edit ] Writing career Villa was considered the leader of Filipino "artsakists", a group of writers who believe that art should be "for art's sake" hence the term. He once pronounced that "art is never a means; it is an end in itself."Jose Garcia Villa - Finest Filipino Poet in English.Villa's tart poetic style was considered too aggressive at that time. In 1929 he published Man Songs , a series of erotic poems, which the administrators in UP found too bold and was even fined Philippine peso for obscenity by the Manila Court of First Instance. In that same year, Villa won Best Story of the Year from Philippine Free Press magazine for Mir-I-Nisa . He also received P1,000,000 prize money, which he used to migrate for the United States. He enrolled at the University of New Mexico, wherein he was one of the founders of Clay , a mimeograph literary magazine.He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and pursued post-graduate work at Columbia University.Villa had gradually caught the attention of the country's literary circles, one of the few Asians to do so at that time. After the publication of Footnote to Youth in 1933, Villa switched from writing prose to poetry, and published only a handful of works until 1942. During the release of Have Come, Am Here in 1942, he introduced a new rhyming scheme called "reversed consonance" wherein, according to Villa: "The last sounded consonants of the last syllable, or the last principal consonant of a word, are reversed for the corresponding rhyme. Thus, a rhyme for near would be run; or rain, green, reign." In 1949, Villa presented a poetic style he called "comma poems", wherein commas are placed after every word. In the preface of Volume Two , he wrote: "The commas are an integral and essential part of the medium: regulating the poem's verbal density and time movement: enabling each word to attain a fuller tonal value, and the line movement to become more measures." Villa worked as an associate editor for New Directions Publishing in New York City between 1949 to 1951, and then became director of poetry workshop at City College of New York from 1952 to 1960. He then left the literary scene and concentrated on teaching, first lecturing in The New School|The New School for Social Research from 1964 to 1973, as well as conducting poetry workshops in his apartment. Villa was also a cultural attaché to the Philippine Mission to the United Nations from 1952 to 1963, and an adviser on cultural affairs to the President of the Philippines beginning 1968. [ edit ] Death On February 5, 1997, at the age of 88, Jose was found on a coma in his New York apartment and was rushed to St. Vincent Hospital in the Greenwich area. His death two days later was attributed to "cerebral stroke and multilobar pneumonia". He was buried on February 10 in St. John's Cemetery in New York, wearing a Barong Tagalog. [ edit ] New York Centennial Celebration On August 5 and 6, 2008, Villa's centennial celebration began with poem reading at the Jefferson Market Library, at 425 Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue) at the corner of 10th St. In the launch of Doveglion, Collected Poems, Penguin Classics’ reissue of Jose Garcia Villa's poems, edited by John Edwin Cowen, Villa's literary trustee, will be read by book introducer Luis H. Francia. Then, the Leonard Lopate Show (on WNYC AM 820 and FM 93.9) will interview Edwin Cohen and Luis H. Francia on the "Pope of Greenwich Villages" life and work, followed by the Asia Pacific Forum show. [ edit ] Personal In 1946 Villa married Rosemarie Lamb, with whom he has two sons, Randy and Lance. They divorced ten years later. He also has three grandchildren. [ edit ] Works As an editor, Villa first published Philippine Short Stories: Best 25 Short Stories of 1928 in 1929, an anthology of Filipino short stories written in English literature English that were mostly published in the literary magazine Philippine Free Press for that year. It is the second anthology to have been published in the Philippines, after Philippine Love Stories by editor Paz Márquez-Benítez in 1927. His first collection of short stories that he has written were published under the title Footnote to Youth: Tales of the Philippines and Others in 1933; while in 1939, Villa published Many Voices , his first collection poems, followed by Poems by Doveglion in 1941. Other collections of poems include Have Come, Am Here (1942), Volume Two (1949), and Selected Poems and New (1958). In 1962, Villa published four books namely Villa's Poems 55 , Poems in Praise of Love , Selected Stories , and The Portable Villa . It was also in that year when he edited The Doveglion Book of Philippine Poetry in English from 1910 . Three years later, he released a follow-up for The Portable Villa entitled The Essential Villa .Villa, however, went under "self-exile" after the 1960s, even though he was nominated for several major literary awards including the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. This was perhaps because of oppositions between his formalism (literature)formalist style and the advocates of proletarian literature who misjudged him as a petty bourgeois. Villa only "resurfaced" in 1993 with an anthology entitled Charlie Chan Is Dead , which was edited by Jessica Hagedorn Several reprints of Villa's past works were done, including Appasionata: Poems in Praise of Love in 1979, A Parliament of Giraffes (a collection of Villa's poems for young readers, with Tagalog language Tagalog translation provided by Larry Francia), and The Anchored Angel: Selected Writings by Villa that was edited by Eileen Tabios with a foreword provided by Hagedorn (both in 1999). Among his popular poems include When I Was No Bigger Than A Huge , an example of his "comma poems", and The Emperor's New Sonnet (a part of Have Come, Am Here ) which is basically a blank sheet of paper. [ edit ] Writing style Villa described his use of commas after every word as similar to " Seurat 's architectonic and measured pointillism —where the points of color are themselves the medium as well as the technique of statement". This unusual style forces the reader to pause after every word, slowing the pace of the poem resulting to what Villa calls "a lineal pace of dignity and movement". An example of Villa's "comma poems" can be found in an excerpt of his work #114 : “ In, my, undream, of, death, I, unspoke, the, Word. Since, nobody, had, dared, With, my, own, breath, I, broke, the, cord! ” Villa also created verses out of already-published proses and forming what he liked to call "Collages". This excerpt from his poem #205 was adapted from Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke , volume 1 : “ And then suddenly, A life on which one could Stand. Now it carried one and Was conscious of one while it Carried. A stillness in which Reality and miracle Had become identical - Stillness of that greatest Stillness. Like a plant that is to Become a tree, so was I Taken out of the little container, Carefully, while earth ” While Villa agreed with William Carlos Williams that "prose can be a laboratory for metrics", he tried to make the adapted words his own. His opinion on what makes a good poetry was in contrast to the progressive styles of Walt Whitman , which he said: "Poetry should evoke an emotional response. The poet has a breathlessness in him that he converts into a breathlessness of words, which in turn becomes the breathlessness of the reader. This is the sign of a true poet. All other verse, without this appeal, is just verse." [4] He also advised his students who aspire to become poets not to read any form of fiction in order for their poems "(not become) contaminated by narrative elements", insisting that real poetry is "written with words, not ideas". [5] [ edit ] Critical reception Villa was considered as a powerful literary influence in the Philippines throughout much of the 20th century, although he had lived most of his life in the United States. His writing style, as well as his personality and staunch opinions on writing, has often made him considered as an eccentric. [4] Francia explained in Asiaweek magazine, "In a world of English-language poetry dominated by British and Americans, Villa stood out for the ascetic brilliance of his poetry and for his national origin." Fellow Filipino writer Salvador P. López described Villa as "the one Filipino writer today who it would be futile to deride and impossible to ignore ... the pace-setter for an entire generation of young writers, the mentor laying down the law for the whole tribe, the patron-saint of a cult of rebellious moderns." [5] However, Villa was accused of having little faith on the Filipinos' ability to write creatively in English, saying that "poetry in English has no prospects whatsoever in the Philippines – i.e., ... that it cannot be written by Filipino writers. An exception or two may arise after a long period of time, but these writers will remain exceptions. The reason why Filipino writers are at a disadvantage in the writing of English poetry – is that they have no oneness with the English language." [6] In a review to Footnote to Youth , The New York Times wrote, "For at least two years the name of Jose Garcia Villa has been familiar to the devotees of the experimental short story...They knew, too, that he was an extremely youthful Filipino who had somehow acquired the ability to write a remarkable English prose and who had come to America as a student in the summer of 1930." This comment brought out two opposing impressions of him: as a literary genius, and merely as a writer of English as a second language. [5] During America's Formalist Period in literature, American writers admired Villa's work. Mark Van Doren wrote in reaction to Selected Poems and New as "...So natural yet in its daring so weird, a poet rich and surprising, and not to be ignored". Babette Deutsch wrote in The New Republic that Have Come, Am Here reveals that Villa's concern for "ultimate things, the self and the universe. He is also on visiting terms with the world. He is more interested in himself than in the universe, and he greets the world with but a decent urbanity." Although she viewed Villa's range as somewhat narrow, he "soars high and plunges deep". British poet Edith Sitwell revealed in the preface of Villa's Selected Poems and New that she experienced "a shock" upon reading Have Come, Am Here , most notably the poem #57 as "a strange poem of ineffable beauty, springing straight from the depths of Being. I hold that this is one of the most wonderful short poems of our time, and reading it I knew that I was seeing for the first time the work of a poet with a great, even an astonishing, and perfectly original gift." [5] Meanwhile, noted American poet Garret Hongo described Villas as "one of the greatest pioneers of Asian American literature...our bitter, narcissistic angel of both late Modernism and early post-colonialism ." [4] In his introduction to Footnote to Youth , American writer Edward J. O'Brien —who dedicated his collection Best American Short Stories of 1932 to Villa—hailed the poet as "one of a half-dozen American short-story writers who count". [2] [5] Meanwhile, in reaction to Villa's poems, e.e. cummings wrote, "and i am alive to see a man against the sky". [7] Critics were divided about Villa's "comma poems". On one side, they were irritated by it, calling them "gimmicky". Leonard Casper wrote in New Writings from the Philippines that the technique of putting commas after every word "is as demonstrably malfunctional as a dragging foot". Ten years later, Casper continued to criticize Villa because he "still uses the 'commas' with inadequate understanding and skill". On the other hand, Sitwell wrote in The American Genius magazine that the comma poem "springs with a wild force, straight from the poet's being, from his blood, from his spirit, as a fire breaks from wood, or as a flower grows from its soil". [5] Despite his success in the United States, Villa was largely dismissed in mainstream American literature and has been criticized by Asian American scholars for not being "ethnic" enough. [8] [ edit ] Awards Villa was granted a Guggenheim Fellowship in creative writing by American writer Conrad Aiken, wherein he was also awarded a $ 1,000 prize for "outstanding work in American literature", as well as a fellowship from Bollingen Foundation . [4] He was also bestowed an Academy Award for Literature from The American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1943. [9] Villa also won first prize in the Poetry Category of UP Golden Jubilee Literary Contests in 1958, as well as the Pro Patria Award for literature in 1961, and the Heritage Award for poetry and short stories a year later. He was conferred with a honoris causa doctorate degree for literature by Far Eastern University in Manila on 1959 (and later by University of the Philippines), and the National Artist Award for Literature in 1973. [3] He was one of three Filipinos, along with novelist Jose Rizal and translator Nick Joaquin , included in World Poetry: An Anthology of Verse from Antiquity to Our Time published in 2000, which featured over 1,600 poems written by hundreds of poets in different languages and culture within a span of 40 centuries dating from the development of early writing in ancient Sumer and Egypt . [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Garcia_Villa
- Rafael Zulueta da Costa (born 1915 [1] ) is a Filipino poet. He uses the name R. Zulueta da Costa as a writer, and Rafael Zulueta as a businessman. [2] He was a graduate of De La Salle College (now University) where he specialized in business administration. He began writing poems in Spanish and later he also wrote in English. [3] His most famous work is Like the Molave and Other Poems , which won the Commonwealth Literary Award for Poetry in 1940. [4] [ edit ] Pre-war literature The Filipino writing in English was somewhat formal and imitative from the Spanish literature brought in during the Spanish rule in the country. Grammatical expressions and terms used were awkward and unpolished. Filipino writers found difficulties in the use of prepositions and pronouns, thus the quality of their works were quite poor. However, after several years of painful endeavor of the Filipino writes and the establishment of publication, newspapers and magazines, brought about distinguishing improvement in their works. Filipinos received much encouragement and more influential group of writers were found. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._Zulueta_da_Costa
- Salvador Ponce Lopez (May 27, 1911–October 18, 1993), born in Currimao, Ilocos Norte , was an Ilokano writer , journalist, educator, diplomat, and statesman. He studied at the University of the Philippines and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1931 and a Master of Arts degree, also in philosophy, in 1933. During his UP days, he became a drama critic for the Philippine Collegian . From 1933 to 1936, he taught literature and journalism at the University of Manila . He also became a daily columnist and magazine editor of the Philippine Herald until World War 2. In 1940, Lopez' essay "Literature and Society" won in the Commonwealth Literary Awards. This essay posited that art must have substance and that poet Jose Garcia Villa 's adherence to "art for art's sake" is decadent. The essay provoked debates, the discussion centered on proletarian literature, i.e., engaged or committed literature versus the art for art’s sake literary orientation. He was appointed by President Diosdado Macapagal as Secretary of Foreign Affairs and was ambassador to the United Nations for six years before reassigned to France for seven years. Lopez was the president of the University of the Philippines from 1969 to 1975. And he established a system of democratic consultation in which decisions such as promotions and appointments were made through greater participation by the faculty and administrative personnel; he also reorganized U.P. into the U.P. System. It was during his presidency that U.P. students were politically radicalized, launching mass protests against the Marcos regime, from the so-called " First Quarter Storm " in 1970 to the " Diliman commune " in 1971. During the Diliman Commune, Lopez called the students, faculty, and employees to defend UP and its autonomy from militarization, since the military wanted to occupy the campus, searching for alleged leftists as well as activists opposing them. Many militants, out of his defense of UP's autonomy and democracy, considered him as a progressive and a militant member of the UP academe. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvador_P._Lopez Salvador P. Lopez (May 27, 1911–October 18, 1993), born in Currimao, Ilocos Norte , is an Ilokano writer , journalist, educator, diplomat, and statesman. He studied at the University of the Philippines and obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy in 1931 and a Master of Arts degree, also in philosophy, in 1933. From 1933 to 1936, he taught literature and journalism at the University of Manila . In 1940, Lopez' essay "Literature and Society" won in the Commonwealth Literary Awards. This essay posited that art must have substance and that poet Jose Garcia Villa 's adherence to "art for art's sake" is decadent. The essay provoked debates, the discussion centered on proletarian literature, i.e., engaged or committed literature versus the art for art’s sake literary orientation. Lopez was the president of the University of the Philippines from 1969 to 1975. It was during his presidency that U.P. students were politically radicalized, launching mass protests against the Marcos regime, from the so-called " First Quarter Storm " in 1970 to the "Diliman commune" in 1971. http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Salvador_P._Lopez LITERATURE AND SOCIETY which is a collection of critical reflections and serious essays and which won first prize in the Commonwealth Literary Contest of 1940. 1940 : Camilo Osias published THE FILIPINO WAY OF LIFE, a series of essays on the Filipino way of life as drawn from history, folkways, philosophy and psychology of the Philippines.
- Tan was born to Gonzalo Tan and Clemencia Santeco on April 28, 1893 in Bacolor , Pampanga . One of the first students of UP, having enrolled in June 1910, he graduated in 1913 with a degree in liberal arts. Tan later went to Cornell University as a government pensionado to finish his civil engineering degree and at the same time a Master of Arts degree. He began teaching at UP as an assistant instructor in mathematics in 1918, and later on became associate professor of mathematics in 1920. Promoted to the rank of full professor in 1922, he served as the acting head of the Department of Mathematics until 1923. Tan later became a fellow at the University of Chicago, and earned a doctorate in mathematics (cum laude) from that university in 1925. He was the first Filipino to do so. On that same year, he became the official chair of the UP mathematics department. In 1926, he was given the task of handling student registration, but was not officially designated as the official school registrar. At the same time, he served as a civil engineer-consultant at the Metropolitan Water District until 1928. From 1931 to 1933, Tan became a member of the university's Board of Regents, and was later on named as the first head of the College of Arts and Sciences in UP Baguio in 1938. A year later, he was made dean of the College of Engineering until 1949. In 1949, Tan left UP to serve as the president of the Far Eastern University until 1951. This did not mean the end of his involvement in UP, however; he was appointed as a consulting engineer of the Executive Committee on Development and Construction in the same year. The committee was tasked with the university's relocation to Diliman, Quezon City after the destruction of the original campus during the liberation of Manila in World War II. Tan returned to UP in 1951 as university president, succeeding Bienvenido Gonzales. He served as president until 1956. In his honor, the building of the National Institute of Science and Mathematics Education was named after him. The building also houses the UP Information Technology Center (UP ITTC). He also held the chairmanship of the UNESCO National Committee of the Philippines from 1952-1956, also serving as the editor of the NRCP Bulletin. He was eventually elevated to the rank of chairman emeritus of that institution in 1957. http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Vidal_A._Tana Plays The Husband of Mrs. Cruz The Meeting of the Town Hall “ Souls in Torment” - from Glimpses of 'Noli Me Tangere' The Waves A Daughter of Destiny Penpals Wanted http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Vidal_A._Tan
- Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero (January 1917- May 1995) was a Filipino playwright, director, teacher and theater artist. He has written well over a hundred plays, 41 of which have been published. His unpublished plays have either been broadcast over the radio or staged in various parts of the Philippines. His publications include 13 Plays (first published in 1947), 8 Other Plays (1952), 7 More Plays (1962), 12 New Plays (1975), My Favorite 11 Plays (1976), 4 Latest Plays (1980), Retribution and eight other selected plays (1990) and The Guerreros of Ermita (1988). He has been the teacher of some of the most famous people in the Performing Arts at present: Behn Cervantes, Celia Diaz-Laurel, Joy Virata, and Joonee Gamboa. [1] Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero was born in Ermita , Manila . At the Age 14, he has already written his first play in Spanish, entitled, "No Todo Es Risa." This play was produced at the Ateneo de Manila University when he was 15. Aside from becoming a reporter and a proofreader for La Vanguardia , a Spanish newspaper, and a drama critic for the Manila Tribune, he also worked for some time in Philippine Films as a scriptwriter. He also became the director Filipino Players from 1941-1947. In 1947 he was appointed as the University of the Philippines Dramatic Club director despite lacking a degree, a position he served for sixteen years. [2] In 1962, he organized and directed the U.P. Mobile Theater that goes on the road all over the Philippines to for performances. [2] Several Guerrero plays have been translated into and produced in Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Tagalog, Visayan, Ilocano and Waray. Six of his plays have been produced abroad: "Half an Hour in a Convent" at the Pasadena Playhouse, California ; "Three Rats" at the University of Kansas ; "Condemned" in Oahu, Hawaii; "One, Two, Three" (premiere performance) at the University of Washington , Seattle ; "Three Rats and "Wanted: A Chaperon" at the University of Hawaii ; and "Conflict" in Sydney , Australia . [2] He is the first Filipino to have a theater named after him within his lifetime: The Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater of the University of the Philippines . [2] His Life as a Child Wilfrido grew up from a wealthy family. His father, Dr. Manuel, was considered the most renowned doctor of his time, his reputation based on his “clinical eye” which could diagnose a person’s illness by just studying that person’s outside appearance. Among his clients were some of Manila’s richest, like Brias Roxas, the Ayalas, Pardo de Taveras, Zobels, Roceses, Osmeñas, Alberts, etc. Thus, his father could afford to give them all the comforts of life. They were not allowed to eat with their hands and they were forbidden to speak Tagalog. He had a totally comfortable life. He was nearly seven when his father died. They were left with the big house at Plaza Ferguson, two cars (which his mother sold), and a Php10,000 life insurance. Five months after the funeral, they rented the first floor of his cousins the Mossesgelds’ house for Php50.00. His mother had their house rented to an American family and they lived on the monthly income. All of them being minors, his mother could not spend one centavo without the permission of their attorney, Atty. Perfecto Gabriel. Once a month, he used to accompany his mother to the attorney’s office to render an account of every centavo spent. To be able to study high school in Ateneo in Intramuros, he and his brothers, Edmundo, Lorenzo, Manuel became choristers. They got free tuition which was Php60.00 a semester, but they had to buy their textbooks. When he reached third-year high school, being sick and fed up with having to hear daily Mass, he took the courage to go to Don Alejandro Roces, Sr., who had been one of his father’s patients and whose wife was a close friend of their mother. He went to Roces’ office at the Manila Tribune and stated his purpose. Don Alejandro readily agreed, and he paid for his tuition for his last two years in high school. Why He Started Writing His favorite aunt, Maria Araceli, discovered his writing ability. When he was around 12 or 13, she noticed him writing on scraps of paper, then hiding them inside his cabinet drawer. He wrote his first complete one-act play, No Todo Es Risa, while in his second year high school. He showed it to the late Father Juan Trinidad, S.J. (who at that time was translating the Bible into Tagalog) and he liked it. The priest said his Spanish was idiomatic and decided to stage it for their Father Rector’s (Fr. O’Brien) birthday. And yet soon after his aunts death, he wrote some of his most popular comedies, like Movie Artists, Basketball Fight, and Wanted: A Chaperon. Year’s later, he made his aunt the principal character in Forever as Maria Teresa and later as Maria Araceli in Frustrations. “Both women are like my aunt: imperious, strong-willed, wise, but also humane,” he wrote. [2] [ edit ] Awards He has received three national awards: the Rizal Pro-Patria Award in 1961, the Araw ng Maynila Award in 1969, and the Republic Cultural Heritage Award in 1972. The U.P. Mobile Theater has been a recipient of two awards when he was its director: The Citizen's Council for Mass Media Trophy (1966) and the Balagtas Award (1969). [2] In 1997, Guerrero was posthumously distinguished as a National Artist for Philippine Theatre. [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfrido_Ma._Guerrero Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater (1997) Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero is a teacher and theater artist whose 35 years of devoted professorship has produced the most sterling luminaries in Philippine performing arts today: Behn Cervantes, Celia Diaz-Laurel, Joy Virata, Joonee Gamboa, etc. In 1947, he was appointed as UP Dramatic Club director and served for 16 years. As founder and artistic director of the UP Mobile Theater, he pioneered the concept of theater campus tour and delivered no less than 2,500 performances in a span of 19 committed years of service. By bringing theatre to countryside, Guerrero made it possible for students and audiences in general to experience the basic grammar of staging and acting in familiar and friendly ways through his plays that humorously reflect the behavior of the Filipino. His plays include Half an Hour in a Convent, Wanted: A Chaperon, Forever, Condemned, Perhaps, In Unity, Deep in My Heart, Three Rats, Our Strange Ways, The Forsaken House, Frustrations . http://www.ncca.gov.ph/about-ncca/org-awards/theater/wilfrido_ma_guerrero.php Wilfrido Ma. Guerreo ( 1911 - 1995 ) was a Filipino playwright, teacher and theater artist. Aside from becoming a reporter and a proofreader for La Vanguardia, a Spanish newspaper, and a drama critic for the Manila Tribune, he also worked for some time in Philippine Films as a scriptwriter. He also became the director Filipino Players from 1941-1947. He wrote well over a hundred plays, 41 one which have been published. His published and unpublished plays have either been broadcast over the radio or staged in various parts of the Philippines. He was the teacher of some of the most famous people in the Performing Arts at present: Behn Cervantes, Celia Diaz-Laurel, Joy Virata, and Joonee Gamboa. [1] Why He Started Writing His favorite aunt, Maria Araceli, discovered his writing ability. When he was around 12 or 13, she noticed him writing on scraps of paper, then hiding them inside his cabinet drawer. One day, his aunt called up his first cousin, Evangelina, who at that time was already a well-known poet, as her father Fernando was. Wilfrido had been writing scenes--dramatic scenes, tragic scenes in Spanish. When Eva came, he gave her some of the scenes he had written. She came back days later and told his aunt, “Freddie has something.” What that something meant he could not decipher, he only suspected he had it. But because Eva was a poet and not a playwright, she had little experience with the essential nature of the theater which Guerrero called actable theater. From the very beginning of his career, he always and constantly visualized his characters moving and acting on the stage. He wrote his first complete one-act play, No Todo Es Risa , while in his second year high school. He showed it to the late Father Juan Trinidad, S.J. (who at that time was translating the Bible into Tagalog) and he liked it. The priest said his Spanish was idiomatic and decided to stage it for their Father Rector’s (Fr. O’Brien) birthday. In June 1939, his aunt complained of pain in the throat. His brother Renato came to examine her and after that, he made no comment. Nights later, while they were taking supper, his aunt suddenly stopped sipping her soup and in a barely audible voice whispered, “I know what I have. Cancer.” Just like that, without any preliminaries. This brought sadness to Wilfrido. His aunt’s death was a devastating experience for him. It took him about four or five months before he was able to sleep at night without crying, and even when he wrote his personal memoirs at the age of 47, he still, if he thought of his aunt deeply, burst into tears in the silence of his room. And yet soon after her death, he wrote some of his most popular comedies, like Movie Artists , Basketball Fight , and Wanted: A Chaperon . Years later, he made his aunt the principal character in Forever as Maria Teresa and later as Maria Araceli in Frustrations . “Both women are like my aunt: imperious, strong-willed, wise, but also humane,” he wrote. ]]. [2] In 1947 he was appointed as the UP Dramatic Club director, a position he served for sixteen years. His plays include Wanted: A Chaperon , Forever , Half an Hour in a Convent , Frustrations , Condemned , In Unity , The Forsaken House , Three Rats , Our Strange Ways , Deep in My Heart and Perhaps . He is the first Filipino to have a theater named after him within his lifetime: The Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater of the University of the Philippines. He has received three national awards: the Rizal Pro-Patria Award in 1961, the Araw ng Maynila Award in 1969, and the Republic Cultural Heritage Award in 1972. The U.P. Mobile Theater was a recipient of two awards when he was its director: The Citizen's Council for Mass Media Trophy (1966) and the Balagtas Award (1969). [2] In 1997, Guerrero was distinguished as a National Artist for Philippine Theatre. [3] http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Wilfrido_Ma._Guerrero
- Manuel Estabillo Arguilla (1911 – 1944) was an Ilokano writer in English , patriot, and martyr. He is known for his widely anthologized short story "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife," the main story in the collection "How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife and Other Short Stories" which won first prize in the Commonwealth Literary Contest in 1940. His stories "Midsummer" and "Heat" was published in the United States by the Prairie Schooner . Most of Arguilla's stories depict scenes in Barrio Nagrebcan, Bauang, La Union where he was born. His bond with his birthplace, forged by his dealings with the peasant folk of Ilocos , remained strong even after he moved to Manila where he studied at the University of the Philippines where he finished BS Education in 1933 and where he became a member and later the president of the U.P. Writer's Club and editor of the university's Literary Apprentice . He married Lydia Villanueva, another talented writer in English, and they lived in Ermita , Manila. Here, F. Sionil José , another seminal Filipino writer in English, recalls often seeing him in the National Library, which was then in the basement of what is now the National Museum. " you couldn't miss him ", Jose describes Arguilla, " because he had this black patch on his cheek, a birthmark or an overgrown mole. He was writing then those famous short stories and essays which I admired. " [1] He became a creative writing teacher at the University of Manila and later worked at the Bureau of Public Welfare as managing editor of the bureau's publication Welfare Advocate until 1943. He was later appointed to the Board of Censors. He secretly organized a guerrilla intelligence unit against the Japanese. In October 1944, he was captured, tortured and executed by the Japanese army at Fort Santiago . [ edit ] References Dictionary of Philippine Biography, Volume 3, Filipiniana Publications, Quezon City, 1986 Filipino Writers in English by Florentino B. Valeros and Estrellita V. Gruenberg, New Day Publishers, Quezon City, 1987 "Maysa a Ruknoy ken ni Manuel E. Arguilla," RIMAT Magazine, Quezon City, October 2004 ^ José, Francisco Sionil (2005). "Manila Seven Decades Ago". In Alejandro Padilla (in English). Termites in the Sala, Heroes in the Attic:Why We Are Poor . Ermita, Manila: Solidaridad Publishing House. ISBN 971-8845-41-0 . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manuel_Arguilla Manuel Arguilla was born in Barrio Naguilian, Bauang, La Union on June 17, 1911. He was the fourth son of Crisanto Arguilla and Margarita Estabillo . His father was a carpenter and farmer while his mother was an occasional potter. [ edit ] Education When he was seven years old, Arguilla enrolled in a school located in Barrio Calumbaya, where he learned the cartilla under the guidance of Alfredo Abuan . After this primary education, he finished his public elementary education in Bauang, La Union, graduating in 1926. He then went to San Fernando, La Union to finish his secondary education. Aside from his excellent scholastic records in high school, he was also a versatile writer and engaged in various sports and other extracurricular activities. He edited the school's official organ, the La Union Tab , while being a champion swimmer and expert tango dancer. As a sign of good things to come, he won various literary contests conducted in his school. Completing his high school studies in three years, he graduated as the class salutatorian. He enrolled at the University of the Philippines in 1926. As a means to support his studies, he worked as a writer and printing assistant at the Carmelo and Bauermann office, and as an editor of the Literary Apprentice . Arguilla also became a member of the UP Writers Club and presided over it from 1932-1933. In 1933, he obtained the degree of Bachelor of Science in Education. [ edit ] Marriage After graduation, he married Lydia Villanueva , another talented writer in English. The couple lived in Ermita , Manila. Their home along M.H. del Pilar became a sanctuary for friends and fellow writers, such as Estrella Alfon and A.V.H. Hartendorp . Manuel and Lydia also conducted the first non-academic workshops in their home, attended by N. V. M. Gonzalez , Francisco Arcellana , Nick Joaquin , Paz Marquez , Jose Garcia Villa , and Fred Mangahas . [ edit ] Career After graduating, Manuel Arguilla taught at the University of Manila while working for the Bureau of Public Welfare . He eventually gave up teaching, believing that writers are born and not made and that talent for writing cannot be acquired through studies. He further advised his students to just read volumes of stories. In the 1936 short story contest sponsored by the Philippine Free Press , Arguilla won first place with his story entitled "Epilogue to Reconciliation." In 1940, he became the managing editor of Welfare Advocate , a newsletter of the Bureau of Welfare. He again worked at the Bureau for three years up to the latter half of 1943. When the Japanese army invaded the Philippines, Arguilla was appointed to the Board of Censors and served in the Japanese propaganda agency. [ edit ] Guerilla activities Unknown to the Japanese, Arguilla was an agent of the famous Marking's Guerillas . While he held an important position on the Board of Censors and in Japanese propaganda machine, he was feeding vital information and military secrets to the guerillas. He guided the "Porch," named after his house in Ermita, as a Markings' Guerilla counter-intelligence and propaganda unit operating in Manila. When the Japanese discovered his activities as a guerilla spy, he was arrested in February 1944 along with his mother and a few relatives. Initially his wife was unaware of his arrest, but through friends she was able to escape the Japanese dragnet. He was incarcerated at Fort Santiago and was transferred to the Old Bilibid Prison . After being tortured and subjected to a mock trial, he was brought back to Fort Santiago and was executed in October 1944. [ edit ] Literary legacy Arguilla often portrayed the life of the ordinary Ilocano farmer in his short stories. Stories about farmers, rural scenes and the Ilocano way of life can be read in Arguilla's stories. His more than 50 short stories have enriched Philippine literature. The critic Dean Leopoldo Yabes cited him as “the best craftsman among Filipino fictionists in English, (whose voice) is the only really authentic voice. He is shamelessly Filipino.” Even foreigners will be amazed at Arguilla's talent in vividly weaving and creating sentences and paragraphs. One of his famous sentences can be found in the short story “ How My Brother Leon Brought Home A Wife ” when he described the fragrance of Maria as "like a morning when papayas are in bloom." On June 12, 1972, Arguilla was honored with a posthumous award, the Republic Cultural Heritage Award. The award cited his effort in producing literary works that have “continued to influence Filipino fiction writing... and literary scholarship.” In gratitude for his contribution to Philippine literary advancement, a marker was installed in his hometown on August 25, 1983. He is known for his widely anthologized short story " How My Brother Leon Brought Home A Wife ," the main story in the collection How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife and Other Short Stories which won first prize in the Commonwealth Literary Contest in 1940. His stories entitled " Midsummer " and " Heat " were published in the United States by the Prairie Schooner . His other works include the short stories " Morning in Nagrebcan ", " Ato ", " A Son Is Born ", " The Strongest Man ", " Mr. Alisangco ", " Though Young He Is Married ", " The Maid, the Man, and the Wife ," " Elias ," " Imperfect Farewell ," " Felisa ," " The Long Vacation ," " Caps and Lower Case ," " The Socialists ", " Epilogue to Revolt ", " Apes and Men ", and " Rice ". http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Manuel_Arguilla
- Nicomedes Márquez Joaquín (May 4, 1917–April 29, 2004) was a Filipino writer, historian and journalist, best known for his short stories and novels in the English language . He also wrote using the pen name Quijano de Manila . Joaquin was conferred the rank and title of National Artist of the Philippines for Literature. He is considered the most important Filipino writer in English , and the third most important overall, after José Rizal and Claro M. Recto , both of whom wrote in the Spanish language . Early life and education Joaquín was born in Paco, Manila, one of ten children of Leocadio Joaquín, a colonel under General Emilio Aguinaldo in the 1896 Revolution, and Salome Márquez, a teacher of English and Spanish. After being read poems and stories by his mother, the boy Joaquín read widely in his father's library and at the National Library of the Philippines. By then, his father had become a successful lawyer after the revolution. From reading, Joaquín became interested in writing. At age 17, Joaquín had his first piece published, in the literary section of the pre-World War II Tribune , where he worked as a proofreader. It was accepted by the writer and editor Serafín Lanot. After Joaquín won a nationwide essay competition to honor La Naval de Manila , sponsored by the Dominican Order, the University of Santo Tomas awarded him an honorary Associate in Arts (A.A.). They also awarded him a scholarship to St. Albert's Convent, the Dominican monastery in Hong Kong. Career After returning to the Philippines, Joaquín joined the Philippines Free Press , starting as a proofreader. Soon he attracted notice for his poems, stories and plays, as well as his journalism under the pen name Quijano de Manila . His journalism was both intellectual and provocative, an unknown genre in the Philippines at that time, and he raised the level of reportage in the country. Nick Joaquin is interred at the Libingan ng mga Bayani . Joaquín deeply admired José Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines. Joaquín paid tribute to him in books such as The Storyteller's New Medium - Rizal in Saga , The Complete Poems and Plays of Jose Rizal , and A Question of Heroes: Essays in Criticism on Ten Key Figures of Philippine History . He translated the hero's valedictory poem, in the original Spanish Mi Ultimo Adios , as "Land That I Love, Farewell!" Joaquín was appointed as a member of the Motion Pictures commission under presidents Diosdado Macapagal and Ferdinand E. Marcos . After being honored as National Artist, Joaquin used his position to work for intellectual freedom in society. He secured the release of imprisoned writer José F. Lacaba . At a ceremony on Mount Makiling attended by First Lady Imelda Marcos , Joaquín delivered an invocation to Mariang Makiling , the mountain's mythical maiden. Joaquín touched on the importance of freedom and the artist. After that, Joaquín was excluded by the Marcos regime as a speaker from important cultural events. Joaquín died of cardiac arrest in the early morning of April 29, 2004, at his home in San Juan, Metro Manila . He was then editor of Philippine Graphic magazine where he worked with Juan P. Dayang, who was the magazine's first publisher. Joaquin was also publisher of its sister publication, Mirror Weekly , a women’s magazine. He also wrote the column (“Small Beer”) for the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Isyu, an opinion tabloid. Adaptations Tatarin (2001), a movie based on Joaqin’s short story " The Summer Solstice ", was directed by Amable “Tikoy” Aguiluz. The screenplay was written by Ricardo Lee. Joaquin was consulted on the film. The cast included notable Filipino actors Edu Manzano (as Paeng Moreta,) Dina Bonnevie (Lupe Moreta), Rica Peralejo (Amada), and Raymond B. Bagatsing. Works May Day Eve (1947) Prose and Poems (1952) The Woman Who had Two Navels (1961) La Naval de Manila and Other Essays (1964) A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino (1966) Tropical Gothic (1972) A Question of Heroes (1977) Jeseph Estrada and Other Sketches (1977) Nora Aunor & Other Profiles (1977) Ronnie Poe & Other Silhouettes (1977) Reportage on Lovers (1977) Reportage on Crime (1977) Amalia Fuentes & Other Etchings (1977) Gloria Diaz & Other Delineations (1977) Doveglion & Other Cameos (1977) Language of the Streets and Other Essays (1977) Manila: Sin City and Other Chronicles (1977) Tropical Baroque (1979), Pop Stories for Groovy Kids (1979) Language of the Street and Other Essays (1980) The Ballad of the Five Battles (1981) The Aquinos of Tarlac: An Essay on History as Three Generations (1983) Almanac for Manileños Cave and Shadows (1983) The Quartet of the Tiger Moon: Scenes from the People Power Apocalypse (1986) Collected Verse (1987) Culture and History: Occasional Notes on the Process of Philippine Becoming (1988) Manila, My Manila: A History for the Young (1990), The D.M. Guevara Story (1993), Mr. F.E.U., the Culture Hero That Was Nicanor Reyes (1995). Rizal in Saga (1996) Awards José García Villa 's Honor Roll (1940) Philippines Free Press Short Story Contest (1949) Ten Most Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM), Awardee for Literature (1955) Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Literary Awards (1957–1958; 1965; 1976) Harper Publishing Company ( New York , U.S.A. ) writing fellowship Stonehill Award for the Novel (1960) Republic Cultural Heritage Award (1961) Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award from the City of Manila (1964) National Artist Award (1976). S.E.A. Write Award (1980) Ramon Magsaysay Award for Literature (1996) Tanglaw ng Lahi Award from the Ateneo de Manila University (1997) Several ESSO Journalism awards, including the highly-coveted Journalist of the Year Award. Several National Book Awards from the Manila Critics' Circle for The Aquinos of Tarlac: An Essay in History as Three Generations ; The Quartet of the Tiger Moon: Scenes from the People Power Apocalypse ; Culture and History: Occasional Notes on the Process of Philippine Becoming ; The World of Damian Domingo: 19th Century Manila (co-authored with Luciano P.R. Santiago); and Jaime Ongpin: The Enigma: The Profile of a Filipino as Manager . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Joaquin Poet, fictionist, essayist, biographer, playwright, and National Artist, decided to quit after three years of secondary education at the Mapa High School. Classroom work simply bored him. He thought his teachers didn't know enough. He discovered that he could learn more by reading books on his own, and his father's library had many of the books he cared to read. He read all the fiction he could lay his hands on, plus the lives of saints, medieval and ancient history, the poems of Walter de la Mare and Ruben Dario. He knew his Bible from Genesis to Revelations. Of him actress-professor Sarah K. Joaquin once wrote: "Nick is so modest, so humble, so unassuming . . .his chief fault is his rabid and insane love for books. He likes long walks and wornout shoes. Before Intramuros was burned down, he used to make the rounds of the churches when he did not have anything to do or any place to go. Except when his work interferes, he receives daily communion." He doesn't like fish, sports, and dressing up. He is a bookworm with a gift of total recall. He was born "at about 6:00 a.m." in Paco, Manila, on 04 May 1917. The moment he emerged from his mother's womb, the baby Nicomedes--or Onching, to his kin--made a "big howling noise" to announce his arrival. That noise still characterizes his arrival at literary soirees. He started writing short stories, poems, and essays in 1934. Many of them were published in Manila magazines, and a few found their way into foreign journals. His essay La Naval de Manila (1943) won in a contest sponsored by the Dominicans whose university, the UST, awarded him an A.A. (Associate in Arts) certificate on the strength of his literary talents. The Dominicans also offered him a two-year scholarship to the Albert College in Hong Kong, and he accepted. Unable to follow the rigid rules imposed upon those studying for the priesthood, however, he left the seminary in 1950. He is included in Heart of the Island (1947) and Philippine Poetry Annual: 1947 - 1949 (1950), both edited by Manuel A. Viray. The following are Joaquin's published books: Prose and Poems (1952) The Woman Who Had Two Navels (1961) Selected Stories (1962) La Naval de Manila and Other Essays (1964) The Portrait of the Artist as Filipino (1966) Tropical Gothic (1972) The Complete Poems and Plays of Jose Rizal (1976) Reportage on Crime (1977) Reportage on Lovers (1977) Nora Aunor and Other Profiles (1977) Ronnie Poe and Other Silhouettes (1977) Amalia Fuentes and Other Etchings (1977) Gloria Diaz and Other Delineations (1977) Doveglion and Other Cameos (1977) A Question of Heroes (1977) Stories for Groovy Kids (1979) Almanac for Manileños (1979) Manila: Sin City and Other Chronicles (1980) Language of the Street and Other Essays (1980) Reportage on the Marcoses (1979, 1981) The awards and prizes he has received include: Republic Cultural Heritage Award (1961); Stonehill Award for the Novel (1960); first prize, Philippines Free Press Short Story Contest (1949); first prize, Palance Memorial Award (1957-58); Jose Garcia Villa's honor roll (1940); and the National Artist Award (1976). From the jacket of A Question of Heroes : "Along with the author's recent 'culture as History,' [this book is] a gentle polemical inquiry into thecharacter of the Filipinos' national culture, these essays constitute perhaps the most coherent picture of the revolutionary heritage most Filipinos claim for themselves today." "Nick Joaquin is, in my opinion," wrote Jose Garcia Villa, "the only Filipino writer with a real imagination--that imagination of power and depth and great metaphysical seeing--and which knows how to express itself in great language, who writes poetry, and who reveals behind his writings a genuine first-rate mind." "Joaquin has proven the truism," said Alejandro R. Roces, "that to understand the present, you have to first know the past. And by presenting the present as a continuation of the future, he has traced the roots of our rotting society to our moral confusion. He is doing for the Philippines what Faulkner has done for the [U.S.] South." "Nick Joaquin," said Manuel A. Viray, "a gifted stylist, has used his sensitive style and his exciting evocations in portraying the peculiar evil, social and moral, we see around us and in proving that passion as well as reason can never be quenched." After the death of his father, Joaquin went to live with his brother Enrique ("Ike"). With the encouragement of his sister-in-law, Sarah, he submitted a story to the Herald Mid-Week Magazine and it was published. He soon sent out more stories to other magazines. In 1949 "Guardia de Honor" was declared the best story of the year in the Philipines Free Press . He was designated manager of his sister-in-law Sarah's dramatic organization after WWII. Later he joined the Philippines Free Press as proofreader and subsequently became a rewrite man. He wrote feature articles he bylined as "Quijano de Manila." They were a great hit. Soon they appeared regularly and Quijano de Manila became one of the most famous journalists in the country. Because of labor problems in the Free Press , he left and edited Asia-Philippine Leader . He had been with the Free Press for 27 years (1950-77). Nicomedes "Onching" M. Joaquin, today just "Nick," who came into the world howling, lives quietly in San Juan del Monte writing, among others, kiddie books. And "he survives on sheer genius," remarks one admirer of his. http://pinoylit.webmanila.com/filipinowriters/njoaquin.htm http://pinoylit.webmanila.com/filipinowriters/njoaquin.htm
- Nicomedes Márquez Joaquín (May 4, 1917–April 29, 2004) was a Filipino writer, historian and journalist, best known for his short stories and novels in the English language . He also wrote using the pen name Quijano de Manila . Joaquin was conferred the rank and title of National Artist of the Philippines for Literature. He is considered the most important Filipino writer in English , and the third most important overall, after José Rizal and Claro M. Recto , both of whom wrote in the Spanish language . Early life and education Joaquín was born in Paco, Manila, one of ten children of Leocadio Joaquín, a colonel under General Emilio Aguinaldo in the 1896 Revolution, and Salome Márquez, a teacher of English and Spanish. After being read poems and stories by his mother, the boy Joaquín read widely in his father's library and at the National Library of the Philippines. By then, his father had become a successful lawyer after the revolution. From reading, Joaquín became interested in writing. At age 17, Joaquín had his first piece published, in the literary section of the pre-World War II Tribune , where he worked as a proofreader. It was accepted by the writer and editor Serafín Lanot. After Joaquín won a nationwide essay competition to honor La Naval de Manila , sponsored by the Dominican Order, the University of Santo Tomas awarded him an honorary Associate in Arts (A.A.). They also awarded him a scholarship to St. Albert's Convent, the Dominican monastery in Hong Kong. Career After returning to the Philippines, Joaquín joined the Philippines Free Press , starting as a proofreader. Soon he attracted notice for his poems, stories and plays, as well as his journalism under the pen name Quijano de Manila . His journalism was both intellectual and provocative, an unknown genre in the Philippines at that time, and he raised the level of reportage in the country. Nick Joaquin is interred at the Libingan ng mga Bayani . Joaquín deeply admired José Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines. Joaquín paid tribute to him in books such as The Storyteller's New Medium - Rizal in Saga , The Complete Poems and Plays of Jose Rizal , and A Question of Heroes: Essays in Criticism on Ten Key Figures of Philippine History . He translated the hero's valedictory poem, in the original Spanish Mi Ultimo Adios , as "Land That I Love, Farewell!" Joaquín was appointed as a member of the Motion Pictures commission under presidents Diosdado Macapagal and Ferdinand E. Marcos . After being honored as National Artist, Joaquin used his position to work for intellectual freedom in society. He secured the release of imprisoned writer José F. Lacaba . At a ceremony on Mount Makiling attended by First Lady Imelda Marcos , Joaquín delivered an invocation to Mariang Makiling , the mountain's mythical maiden. Joaquín touched on the importance of freedom and the artist. After that, Joaquín was excluded by the Marcos regime as a speaker from important cultural events. Joaquín died of cardiac arrest in the early morning of April 29, 2004, at his home in San Juan, Metro Manila . He was then editor of Philippine Graphic magazine where he worked with Juan P. Dayang, who was the magazine's first publisher. Joaquin was also publisher of its sister publication, Mirror Weekly , a women’s magazine. He also wrote the column (“Small Beer”) for the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Isyu, an opinion tabloid. Adaptations Tatarin (2001), a movie based on Joaqin’s short story " The Summer Solstice ", was directed by Amable “Tikoy” Aguiluz. The screenplay was written by Ricardo Lee. Joaquin was consulted on the film. The cast included notable Filipino actors Edu Manzano (as Paeng Moreta,) Dina Bonnevie (Lupe Moreta), Rica Peralejo (Amada), and Raymond B. Bagatsing. Works May Day Eve (1947) Prose and Poems (1952) The Woman Who had Two Navels (1961) La Naval de Manila and Other Essays (1964) A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino (1966) Tropical Gothic (1972) A Question of Heroes (1977) Jeseph Estrada and Other Sketches (1977) Nora Aunor & Other Profiles (1977) Ronnie Poe & Other Silhouettes (1977) Reportage on Lovers (1977) Reportage on Crime (1977) Amalia Fuentes & Other Etchings (1977) Gloria Diaz & Other Delineations (1977) Doveglion & Other Cameos (1977) Language of the Streets and Other Essays (1977) Manila: Sin City and Other Chronicles (1977) Tropical Baroque (1979), Pop Stories for Groovy Kids (1979) Language of the Street and Other Essays (1980) The Ballad of the Five Battles (1981) The Aquinos of Tarlac: An Essay on History as Three Generations (1983) Almanac for Manileños Cave and Shadows (1983) The Quartet of the Tiger Moon: Scenes from the People Power Apocalypse (1986) Collected Verse (1987) Culture and History: Occasional Notes on the Process of Philippine Becoming (1988) Manila, My Manila: A History for the Young (1990), The D.M. Guevara Story (1993), Mr. F.E.U., the Culture Hero That Was Nicanor Reyes (1995). Rizal in Saga (1996) Awards José García Villa 's Honor Roll (1940) Philippines Free Press Short Story Contest (1949) Ten Most Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM), Awardee for Literature (1955) Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Literary Awards (1957–1958; 1965; 1976) Harper Publishing Company ( New York , U.S.A. ) writing fellowship Stonehill Award for the Novel (1960) Republic Cultural Heritage Award (1961) Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award from the City of Manila (1964) National Artist Award (1976). S.E.A. Write Award (1980) Ramon Magsaysay Award for Literature (1996) Tanglaw ng Lahi Award from the Ateneo de Manila University (1997) Several ESSO Journalism awards, including the highly-coveted Journalist of the Year Award. Several National Book Awards from the Manila Critics' Circle for The Aquinos of Tarlac: An Essay in History as Three Generations ; The Quartet of the Tiger Moon: Scenes from the People Power Apocalypse ; Culture and History: Occasional Notes on the Process of Philippine Becoming ; The World of Damian Domingo: 19th Century Manila (co-authored with Luciano P.R. Santiago); and Jaime Ongpin: The Enigma: The Profile of a Filipino as Manager . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Joaquin Poet, fictionist, essayist, biographer, playwright, and National Artist, decided to quit after three years of secondary education at the Mapa High School. Classroom work simply bored him. He thought his teachers didn't know enough. He discovered that he could learn more by reading books on his own, and his father's library had many of the books he cared to read. He read all the fiction he could lay his hands on, plus the lives of saints, medieval and ancient history, the poems of Walter de la Mare and Ruben Dario. He knew his Bible from Genesis to Revelations. Of him actress-professor Sarah K. Joaquin once wrote: "Nick is so modest, so humble, so unassuming . . .his chief fault is his rabid and insane love for books. He likes long walks and wornout shoes. Before Intramuros was burned down, he used to make the rounds of the churches when he did not have anything to do or any place to go. Except when his work interferes, he receives daily communion." He doesn't like fish, sports, and dressing up. He is a bookworm with a gift of total recall. He was born "at about 6:00 a.m." in Paco, Manila, on 04 May 1917. The moment he emerged from his mother's womb, the baby Nicomedes--or Onching, to his kin--made a "big howling noise" to announce his arrival. That noise still characterizes his arrival at literary soirees. He started writing short stories, poems, and essays in 1934. Many of them were published in Manila magazines, and a few found their way into foreign journals. His essay La Naval de Manila (1943) won in a contest sponsored by the Dominicans whose university, the UST, awarded him an A.A. (Associate in Arts) certificate on the strength of his literary talents. The Dominicans also offered him a two-year scholarship to the Albert College in Hong Kong, and he accepted. Unable to follow the rigid rules imposed upon those studying for the priesthood, however, he left the seminary in 1950. He is included in Heart of the Island (1947) and Philippine Poetry Annual: 1947 - 1949 (1950), both edited by Manuel A. Viray. The following are Joaquin's published books: Prose and Poems (1952) The Woman Who Had Two Navels (1961) Selected Stories (1962) La Naval de Manila and Other Essays (1964) The Portrait of the Artist as Filipino (1966) Tropical Gothic (1972) The Complete Poems and Plays of Jose Rizal (1976) Reportage on Crime (1977) Reportage on Lovers (1977) Nora Aunor and Other Profiles (1977) Ronnie Poe and Other Silhouettes (1977) Amalia Fuentes and Other Etchings (1977) Gloria Diaz and Other Delineations (1977) Doveglion and Other Cameos (1977) A Question of Heroes (1977) Stories for Groovy Kids (1979) Almanac for Manileños (1979) Manila: Sin City and Other Chronicles (1980) Language of the Street and Other Essays (1980) Reportage on the Marcoses (1979, 1981) The awards and prizes he has received include: Republic Cultural Heritage Award (1961); Stonehill Award for the Novel (1960); first prize, Philippines Free Press Short Story Contest (1949); first prize, Palance Memorial Award (1957-58); Jose Garcia Villa's honor roll (1940); and the National Artist Award (1976). From the jacket of A Question of Heroes : "Along with the author's recent 'culture as History,' [this book is] a gentle polemical inquiry into thecharacter of the Filipinos' national culture, these essays constitute perhaps the most coherent picture of the revolutionary heritage most Filipinos claim for themselves today." "Nick Joaquin is, in my opinion," wrote Jose Garcia Villa, "the only Filipino writer with a real imagination--that imagination of power and depth and great metaphysical seeing--and which knows how to express itself in great language, who writes poetry, and who reveals behind his writings a genuine first-rate mind." "Joaquin has proven the truism," said Alejandro R. Roces, "that to understand the present, you have to first know the past. And by presenting the present as a continuation of the future, he has traced the roots of our rotting society to our moral confusion. He is doing for the Philippines what Faulkner has done for the [U.S.] South." "Nick Joaquin," said Manuel A. Viray, "a gifted stylist, has used his sensitive style and his exciting evocations in portraying the peculiar evil, social and moral, we see around us and in proving that passion as well as reason can never be quenched." After the death of his father, Joaquin went to live with his brother Enrique ("Ike"). With the encouragement of his sister-in-law, Sarah, he submitted a story to the Herald Mid-Week Magazine and it was published. He soon sent out more stories to other magazines. In 1949 "Guardia de Honor" was declared the best story of the year in the Philipines Free Press . He was designated manager of his sister-in-law Sarah's dramatic organization after WWII. Later he joined the Philippines Free Press as proofreader and subsequently became a rewrite man. He wrote feature articles he bylined as "Quijano de Manila." They were a great hit. Soon they appeared regularly and Quijano de Manila became one of the most famous journalists in the country. Because of labor problems in the Free Press , he left and edited Asia-Philippine Leader . He had been with the Free Press for 27 years (1950-77). Nicomedes "Onching" M. Joaquin, today just "Nick," who came into the world howling, lives quietly in San Juan del Monte writing, among others, kiddie books. And "he survives on sheer genius," remarks one admirer of his. http://pinoylit.webmanila.com/filipinowriters/njoaquin.htm http://pinoylit.webmanila.com/filipinowriters/njoaquin.htm
- Carmen Guerrero Nakpil is one of the most preeminent writers of the Philippines. She was born in 1922 in Ermita, Manila , in what then the epicenter of the Hispano-Filipino community. Her parents were Doctor Alfredo Leon Guerrero and Filomena Francisco , the first Filipino pharmacist. She was born into a distinguished family. Her brother Leon Maria Guerrero was an essayist and diplomat. Her father's only sibling was the Bishop of Lingayen Cesar Ma. Guerrero . Other uncles were noted physicians Luis Ma. Guerrero and Manuel S. Guerrero and poet Fernando Maria Guerrero . Her cousins were Wilfrido Maria Guerrero , the playwright and the poets Nilda Guerrero-Barranco and Evangelina Guerrero-Zacarias . Grandfather Leon Ma. Guerrero was a pharmacist-botanist who was a member of the cabinet of the First Philippine Republic (under President Aguinaldo). Lorenzo Guerrero , the painter and mentor of Juan Luna was her paternal granduncle and firebrand and playwrite Gabriel Beato Francisco , her maternal grandfather. Carmen married Ismael Cruz . Gemma Cruz , the beauty queen and writer, was their daughter. Carmen was widowed in World War II. She re-married thereafter Harvard-trained, modernist architect Angel E. Nakpil with whom she had three children. These are Ramon G. Nakpil, Lizza G. Nakpil, and Luis G. Nakpil . She took up her undergraduate studies at St. Theresa’s College (STC), where she edited the campus paper, The Orion. She taught journalism at STC and then went into journalism. She was a columnist of Manila Chronicle , Sunday Times Magazine , Evening News Saturday Magazine , Weekly Women’s Magazine , and Malaya . She was appointed chairwoman of the National Historical Commission and the cultural committee of the Philippine commission for UNESCO. In 1983-1986 she worked as a representative elected by the UNESCO General Assembly in Paris. In 1984-1986 she was managing director of the Technology and Livelihood Resource Center. Among her publications are: Woman Enough and Other Essays , 1963; Question of Identity, 1973; The Philippines and the Filipino, 1977; The Philippines: The Land of the People, 1989; and a novel, The Rice Conspiracy, 1990. She received the Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas Award for English fiction in 1988 from the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL) and the Southeast Asian Writers (SEAWRITE) Award in 1990. That same year her book "The Philippines: The Land and the People" was given the National Book Award for anthology from the Manila Critics Circle . On July 7, 2005 she was conferred by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her outstanding achivement in history. In January 2007 she published her autobiography "Myself, Elsewhere," an intimate retelling of the 1920s and 30s when the new American culture collided with the old Spanish past. http://en.wikipilipinas.org/index.php?title=Carmen_Guerrero_Nakpil armen Guerrero Nakpil (born 1922) is a Filipino writer and historian. She came from a literary family, which includes her brother, the diplomat and novelist León María Guerrero III ; uncles Fernando María Guerrero and Manuel S. Guerrero , who were poets and essayists; and cousin Wilfrido María Guerrero , a playwright and stage director. [1] [2] Before the war, she married Ismael Cruz, with whom she had two children. Years after Cruz' death in World War II , she married architect Ángel Nakpil with whom she then had three children. [2] In the reconstruction years after World War II, she went into journalism. She began as a proofreader, and later worked as a magazine editor and columnist. Publications she wrote for include the Manila Chronicle , the Sunday Times Magazine , the Evening News Saturday Magazine , Weekly Women's Magazine , and Malaya . [2] In the late 1980s, she became the chairperson of the National Historical Commission , and worked for the cultural committee of the Philippine commission for UNESCO , and later the UNESCO General Assembly. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carmen_Guerrero_Nakpil It was American poet and novelist Robert Penn Warren who said, “History cannot give us a program for the future, but it can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and of our common humanity, so that we can better face the future.” In the Philippines, perhaps no one had come close to giving us a full understanding of our heritage than Carmen Guerrero Nakpil, who is considered as an icon of Philippine literature and journalism. Still, the distinguished writer considers herself as a historiographer, not a historian as many perceive her to be. Nakpil was destined for greatness at an early age. Born in 1922 in Ermita, Manila to a prominent family at a Hispano-Filipino community to Dr. Alfredo Leon Guerrero and Filomena Francisco (the first ever Filipino pharmacist), Carmen took up her undergraduate studies at St. Theresa’s College where she was the editor for the campus paper, The Orion. She then pursued journalism and became a columnist for various publications such as Manila Chronicle, Sunday Times Magazine, Evening News Saturday Magazine, Weekly Women’s Magazine and Malaya. In an interview with The Philippine Star columnist Jojo G. Silvestre in December 2010, Nakpil revealed the reason why she stopped writing a column. “It is a very dangerous era, that’s why I stopped. That’s why I wrote my biography,” she says. She quit writing for Malaya but began writing a series of articles for The Philippine Star, which were compiled for her latest book, Heroes and Villains. Among Nakpil’s publications are Woman Enough and Other Essays, published in 1983; Question of Identity, 1973; The Philippines and the Filipino, 1977; The Philippines: The Land of the People, 1989; and the novel The Rice Consipiracy, 1990. In 2007, she published her autobiography Myself, Elsewhere and followed that up a year later with the opus Legends and Adventures, where she gave us a revealing look at her encounters with the young Ferdinand Marcos and Imelda Romualdez Marcos. In the 1960s, Nakpil was appointed chairwoman of the National Historical Commission. In 1983, she was appointed representative elected by the UNESCO General Assembly in Paris and held this position until 1986. At the same period of time, she was also managing director of the Technology and Livelihood Resource Center. Nakpil has received many citations for her work including the Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas Award for English fiction in 1988 from the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL) and the Southeast Asian Write (SEAWRITE) Award in 1990. On July 7, 2005, she was granted with a Lifetime Achievement Award for her outstanding achievement in history by then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Nakpil launched Heroes and Villains last December 2 at the Filipinas Heritage Library in Makati City attended by luminaries from the government, the publishing industry and others. The book contains 17 true, short stories about exceptional people who lived, interacted and did extraordinary things in the Philippines. In its review, The Philippine Daily Inquirer writes that Heroes and Villains is “a revealing 118-page sojourn into our history.” In this book, Nakpil writes,”I believe all heroes define themselves and all villains are defined by the people around them. Some are both heroes and villains to different publics...” Through a set of questions sent through e-mail cared of Mrs. Nakpil’s grandson, T.O. Cruz, Balikbayan Magazine was able to gain more insights from “the muse of our history,” as The Philippine Star columnist referred to her in a column in October 2008. Q: What started your fascination with Philippine history? Nakpil : Philippine history is, you might say, in my DNA. I was born in Ermita, Manila in 1922, only 26 years after the start of the Philippine Revolution and Rizal’s execution, 28 years after the First Philippine Republic and the Battle of Manila Bay between Spain and the U.S. My father’s father, Leon Ma. Guerrero, fought in the Filipino-American War, was a delegate to the Malolos Congress, Rector of the Universitad in Malolos, captured and jailed by the U.S., also a member of the First Philippine Assembly of 1907. My other grandfather was also arrested for writing and producing anti-American plays. His name Gabriel Beato Francisco. My father watched Rizal’s execution on the Luneta as a boy and also went with his father to the delegation at St. Louies Exposition in the U.S. Q: How much of an influence was your family in your writing career? Would you have followed the same path had you not been born in a literary family? Who else had influenced your writing of history? Nakpil: I’ll never know. The other influence is Horacio de la Costa, S.J. a friend of the family. Q: Manila was known as a “pride of place”in the past, would you consider it to be true until now? In what way do you think could we reclaim the old glory of Manila? Nakpil : Yes, that’s why it’s so congested and messy and is derided as “Imperial Manila” by other cities. Best way to “reclaim glory”: Learn about Manila’s past. Q: Are you aware of anyone talking about changing things along those lines that you suggest? Nakpil : All politicians, especially Mayor Lim. Q: You are known for breaking down misconceptions. In your new book, you mention that there’s a misconception that our ancestors were pygmies. What are the misconceptions about Manila that you would like to bring light into? Nakpil : Araw ng Manila as its Foundation Day. Q: What was your inspiration for your new book, Heroes and Villains? Nakpil: The obvious and increasing desire among young Filipinos, especially the expats. Q: How did you decide on Heroes and Villains as the title of your new book? Nakpil: An Eureka moment. It seemed like a challenging title. Q: What surprised you the most as you wrote and researched for this book? Nakpil : How mistaken about historical facts the colonial textbooks and teachers were. Q: How does your being a historian shape the way you view the government, past and present? Nakpil : I’m not a historian, only a historiographer. Viewing our government leads me to despair. Q: How do you think future historians will describe our era? Nakpil : As the nadir in the consequences of the colonizations we have suffered, but also the starting point, hopefully, of a national effort to reclaim our true selves. http://www.balikbayanmagazine.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=195:carmen-guerrero-nakpil-the-muse-of-our-history&catid=43:-belles-lettres-&Itemid=9
- On November 18 the U.P.-Diliman residence of Narita Gonzalez and the late N.V.M. Gonzalez was consumed in an electrical fire. For details, please refer to the article in the November 20 Manila Times . We are in the process of collecting materials to rebuild a library in both their names. In the meantime, what was salvaged from the fire have been painstakingly restored by the University of the Philippines Library. For more information, please contact nvmgonzalezinc(at)gmail.com . More... "Literature is an affair of letters," N.V.M. Gonzalez once said. A teacher, author, journalist and essayist, Gonzalez is one of the most widely recognized, anthologized and closely studied among Filipino writers. His most notable works include the novels The Winds of April , The Bamboo Dancers and A Season of Grace , short story collections Children of the Ash-Covered Loam and T he Bread of Salt and Other Stories and essay collections Work on the Mountain and The Novel of Justice: Selected Essays . Gonzalez distinctively wrote of the Filipino life, of the Filipino in the world. Gonzalez is himself a Filipino in the world, traversing between the United States and the Philippines and exploring Europe and Asia. The affair of letters Gonzalez created is more than literature. It is the story of a Filipino in the world. It is his story. Nestor Vicente Madali Gonzalez, familiarly known as simply "N.V.M.," was born on September 8, 1915 in Romblon, Romblon and moved to Mindoro at the age of five. The son of a school supervisor and a teacher, Gonzalez helped his father by delivering meat door-to-door. Gonzalez attended Mindoro High School from 1927 to 1930, and although he studied at National University in Manila, he never obtained a degree. While in Manila, Gonzalez wrote for the Philippine Graphic and later edited for the Evening News Magazine and Manila Chronicle. His first published essay appeared in the Philippine Graphic and his first poem in Poetry in 1934. "For the good of my soul lately I have been reading Jose Rizal and as much as I admire Mr. Rizal's political sentiments, I must say I prefer Gonzalez as a novelist." -Wallace Stegner, 1950 A Rockefeller Foundation fellowship, awarded to Gonzalez in 1948, allowed the aspiring author to travel to Stanford University in Palo Alto, California and Columbia University in New York City. While at Stanford, Gonzalez attended lectures and classes from many prominent writers, Wallace Stegner and Katherine Anne Porter amongst them. After Gonzalez returned to the Philippines in 1950, he began a long teaching career, beginning with a position at the University of Santo Tomas. Gonzalez also taught at the Philippine Women's University, but it was the lengthy position at the University of the Philippines that gave distinction to Gonzalez's career - as a teacher at the university for 18 years, Gonzalez was only one of two people to teach there without holding a degree. Gonzalez hosted the first University of the Philippines writer's workshop with a group who would soon form the Ravens. In addition, Gonzalez made his mark in the writing community as a member of the Board of Advisers of Likhaan: the University of the Philippines Creative Writing Center, founder The Diliman Review and as the first president of the Philippine Writers' Association. Gonzalez continued to teach when he returned to California in the 1960s, serving as a visiting professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara; professor emeritus at California State University, Hayward; and professor at University of California at Los Angeles' Asian American Studies Center and English department. Throughout Gonzalez's teaching career, the author produced 14 books and accumulated many awards along the way. Through these writings, Gonzalez received many prestigious awards, including repeated Palanca Memorial Award for Literature awards, the Jose Rizal Pro Patria Award, and the City of Manila Medal of Honor. In addition, his books became internationally recognized, and his works have been translated into Chinese, German, Russian and Bahasa Indonesian. Gonzalez received an honorary doctorate from the University of the Philippines in 1987 and became its first international writer in residence in 1988. He served as the 1998-1999 Regents Professor at the University of California at Los Angeles and continued to receive distinctions such as the National Artist Award for Literature in 1997 and the Centennial Award for Literature in 1998. In 1990 and 1996, "N.V.M. Gonzalez Days" were celebrated in San Francisco and Los Angeles, respectively. Despite Gonzalez's travels, he never gave up his Filipino citizenship. Critics feared that Gonzalez would someday settle into the Filipino-American genre of literature, but Gonzalez often pointed out with an all-familiar twinkle in his eye, "I never left home." True to his word, the home that shaped Gonzalez's days is present in his writings, from the blossoming of a love story to the culture reflected in an immigrant experience. N.V.M. started his career at the age of 19; 65 years later, he was still creating affairs with letters. He passed away on November 28, 1999, due to kidney complications. He was 84. N.V.M. Gonzalez is remembered as an innovative writer, a dedicated and humble worker and an honest witty friend. He will be dearly missed. http://www.nvmgonzalez.org/index.html He was born on 8 September 1915 in Romblon , Philippines . González, however, was raised in Mansalay , a southern town of the Philippine province of Oriental Mindoro . González was a son of a school supervisor and a teacher. As a teenager, he helped his father by delivering meat door-to-door across provincial villages and municipalities. González was also a musician. He played the violin and even made four guitars by hand. He earned his first peso by playing the violin during a Chinese funeral in Romblon . González attended Mindoro High School (now Jose J. Leido Jr. Memorial National High School ) from 1927 to 1930. González attended college at National University (Manila) but he was unable to finish his undergraduate degree. While in Manila , González wrote for the Philippine Graphic and later edited for the Evening News Magazine and Manila Chronicle . His first published essay appeared in the Philippine Graphic and his first poem in Poetry in 1934. González made his mark in the Philippine writing community as a member of the Board of Advisers of Likhaan: the University of the Philippines Creative Writing Center , founding editor of The Diliman Review and as the first president of the Philippine Writers' Association . González attended creative writing classes under Wallace Stegner and Katherine Anne Porter at Stanford University . In 1950, González returned to the Philippines and taught at the University of Santo Tomas , the Philippine Women's University and the University of the Philippines (U.P.) . At U.P., González was only one of two faculty members accepted to teach in the university without holding a degree. On the basis of his literary publications and distinctions, González later taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara , California State University, Hayward , the University of Washington , the University of California, Los Angeles , and the University of California, Berkeley . Gonzalez is buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani . On 14 April 1987, the University of the Philippines conferred on N.V.M. González the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters , honoris causa , "For his creative genius in shaping the Philippine short story and novel, and making a new clearing within the English idiom and tradition on which he established an authentic vocabulary, ...For his insightful criticism by which he advanced the literary tradition of the Filipino and enriched the vocation for all writers of the present generation...For his visions and auguries by which he gave the Filipino sense and sensibility a profound and unmistakable script read and reread throughout the international community of letters..." N.V.M. González was proclaimed National Artist of the Philippines in 1997. He died on 28 November 1999 in Quezon City , Philippines at the age of 84. As a National Artist, Gonzalez was honored with a state funeral at the Libingan ng mga Bayani . Works The works of Gonzalez have been published in Filipino, English, Chinese, German, Russian and Indonesian language . Novels The Winds of April (1941) A Season of Grace (1956) The Bamboo Dancers (1988) Short fiction A Grammar of Dreams and Other Stories . University of the Philippines Press, 1997 The Bread of Salt and Other Stories . Seattle : University of Washington Press, 1993; University of the Philippines Press, 1993 Mindoro and Beyond: Twenty-one Stories . Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 1981; New Day, 1989 Selected Stories . Denver , Colorado : Alan Swallow , 1964 Look, Stranger, on this Island Now . Manila: Benipayo, 1963 Children of the Ash-Covered Loam and Other Stories . Manila: Benipayo, 1954; Bookmark Filipino Literary Classic, 1992 Seven Hills Away . Denver , Colorado : Alan Swallow, 1947 Essays A Novel of Justice: Selected Essays 1968-1994 . Manila: National Commission for Culture and the Arts and Anvil (popular edition), 1996 Work on the Mountain (Includes The Father and the Maid, Essays on Filipino Life and Letters and Kalutang: A Filipino in the World ), University of the Philippines Press, 1996 Awards and prizes Regents Professor at the University of California at Los Angeles , 1998-1999 Philippines Centennial Award for Literature , 1998 National Artist Award for Literature , 1997 Oriental Mindoro Sangguniang Panlalawigan Resolution "extending due recognition to Nestor V. M. González... the commendation he well deserves..." 1996 City of Manila Diwa ng Lahi award "for his service and contribution to Philippine national Literature," 1996 City of Los Angeles resolution declaring October 11, 1996 "N.V.M. González Day, 1996 The Asian Catholic Publishers Award , 1993 The Filipino Community of California Proclamation "honoring N.V.M. González for seventy-eight years of achievements," 1993 Ninoy Aquino Movement for Social and Economic Reconstruction through Volunteer Service award, 1991 City and County of San Francisco proclamation of March 7, 1990 "Professor N.V.M. González Day in San Francisco," 1990 Cultural Center of the Philippines award, Gawad Para sa Sining, 1990 Writers Union of the Philippines award, Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtás , 1989 University of the Philippines International Writer-in-Residence , 1988 Doctor of Humane Letters (Honoris Causa) from the University of the Philippines, 1987 Djerassi Foundation Artist-in-Residence , 1986 Philippine Foreign Service Certificate of Appreciation for Work in the International Academic and Literary Community , at San Francisco, 1983 Emeritus Professor of English, California State University , 1982 Carlos Palanca Memorial Award (Short Story), First Prize for 'The Tomato Game,' 1971 City of Manila Medal of Honor, 1971. Awarded Leverhulme Fellowship , University of Hong Kong , 1969. Visiting Associate Professorship in English , University of California, Santa Barbara , 1968. British Council award for Travel to England, 1965. Intemaciones Award for Travel in the Federal German Republic, 1965. Philippines Free Press First Prize Award winner for Serenade (short story), 1964. Rockefeller Foundation Writing Grant and Travel in Europe, 1964 Jose Rizal Pro-Patria Award for The Bamboo Dancers , 1961 Republic Cultural Heritage Award for The Bamboo Dancers , 1960 Carlos Palanca Memorial Award (Short Story), Third Prize winner for On the Ferry , 1959 Philippine Free Press Third Prize winner for On the Ferry , 1959 Republic Award of Merit for "the advancement of Filipino culture in the field of English Literature," 1954. Carlos Palanca Memorial Award (Short Story), Second Prize winner for Lupo and the River , 1953 Rockefeller Foundation Study and Travel fellowship to India and the Far East, 1952 Carlos Palanca Memorial Award (Short Story), Second Prize winner for Children of the Ash-covered Loam , 1952 Rockefeller Foundation Writing Fellowship to Stanford University , Kenyon College School of English, and Columbia University , 1949-1950 Liwayway Short Story Contest, Third Prize winner for Lunsod, Nayon at Dagat-dagatan , 1943 First Commonwealth Literary Contest honorable mention for The Winds of April , 1940 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N._V._M._Gonzalez