The Philippines is home to different ethnic groups from Luzon, Visayas, and

Mindanao. Each group has its own culture, beliefs, and practices, which are embodied
in the kinds of literature the writers in each region produce.
The following are some literary genres common in the regions:

1. Etiological legends explain how things came to be or why things are as they are.
However, the source of these legends cannot be verified because they are handed from
one generation to another through word of mouth. Good examples of these are “The
Origin of the Hundred Islands” and “Ang Alamat ng Batangas.”
 “The Origin of the Hundred Islands” is about the brave Rajah Masubeg who ruled
over the people of Alaminos. His kingdom was guarded by several hundred
warriors led by his son. They enjoyed peace and prosperity until they got invaded
by forces across the sea. One hundred brave soldiers were summoned to fight
the enemy. This is where the story started.
 “Ang Alamat ng Batangas” tells the origin of the province. It was said that the
province of Batangas was very beautiful, making it attractive to Spaniards. Every
time they needed to leave the place, mishaps kept on occurring. They would pray
and sing praises until the sea calmed down. One day, even though they prayed
and sang praises, the waves would not stop. The strong wind wrecked their
ships, and many of them died. Until one day, near the province of Batangas, the
people saw a batangan or a log carrying a Sto. Niño. The people retrieved the
log or batangan from the sea. From then on, they called the province Batangas,
from the word batangan .

2. Epics narrate the adventures of tribal heroes who embody the ideals and values of the
tribe. Some of the many epics in Luzon are Biag ni Lam-ang and Ibalon .
 Biag ni Lam-ang (The Life of Lam-ang) is an epic poem from the Ilocos region. It
is about the adventures and bravery of Lam-ang, who could speak from a very
young age. His adventures started when he searched for his father who got killed
by the Igorot of the Cordillera Mountains.
 Ibalon is an epic that originated in Bicol. It is a tale that talks about three heroes,
namely Baltog, Handiong, and Bantong.

3. Folktales/Folklore are narrative prose. These mirror the early forms of our culture, and
they are traditional stories passed on from generation to generation by word of mouth.
They often include fables, riddles, proverbs, folk songs, and sometimes superstitious
beliefs. “Juan Tamad” is one of the most popular folktales in the country.
 “Juan Tamad” is a story about a man named Juan who was extremely lazy. In
one of the story’s versions, Juan was instructed by his mother to buy crabs from
the market. On his way home, he heard his friends playing near the riverbank.
 Juan wanted to join them. So he released the crabs on the shore as he believed
that the crabs can reach their house. Noon came and Juan hurried home. His
mother was so angry and asked where the crabs were. Juan was so scared of
his mother that after saying what he did to the crabs, he immediately hid in their
backyard.

4. Myths are stories that involve gods and goddesses with divine powers. These explain
a belief, custom, or strange natural phenomenon. An example of this is “Why the Sky Is
High.”
 “Why the Sky Is High” is about the brothers Ingat and Daskol. Ingat was more
favored by his parents than Daskol. Ingat, as his name implies, was careful,
whereas Daskol performed his duties clumsily. One day, he was angrily pounding
a huge amount of palay. Eager to finish his work quickly, Daskol would raise the
pestle so high that it hit the sky. His anger added to his strength so that every
time he would raise the pestle, the sky would rise higher. When he was done, he
looked up and noticed how far the sky already was.

National Artist or Pambansang Alagad ng Sining is a distinction given to a Filipino who

excellently contributed to the enrichment of national art. These fields of art vary from
music, dance, theater, visual arts, literature, film, broadcast arts, to architecture and
allied arts. This distinction is given by virtue of the President Proclamation No. 1001 on
April 2, 1972, and honored through a ceremony administered by the National
Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA), the grants giving agency that seeks to
preserve, develop, and promote Philippine arts and culture and the Cultural Center of
the Philippines (CCP), a government-owned corporation that has been established with
the goal to develop and promote arts and culture in the Philippines.
In the ceremony, the awardees are given collars symbolizing their status and a
citation by the incumbent president of the Philippines. The National Artists are given
benefits such as a monthly pension, state funeral, and burial, and acknowledgment in
cultural events.

This image is the Official Emblem of the Order of National Artists, bestowed on
Members in the form of collars. The distinction is given as the nation’s expression of
gratitude for the artist’s contribution to the cultural heritage of the country. The
categories for the field of literature are poetry, novel, fiction, short story, essay,
playwriting, journalism, and/or literary criticism.

There are currently 15 National Artists for Literature in the Philippines:

1973 Amado V. Hernandez (++)
1973 Jose Garcia Villa (+)
1976 Nick Joaquin (+)
1982 Carlos P. Romulo (+)
1990 Francisco Arcellana (+)
1997 N.V.M. Gonzales (++)
1997 Rolando S. Tinio (++) - Theater & Literature
1997 Levi Celerio (+) - Music & Literature
1999 Edith L. Tiempo (+)
2001 F. Sionil Jose (+)
2003 Virgilio S. Almario
2003 Alejandro R. Roces (+)
2006 Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera
2009 Lázaro Francísco (++)
2014 Cirilo F. Bautista

Life and Works of Jose Garcia Villa

Jose Garcia Villa
(August 5, 1908 - February 7, 1997)

Childhood
 On August 5, 1908, Jose Garcia Villa was born in Malate, Manila.
 He is one of the six children of Dr. Simeon Villa and Guia Garcia.
 At the age of 15, Villa was able to publish his first story in the Manila Times, the
oldest existing newspaper in the country.

Education
 In 1925, he was enrolled in the College of Medicine of the University of the
Philippines.
 In 1927, he was affiliated with the UP College of Liberal Arts.
 In 1928, he transferred to the College of Law. Although part of the college, he
was still taking classes in fine arts.
 During his college years, he became a charter member of the writers’ club of the
university.
  In his second year of law school, he wrote Man Songs, a series of erotic poems,
under his nom de plume O. Sevilla. This work appeared in the Philippines Herald
and caused him to be suspended from the UP Writers’ Club for a year because
of his controversial and erotic poems. Eventually, because of the erotic poems he
wrote during his university years, he was expelled.
 In 1929, he left the Philippines for the United States. He was then enrolled at the
University of New Mexico where he finished his B.A. degree. Later on, he
enrolled for postgraduate studies at Columbia University.
 He spent the rest of his life in New York, where he produced his beautiful poetry
and worked as an associate editor, editor, and lecturer.
 He also held private poetry workshops at his Greenwich Village apartment where
he was named “Pope of Greenwich Village.”
 His pen name was Doveglion (dove, eagle, lion), the characters that he
associated with himself. E.E. Cummings explored these characters in the poem
“Doveglion, Adventures in Value.”

Achievements
 He was nominated for the Bollingen prize for a collection of poetry.
 He received the Poetry Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
 He was a recipient of the Shelley Memorial Award as well as the Guggenheim
and Rockefeller fellowships for poetry.
 In 1940, Villa received an honorable mention in the Commonwealth Literary
Awards.
 He won first prize in the UP Golden Jubilee Literary Contest in 1958.
 In 1959, he was an honorary doctorate of literature in Far Eastern University.
 He was awarded the Rizal Pro Patria Award in 1961.
 He was granted the Republic Cultural Heritage Award for poetry and short story
in 1962.
 In 1973, he received an honorary doctorate in literature from the University of the
Philippines.
 In 1973, Jose Garcia Villa was named as National Artist for Literature.

Literary Works
Villa’s canonical works include:
 Footnote to Youth

In this poem, Dudong asserts hid supposed maturity marries Teang at the age of
17. He thinks they are old enough to take on this responsibility, but after they have
several children they both bemoan the dissolution of their youth and the dreams that
came along with it. Teang wonders how things could have been if she married her other
suitors. At the end, Dudong’s son, Blas, approaches his father wanting to marry at about
the same age. even though Dudong doesn’t want Blas to make the same mistake he
did. However, history ends up repeating itself.
 “God Said, ‘I Made a Man’”

In this poem, God and man are the speakers. The second stanza explains that
we were taken from God’s image, from clay; we were molded to become beautiful
creatures. However, as time goes by, conflicts between God and man occur. The fourth
stanza of the poem tells us that man is opposing or questioning God. He wants to know
something about God.
 “The Way My Ideas Think Me”

This poem depicts a man’s relationship with God. It shows how the man thinks
of God, how he challenges the notion of God by living life on the edge and pushing God
away but then quickly reaching for him again. The last stanza depicts how God guides
and helps the man, and the man acknowledges this by calling God “brother.”
 “Lyric 17”

Often referred to by its first line, “First, a poem must be magical,” this poem is a
perfect example of how imagery is presented using a metaphor. This piece presents
how a lyrical poem must be written.
 “And If the Heart Can Not Love”

This poem is about a persona talking about the possibilities if he or she cannot
love. If the heart cannot love, it becomes insensitive and apathetic to the small beautiful
things that surround him or her. It also manifests the saying that it is better to have
loved and lost rather than not having loved at all.
 “Be Beautiful, Noble, Like an Antique Ant”

This is a poem in which Villa shows that with imagination, simple and creative
ideas about nature and humans can be expressed in a refreshing way. He used the
antique ant and stated its characteristics in order to convey how he thinks human
beings should be.

Life and Works of Bienvenido Lumbera

Bienvenido Lumbera
April 11, 1932 - present

Childhood
 He was born in Lipa on April 11, 1932.
 His parents are Timoteo Lumbera, who was the pitcher of a local baseball team,
and Carmen Lumbera.
  By the age of five, he was an orphan. He was not yet a year old when his father
fell and broke his back, while his mother, who suffered from cancer, died years
after.
 Eusebia Teru, his paternal grandmother, took care of him and his older sister.
 He spent most of his childhood in Batangas.
 He attended Padre Valerio Malabanan Elementary School.
 After the Japanese occupation, his grandmother died, making him an orphan
again. He was fourteen at that time. He chose his godparents to be his new
guardians since they could send him to school.
 At an early age, his teachers discovered his blossoming potential in writing using
the English language.

Education
 He was very determined to be a writer and wanted to go to the University of the
Philippines. However, because of some circumstances, his guardians told him to
go to the University of Santo Tomas instead.
 Lumbera entered University of Santo Tomas in 1950 and embarked upon a
degree in journalism in the university’s Faculty of Philosophy and Letters.
 He studied Spanish but made English his major preoccupation. Also, he met his
lifelong friends in the university, with whom he participated actively in the student
government.
 He graduated cum laude in 1954 but failed to obtain a job in the city, so he went
back to Lipa and became an English high school teacher in his alma mater. Later
on, he left for an editing job in Olongapo but eventually got fired because of
certain circumstances.
 He went back to Manila to study education at the Far Eastern University. He also
applied for a Fulbright grant to study literature at an American university in the
United States, which was what he really wanted to do.
 Although he became a Fulbright scholar, he still needed additional funds.
Lumbera accepted Indiana University’s offer of a fee remission scholarship.
 He then returned to Manila and taught at Holy Ghost College, which is now the
College of the Holy Spirit . He eventually taught in Ateneo and joined his friend
Tinio in the English Department.

Achievements
 He was awarded the National Artist for Literature in 2006.
 In 2002, the Varsitarian, which is the Official Student Publication of UST,
awarded him
  the Parangal Hagbong, an annual lifetime achievement award in letters given to
selected Alumni of UST who made valuable contributions to Philippine literature
and its development.
 In 1998, he got the Gawad Cultural Center of the Philippines for the Arts.
 Lumbera was a Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Journalism, Literature, and
Creative Communications in 1993.
 In 1975, Lumbera’s work, Sunog sa Lipa at Iba Pang Tula, earned him a special
prize in the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature.

Literary Works
 “A Eulogy of Roaches”

This analogous poem depicts the roaches of the general public. It shows that people
would do anything to survive.
 “Agunyas sa Hacienda Luisita”

This is a poem that commemorates the massacre of farmers in Tarlac.

 “Ang Ating Bagong Panatang Makabayan”

It sardonically condemns corruption and was pledged by protestors in 2008.

 “Paggunita sa Pamamaslang”

This is a poem about the massacre executed by the Ampatuan family in 2009.
 “Ka Bel”

Lumbera wrote this poem for Crispin “Ka Bel” Beltran, urging for his freedom in 2006. It
is about Ka Bel’s life and struggles.
 “The Yaya’s Lullaby”

This poem is written for all the mothers who work as “yayas” and take care of the
children of others just to support the needs of their own kids.

Life and Works of Edith L. Tiempo

Edith L. Tiempo
Background
 She was born in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, on April 22, 1919.
 Her mother was from Cagayan, and her father, a mining engineer, was from
Ilocos.
  She grew up in various parts of the Philippines and used these places in her
stories.
 She married Edilberto K. Tiempo, a Philippine novelist. They have a daughter
and a son.

Education
 She obtained her Bachelor’s degree from Silliman University in Dumaguete City
in 1947.
 She received an international writing fellowship from the University of Iowa and
finished her master’s degree in the said university as well.
 In 1958, she earned her doctorate degree from the University of Denver.

Achievements
 She was a recipient of the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature.
 She won first prize from the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 1979 for the
novel His Native Coast.
 In 1988, she was honored with Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas.
 In 1999, she was awarded the National Artist Award for Literature.

Literary Works
 “The Return ”

This poem is about an old soldier, reminiscing his glorious past, his eventful adventures,
and reminding us that all experiences are preserved in our memory, allowing us to go
back in time to view the brightest moments of our past.
 “Bonsai”

This poem is about love. It talks about how a person could compact a big thing to a
small one to be able to share it or give it to others. The poem particularly talks about the
love of mothers.

Other Works:
 The Tracks of Babylon and Other Poems written in 1966
 The Charmer’s Box and Other Poems written in 1993
 “The Little Marmoset” or “Lament for the Littlest Fellow”

 Overview of the Development of the Philippine Short Stories in English

  Philippine literature in English started when the Americans conquered the
Philippines. President William McKinley made English the official medium of
instruction from elementary to tertiary in April 1900. It was in August 1901 when
American teachers, the Thomasites, arrived in the country to spread literacy. The
English language was also used as the literary expression in the country.
 It became the language of publication, which gave birth to the foundation
of the Philippines Free Press and the release of the College Folio of the
University of the Philippines in 1910. The Philippines Herald also began its
publication in 1920, with Paz Benitez Marquez as its editor.
 Most literary critics arrived at a general agreement that Filipino writers
excelled in crafting short stories in particular. Since the English language was
used in the country, Filipino writers started writing stories that imitated and
adhered to the style of popular American fictionists.
 Filipinos eventually developed a distinct form of short story despite being
under the American influence in all aspects. Filipino writers started publishing
their short stories in weekly magazines. The stories published were not only in
English, they also had versions written in different major languages in the
country.
 The publication of Paz Marquez Benitez’s short story “Dead Stars” in
1925 became the landmark of the maturity of the Filipino writer in English. In
1926, after the publication of “Dead Stars,” many Filipino writers began writing
short stories without imitating the style of American fictionists.
 During the 1930s, Arturo Rotor and Manuel E. Arguilla were considered
as the finest short story writers. They were able to write and publish their works
such as “The Wound and the Scar” and “How My Brother Leon Brought Home a
Wife,” respectively. Arturo Rotor’s short story “Zita” was considered as one of the
finest love stories in Filipino literature in English.
 Among the short stories that were significant in Philippine literature are
“Children of the Ash-Covered Loam” by N.V.M. Gonzalez, You Lovely People, a
collection of short stories by Bienvenido Santos, and Magnificence and Other
Stories by Estrella D. Alfon.


Life and Works of Nick Joaquin

Nicomedes “Nick” Marquez Joaquin
Childhood
 Nicomedes “Nick” Marquez Joaquin or Nick Joaquin was born in the old district of
Paco in Manila on September 15, 1917.
 He was named after Saint Nicomedes, a protomartyr of Rome, whose feast day
falls on the same day of his birth.
 He was born to a Catholic, educated, and prosperous home.
 At the time of the revolution, his father, Leocadio Joaquin, an attorney in Laguna,
met and married his first wife.
  Nick Joaquin’s mother, Salome, had studied in a teacher-training institute during
the Spanish period. During the American occupation, she was among the first to
receive training in the English language from the Americans. Afterward, she
taught the language in a public school in Manila.
 When Nick was around ten, his father got him a borrower’s card at the National
Library, and it was that time when he fell in love with books and with the writing
styles of numerous authors.
 Nick had a happy childhood in their two-story Paco home, which was the first
residential-commercial building at that time.
 His father, Leocadio, lost his fortune to an investment in a pioneering oil
exploration project in the Visayas in the late 1920s. This caused the family to
leave their home in Paco for a rented house in Pasay.
 He was twelve at the time of his father’s death.
Education
 The young Joaquin was too intellectually restless to be confined in a classroom.
He dropped out of school after attending Paco Elementary School and three
years of secondary education in Mapa High School.
 His strictly Catholic family wanted him to pursue a religious vocation, but he was
unable to do so. He would have entered a seminary if it were not for his father’s
death.
 After he quit school, Joaquin worked as a mozo (boy apprentice) in a bakery in
Pasay.
 He then worked as a printer’s devil in the composing department of the Tribune,
of the Tribune-Vanguardia-Taliba (TVT) publishing company.
 Joaquin, as well as the other writers of his generation who were raised in the
American era, discovered Dostoyevsky and Hemingway before they read works
of Tagalog writers, such as Lope K. Santos and Rosauro Almario.
 However, even after being acquainted with the works of writers of different
nationalities, Nick did not forget his roots. He incorporated his great sense of
place in his writings, which became the trademark of his writings later on.
Achievements
 He was a celebrated and decorated writer who remained shy and uncomfortable
with the attention he garnered despite the awards he received.
 He joined the José Garcia Villa’s Honor Roll in 1940.
 He won the Philippines Free Press Short Story Contest in 1949.
 He was one of the Ten Most Outstanding Young Men of the Philippines (TOYM)
Awardee for Literature in 1955.
 He won in the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Literary Awards in 1957–1958;
1965; and 1976.
  He landed a Harper Publishing Company writing fellowship in New York, United
States.
 He received a Stonehill Award for the Novel in 1960.
 He received a Republic Cultural Heritage Award in 1961.
 In 1964, the City of Manila granted him a Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan
Award.
 In 1976, he received a National Artist Award for Literature.
 He received a Southeast Asian or S.E.A. Write Award in 1980.
 He received a Ramon Magsaysay Award for Literature Journalism, Literature,
and Creative Communication Arts, the highest honor for a writer in Asia, in 1996.
 He received a Tanglaw ng Lahi Award from the Ateneo de Manila University
(1997).
 He received several ESSO Journalism awards, including the highly coveted
Journalist of the Year Award.
 He received several National Book Awards from the Manila Critics’ Circle.
Major Works
He has written works in every category of literature. A master of all trades, Quijano de
Manila shone in every genre he wrote in. Here are some of his short stories
 “May Day Eve”
A pioneer of magical realism, the story features a mirror that looks into the future and
the past, which was a key in unraveling the narration.
This short story is about Badoy and Agueda, and how their view of each other ruined
their marriage since it began in 1987. Their tragic love story began on a May night when
they first met. They were two opposing characters: Agueda is a nonconformist, a
woman very much ahead of her time, while Badoy is a stereotypical man trying to prove
his machismo, a person who is used to getting his way. Despite their unpleasant first
meeting, Badoy fell hard for Agueda, and his passion burns like the summer heat. The
real tragedy in the story is when he forgets how much he loves his wife, Agueda, as the
years passed.
An excerpt from the story reveals the tragedy in this manner, “But alas, the heart
forgets; the heart is distracted, and May-time passes; summer ends; the storms break
over the hot-ripe orchards and the heart grows old; while the hours, the days, the
months and the years pile up and pile up till the mind becomes too crowded, too
confused: dust gathers in it; cobwebs multiply; the walls darken and fall into ruin and
decay; the memory perishes” (par. 81).
When his grandson asked him about a witch, he described his wife, and when Agueda
told their daughter about the devil, she described her husband. This revealed how they
viewed each other after their many years of marriage. The story reveals that their
marriage was born of a raging passion and gives the message that love and marriage
do not thrive on passion alone.
  “Summer Solstice”
This is a short story about a three-day ritual performed by women during St. John’s
festival set in 1850s Philippines. The Tatarin festival celebrates women as they are the
ones who carry the child. This is also the ritual of fertility performed by women. The
story has garnered much attention since it was published in 1972.
Paeng and his wife Lupeng are the main characters of the story. The story started when
the family of Paeng and Lupeng was enjoying St. John’s festival. Guido, Paeng’s
cousin, returned from Europe and narrated his travels to Lupeng. He made suggestive
comments to Lupeng that “women should be ravished and men should adore them,”
which was contrary to how her husband thinks. As Paeng’s wife, Lupeng felt deprived of
expressing herself. She had been pondering about Guido’s words about women being
adored. This caused Lupeng to participate in the ritual during the last night of the
festival. Paeng went after her and tried to drag her back home. Lupeng ran toward the
group of women in the festival. Her husband ran after her to drag her home once more.
Paeng was not able to drag his wife since the women beat him up, making him helpless.
When they reached home, Paeng decided to whip Lupeng to put her in her place.
Lupeng retorted that she should be adored and ordered her husband to kiss her feet.
This story revolves around how women take the lead on fertility. It celebrates the
women’s ability to carry a child and how it should make her feel stronger than a man
and as someone deserving of adoration.
 His other famous works include “The House on Zapote Street,” A Portrait of the
Artist as Filipino, and The Woman Who Had Two Navels, among others.

Life and Works of Francisco Sionil José

Francisco Sionil José
Childhood
 Francisco or Frankie Sionil José was born on December 3, 1924.
 He was a native of Rosales, Pangasinan.
 His parents were Antonio Sionil and Sofia Sionil.
 His father, an Aglipayan minister, left Sofia and their three children for another
woman.
 Their family had a plot of land that served as a means of supporting the family. It
was claimed by a wealthy landowner who forced them to become tenants in their
own land.
 His mother sold rice cakes, and Frankie, as his family fondly called him, raised
hogs and worked as a farm laborer.
Education
  Despite their poverty, Frankie and his siblings were able to attend school.
 He studied in Rosales Elementary School from 1931 to 1937. Soledad Oriel, one
of his teachers, instilled a lifelong love of books in him.
 Frankie went to live in Manila with his maternal uncle. His uncle paid for his
tuition at Far Eastern University High School from 1939 to 1941 in exchange for
doing housework.
 He was in his senior year when the Second World War broke out. Schools were
closed in December 1941 when the Japanese attacked Manila. Frankie was said
to have finished high school as all students were given full credit, even though
that school year was three months short.
 When the schools reopened, he enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas in
Manila. In the same year, Frankie and his mother returned to Rosales because of
the American air raids. As the American forces neared Rosales, Frankie and a
young cousin joined them. They were sent to cover the Japanese sentry fire.
 When the Americans finally took the town, Frankie became part of the U.S.
medical corps as a paid civilian technician. He was deemed qualified for this
position since he had experience in assisting in his cousin’s clinic. At that time,
he dreamed of becoming a doctor.
 When the war was over, Frankie returned to Manila and enrolled in premedical
courses at the Manila College of Pharmacy and Dentistry, which he attended for
a semester.
 When the University of Santo Tomas reopened, he transferred to continue
pursuing his premedical courses. Realizing that medical sciences were not for
him, he transferred to the Faculty of Liberal Arts in the same university.
 His English teacher, Paz Latorena, encouraged his writing. She also taught him
how to dramatize his stories, as opposed to telling simple narratives.
 In March 1949, Frankie was supposed to graduate from college, but he left the
university in December 1948 for a job offer in the United States Information
Service or USIS as an assistant editor.
Achievements
 He received the U.S. Department of State Smith-Mundt grant in 1955.
 He received the Asia Foundation grant in 1960.
 He was also a recipient of the National Press Club award for journalism thrice.
 He received the British Council grant in 1967.
 He received the Palanca award for Literature five times, in 1959, for two of his
works in 1979, in 1980, and in 1981.
 In 1979, he received the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio award, the Cultural
Center of the Philippines award, and the City of Manila award.
 He received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and
Creative Arts in 1980.
 He received the Outstanding Fulbrighters award for literature in 1988.
  He received the Cultural Center of the Philippines Award for Literature in 1989.
 He became a National Artist in 2001.
 He received the Pablo Neruda Centennial Award in 2004.
 He became an Officer of the French Order of Arts and Letters in 2014.
Major Works
He focused on uncovering the Filipino identity in his stories and dreams of the
Philippines that is free from the influences of its colonizers. Here are some of his works:
 “The God Stealer”
The story “The God Stealer,” similar to F. Sionil José’s other works, focuses on the
debilitating effect of the colonial rule in the formation of the Filipino identity. The story is
about officemates Philip Latak, a native of Ifugao who was currently working in Manila,
and Sam Christie, an American colleague who was returning to Boston. Philip and Sam
were bound for Baguio. Sam wanted to buy a bulol , an Ifugao god figurine, as a
souvenir. Since Philip was a native, he agreed to help Sam to buy one through his
connections. When they reached Baguio, everyone seemed happy to see Philip once
again, particularly his grandfather, even though Philip has forgotten their cultural beliefs,
identity, and values. A feast was thrown to celebrate his Philip’s comeback. On the day
of the feast, Philip and Sam learned that no Ifugao agreed to sell their god figurine. As a
last resort, Philip stole the god figurine of his grandfather, which caused his
grandfather’s death when he found out that his grandson stole it. Philip resolved to stay
in the Mountain Province because of his guilt.
Philip is a symbolism of the Philippines trying to please the Americans, which is
symbolized by Sam (Uncle Sam). Philip also reflects the Filipinos trying to cut their
Filipino roots and losing their national identity.
 “Waywaya”
“Waywaya” can also be considered an allegory as it reimagines pre-Hispanic Philippine
society. In Sionil José’s language, Ilokano, “Waywaya” means freedom. The story is
about two rival tribes, the Laud and the Daya. The Laud evolved with time and explored
innovations, while the Daya stayed tied down to their old way of living. Dayaw, the lead
character of the story, said, “The past could also be a prison, Father” to the tribe chief,
who said, “We know our past, we don’t repeat its mistake. That, too, is a tradition.” The
story tells its readers to be free from their past and be accepting of change, as things
will not stay as they were before.
 His other famous works include The Rosales Saga , Po-on , Gagamba , Ben
Singkol , and Ermita, among others.

Life and Works of Alejandro Roces

 Alejandro Reyes Roces
Childhood
 Alejandro R. Roces was born in Manila on July 13, 1924.
 He was the son of Rafael Roces and Inocencia Reyes.
 He was from a family that has been prominent in the newspaper and magazine
industry for many decades.
 He was the sixth of nine brothers.

Education
 Anding, as his family and friends called him, was educated at the Ateneo de
Manila in high school.
 He won Best Short Story for “We Filipinos Are Mild Drinkers” during his freshman
year in the University of Arizona. He also received his undergraduate degree in
Fine Arts in this university.
 He finished his master’s degree at Far Eastern University.
 He received a Doctor of Arts and Letters degree from the Polytechnic University
of the Philippines.
 He received a doctorate in Humane Letters (Honoris Causa) from Ateneo de
Manila University and a doctorate in Humanities (Honoris Causa) from St. Louis
University, Baguio City.
 He also attained a Doctor of Literature (Honoris Causa) degree from Tokyo
University in Japan.

Achievements
 In 2003, he became a National Artist for Literature.
 He received the Rizal Pro-Patria Award from the Knights of Rizal.
 He received the Diwa ng Lahi (Spirit of the Race) award in 1988.
 In 1970, he received the Patnubay ng Kalinangan (Vanguard of Culture) award.
 In 1990, he also received the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining award.
 He received the Zobel Award for Literature in 1995.
 He received the Green and Gold Award from Far Eastern University in 1994.
 He was also a recipient of the CCP Centennial Honors for the Arts from the
Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Major Works
Here are some of his works:
  “My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken”
This is a short story about two brothers who argued all morning about whether the
chicken was a rooster or a hen. The brothers were unable to settle the issue on their
own. They asked their parents as well as the people in the village to decide for them.
When no one could determine its sex, they decided to enter the chicken in a
cockfight. In the middle of the fight, the chicken started to act strange and laid an egg.
 “We Filipinos Are Mild Drinkers”
This is a funny short story set during World War II about a Filipino farmer and an
American soldier. The war is never a funny story to tell, but this story is successful in
injecting laughter with the war as its background. The American soldier boasting about
his ability to drink many kinds of alcoholic drinks was offered lambanog or fermented
coconut juice by the farmer. The American soldier quickly got drunk, and when the
farmer was asked to drink with the soldiers again, he refused and said, “We Filipinos
are mild drinkers.”
The sarcasm can be seen from the title alone, but it also shows the humility of Filipinos.
The farmer, instead of boasting about his ability to drink alcoholic beverages, refused
the offer of an alcoholic drink. In the story, we can tell that “one man’s drink is another
man’s poison.” People are different from one another, as their culture varies. The
Filipino farmer is used to lambanog, while the American found it overwhelming.
Brief History of Philippine Novels
The Philippine novel appeared in the late 19th century. It was developed from a
diverse and dynamic oral tradition influenced by the cultural forms of the Spanish
colonizers. During the Spanish colonial period in the Philippines, the only categories of
literature are religious and secular. Modesto de Castro’s Pagsusulatan nang Dalauang
Binibini na si Urbana at si Feliza (Correspondence between the Two Maidens Urbana
and Feliza) in 1864 is one of the early novels in the Philippines.
 This novel married those two categories by discussing how a person should
conduct himself or herself as someone from the middle class and how a person
should behave as a Christian.
 This is told in epistolary style, using the letters from Urbana to her younger
siblings and reminding them of how to carry themselves in a social setting.
 It also included a correspondence from a priest about the duties and
responsibilities in marriage.
 It also discussed experiences that a person goes through as he or she
undergoes birth to death in a secular and spiritual aspect.
The first published novel written by a native Filipino was Ninay by Pedro Paterno in
1885.
The first expressions of nationalism were in the form of a religious question, which
raised suspicion and resistance from the Spanish clergy.
The Secularization Movement expressed the feeling of middle-class Filipinos toward
their position in the colonial society.
La Loba Negra, a novel attributed to Fr. Jose Burgos, introduced the possibility for the
middle class to enter politics.
 Burgos, although from the religious order, thought that the church should be
separate from governing bodies.
 His novel also introduced concepts of liberalism, in connection with the popular
idea of liberality or generous attitude toward divergences.
The Ilustrados (the middle-class Filipinos) were detached from the masses and lack
support for their political aspirations. It was then that literature became a tool for politics.
José Rizal, through his writings, expressed his thoughts about the position of the
middle class in relation to the colonial authority. During his time, the Filipino Ilustrados
moved away from the profession of priesthood and toward assuming minor bureaucratic
positions. It was also then that Juan Luna and other pensionados or government-
supported students abroad had been given recognition for their excellence in art and
intellect.
In Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, he discussed:
 the masses’ sentiment against the Spaniards and their longing for freedom
through the character of Elias;
 the bourgeois and their complicated relationship with the Spanish authorities
through the character of Simoun; and
 the bourgeois’ assumption that they have the same rights and privileges as their
Spanish counterparts.
The realism of the Filipino novel resulted from documenting the struggle of the
middle class for social status or political authority. The novels struggled against these
two things: colonial control of the polity and the economy and the condition of the native
society and how its traditions resisted the modern economic scheme of the middle
class.
After the Second World War, realism faded when the bourgeois, who are the
writers at that time, became satisfied with their social position and situation. This
resulted in stagnant viewpoints in the society and the exploration of the writer’s own
psyche.
Due to social circumstances, Filipino novels nowadays are characterized as
socialistic, nationalistic, didactic, and idealized — far from an empirical portrayal of life.

Life and Works of Amado V. Hernandez

Amado Vera Hernandez
Childhood
  Amado V. Hernandez was born on September 13, 1903 in Tondo, Manila.
 His parents are Juan Hernandez and Clara Vera.
Education and Career
 He studied at the Manila High School in Gagalangin, Tondo.
 He studied fine arts at the University of the Philippines, which eventually led him
to journalism.
 In 1934, he started his literary career. He served as the editor of Mabuhay, the
city Tagalog daily.
Achievements
 In 1939, he won the Philippine Commonwealth Award for a historical epic entitled
Pilipinas (Philippines ).
 The same award was given to him in 1940 because of his collection of poems,
Kayumanggi.
 He organized the union, The Philippines Newspaper Guild.
 He edited Makabayan in 1956 – 1958, a fighting newspaper.
 In 1958, he received a certificate of merit from the National Press Club for his
service to Philippine journalism.
 He won the Republic Cultural Heritage Award in 1962.
 He received the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, first prize,
in 1958 and 1961, and second prize in 1959 and 1960.
 He received the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan award from the city
government of Manila in 1964.
 He received the first Balagtas Memorial Award from the Cultural Center of the
Philippines for Bayang Malaya in 1969.
 He received the Tanglaw ng Lahi Award from the Ateneo de Manila in 1970.
 He was proclaimed National Artist posthumously in 1973 for his contribution to
the development of Tagalog prose.
Major Works
 Mga Ibong Mandaragit
It is the first sociopolitical novel that tackled the agrarian problems of the 1950s. It also
dared to serve as a sequel to Dr. Jose Rizal’s El Filibusterismo. It begins with the
fulfillment of the prophecy of Fr. Florentino, which he uttered when Simon died. He took
the jewels from Simon and threw them into the sea. In this novel, the jewels were
retrieved by Mando Plaridel.
 Luha Ng Buwaya
This novel was based on the experiences of Amado V. Hernandez while in prison. It
was inspired by the sociopolitical problems in the Philippines from 1930 to 1950.
Crocodiles are a Filipino symbolism for the corrupt officials that the poor farmers and
labor leaders are fighting against. This novel, like Noli Me Tangere, shows the violation
of celibacy of priests, friars’ forgery of deeds, and the unadmirable figures of the priests.

Life and Works of Lazaro Francisco

Childhood
 He was born in Orani, Bataan on February 22, 1898.
 He was born to Eulogio Francisco and Clara Angeles.
Education
 He had his elementary and secondary education in Bataan and Nueva Ecija.
 He acquired his college education at the Central Luzon Agricultural College and
the International Correspondence School.
Achievements
He was dubbed as the “Master of the Tagalog Novel” and that was backed up by his
numerous achievements. He received the following awards:
 Republic Cultural Heritage Award in 1970
 Patnubay ng Kalinangan from the City of Manila in 1975
 Dangal ng Lahi, Lungsod ng Quezon in 1976
 Tanglaw ng Lahi from Ateneo de Manila in 1979
 Presidential Award of Merit for Literature
 Gawad Plaridel and Pingkain Award, both from the Bayanihan Foundation
 National Artist (posthumous) in 2009
Major Works
 His essay “Tatsulok” became the basis of his major social novels.
 Ilaw sa Hilaga earned him acclaim as it was considered the best novel ever
written in the first decade of the Third Philippine Republic.
Here are his other literary works:
 Maganda Pa Ang Daigdig
This is a novel about the festering problem of tenancy. It calls for more equitable
distribution of land.
 Sugat ng Alaala
This novel is about romance and war. It portrayed the realities of war during the World
War II as well as the nationalism of the Filipinos. The novel won the 1982 Gintong Aklat
Award for Literature.
  Daluyong
The title means “wave” or a “tidal wave.” This novel tackled the “waves of forces” that
prevents changes and hopes from being realized. It serves as a sequel to his novel
Maganda Pa Ang Daigdig

Below are some of the major literary works from Luzon:

1. Biag ni Lam-ang (Ilocos Region) – This is an epic about Lam-ang, a man with
extraordinary strength, who sets out to find his missing father Don Juan.
2. ”The Legend of Magat River” (Cagayan Valley, first version) – This is a legend
about Magat, a handsome and strong-willed youth, who saved a lovely maiden in
a stream from the clutches of a python.
3. Aliguyon (CAR) – An epic from the region of CAR, Aliguyon is about a series of
mortal combats between Aliguyon and Pumbakhayon to settle a tribal feud.
4. “Footnote to Youth” (NCR) – This is a short story about Dodong, who wanted to
marry Teang. Both were young, so when Dodong asked his father, he was met
with silence. The two ended up getting married, but later on, they both start to
think about and even regret doing so.
5. Ibalon or Ibalong (Bicol Region) – This is an epic about three heroes—Baltog,
Handiong, and Bantong—who all defeated their adversaries.
6. “Atin Cu Pung Singsing” (Central Luzon) – This is a children’s folk song about a
child who lost the ring given to her by her mother.
7. Tagbanua Myth (MIMAROPA) – This is a myth about the first man, named Adan,
who was like a stone, for he could not speak.
8. “The Legend of Maria Makiling” (CALABARZON) – This is a story about a
mountain in Laguna called Makiling that was guarded by a fairy named Maria.
The townsfolk fondly called her Mariang Makiling.

Visayas is the smallest island group in the Philippines. It is divided into three regions:
Western Visayas, Central Visayas, and Eastern Visayas. The major regional languages
in Visayas are Cebuano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Kinaray-a, and Waray. The seven main
islands in Visayas are Bohol, Cebu, Panay, Samar, Negros, Leyte, and Masbate.

Below are just some of the literary forms produced in Visayas:

1. Poems are called binalaybay.
2. Stories are called asoy or sugilanon.
3. Riddles are called paktakon.
4. Proverbs are translated to hurubaton. These are usually in two lines and rhymed.
5. Lullabies are called ili-ili.
6. Ambahan is long song alternately sung by a soloist and a chorus.
7. Siday is a long poetic battle between two paid poets representing the two families
in the pursuit of marriage.
8. Balitaw is a love song sung by a man and a woman in a debating manner.
9. Below are some of the major literary works from Western Visayas:
10. 1. Hinilawod is the oldest and perhaps most well-known epic of Panay. It narrates
the story of the goddess of the eastern sky named Alunsina who reached the age
of maidenhood. Every god from different places tried to win her heart. Soon, the
goddess decided to marry a mortal from Halawod, Datu Paubari.
11. 2. The Fall of Polobulac is a tale from Panay about the seven deadly sins.
12.
13. Here are some of the major literary works from Eastern Visayas:
14. 1. “ Bowaon and Totoon” – This is a Waray folktale with the English translation
“Falsehood and Truth.” It is about two friends named Bowaon and Totoon who
could not find work, so they decided to go away from their place to look for their
fortune elsewhere.
15. 2. “Si Amomongo at Si Iput-iput” – This is a fable about a gorilla and a firefly. The
lesson it conveys is that one should never belittle those who are small because
they could do big things that big people cannot do.
16.
17. Below are some of the major literary works from Central Visayas:
18. 1 .”Sicalac and Sicavay” – This is a Visayan creation myth about Captan and
Maguayan who are both gods who created earth and all living things. Captan
planted a bamboo in the garden. One day it broke into two sections and out
stepped a man and woman who were respectively named as Sicalac and
Sicavay.
19. 2. ”Catalina of Dumaguete” – This is a legend about a 16-year-old girl named
Catalina who was very beautiful and industrious but with many strange ways.
She was said to have mysterious powers and was said to have saved
Dumaguete from the Moros.
20. Mindanao is the second largest island group in the Philippines. It is divided into
six regions: Davao Region, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao,
Soccsksargen (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and
General Santos), ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao), and Caraga
Region.
21. The major regional languages in Mindanao are Chavacano, Maguindanao,
Maranao, and Tausug.
22. The region is generally inhabited by Muslims. Although they are no longer a
majority, the Islamic culture is still evident.
23. Unlike Luzon and Visayas, Mindanao was not entirely colonized by the
Spaniards; only few port cities were under the Spanish rule.
24. Large groups of ethnic minorities can be found in Mindanao, such as
Maranao, Magindanao, Ilanun, and Sangil. These groups are also referred to as
Moro. Meanwhile, the following groups are found in the uplands: the Bagobo,
Bukidnon, Manadaya, Manobo, and Subanon.
25. In general, the folk literature of Mindanao may be in prose or verse.
These are of collective authorship instead of individual authorship. Every ethnic
 minority has a number of raconteurs or narrators who deliver a story in a creative
way, bearing two or three or more folktales. The stories they tell have been
conveyed to them by older members of their respective families, friends, and
acquaintances, some of whom have already died. Raconteurs can be young or
old, men or women.
Below are the major literary works from Mindanao:
1. The Origin of Davao (Davao Region) – This is an account of the beginning of
Davao. It is about the natives of Davao called Kalagans.
2. Ag Tobig Nog Keboklagan (Zamboanga Peninsula) – This is an epic story
translated as The Kingdom of Keboklagan. It is considered as one of the oldest
epics in Zamboanga. It is chanted or performed during their week-long buklog
festival, and it tells the life and adventures of an extraordinary hero named
Taake.
3. How Cagayan de Oro Got Its Name (Northern Mindanao) – This is a legend
explaining the origin of the name of the province, which means “shameful peace.”
4. Ulahingan (SOCCSKSARGEN) – This is an epic about the adventures of Agyu
and his relatives who had a conflict with their rulers. As they flee from their place,
they were guided by a diwata .
5. The Maguindanao Tale of the Faithful Wife (ARMM) – This folktale is about an
aged man’s last words to his son, telling him that he should never marry a widow
and only choose a young lady.
6. Tulalang (Caraga Region) – This folktale is about Tulalang, the firstborn of a poor
couple. One day, he went into the forest to gather some food. When he was
collecting crops, an old lady approached him and pitied their poor life. She said
that they will never be hungry, and they can get anything they want. Soon after,
they had a prosperous life.
Genre, as defined by Merriam-Webster Dictionary, is a category of artistic, musical, or
literary composition characterized by a particular style, form, or content. Likewise, a
literary genre is a type or category of literary compositions. A literary genre has three
main subgenres: poetry, drama, and prose.

1. Poetry
According to Robert Frost, a prominent American poet, “Poetry is when an
emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” It is through poetry
that people get to express their emotions and ideas in a creative way.
Poetry is the most compact form of literature. The ideas, feelings, rhythm, and
sound are packed into carefully chosen words, working to convey meaning to the
readers. A poem has a tone (e.g.,ecstatic, melancholic, satiric), follows a form , and
uses figurative language (e.g., simile, metaphor, personification) to create an
impression.
There are three types of poetry:
1. Narrative Poetry
These are poems that tell a story. Historically, narrative poems began as oral traditions.
Examples of these are epics and ballads. Homeric epics such as The Iliad and The
Odyssey are both narrative poems. Beowulf is the oldest known English epic poem. The
Philippines’s Biag ni Lam-ang from the Ilocos region is also an epic.
2. Lyric Poetry
These are poems that are supposedly sung with musical accompaniment. They express
the poet’s or the persona’s feelings and emotions. Examples of lyric poetry are sonnets,
psalms, elegies, songs, and odes. William Shakespeare is known for having written
over a hundred sonnets.
3. Dramatic Poetry
These are poems that are usually performed onstage, and they can be sung or spoken.
The classic plays Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare and Oedipus the King by
Sophocles are some examples of dramatic poetry.

The common elements of poetry are the following:

 Persona
A persona is a dramatic character who is the speaker in the poem. A persona is not
always the poet.
 Form
Poetry is written in lines, and oftentimes the lines are divided into groups called stanzas.
 Imagery
Imagery is the use of language that appeals to the five senses: visual (sight), auditory
(hearing), gustatory (taste), tactile (touch), and olfactory (sense). The second and third
stanzas of Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind” contain words and phrases
that spark mental pictures in the reader’s mind:
Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red,
Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O thou,
Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed.
The wingéd seeds, where they lie cold and low,
Each like a corpse within its grave, until
Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow
 Sound Patterns
Sound patterns include rhyme, rhythm, and other literary devices that pertain to sounds,
such as onomatopoeia (using words that imitate the sound of what they refer to),
alliteration (repetition of initial sounds), and assonance (repetition of vowel sounds
within neighboring words).
 Rhyme
It is the repetition of similar or identical sounds at the end of poetic lines. The rhyme
scheme is the pattern of the rhyme placed at the end of each line or stanza in a poem.
William Shakespeare is known for his collection of 154 Sonnets. Here is an example:
“Sonnet XVIII” by William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? a
Thou art more lovely and more temperate: b
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, a
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date: b
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, c
And often is his gold complexion dimm’d; d
And every fair from fair sometime declines, c
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d; d
But thy eternal summer shall not fade e
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; f
Nor shall Death brag thou wander’st in his shade, e
When in eternal lines to time thou growest: f
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see, g
So long lives this and this gives life to thee. g

Aside from rhymes, a poem’s musicality is also achieved through its rhythm. Each line
can be measured in foot. One foot is equivalent to two or more stressed and/or
unstressed syllables. The measurement of syllables in a line is called meter.

Type of Foot Pattern

Iambic 1 unstressed syllable followed by 1 stressed syllable

Trochaic 1 stressed syllable followed by 1 unstressed syllable

Anapestic 2 unstressed syllables followed by 1 stressed syllable

Dactylic 1 stressed syllable followed by 2 unstressed syllables

 Spondaic All syllables have equal stress

Type of Meter Pattern

Monometer One foot
Dimeter Two feet
Trimeter Three feet
Tetrameter Four feet
Pentameter Five feet
Hexameter Six feet
Heptameter Seven feet

Octameter Eight feet

Shakespeare’s “Sonnet XVIII” is a perfect model for iambic pentameter, as it has five
feet of one stressed and one unstressed syllable per line: Shall I com- pare thee to a
sum -mer’s day ?
 Figurative Language
Poets use words or phrases that are put together to help readers picture ordinary things
in new ways. These words and phrases are called figures of speech.
 Theme
The theme is the central idea of a poem. It is usually stated as a philosophical truth in
life.