MODULE III

THE GREAT BOOKS

Lesson 1
The Ten Best Books in the Philippine
Literature

Lesson2
Philippine Literature Books
Lesson 1:
The Ten Best Books in the Philippine Literature

 After we discussed the most influential books and key traits of best selling books. We now
go to Philippine greatest literature. In an effort to better appreciate our literary heritage. It is
proper to trace the rich heritage of ideas handed down to us from our forefathers. Then we can
understand ourselves better and take pride in being a Filipino. We need to understand that we
have a great and noble tradition which can serve as a means to assimilate with other culture. We
have to show our deep concern for our literature and this can be done by studying our Philippine
literary piece

After this lesson, we will try to see how many great books that you know. Are you ready
for this lesson? We shall start now. The literature of the Philippines is a reflection of the country’s
traditional folktales, socio-political histories, and even true to life experiences. These books have
long promoted our culture as Filipinos, our day to day struggles, and have established real-life
lessons we could all live by.Below are the 10 Philippine best books to read in Philippine
Literature.

1. Noli Me Tángere by Dr. José Rizal-Among the great novels in Philippine literature, Noli Me
Tángere (Touch Me Not) is the most controversial and widely-known – it’s included in the current
education curriculum of Filipino high school students. Written by the country’s national hero, Dr.
José Rizal, this novel sparked the social awakening of Filipinos during the Spanish colonial era. As
Rizal cannot fathom the unfairness of the Spanish priests and the ruling government at the time,
his purpose of writing the book was to expose the ills of Philippine society at the time. In this
revolutionary book, you’ll learn about the story of Crisostomo Ibarra, how he dealt with Spanish
authorities, and how he prepared for his revenge, as told in Rizal’s 2nd book, El Filibusterismo.

2. Florante at Laura by Francisco Balagtas-Another famous masterpiece in Philippine literature,

Francisco Balagtas’ Florante at Laura is written in the form of ‘awit’ where there are four lines per
stanza and 12 syllables per line. Set in the fictional kingdom of Albania, it tackles the story between
Duke Florante and Princess Laura, who’s also being pursued by Florante’s enemy Count Adolfo.
As a literary classic, this book has become a favorite play not only among Filipino high school
students, but has been showcased in grand theaters such as Gantimpala Theater and the Cultural
Center of the Philippines.
3. Mga Ibong Mandaragit by Amado V. Hernandez-Mga Ibong Mandaragit (Birds of Prey) was
written by Filipino writer and social activist, Amado V. Hernandez. Being a novel that tackles social-
political issues, particularly Philippine revolution and neocolonialism, it has a connection to Rizal’s
earlier novels – Noli Me Tángere and El Filibusterismo. There was a passage in the novel where
protagonist Mando Plaridel was tested by Tata Matyas on what he knows about Rizal’s controversial
books. As he narrated the living conditions of Filipinos then, readers will note how Hernandez had
high hopes for significant changes that would uplift the Philippine society.

4. The Woman Who Had Two Navels by Nick Joaquin

-Being one of the most admired writers in Philippine literature, Nick Joaquin was recognized as
National Artist of the Philippines for Literature in 1976. In his historical novel entitled The Woman
Who Had Two Navels, Joaquin examines the effects and influence of the past towards the post-war
events in the Philippines. Lead female character Connie Escobar thinks she has two navels, and
thus requests her doctor to remove one – which symbolically means that she wants to shun away
from a traumatic past. She later finds out that her husband, Macho Escobar, was the lover of her
mother. Hoping to escape after being betrayed, she flees, only to discover more truths.
5. Po-on A Novel by F. Sionil Jose-
Like Hernandez and Joaquin, F. Sionil Jose’s works have been deeply influenced by Rizal. This
was reflected in his books and short stories, particularly the five-part novel series Rosales Saga,
which narrated class struggles and colonialism experienced by Filipinos. Po-on A Novel is the first
book in the Rosales Saga, which tells stories about Rosales, Pangasinan in the Philippines. While
this book is the last written and published in the series, it’s actually the book that sets the five-
part story. Discover the story of Eustaqio “Istak” Samson who abandoned his family to join the
rebel forces and escape the cruelty of Spanish authorities. The other four books in the saga are:
Tree, My Brother, My Executioner, The Pretenders, and Mass.

6. Banaag at Sikat by Lope K. Santos- Banaag at Sikat (From Early Dawn to Full Light) has been
dubbed the ‘bible of the Filipino working class.’ Being among the earliest novels written by Lope
K. Santos, it’s considered by Filipino critic Teodoro Agoncillo as one of the most important books
in Philippine literature in 1949. That’s because according to Agoncillo, it paved the way for the
development of a system on how Tagalog novels were written. The novel narrates the story
between Delfin and Felipe who have contrasting views. Delfin is a socialist whereas Felipe, despite
being the son of a rich landowner, leans towards anarchism. Throughout the narrative, themes of
love, livelihood, and societal status are embedded.
7. Ilustrado by Miguel Syjuco
This novel written by Miguel Syjuco landed him a spot on the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize, being
awarded the Grand Prize. Layered with fiction and non-fiction themes, the story begins with main
character Crispin Salvador, a noted writer whose lifeless body was discovered by authorities floating
off the Hudson River in New York. Since there was no evidence of foul play, it led them to think that
the author must have taken his own life. His student and friend, who has the same name as the
book’s author Miguel Syjuco, hopes to unravel the story behind this mystery.

8. Dekada ’70 by Lualhati Bautista-

The Marcos era in the ’70s is a dark chapter in Philippine history. No one dares to speak against
the government for fear of execution – in some cases, bodies are not even retrieved. Hence, it
has been a tumultuous period, especially for the Filipino parents to protect their kids from the
oppressive regime and at the same time, stand together as one family. Lualhati Bautista has
captured true-to-life scenarios in the ’70s, mentioning changes that arose after the Plaza Miranda
bombing and the suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus in the Philippines. The novels tells the
story of lead protagonist Amanda Bartolome and her family, where she had to deal with facing
the law and her responsibilities towards her five sons.
9.Smaller and Smaller Circles F.H Batacan

F.H. Batacan’s Smaller and Smaller Circles is the first Filipino crime detective story set in the
Philippines. The mystery novel revolves around two Jesuit priests named Gus Saenz and Jerome
Lucero who happen to perform forensic work. There have been murders of young boys in the slum
area of Payatas. As the novel explores themes that deal with the corruption and inefficiency in
the government, they hope to uncover the mysterious murderer behind the serial killings in
Manila‘s slum area. In 1999, Batacan’s mystery novel won the Carlos Palanca Grand Prize for
English Novel.

10. ABNKKBSNPLAko?! by Bob Ong- Spelt in the texting language, the title of this book
phonetically reads “Aba nakakabasa na pala ako?!” which can be translated as “Wow I can read
now?!” Written by an anonymous Filipino contemporary author whose pen name is Bob Ong, the
book rose to fame for depicting the supposed unforgettable moments of his life as a student,
starting from the first time of entering school up to his college days.

Unlike classic traditional novels, Bob Ong’s books make use of conversational Filipino language as
he narrates stories in a humorous way while depicting the real-life situations in Philippine context.
? THINK
 LEARNING ACTIVITY

Make an Infographic on the 10 best books on Philippine Literature.

Rubrics for grading

*An infographic is a collection of imagery, charts, and minimal text that gives an
LESSON 2

 PHILIPPINE LITERATURE BOOKS

The Filipinos of today must consciously choose to maintain a united front in order for all
of us to be truly equal and free as a people in one nation. How can we do this? Perhaps our study
of literature can help point us toward the direction of understanding different Philippine cultures
across the country, and hopefully this would provide the opportunity for a true sense of pride to
grow within us for being part of this nation.
Literature, being the conglomeration of the changing voices of the people and a reflection of the
conditions and accidents of time, is continuous and cannot be generalized and such makes systems
of periodization and approaches more or less arbitrary. Named periods and varying approaches
become an essential tool because they offer a framework in making us understand and appreciate
the literary output of the Filipinos through the centuries. Philippine Literature, together with
History, would not be nothing more than scattered events with periodization though sometimes
overlapping considering the schemes of tentative named periods.

In a paper presented by JCR Ledesma ( 2013) The Literary Output of the Filipinos through
the Centuries: A Look at the Approaches and Periodizations of Ten Anthologies in Philippine
Literature.

1. Philippine Literature: A Statement of Ourselves by Remedios V. Vinuya-

Vinuya makes use of historical markers in acquainting the learners with some of the literary
outputs of the Filipinos through the centuries. Selected samples of the various genres are
included. However, such selections are limited of the times and milieu in which they were
created. Vinuya’s anthology is not exhaustive as she seemed to focus only on a number of major
writers and stories for a certain period. Precolonial literature showed its limits through legends,
myths, and folk tales with stories of Malakas at Maganda, The Legend of Tagalogs, The Moon and
the Sun, and The Great Flood. The politics of exclusion is made obvious as she focused only on
the selected representative works of the writers belonging to a certain marker: Jose P. Rizal,
Marcelo H. Del Pilar, and Francisco Baltazar for Literature during the Spanish Era; Jose Garcia
Villa, and Bienvenido Santos as the only writers representative of the Literature under the
American Regime; Tita Lacambra-Ayala and Arturo M. Tolentino as representative of the
Philippine papers of the New Society, and Nick Joaquin, Amadis Ma. Guerrero, and Cirilo F.
Bautista for Contemporary Literature. Recognizing the bearing of the aforementioned statements,
it is observable that Remedios Vinuya’s anthology is not exhaustive and made a
great deal of exclusion in the selection of the literary outputs of the Philippines throughout the
centuries.

2. Philippine Literatures: Texts, Themes, Approaches by Augusto Antonio A. Aguila, Joyce

L. Arriola, and John Jack G. Wigley

Notable in the anthology of these three Thomasian educators is their act of breaking
traditions particularly the historical approach in the creation of anthologies as it had narrowed
the lens of our mirror to a thinking that literature is all about the dichotomy between a nativist,
lost Edenic past of pagan ethereality and colonially-mediated imaginative writings that react to
thepast (Aguila et.al., 2008). Anchored on a synchronic perspective of historical events, this
textbook offers a thematic approach to Philippine Literature identifying various aspects of
Filipino identity and has chosen for each theme three to five literary works that indicate an
arrayof perspective, personal, and social experience. Such anthology also captures the
extraordinarydiversity of Philippine society as it offers a heterogeneous selection of works by
Filipino writers: men and women, the working class, members of the third sex, ethnic and other
minor verbal artists. The themes presented in the textbook provides a rich discussion as it covers
the nation, culture, families, and even individuals, each with their own remembered histories as
seen in itsfourteen thematic divisions: 1 – Imaging the Filipino Man; 2 – Imaging the Filipino
Woman; 3 -Representing the Filipino Family; 4 – Exploring Filipino Traditions; 5 – Discovering Love
and the Filipino; 6 – Exploring Filipino Humor; 7 – Interrogating Gender Relations and the Filipino;
8 – Representing Death and the Filipino; 9 – Understanding Spirituality and the Filipino; 10 –
Discovering Philippine Aesthetics; 11 – Looking at War and the Filipino; 12 – Exploring Class
Relations in the Philippines; 13 – Imaging the Filipino Migrant and 14 – Revisiting Philippine History.

3. Philippine Literature: A Regional Approach by Delia B. Cariaga – Enriquez

The book is arranged into different literary periods with no historical named periods
that
will enrich the discussion of each literary output. Precolonial period deals with folk literature or
the oral lores: legends, myths, folk tales, folk epics, proverbs, riddles, and songs. Spanish
colonial period focuses on the written religious and secular works of the period. The following
literary periods present poems, plays, short stories and a number of essays of representative
writers from the different regions. This anthology gives satisfactory considerations of authors
and their literary outputs outside the National Capital Region. Considering the arduous task of
securing permission from the different regional writers, the division of the book into age and
literary genre does not provide an extensive and intensive study of each age and genre. Gaining
insights from the author of the book, one consideration in the choice of the selections is that of
literature as expression of personality and inner drives as advocated by psychologists. It includes
the psychology of the author, symbols, and themes. The morality of literature is also aninfluencing
factor in the choice of the selections (Enriquez, 2006).

4. Philippine Literature: A History and Anthology by Bienvenido Lumbera and Cynthia

Nograles Lumbera
Bienvenido Lumbera is one of the most prominent anthologies in the country. We are given
an overview of Philippine literature as it had developed in the course of the growth of the nation.
With history and politics as the categorizing agent, the anthology provides insights into the
Filipino way of life. This anthology provides the most comprehensive interpretation of the literary
development of the Philippines. Literary history following a political framework is the organizing
principle behind the content of this anthology. This anthology showed that Philippine literature
is not a simple chronology of literary masterpieces or a parade of fine writers; otherwise, the
literary output of the Filipinos, given their roots in contact with the culture of the colonial
administrators, might appear as nothing but an array of colorless reflections or indigenized
importations (Lumbera, 1997).

5. Readings in Philippine Literature by Celedonio G. Aguilar

Celedonio G. Aguilar’s anthology provides an intensive survey of Philippine Literature
with historical names periods as the framework different from Vinuya and Enriquez. It
presentsliterary materials in each periods which comprise of a chapter so as concepts would
evolve directing the readers to inherit the cultural values and hybridities of the Filipino past
giving inherence for deeper nationalism among the Filipinos. This anthology includes four chapters
that is so intensive that manifests the truly creative genius of the Filipino race: Chapter 1 is the
PreSpanish Tines dealing with myths, legends, epics, wise sayings, dirges, folk songs, and epic
plays. The expansive selection of Ancient Native Literature, as compared to Vinuya and
Enriquez, spells out the core nature of the Filipino people in their pre – Spanish ways of life,
beliefs, customs and traditions. Chapter 2 is the Spanish period which includes the following:
grammatical studies, regional linguistic works, religious literatures, revolutionary and
propaganda movements’ prose writing, poetry, essays, and novels as well as the periodicals of
the revolution. The chapter is concentrated that it shows the Spanish dominance and its cultural
inroad into Philippine culture with various writers like Cecilio Apostol, Jesus Balmori, Emeterio
Barcelon, and writers from the propaganda and revolutionary movement. Chapter 3 is the
American Regency which includes novels, essays, short stories, poetry and plays. Anchored on
literary history, this book is of a different format and content with concept internalization as the
primary focus – the concept of our nature and way of life which will be drawn out from the
literary pieces of each period in consonance with the shifting growth of political persuasion in
the country (Aguilar, 1994)

6. Philippine Contemporary Literature in English: Tradition and Change (From 20’s to the
Present) by Ophelia A. Dimalanta and Virginia M. Mata

Dimalanta and Mata, in their anthology, make use of a socio-cultural division which
includes looking at the pre-war and post-war years and the more recent times. The anthology
shifts from the “apprenticeship – emergence – contemporary division of literary periods” which
are not accurate and precise. Such socio-cultural division allows a greater room for a more
accurate and relaxed lumping of writing groups (Dimalanta and Mata, 1985). The anthology’s
works are divided into the works of pre-war writers who wrote before and after the war, and the
post-war writers who wrote prior to the war and were never given recognition until after the war.
The Filipino writer is seen as a product of his social environment. Philippine Contemporary
Literature in English is another book of different content as it focuses on the pre-war and postwar
writing groups of the 20th century with their conglomeration of ideas and values making
Contemporary Philippine Literature.

7. Philippine Literature: Past and Present by Silverio Baltasar, Teresita Erastain, and Ma. Fe
S. Estanislao
In a single volume, Baltasar, Erastain, and Estanislao give a survey of literature of the
Philippines starting from prehispanic times to the present (1981). The anthology is influenced by
four factors in determining its divisions and categorizations: chronology (named time periods),
literary types and forms, geography (space), and language (linguistic markers). With the four
aforesaid factors, the result turns out to be an expansive and comprehensive anthology in
Philippine Literature. The major divisions are based on time: Unit 1 – Pre-Hispanic Literature
and the Continuing Oral Tradition; Unit 2 – Philippine Writng during the Spanish Period; Unit 3
– Philippine Writing during the Period of Emerging National Consciousness; and Unit 4 –
Philippine Literature of the Twentieth Century. Such historical periodization overlaps at certain
points because the oral tradition continues to the present, and the 19th century blends with the
20th century with writers in the late 19th century writing well into the early 20th century
(Baltasar et.al, 1981). Genre is another influencing factor as they made use of the traditional
classification into essay, short story, novel, and drama. As seen in their divisions of the different
vernaculars, geography as well becomes an influencing factor. Language is the last factor as the
book is trilingual on the main with vernaculars in the original idiom.

8. A Survey of Contemporary Philippine Literature in English by Visitacion R. De La Torre

De La Torre intended to fill the need for a survey of Filipino authors and their
contemporary works. Contemporary, in this sense, covers the writings produced from the late
1960’s to the present (1978), giving emphasis on the writings produced during the 1970’s. Same
with Dimalanta and Mata, De La Torre makes use of cultural markers as framework in providing
a survey of Philippine literature. It can be recalled that the era of 1960’s saw a big change in the
Philippine cultural landscape. Western influences made its way and affected almost every aspect
of Filipino life and affected Philippine writings as well by means of technique. Then it was in the
times of the 1970’s where the studentry gained political consciousness and became more militant
asking for reforms. Philippine writing, in this anthology, veered consequently to literature that
possesses social content. Putting into consideration the numerous representative works and
writers which characterize as well as dramatize the range of Filipino experience today, the choice
cannot be exhaustive and faultless. Considering that English is one of the effective instruments
in furthering the growth of Philippine literature and as it continues to be written in English, the
anthology is confined to works in English becoming an encounter with what has shaped the Filipino
soul.

9. A Survey of Philippine Literature in English (1970) and The Development of Philippine

Literature in English (1975) by Richard V. Croghan

The anthology of Richard Croghan had developed gradually over the past five years. It
started in 1970 as mimeographed pages and underwent expansion in 1972 and mimeographed by
the Jesuit Educational Association with the title A Survey of Philippine Literature in English. In
providing a survey, Croghan makes use of linguistic – historical markers. He shows through each
periodization and its background how the Filipinos produced their outputs considering that they
were writing and trained with different tongues and they were accustomed to an altogether
different sensibility as the colonizers came. He became cognizant of the language situation
recognizing the rudiments of language as well as the creative struggle in conveying the idea of
Filipino-ness with Spanish and English and the its mainstream of British and American letters.

10. Philippine Literature from Ancient Times to the Present by Teofilo del Castillo and
Buenaventura Medina
Like Richard Croghan, Teofilo del Castillo and Buenaventura Medina took into
consideration the language situation in the Archipelago resulting of the manner of settling the
plentiful islands of the country in history. Anchored on linguistic markers, the authors gave
generous share to the literature of the principal native languages namely Tagalog, Cebuano,
Ilocano, Pangasinan, Pampango, Bicolano, Ilonggo, Waray, Maranao, and Tausug. The second
part deals with the literatures produced under the Spanish Regime with Spanish becoming the
language of the elite and of the “intelligentsia.” On the other hand, tagalog was seen as the
principal native language of the capital city as well as of the nearby developing provinces. Then
follows a rapidly maturing contemporary literature written in the three most essential languages
in the country: English, Tagalog, and Spanish. This anthology shows that the contemporary
literature of the Filipinos is an attestation to the assimilatory nature of the Filipino writer. No
matter what language is employed, the Filipino writer produces a resilient and rich literature.

? THINK

 LEARNING ACTIVITY

Sketchnoting- sketch a picture that represents what you’ve learned on the

10 Literature books being written.
Rubrics for grading sketchnote

Big ideas (5 pts) points) Clearly identifies main ideas with a high level of sophistication
Detail & Evidence Exceptional supporting evidence and details in a way that
(5 pts) profoundly develops a topic

Visual connections Makes connections between ideas and events using visuals
(10 pts)
Structure Exceptionally well structured, clearly communicating an
titles,dividers,containers understanding of ideas
Patterns)
(10 pts)

MODULE SUMMARY

In module III, you have learned the 10 best books in literature and 10 anthologies in
Philippine Literature.

Well done! You have just delved into Module III. Now you are inclined to evaluate how
much you have benefited from your reading by answering the summative test. Good luck!!!

 SUMMATIVE TEST

1. Creative activity: Make your own literature meme to summarize Lesson 1.

2. Tabular chart: Make a tabular description on the different books mentioned in Lesson 2
Name of Author Title of Book Key Take Away