NATIONAL

ARTIST FOR
LITERATURE
FRANCISCO ARCELLANA
Francisco "Franz"
Arcellana (Zacarias
Eugene Francisco
Quino Arcellana) was
a Filipino writer, poet,
essayist, critic,
journalist and teacher.
He was born in aka
Frank V. Sta. Cruz,
Manila.
• In 1932 Arcellana published his first story. “The
Man Who Could Be Poe” in Graphic while still a
student at Torres High School. The following year
two of his short stories, “Death is a Factory” and
“Lina,” were included in Jose Garcia Villa's honor
roll. During the 1930's, which he calls his most
productive period, he wrote his most significant
stories including, “Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal”
cited in 1938 by Villa as the year's best. He also
began writing poetry at this time, many of them
appearing in Philippine Collegian, Graphic and
Herald Midweek Magazine.
• In 1932 Arcellana published his first story. “The
Man Who Could Be Poe” in Graphic while still a
student at Torres High School. The following
year two of his short stories, “Death is a
Factory” and “Lina,” were included in Jose
Garcia Villa's honor roll. During the 1930's,
which he calls his most productive period, he
wrote his most significant stories including,
“Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal” cited in 1938
by Villa as the year's best. He also began
writing poetry at this time, many of them
appearing in Philippine Collegian, Graphic and
Herald Midweek Magazine.
Francisco Arcellana Poems
Prayer
Close all open things, Lord. Open all closed things.
The Other Woman
I have watched her in stillness, how still and white
and long. I have followed her about with my eyes, how
silent and swift and strong.
I Wait For You
I wait for you ready to leap at you from every
corner at every turn
To Touch You
TO touch you to kiss you to press against you
anywhere
VIRGILIO S. ALMARIO
Born on March 9, 1944, in Camias,
San Miguel, Bulacan, Virgilio S.
Almario—who now sits as the
current chairman of the National
Commission for Culture and the
Arts (NCCA) and the Komisyon sa
Wikang Filipino (KWF)—is an
esteemed educator, cultural
manager, and poet, who goes by
the moniker Rio Alma, recognized
for reviving and reinventing
traditional Philippine poetic forms
while championing modernist
poetics. His poetry ranges from the
lyrical to the satirical to the epic,
from the dramatic to the
incantatory, often offering acute
examinations of the self and the
society.
• He published his first collection of poetry in
1967, Makinasyon at Ilang Tula, which was
followed by more collections including
Peregrinasyon at Iba Pang Tula (1970),
Doktrinang Anakpawis (1979), Palipad-Hangin
(1985), Katon Para sa Limang Pandama (1987),
Muli, Sa Kandungan ng Lupa (1994),
Sentimental (2004), Estremelenggoles (2004),
Memo Mulang Gimokudan (2005), Sonetos
Postumos (2006), andBuwan, Buwang, Bulawan
(2009). Most of his poems were collected into
the two-volume Una Kong Milenyum in 1998.
• For his many achievements, Almario is
recipient of numerous awards including
several Palanca awards, Ten Outstanding
Young Men (1983), Southeast Asia Write
Award of Bangkok (1989), Dangal ng Lipi
Award of Bulacan (1993; 2008), Gawad
Patnubay ng Sining of Manila (1992),
Gantimpalang Quezon of Quezon City
(1993), and Gawad Diwa ng Lahi ng
Lungsod Maynila (2010). On June 25,
2013, Almario was proclaimed National
Artist for literature.
CIRILO F. BAUTISTA
Cirilo F. Bautista is a multi-awarded Filipino
poet, fictionist, critic and writer of
nonfiction. He received his basic education
from Legarda Elementary School (1st
Honorable Mention, 1954) and Mapa High
School (Valedictorian, 1959). He received
his degrees in AB Literature from the
University of Santo Tomas (magna cum
laude, 1963), MA Literature from St. Louis
University, Baguio City (magna cum laude,
1968), and Doctor of Arts in Language and
Literature from De La Salle University-
Manila (1990). He received a fellowship to
attend the International Writing Program at
the University of Iowa (1968–1969) and
was awarded an honorary degree—the
only Filipino to have been so honored
there.
• His poems have appeared in major literary
journals, papers, and magazines in the
Philippines and in anthologies published in the
United States, Japan, the Netherlands, China,
Romania, Hong Kong, Germany and Malaysia.
These include: excerpts from Sunlight on Broken
Stones, published in World Literature Today, USA,
Spring 2000; What Rizal Told Me (poem),
published in Manoa, University of Hawaii, 1997;
She of the Quick Hands: My Daughter and The
Seagull (poems), published in English Teacher’s
Portfolio of Multicultural Activities, edited by John
Cowen (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996).
Cirilo Bautista's Works:
• Poetry
• Summer Suns (with Albert Casuga, 1963)
• The Cave and Other Poems (1968)
• The Archipelago (1970)
• Charts(1973)
• Telex Moon (1981)
• Sugat ng Salita (1985)
• Kirot Ng Kataga (1995),
• Sunlight On Broken Stones (2000)
• Tinik Sa Dila: Isang Katipunan Ng Mga Tula (2003)
• The Trilogy Of Saint Lazarus (2001)
• Believe and Betray: New and Collected Poems (2006)
Literary Theory and Cultural Studies
• Breaking Signs (1990)
• Words And Battlefields: A Theoria On The
Poem (1998)
• The Estrella D. Alfon Anthology Vol. I -
Short Stories (2000)
• Bullets And Roses: The Poetry Of Amado
V. Hernandez / A Bilingual Edition
(translated Into English And With A
Critical Introduction) (2002)
Cirilo Bautista Poems
Patalim
Oh How To Find Silence In The World
Being spotted in the color of skin, why I take care in San Francisco,
waiting for the bus to Iowa. They say racial prejudice is strong,
Addressed To Himself
How hard I have made life for you, Cirilo, Who wrestle with words to
free my mind; Your various battles, you do not know,
Offering For Picasso
This poem is for Picasso who didn't have hair and looked like cheese.
The Fountains At Villa D'Este, Tivoli
As if he owned the ocean. Here, one man’s dream explodes in water,
carved in splashing splendour by lion teeth, angel mouth, breasts
Being Bluein Switzerland
I walk along the shore of Lake Lucerne The sunlight glimmers on the
water and pigeons eat crumbs under the trees.
NVM GONZALES
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.
• 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.
• "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 The 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.
AMADO V. HERNANDEZ
Amado Vera Hernandez, commonly
known as Amado V. Hernandez
(September 13, 1903–March 24,
1970), was a Filipino writer and labor
leader who was known for his criticism
of social injustices in the Philippines
and was later imprisoned for his
involvement in the communist
movement. He was the central figure
in a landmark legal case that took 13
years to settle.
He was born in Tondo, Manila, to
parents from Hagonoy, Bulacan. He
grew up and studied at the
Gagalangin, Tondo, the Manila High
School and at the American
Correspondence School.
Writer
• While still a teenager, he began writing in Tagalog for the
newspaper Watawat (Flag). He would later write a
column for the Tagalog publication Pagkakaisa (Unity)
and become editor of Mabuhay (Long Live).
• His writings gained the attention of Tagalog literati and
some of his stories and poems were included in
anthologies, such as Clodualdo del Mundo's Parolang
Ginto and Alejandro Abadilla's Talaang Bughaw.
• In 1922, at the age of 19, Hernandez became a member
of the literary society Aklatang Bayan which included
noted Tagalog writers Lope K. Santos and Jose Corazon
de Jesus.
• In 1932, he married the Filipino actress Atang de la
Rama. Both of them would later be recognized as
National Artists: Hernandez for Literature, de la Rama for
Theater, Dance and Music.
Poems Novels
• Isang Dipang Langit His socio-political novels were
• Panata sa Kalayaan based on his experiences as a
• Ang Mga Kayamanan ng Tao guerrilla, as a labor leader and as
• Ang Dalaw a political detainee.
• Bartolina Mga Ibong Mandaragit (Birds of
• Kung Tuyo Na ang Luha Mo Aking Prey),1969
Bayan Luha Ng Buway
• Bayang Pilipinas
• Ang Taong kapos
• Bayani Essays
• Sa Batang Walang Bagong Damit Si Atang at ang Dulaan (Atang
• Isang Sining ng Pagbigkas and the Theater)
• Ang Panday Si Jose Corazon de Jesus at
• Inang Wika ang Ating Panulaan (Jose
• Ang Tao Corazon de Jesus and Our
• Pamana Poetry)a (Crocodile's Tears), 1972
• Ang Aklasan
NICK JOAQUIN
Nick Joaquin, byname of
Nicomedes Joaquin,
(born May 4, 1917, Paco,
Manila, Phil.—died April
29, 2004, San Juan,
Phil.), Filipino novelist,
poet, playwright,
essayist, and biographer
whose works present the
diverse heritage of the
Filipino people.
• Starting as a proofreader for the
Philippines Free Press, Joaquin rose
to contributing editor and essayist
under the nom de plume “Quijano de
Manila” (“Manila Old-Timer”). He was
well known as a historian of the brief
Golden Age of Spain in the
Philippines, as a writer of short stories
suffused with folk Roman Catholicism,
as a playwright, and as a novelist.
• The novel The Woman Who Had Two Navels (1961)
examines his country’s various heritages. A Portrait of the
Artist as Filipino (1966), a celebrated play, attempts to
reconcile historical events with dynamic change. The
Aquinos of Tarlac: An Essay on History as Three
Generations (1983) presents a biography of Benigno
Aquino, the assassinated presidential candidate. The
action of the novel Cave and Shadows (1983) occurs in
the period of martial law under Ferdinand Marcos.
Joaquin’s other works include the short-story collections
Tropical Gothic (1972) and Stories for Groovy Kids (1979),
the play Tropical Baroque (1979), and the collections of
poetry The Ballad of the Five Battles (1981) and Collected
Verse
FRANCISCO SIONIL JOSE
Francisco Sionil José
was born on Dec. 3,
1924, in Rosales,
Pangasinan. He is best
known for The Rosales
Saga, a five-novel epic
that encompasses 100
years of Philippine
history, 1872-1972, and
depicts the Philippines’
revolutionary tradition.
• A prolific writer whose childhood
memories of his hometown are the
roots of his works of fiction, José has
written more than 35 books – novels,
short stories, poetry and social
commentaries. Earlier in his writing
career, he also was an award-winning
journalist. He is the Philippines’ most
widely translated writer, with his works
translated into more than 25 foreign
languages, as well as Ilokano, Tagalog
and Cebuano.
• In 1965, José and his wife Teresita founded the
Solidaridad Bookshop and Publishing House. The
following year, he established Solidarity, a
monthly magazine whose contributors included
Asia’s leading writers, poets, statesmen, scholars
and political and social activists. The next year,
the couple launched Solidaridad Galleries, which
was dedicated to giving Filipino art a Filipino face,
and to providing a space for new, young Filipino
artists to exhibit their works. Lao Lian Ben, Imee
de Guzman, Tiny Nuyda, Onib Olmedo and Mario
de Rivera are among the artists who held their
first exhibit at the Galleries.
BEINVENIDO LUMBERA
Bienvenido L. Lumbera was
born on April 11, 1932. He
spent most of his youth in
Batangas until he entered the
University of Santo Tomas in
1950 to pursue a degree in
journalism. He completed his
M.A. and then his Ph.D. in
Comparative Literature at
Indiana University in 1967.
Lumbera writes in English and
Filipino, and has produced
works in both languages.
• Dr. Lumbera has been a recipient of numerous
awards, including the Ramon Magsaysay Award
for Journalism, Literature and Creative
Communication Arts in 1993, the Gawad CCP,
Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas, Manila
Critics' Circle and the Palanca. He has also
gained Professor Emeritus status in the
University of the Philippines. He also serves in
the Board of Advisers of the UP Institute of
Creative Writing. This 2006, for his creative and
critical work directed towards a literature rooted
in the search for nationhood, Dr. Lumbera
received the much-coveted title of National Artist
for Literature.
• He has a poetry collection entitled Likhang Dila,
Likhang Diwa (1993), and Balaybay: Mga Tulang
Lunot at Manibalang, a collection of new poems in
Filipino and those from Likhang Dila. He has
several critical works, including Abot-Tanaw:
Sulyap at Suri sa Nagbabagong Kultura at
Lipunan (1987) and Writing the Nation/Pag-akda
ng Bansa (2000). He has also done several
librettos, among them Tales of the Manuvu (1977)
and Rama Hari (1980). Sa Sariling Bayan: Apat na
Dulang May Musika (DLSU, 2003) collects the
four historical musicals Nasa Puso ang Amerika,
Bayani, Noli Me Tangere: The Musical, and Hibik
at Himagsik Nina Victoria Laktaw.
LEVI CELERIO
He is amazing and
resourceful person he used
the LEAF as a musical
instrument. Made the
Guinness Book of Records
for playing music using
leaves. Philippine National
Artist in Literature and
Music (1997). Celerio Born
April 30,1910 in Tondo
Manila,Philippines and
sadly he died at age of 82
April 2,2002 in Quezon
City,Philippines.
• He`s one of the Philippine National Artist in
Literature and Music. Levi Celerio is a
Talented Person. He is a composer,Lyricist
and he is the one who made the famous
Song Pasko na Naman including; Ang
Pasko ay Sumapit, Kahit Konting Pagtingin,
Ang Pipit,Itik-Itik, Duwangin Mo Hirang and
many more.And He worked with Lucio D.
San Pedro in the Lyrics of “Sa Ugoy ng
Duyan”. he wrote lyrics for more than 4,000
Filipino folk, Christmas and love songs,
including many that became movie titles.
AWARDS AND RECOGNITION
On October 9, 1997, pursuant to
Proclamation No. 1114, President Fidel V.
Ramos proclaimed him a National Artist
for Music and Literature.[7] His citation
read that his music “was a perfect
embodiment of the heartfelt sentiments
and valued traditions of the Filipino.”
ALEJANDRO R. REYES
• Roces was born on July
13, 1924 in Manila,
Philippines; the son of
Rafael Gonzlez Roces
and Inocencia Batista
(Reyes) Roces.
• Alejandro Roces was a
Filipino author, essayist
and dramatist. He was
better known for his
humorous short stories in
English.
• Roces was known for his changing
the date of Philippine Independence
Day from July 4 to June 12. He also
recovered the stolen original
manuscripts of Noli Me Tangere, El
Filibusterismo and Mi último Adiós. In
addition, Alejandro changed the
language used in Philippine
passports, coins, bills and diplomas to
Wikang Pambansa.
• His story "My Brother’s Peculiar
Chicken" was listed as Martha
Foley’s Best American Stories
among the most distinctive for
years 1948 and 1951. Alejandro`s
book "Something to Crow About"
won the Aliw Award for Best
Musical and Best Director for a
Musical Production.
CARLOS P. ROMULO
Carlos P. Romulo (1899-
1985) was an author and
the foremost diplomat of
the Philippines. He was
the only Filipino journalist
to win the Pulitzer Prize
and the first Asian to
serve as president of the
UN General Assembly
(1949). He also gained
prominence as America's
most trusted Asian
spokesman.
• Carlos Romulo was born on Jan. 14, 1899, in
Manila; but his well-to-do parents lived in Camiling,
Tarlac. His father, Gregorio, was a Filipino guerrilla
fighter with the Philippine revolutionary
government of Emilio Aguinaldo during the Filipino-
American War. Rómulo claimed to have witnessed
his grandfather tortured by the water cure
administered by American soldiers. After early
schooling in Tarlac, Rómulo entered the University
of the Philippines, where he received a bachelor's
degree in 1918. After getting a master of arts from
Columbia University in 1921, he returned to work
as professor of English and chairman of the
English department of the University of the
Philippines (1923-1928).
• Rómulo became editor in chief of TVT
Publications in 1931 and publisher and
editor of the Philippines Herald (1933-
1941). In 1929 he was appointed regent of
the University of the Philippines. Previously
he had served as secretary to Senate
president Manuel Quezon (1922-1925) and
as member of the Philippine Independence
Mission, headed by Quezon. Rómulo
belonged to the elite, the oligarchic stratum
of the Filipino ruling class, by virtue of his
role as defender of the interests of the
propertied minority.
EDITH L. TIEMPO
Edith Tiempo was born on
April 22 1919 in San
Nicolas , Bayombong ,
Nueva Viscaya . Her parents
are Salvador T. Lopez , an
auditor for the government ,
and Teresa Cutaran . During
her childhood , Tiempo’s
family frequently had to
move from one province to
another of her father’s
different assignments and
postings .
• Edith L. Tiempo , poet , fiction writer,
teacher and literary critic is one of the
finest Filipino Writers in English whose
works are characterized by a remarkable
fusion of style and substance , of
craftsmanship and insight.Her poems are
intricate verbal transfigurations of
significant experiences as revealed , in two
of her much anthologized pieces , “Lament
for the Littlest Fellow ” and “BONSAI.”
Novels POETRY
• A Blade of Fern • The Tracks of Babylon
and Other Poems (1966)
(1978) • The Charmer’s Box
• His Native Coast (1993)
(1979) • Bibliophile
• Six Poetry Formats and
• The Alien Corn
the Transforming Image.
(1992) A Monograph on Free
• One Tilting Leaves Verse (2008)
• An Edith Tiempo Reader
(1995) (1999)
• The Builder (2004) • Six Uses of Fictional
Symbols (2004)
ROLANDO S. TINIO
• Rolando S. Tinio was
a playwright, actor,
poet, translator,
teacher, and critic.
He grew up in Tondo
and graduated from
the University of
Santo Tomas with a
degree in
Philosophy, magna
cum laude at the age
of 18.
• Tinio published four volumes of poems
between 1972 and 1993. His language
morphed from “Taglish,” a mixture of
Tagalog and English, to pure Filipino
and back to English. His book Kristal
na Uniberso won the National Book
Award.
• Among his many works for the theater are
Larawan, the musical, Ang Mestisa, Ako, Ang
Kiri, Ana Maria and the komedya Orosman at
Zafira. He was known for translating Western
classics, which includes the works of
Shakespeare, Ibsen, Sophocles, Chekhov and
Puccini into Filipino. He led theater groups
Ateneo Experimental Theater and Teatro Pilipino
to new heights with his artistic vision and
intellectual approach. He also worked on the
stage adaptation of National Artist Nick
Joaquin’s play Portrait of the Artist as Filipino.
He was conferred National Artist status in 1997.
JOSE GARCIA VILLA
Villa was born in 1907 in the
Philippine Islands. His early
path did not involve poetry.
Instead he began a pre-
medical course of study at
the University of the
Philippines, eventually
switching to pre-law. After
some time, Villa recognized
that his true passion was in
the creative arts, and his
career as a writer began.
• Jose Garcia Villa, a Filipino poet, critic,
short story writer and painter, is an
important person to recognize during
Filipino American History Month.
• In 1929, he published a collection of erotic
poems called Man Songs. This collection
was met with some controversy. But that
same year, he was selected for the Best
Story of the Year from the Philippine Free
Press magazine for his story called Mir-l-
Nisa.
• Villa also wrote something he called
“comma poems,” where a comma is
included after each word in the poem. As
he explained in the preface to his Volume
Two, “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 measured.”
LAZARO FRANCISCO
• As an admired master
of the Tagalog novel
who has significantly
contributed to our
literary tradition,
Francisco awaits our
discovery and
appreciation.
• Fortunately, some of his novels are still
available today, having enjoyed reprints by
three university presses: Ateneo, UST and
UP. These novels are: “Binhi at Bunga”
(1925), “Cesar” (1926), “Ama” (1929),
“Bayang Nagpatiwakal” (1931), “Sa Paanan
ng Krus” (1934), “Ang Pamana ng Pulubi”
(1935), “Bago Lumubog ang Araw” (1936),
“Singsing na Pangkasal” (1939), “Ilaw sa
Hilaga” (1947), “Sugat ng Alaala” (1951),
“Maganda pa ang Daigdig” (1956),
“Daluyong” (1961).
RAMON MUZONES
Born on March 20, 1913 in
Lambunao, Iloilo, Atty. Ramon L.
Muzones was the eldest.
Atty. Ramon L. Muzones was a
lawyer by profession, a
newspaper man and was elected
to public office as councilor of
Iloilo City from 1963 to 1971. But
it was writing in the vernacular
that he excelled most. He first
wrote “The Ten Bornean Datus”
which was published in the
Philippine Free Press when he
was 19 years old.
• His novels written in pure Ilonggo attracted
national acclaim and he was cited as an
Outstanding Awardee of the Writers’ Union of
the Philippines and received its Literary
Achievement Award in 1988.

• He received the Cultural Artist of the Philippines

Award in 1989 and chosen as a Gawad
Bonifacio – Centennial Artist of the Philippines in
1997 in the company of illustrious regional
writers as Amado Hernandez, Tagalog;
Iluminado Lucente, Waray; Mariano Perfecto,
Bicolano; Leon Pechay, Ilocano and Vicente
Sotto, Cebuano.
• He was hailed as the greatest Ilonggo
Writer of the Century and upon his
death on Aug. 17, 1992, after having
been elected as an Outstanding
Ilonggo, the Sangguniang Panlungsod
of Iloilo, thru its Ordinance No. 00-121
enacted on Sept. 6, 2000, renamed in
his honor what was formerly General
Hughes Street, Iloilo City as Ramon L.
Muzones Street.
 PRESENTED BY:
CHERRY G. NOBLE
RAIMA EFONDO
JARYLLE FAITH GUINSATAO
NOVY JOY GEÑALOPE
CRYSTAL JADE GALIA
RODIER CORDERO JR.