Satanas sa Lupa (“Satan on Earth”), subtitled “nobelang pangkasalukuyan”[1] (“Present-day Novel”),

is a 1970[2] Tagalog-language novel by Filipino author and scriptwriter Celso Al. Carunungan,[3] one
of the “titans of Philippine literature”.[4] The novel criticizes the Philippine
government and society during the early part of the 1970s, a reason why the author had been
included among the group known as "Class 1081", Filipinos imprisoned when Martial Law was
declared by Ferdinand Marcos in 1972.
Apart from being one of the political novels in the Philippines from 1967 to 1972 that "represented a
clamor for change in society" (Filipino: kinatawan ng paghingi ng pagbabago sa lipunan), Satanas sa
Lupa was one of the novels in the Philippines that incorporated romanticism in its plot using the "love
triangle" (Filipino: tatsulukan ng pag-ibig) genre, a genre that began in the Philippines in 1906
through another novel entitled Juan Masili by another Filipino author named Patricio Mariano. The
love triangle in Satanas sa Lupa is between the characters Benigno Talavera, Conrado, and
Chona.[5]

Contents

 1Description
 2See also
 3References
 4External links

Description[edit]
According to Ruby Gamboa-Alcantara in her"Romantisismo, Estilong Pilipino" Itinatak sa Nobelang
Tagalog ("Romanticism, Filipino Style" Stamped on the Tagalog Novel), the character Benigno
Talavera was the representative of Philippine politics in Satanas sa Lupa. Talavera was a "formerly
good citizen" who was influenced by three other Congressmen (Filipino: Konggresista) Carpio,
David, and Balbino. The three were cheating each other for the sake of climbing up the ladder of
power and for gaining wealth. In Satanas sa Lupa, the reign of greed was ended by the persecution
of Senator Morales, the death of Talavera, and the burning of evidence used to blackmail Talavera.
The evidence was burned by Talavera's wife, Virginia. The other circumstances presented
in Satanas sa Lupa were the drug addiction of Ismael, the son of Talavera; the pregnancy out of
wedlock and motherhood as a single woman by Esther, the daughter of Talavera; the love affair
between Contrado and Chona; and the elopement of Conrado and Chona (Conrado was supposed
to become a priest). According to Gamboa-Alcantara, there is an unrealistic circumstance in Satanas
sa Lupa, which is the excessive portrayal of Virginia, the wife of Talavera, as the martyred spouse
and mother, due to the use of Philippine-style romanticism.[5]