MUSIC

Antonino R. Buenaventura (1988)

In 1935, Buenaventura joined Francisca Reyes-Aquino to conduct research on folksongs and
dances that led to its popularization. Buenaventura composed songs, compositions, for solo
instruments as well as symphonic and orchestral works based on the folksongs of various
Philippine ethnic groups. He was also a conductor and restored the Philippine Army Band to its
former prestige as one of the finest military bands in the world making it “the only band that
can sound like a symphony orchestra”.
Major Works: “Triumphal March,” “Echoes of the Past,” “History Fantasy,” Second Symphony in
E-flat, “Echoes from the Philippines,” “Ode to Freedom.”

Ernani J. Cuenco (1999)

Ernani J. Cuenco is a seasoned musician born in May 10, 1936 in Malolos, Bulacan. A composer,
film scorer, musical director and music teacher, he wrote an outstanding and memorable body
of works that resonate with the Filipino sense of musicality and which embody an indigenious
voice that raises the aesthetic dimensions of contemporary Filipino music.
Major Works: “Nahan, Kahit na Magtiis,” and “Diligin Mo ng Hamog ang Uhaw na Lupa,”
“Pilipinas,” “Inang Bayan,” “Isang Dalangin,” “Kalesa,” “Bato sa Buhangin” and “Gaano Kita
Kamahal.”

Francisco Feliciano (2014)

He is a musician, a composer, conductor, or educator, contributed to bringing the awareness of
people all over the world to view the Asian culture as a rich source of inspiration and a
celebration of our ethnicity, particularly the Philippines.
Major Works: Ashen Wings (1995), Sikhay sa Kabila ng Paalam (1993), La Loba Negra (1983),
Yerma (1982), Pamugun (1995), Pokpok Alimako (1981)

Jovita Fuentes (1976)

Long before Lea Salonga’s break into Broadway, there was already Jovita Fuentes‘ portrayal of
Cio-cio san in Giacomo Puccini’s Madame Butterfly at Italy’s Teatro Municipale di Piacenza. Her
performance was hailed as the “most sublime interpretation of the part”. This is all the more
significant because it happened at a time when the Philippines and its people were scarcely
heard of in Europe. Her dream to develop the love for opera among her countrymen led her to
found the Artists’ Guild of the Philippines, which was responsible for the periodic “Tour of
Operaland” productions. Her life story has been documented in the biography Jovita Fuentes: A
Lifetime of Music (1978) written by Lilia H. Chung, and later translated into Filipino by Virgilio
Almario.
Major Works: Liu Yu in Puccini’s Turnadot, Mimi in Puccini’s La Boheme, and Iris in Pietro
Mascagni’s Iris.
Jose Maceda (1997)
He is a composer, musicologist, teacher and performer, explored the musicality of the Filipino
deeply. He wrote papers that enlightened scholars, both Filipino and foreign, about the nature
of Philippine traditional and ethnic music. Maceda’s experimentation also freed Filipino musical
expression from a strictly Eurocentric mold.
Major Works: Ugma-ugma(1963), Pagsamba (1968), and Udlot-udlot (1975), are monuments to
his unflagging commitment to Philippine music. Other major works include Agungan, Kubing,
Pagsamba, Ugnayan, Ading, Aroding, Siasid, Suling-suling.

Lucio San Pedro (1991)

Lucio San Pedro is a master composer, conductor, and teacher whose music evokes the folk
elements of the Filipino heritage. Cousin to “Botong” Francisco, San Pedro produced a wide-
ranging body of works that includes band music, concertos for violin and orchestra, choral
works.
Major Works: His orchestral music include The Devil’s Bridge, Malakas at Maganda
Overture,Prelude and Fugue in D minor, Hope and Ambition; choral music Easter Cantata, Sa
Mahal Kong Bayan, Rizal’s Valedictory Poem; vocal music Lulay,Sa Ugoy ng Duyan, In the Silence
of the Night; and band music Dance of the Fairies, Triumphal March, Lahing Kayumanggi,
Angononian March among others.

Levi Celerio (1997)

Levi Celerio is a prolific lyricist and composer for decades. Born in Tondo, Celerio received his
scholarship at the Academy of Music in Manila that made it possible for him to join the Manila
Symphony Orchestra, becoming its youngest member. A great number of his songs have been
written for the local movies, which earned for him the Lifetime Achievement Award from the
Film Academy of the Philippines. Levi Celerio, more importantly, has enriched the Philippine
music for no less than two generations with a treasury of more than 4,000 songs in an idiom
that has proven to appeal to all social classes.
Major Works: O Maliwanag na Buwan, Ako ay may Singsing, Alibangbang

Felipe Padilla de Leon (1997)

Felipe Padilla de Leon, composer, conductor, and scholar, Filipinized western music forms, a
feat aspired for by Filipino composers who preceded him.The prodigious body of De Leon’s
musical compositions.
Major Works: De Leon’s orchestral music include Mariang Makiling Overture (1939), Roca
Encantada, symphonic legend (1950), Maynila Overture (1976), Orchesterstuk(1981); choral
music like Payapang Daigdig, Ako’y Pilipino, Lupang Tinubuan, Ama Namin; and songs Bulaklak,
Alitaptap, and Mutya ng Lahi.
Lucrecia R. Kasilag (1989)
Lucrecia R. Kasilag, as educator, composer, performing artist, administrator and cultural
entrepreneur of national and international caliber, had involved herself wholly in sharpening
the Filipino audience’s appreciation of music.
Major Works: Her orchestral music include Love Songs, Legend of the Sarimanok, Ang Pamana,
Philippine Scenes, Her Son, Jose, Sisa and chamber music like Awit ng mga Awit Psalms,
Fantaisie on a 4-Note Theme, and East Meets Jazz Ethnika.

Antonio J. Molina (1973)

Antonio J. Molina, versatile musician, composer, music educator was the last of the musical
triumvirate, two of whom were Nicanor Abelardo and Francisco Santiago, who elevated music
beyond the realm of folk music. As a member of the faculty of the UP Conservatory, he had
taught many of the country’s leading musical personalities and educators like Lucresia Kasilag
and Felipe de Leon.
Major Works: Molina’s most familiar composition is Hatinggabi, a serenade for solo violin and
piano accompaniment. Other works are (orchestral music) Misa Antoniana Grand Festival Mass,
Ang Batingaw, Kundiman- Kundangan; (chamber music) Hating Gabi, String Quartet, Kung sa
Iyong Gunita, Pandangguhan; (vocal music) Amihan, Awit ni Maria Clara, Larawan Nitong
Pilipinas, among others.

Ramon Pagayon Santos (2014)

Ramon Pagayon Santos, composer, conductor and musicologist, is currently the country’s
foremost exponent of contemporary Filipino music. A prime figure in the second generation of
Filipino composers in the modern idiom, Santos has contributed greatly to the quest for new
directions in music, taking as basis non-Western traditions in the Philippines and Southeast
Asia.
Major Works: Ding Ding Nga Diyawa Na Basag na Banga at Iba’t iba pang Pinag-ugpong-ugpong
na Pananalita sa Wikang Filipino para sa Labing Anim na Tinig and LBAD.

Andrea Veneracion (1999)

Andrea Veneracion, is highly esteemed for her achievements as choirmaster and choral
arranger. Two of her indispensable contributions in culture and the arts include the founding of
the Philippine Madrigal Singers and the spearheading of the development of Philippine choral
music. A former faculty member of the UP College of Music and honorary chair of the Philippine
Federation of Choral Music, she also organized a cultural outreach program to provide music
education and exposure in several provinces. Born in Manila on July 11, 1928, she is recognized
as an authority on choral music and performance and has served as adjudicator in international
music competitions.
 DANCE
Francisca Reyes Aquino (1973)
Francisca Reyes Aquino is acknowledged as the Folk Dance Pioneer. This Bulakeña began her
research on folk dances in the 1920’s making trips to remote barrios in Central and Northern
Luzon. Her research on the unrecorded forms of local celebration, ritual and sport resulted into
a 1926 thesis titled “Philippine Folk Dances and Games,” and arranged specifically for use by
teachers and playground instructors in public and private schools.
Major Works: Her books include the following: Philippine National Dances (1946); Gymnastics
for Girls (1947); Fundamental Dance Steps and Music (1948); Foreign Folk Dances (1949);
Dances for all Occasion (1950); Playground Demonstration (1951); and Philippine Folk Dances,
Volumes I to VI.

Leonor Orosa Goquingco

Dubbed the “Trailblazer”, “Mother of Philippine Theater Dance” and “Dean of Filipino
Performing Arts Critics”, Leonor Orosa Goquingco, pioneer Filipino choreographer in balletic
folkloric and Asian styles, produced for over 50 years highly original, first-of-a-kind
choreographies, mostly to her own storylines.
Major Works: These include “TREND: Return to Native,” “In a Javanese Garden,” “Sports,”
“VINTA!,” “In a Concentration Camp,” “The Magic Garden,” “The Clowns,” “Firebird,” “Noli
Dance Suite,” “The Flagellant,” “The Creation…” Seen as her most ambitious work is the dance
epic “Filipinescas: Philippine Life, Legend and Lore.” With it, Orosa brought native folk dance,
mirroring Philippine culture from pagan to modern times, to its highest stage of development.

Ramon Obusan (2006)

Ramon Obusan was a *dancer, choreographer, stage designer and artistic director. He achieved
phenomenal success in Philippine dance and cultural work. He was also acknowledged as a
researcher, archivist and documentary filmmaker who broadened and deepened the Filipino
understanding of his own cultural life and expressions. Through the Ramon Obusan Folkloric
Group (ROFG), he had effected cultural and diplomatic exchanges using the multifarious aspects
and dimensions of the art of dance.
Among the full-length productions he choreographed are the following:
“Vamos a Belen! Series” (1998-2004) Philippine Dances Tradition
“Noon Po sa Amin,” tableaux of Philippine History in song, drama and dance
“Obra Maestra,” a collection of Ramon Obusan’s dance masterpieces
“Unpublished Dances of the Philippines,” Series I-IV
“Water, Fire and Life, Philippine Dances and Music–A Celebration of Life
Saludo sa Sentenyal”
“Glimpses of ASEAN, Dances and Music of the ASEAN-Member Countries”
“Saplot (Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group): Philippines Costumes in Dance”
Alice Reyes (2014)
The name Alice Reyes has become a significant part of Philippine dance parlance. As a dancer,
choreographer, teacher and director, she has made a lasting impact on the development and
promotion of contemporary dance in the Philippines. Her dance legacy is evident in the dance
companies, teachers, choreographers and the exciting Filipino modern dance repertoire of our
country today.
Among her major works: Amada (1969), At a Maranaw Gathering (1970) Itim-Asu (1971), Tales
of the Manuvu (1977), Rama Hari (1980), Bayanihan Remembered (1987).

Theater
Daisy H. Avellana (1999)
Daisy H. Avellana, is an actor, director and writer. Born in Roxas City, Capiz on January 26, 1917,
she elevated legitimate theater and dramatic arts to a new level of excellence by staging and
performing in breakthrough productions of classic Filipino and foreign plays and by encouraging
the establishment of performing groups and the professionalization of Filipino theater.
Together with her husband, National Artist Lamberto Avellana and other artists, she co-founded
the Barangay Theatre Guild in 1939 which paved the way for the popularization of theatre and
dramatic arts in the country, utilizing radio and television.
Major Works: She starred in plays like Othello (1953), Macbeth in Black (1959), Casa de
Bernarda Alba (1967), Tatarin. She is best remembered for her portrayal of Candida Marasigan
in the stage and film versions of Nick Joaquin’s Portrait of the Artist as Filipino. Her directorial
credits include Diego Silang (1968), and Walang Sugat (1971). Among her screenplays were
Sakay (1939) and Portrait of the Artist as Filipino (1955).

Honorata “Atang” Dela Rama (1987)

Honorata “Atang” Dela Rama was formally honored as the Queen of Kundiman in 1979, then
already 74 years old singing the same song (“Nabasag na Banga”) that she sang as a 15-year old
girl in the sarsuela Dalagang Bukid. Atang became the very first actress in the very first locally
produced Filipino film when she essayed the same role in the sarsuela’s film version. As early as
age seven, Atang was already being cast in Spanish zarzuelas such as Mascota, Sueño de un
Vals, and Marina.
Major Works: Among the kundiman and the other songs she premiered or popularized were
Pakiusap, Ay, Ay Kalisud, Kung Iibig Ka and Madaling Araw by Jose Corazon de Jesus, and Mutya
ng Pasig by Deogracias Rosario and Nicanor Abelardo. She also wrote her own sarswelas: Anak
ni Eba, Aking Ina, and Puri at Buhay.

Rolando S. Tinio (1997)

Rolando S. Tinio, playwright, thespian, poet, teacher, critic, and translator marked his career
with prolific artistic productions.
Major Works: Aside from his collections of poetry (Sitsit sa Kuliglig, Dunung – Dunungan, Kristal
na Uniberso, A Trick of Mirrors) among his works were the following: film scripts for Now and
Forever, Gamitin Mo Ako, Bayad Puri and Milagros; sarswelas Ang Mestisa, Ako, Ang Kiri, Ana
Maria; the komedya Orosman at Zafira; and Larawan, the musical.

Salvador F. Bernal
He designed more than 300 productions distinguished for their originality since 1969. Sensitive
to the budget limitations of local productions, he harnessed the design potential of inexpensive
local materials. Fond of using traditional materials.
To promote and professionalize theater design, he organized the PATDAT (Philippine
Association of Theatre Designers and Technicians) in 1995 and by way of Philippine Center of
OISTAT (Organization Internationale des Scenographes, Techniciens et Architectes du Theatre),
he introduced Philippine theater design to the world.

Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero (1997)

Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero is a teacher and theater artist whose 35 years of devoted professorship
has produced the most sterling luminaries in Philippine performing arts today.
Major Works: His plays include Half an Hour in a Convent, Wanted: A Chaperon, Forever,
Condemned, Perhaps, In Unity, Deep in My Heart, Three Rats, Our Strange Ways, The Forsaken
House, Frustrations.

Severino Montano (2001)

Playwright, director, actor, and theater organizer Severino Montano is the forerunner in
institutionalizing “legitimate theater” in the Philippines.
Among his awards and recognitions are the Patnubay ng Kalinangan Award from the City of
Manila (1968), Presidential Award for Merit in Drama and Theater (1961), and the Rockefeller
Foundation Grant to travel to 98 cities abroad (1950, 1952, 1962, and 1963). He is a dean
instruction of the Phillipine Normal College and organized the arena theatre to bring drama to
the masses.

Visual Arts
Fernando Amorsolo
The country had its first National Artist in Fernando C. Amorsolo. The official title “Grand Old
Man of Philippine Art” was bestowed on Amorsolo when the Manila Hilton inaugurated its art
center on January 23, 1969 with an exhibit of a selection of his works. Returning from his
studies abroad in the 1920s, Amorsolo developed the backlighting technique that became his
trademark where figures, a cluster of leaves, spill of hair, the swell of breast, are seen aglow on
canvas.
Among others, his major works include the following: Maiden in a Stream (1921)-GSIS
collection; El Ciego (1928)-Central Bank of the Philippines collection; Dalagang Bukid (1936) –
Club Filipino collection; The Mestiza (1943) – National Museum of the Philippines collection;
Planting Rice (1946)-UCPB collection; Sunday Morning Going to Town (1958)-Ayala Museum
Collection.

Carlos “Botong” Francisco (1973)

Carlos “Botong” Francisco, the poet of Angono, single-handedly revived the forgotten art of
mural and remained its most distinguished practitioner for nearly three decades. In panels such
as those that grace the City Hall of Manila, Francisco turned fragments of the historic past into
vivid records of the legendary courage of the ancestors of his race.
His other major works include the following: Portrait of Purita, The Invasion of Limahong,
Serenade, Muslim Betrothal, Blood Compact, First Mass at Limasawa, The Martyrdom of Rizal,
Bayanihan, Magpupukot, Fiesta, Bayanihan sa Bukid, Sandugo.

Guillermo Estrella Tolentino (1973)

Guillermo Estrella Tolentino is a product of the Revival period in Philippine art. Returning from
Europe (where he was enrolled at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Rome) in 1925, he was
appointed as professor at the UP School of Fine Arts where the idea also of executing a
monument for national heroes struck him.
Other works include the bronze figures of President Quezon at Quezon Memorial, life-size
busts of Jose Rizal at UP and UE, marble statue of Ramon Magsaysay in GSIS Building;
granolithics of heroic statues representing education, medicine, forestry, veterinary science,
fine arts and music at UP. He also designed the gold and bronze medals for the Ramon
Magsaysay Award and did the seal of the Republic of the Philippines.

Napoleon V. Abueva (1976)

At 46 then, Napoleon V. Abueva, a native of Bohol, was the youngest National Artist awardee.
Considered as the Father of Modern Philippine Sculpture, Abueva has helped shape the local
sculpture scene to what it is now. Being adept in either academic representational style or
modern abstract, he has utilized almost all kinds of materials from hard wood (molave, acacia,
langka wood and also marble. Among the early innovations Abueva introduced in 1951 was
what he referred to as “buoyant sculpture” — sculpture meant to be appreciated from the
surface of a placid pool.
Some of his major works include Kaganapan (1953), Kiss of Judas (1955), Thirty Pieces of Silver,
The Transfiguration (1979), Eternal Garden Memorial Park, UP Gateway (1967), Nine Muses
(1994), UP Faculty Center, Sunburst (1994)-Peninsula Manila Hotel, the bronze figure of
Teodoro M. Kalaw in front of National Library, and murals in marble at the National Heroes
Shrine, Mt. Samat, Bataan.

Victorio C. Edades
Emerged as the Father of Modern Philippine Painting.
Major works: The Sketch, The Artist and the Model, Portrait of the Professor, Japanese Girl,
Mother and Daughter, The Wrestlers and the Poinsettia Girl.

Vicente Manansala (1981)

Vicente Manansala‘s paintings are described as visions of reality teetering on the edge of
abstraction. As a young boy, his talent was revealed through the copies he made of the Sagrada
Familia and his mother’s portrait that he copied from a photograph.
Manansala’s works include A Cluster of Nipa Hut, San Francisco Del Monte,Banaklaot, I Believe
in God, Market Venders, Madonna of the Slums, Still Life with Green Guitar, Via Crucis, Whirr,
Nude.

Hernando R. Ocampo (1991)

Hernando R. Ocampo, a self-taught painter, was a leading member of the pre-war Thirteen
Moderns, the group that charted the course of modern art in the Philippines.
His other major works include Ina ng Balon, Calvary, Slum Dwellers, Nude with Candle and
Flower, Man and Carabao, Angel’s Kiss, Palayok at Kalan, Ancestors,Isda at Mangga, The
Resurrection, Fifty-three “Q”, Backdrop, Fiesta.

Cesar Legas (1990)

A pioneer “Neo-Realist” of the country, Cesar Legaspi is remembered for his singular
achievement of refining cubism in the Philippine context. Consider as the Father of Cubism in
Visual Arts.
Among his works are Gadgets I, Gadgets II, Diggers, Idols of the Third Eye, Facade, Ovary, Flora
and Fauna, Triptych, Flight, Bayanihan, Struggle,Avenging Figure, Turning Point, Peace, The
Survivor, The Ritual.

Arturo Luz (1997)

Arturo Luz, painter, sculptor, and designer for more than 40 years, created masterpieces that
exemplify an ideal of sublime austerity in expression and form. From the Carnival series of the
late 1950s to the recent Cyclist paintings, Luz produced works that elevated Filipino aesthetic
vision to new heights of sophisticated simplicity.
Among his other significant paintings are Bagong Taon, Vendador de Flores, Skipping Rope,
Candle Vendors, Procession, Self-Portrait, Night Glows,Grand Finale, Cities of the Past,
Imaginary Landscapes. His mural painting Black and White is displayed in the lobby of the CCP’s
Bulwagang Carlos V. Francisco (Little Theater). His sculpture of a stainless steel cube is located
in front of the Benguet Mining Corporation Building in Pasig.
Elizalde Navarro (1999)
J. (Jeremias) Elizalde Navarro, was born on May 22, 1924 in Antique. He is a versatile artist,
being both a proficient painter and sculptor. His devotion to the visual arts spans 40 years of
drawing, printmaking, graphic designing, painting and sculpting. His masks carved in hardwood
merge the human and the animal; his paintings consists of abstracts and figures in oil and
watercolor.
Three of his major mixed media works are I’m Sorry Jesus, I Can’t Attend Christmas This Year
(1965), and his Homage to Dodjie Laurel (1969: Ateneo Art Gallery collection), and A Flying
Contraption for Mr. Icarus (1984: Lopez Museum).

Ang Kiukok (2001)

Born to immigrant Chinese parents Vicente Ang and Chin Lim, Ang Kiukok is one of the most
vital and dynamic figures who emerged during the 60s.
Some of his works include Geometric Landscape (1969); Pieta, which won for him the bronze
medal in the 1st International Art Exhibition held in Saigon (1962); and the Seated Figure
(1979), auctioned at Sotheby’s in Singapore.

Benedicto R. Cabrera (2006)

Benedicto R. Cabrera, *who signs his paintings “Bencab,” upheld the primacy of drawing over
the decorative color. Bencab started his career in the mid-sixties as a lyrical expressionist.
Major Works: Madonna with Objects 1991, Studies of Sabel 1991, People Waiting 1989, The
Indifference 1988, Waiting for the Monsoon 1986.

Abdulmari Asia Imao (2006)

Abdulmari Asia Imao, a native of Sulu, is a sculptor, painter, photographer, ceramist,
documentary film maker, cultural researcher, writer, and articulator of Philippine Muslim art
and culture.
Selected works:
Industry Brass Mural, Philippine National Bank, San Fernando, La Union
Mural Relief on Filmmaking, Manila City Hall
Industrial Mural, Central Bank of the Philippines, San Fernando, La Union
Sulu Warriors (statues of Panglima Unaid and Captain Abdurahim Imao), 6 ft., Sulu Provincial
Capitol

Federico Aguilar y Alcuaz (2009)

Federico Aguilar y Alcuaz, who signed his works as Aguilar Alcuaz was an artist of voluminous
output. He is known mainly for his gestural paintings in acrylic and oil, as well as sketches in ink,
watercolor and pencil. His works are highly favored, not only for its studied refinement and
European flair, but also for the ease and pleasure conveyed by his choice of light, color and
composition; all of which add up to scenes which are always quite playful but never cluttered.
His love for classical music is also apparent in this constant fluidity.

Jose Joya (2003)

Jose Joya is a painter and multimedia artist who distinguished himself by creating an authentic
Filipino abstract idiom that transcended foreign influences.
Major Works: Beethoven Listening to the Blues, and Space Transfiguration, and other works
like Hills of Nikko, Abstraction, Dimension of Fear, Naiad, Torogan, Cityscape.

Pablo S. Antonio (1976)

Born at the turn of the century, National Artist for Architecture Pablo Sebero Antonio
pioneered modern Philippine architecture.
Antonio’s major works include the following: Far Eastern University Administration and
Science buildings; Manila Polo Club; Ideal Theater; Lyric Theater; Galaxy Theater; Capitan Luis
Gonzaga Building; Boulevard-Alhambra (now Bel-Air) apartments; Ramon Roces Publications
Building (now Guzman Institute of Electronics).

Leandro V. Locsin (1990)

Leandro V. Locsin reshaped the urban landscape with a distinctive architecture reflective of
Philippine Art and Culture.
Locsin’s largest single work is the Istana Nurul Iman, the palace of the Sultan of Brunei, which
has a floor area of 2.2 million square feet. The CCP Complex itself is a virtual Locsin Complex
with all five buildings designed by him — the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Folk Arts
Theater, Philippine International Convention Center, Philcite and The Westin Hotel (now Sofitel
Philippine Plaza).

Ildefonso Paez Santos, Jr. (2006)

Ildefonso Paez Santos, Jr., distinguished himself by pioneering the practice of landscape
architecture. Santos, Jr., who grew up in Malabon, made his first mark with the Makati
Commercial Center where he introduced a new concept of outdoor shopping with landscaped
walks, fountains and sculptures as accents.
Santos, Jr.’s most recent projects were the Tagaytay Highland Resort, the Mt. Malarayat Golf
and Country Club in Lipa, Batangas, and the Orchard Golf and Country Club in Imus, Cavite.

LITERATURE
Carlos Quirino (1997)
Carlos Quirino, biographer, has the distinction of having written one of the earliest biographies
of Jose Rizal titled The Great Malayan. Quirino’s books and articles span the whole gamut of
Philippine history and culture–from Bonifacio’s trial to Aguinaldo’s biography.
His book Maps and Views of Old Manila is considered as the best book on the subject. His other
books include Quezon, Man of Destiny, Magsaysay of the Philippines, Lives of the Philippine
Presidents, Philippine Cartography, The History of Philippine Sugar Industry, Filipino Heritage:
The Making of a Nation, Filipinos at War: The Fight for Freedom from Mactan to EDSA.

Francisco Coching (2014)

Francisco Coching, acknowledged as the “Dean of Filipino Illustrators” and son of noted Tagalog
novelist and comics illustrator Gregorio Coching, was a master storyteller – in images and in
print.
Major Works: He valorized the indigenous, untrammeled Filipino in Lapu-Lapu and Sagisag ng
Lahing Pilipino, and created the types that affirm the native sense of self in his Malay heroes of
stunning physique. His women are beautiful and gentle, but at the same time can be warrior-
like, as in Marabini (Marahas na Binibini) or the strong seductive, modern women of his comics
in the 50s and 60s.

N.V.M. Gonzalez (1997)

Nestor Vicente Madali Gonzalez, better known as N.V.M. Gonzalez, fictionist, essayist, poet, and
teacher, articulated the Filipino spirit in rural, urban landscapes.
Major works: The Winds of April, Seven Hills Away, Children of the Ash-Covered Loam and
Other Stories, The Bamboo Dancers, Look Stranger, on this Island Now, Mindoro and Beyond:
Twenty -One Stories, The Bread of Salt and Other Stories, Work on the Mountain, The Novel of
Justice: Selected Essays 1968-1994, A Grammar of Dreams and Other Stories.

Nick Joaquin (1976)

Nick Joaquin, is regarded by many as the most distinguished Filipino writer in English writing so
variedly and so well about so many aspects of the Filipino.
Among his voluminous works are The Woman Who Had Two Navels, A Portrait of the Artist as
Filipino, Manila, My Manila: A History for the Young, The Ballad of the Five Battles, Rizal in Saga,
Almanac for Manileños, Cave and Shadows.

F. Sionil Jose (2001)

F. Sionil Jose’s writings since the late 60s, when taken collectively can best be described as epic.
Major Works: In the five-novel masterpiece, the Rosales saga, consisting of The Pretenders,
Tree, My Brother, My Executioner, Mass, and Po-on, he captures the sweep of Philippine
history while simultaneously narrating the lives of generations of the Samsons whose personal
lives intertwine with the social struggles of the nation.

Alejandro Roces (2003)

Alejandro Roces, is a short story writer and essayist, and considered as the country’s best writer
of comic short stories. He is known for his widely anthologized “My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken.”
Ever the champion of Filipino culture, Roces brought to public attention the aesthetics of the
country’s fiestas. He was instrumental in popularizing several local fiestas, notably, Moriones
and Ati-atihan.

Edith L. Tiempo (1999)

Edith L. Tiempo, poet, fictionist, 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.
Tiempo’s published works include the novel A Blade of Fern (1978), The Native Coast (1979),
and The Alien Corn (1992); the poetry collections, The Tracks of Babylon and Other Poems
(1966), and The Charmer’s Box and Other Poems (1993); and the short story collection Abide,
Joshua, and Other Stories (1964).

Virgilio S. Almario (2003)

Virgilio S. Almario, also known as Rio Alma, is a poet, literary historian and critic, who has
revived and reinvented traditional Filipino poetic forms, even as he championed modernist
poetics. In 34 years, he has published 12 books of poetry.
Major Works: Makinasyon and Peregrinasyon, Doktrinaang Anakpawis, Mga Retrato at
Rekwerdo and Muli, and Sa Kandungan ng Lupa.

Amado V. Hernandez
A poet, playwright, and novelist, is among the Filipino writers who practiced “committed art”.
In his view, the function of the writer is to act as the conscience of society and to affirm the
greatness of the human spirit.
Hernandez’s other works include Bayang Malaya, Isang Dipang Langit, Luha ng Buwaya, Amado
V. Hernandez: Tudla at Tudling: Katipunan ng mga Nalathalang Tula 1921-1970, Langaw sa Isang
Basong Gatas at Iba Pang Kuwento ni Amado V. Hernandez.

Carlos P. Romulo (1982)

Carlos P. Romulo‘s multifaceted career spanned 50 years of public service as educator, soldier,
university president, journalist and diplomat.
His other books include his memoirs of his many years’ affiliations with United Nations (UN),
Forty Years: A Third World Soldier at the UN, and The Philippine Presidents, his oral history of
his experiences serving all the Philippine presidents.

Bienvenido Lumbera (2006)

Bienvenido Lumbera, is a poet, librettist, and scholar. He introduced to Tagalog literature what
is now known as Bagay poetry, a landmark aesthetic tendency that has helped to change the
vernacular poetic tradition.
Major Works: Likhang Dila, Likhang Diwa (poems in Filipino and English), 1993; Balaybay, Mga
Tulang Lunot at Manibalang, 2002; Sa Sariling Bayan, Apat na Dulang May Musika, 2004;
“Agunyas sa Hacienda Luisita,” Pakikiramay, 2004.
Cirilo F. Bautista (2014)
Cirilo F. Bautista is a poet, fictionist and essayist with exceptional achievements and significant
contributions to the development of the country’s literary arts. He is acknowledged by peers
and critics, and the nation at large as the foremost writer of his generation.
Major works: Summer Suns (1963), Words and Battlefields (1998), The Trilogy of Saint Lazarus
(2001), Galaw ng Asoge (2003).

Lazaro A. Francisco (2009)

Prize-winning writer Lazaro A. Francisco developed the social realist tradition in Philippine
fiction.
His masterpiece novels—Ama, Bayang Nagpatiwakal, Maganda Pa Ang Daigdig and Daluyong.

Jose Garcia Villa (1973)

He is considered as one of the finest contemporary poets regardless of race or language. Villa,
who lived in Singalong, Manila, introduced the reversed consonance rime scheme, including the
comma poems that made full use of the punctuation mark in an innovative, poetic way.
Major Works: Footnote to Youth,Many Voices, Poems by Doveglion, Poems 55, Poems in Praise
of Love: The Best Love Poems of Jose Garcia Villa as Chosen By Himself, Selected Stories,The
Portable Villa, The Essential Villa, Mir-i-nisa, and Storymasters.