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Filipino Writers
This list was based on the popularity and
number of bestselling works and whose
works became influential to the lives of the
Filipinos.
this greatest Filipino writers blog was
made by jecmendiola and onesounddrum.
10. CARLO J. CAPARAS
Carlo J. Caparas is a comic strip creator,
writer, director and producer who became
sensational known for his created local
superheroes and comic book characters
that are still popular to Filipinos until now.
Some of his creations turned
Filipino icons such as “Panday” (a
Blacksmith hero) and many others. As a
producer and director, Carlo J. Caparas
produced box-office movies based on
comics and true-to-life stories and crimes.
In 2009 he received National Artist Award
granted by the President of the Philippines.
9. MARS RAVELO
Mars Ravelo is also a comic strip creator
and writer who became phenomenal in the
Philippines for his created superheroes
such as “Darna” (a Filipino version of
Wonder Woman), Dyesabel (name of the
Filipino mermaid/heroine), and many
others. During his time, the “Golden Age of
Comics” flourished. Like Carlo J. Caparas,
Mars Ravelo’s creations and writings were
turned into films and became box-office hit
during 1960′s to 1980′s. Ravelo was also
the highest paid comic writer during his
time. Until now, his creations is still
influential to Philippine contemporary
literature.
8. LOUIE MAR GANGCUANCO
The youngest among the list, Louie Mar
Gangcuanco published his debut novel
entitled “Orosa-Nakpil, Malate” at the age
of 18. The novel illustrates the pink culture
in the streets of Orosa and Nakpil, which is
known as the haven of gay Filipino culture.
The novel became an instant hit, becoming
a bestseller months after it was released.
His work was featured in the top-rating TV
show, Sharon, in June of the same year. In
August 2006, Louie Mar was awarded the
Y Idol Award (Youth Idol Award) by Studio
23’s Y Speak. Later that month, the Sentro
ng Wikang Filipino conferred a Sertipiko ng
Pagpapahalaga for Orosa-Nakpil, Malate.
His phenomenal novel is endorsed by
prominent people and institutions including
the multi-awarded director, Jose Javier
“Joey” Reyes, Dr. Jaime Galvez Tan
(former DOH secretary) and Dr. Raul
Destura of the National Institutes of Health
Philippines.
After one year of circulation, Orosa-Nakpil,
Malate made it to the Best Sellers List
released by National Book Store in April
2007. With him in the list are authors Mitch
Albom of One More Day, James Patterson
and Maxine Paetro of The Fifth Horseman,
and Gabriel Garcia Marquez of Memories
of My Melancholy Whores. The book
landed on the Top 8 spot, overtaking
international authors Steve Berry and
Kiran Desai.
7. GILDA OLVIDADO
Gilda Olvidado is a popular Filipino
novelist and writer, known for her
extraordinary love stories. She became
famous during the 1970′s with her
remarkable novels “Sinasamba Kita (I
Worship You)”, “Babangon ako’t
Dudurugin Kita (Sweet Revenge)”. She
also wrote screenplays that later turned
into blockbuster such as “Saan Nagtatago
ang Pag-ibig? (Where is Love Hiding?)”
who made her rise into popularity after the
Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and
Sciences recognized it as the best story.
Today, Gilda Olvidado’s fans are still
counting, waiting the release for her next
novel.
6. NICK JOAQUIN
Nick Joaquín was born in Paco, Manila,
one of the ten children of Leocadio, a
colonel under General Emilio Aguinaldo in
the 1896 Revolution, and Salome
Marquez, a teacher of English and
Spanish. Being read poems and stories by
his mother, Joaquin taught himself by
reading widely at the National Library of
the Philippines and the library of his father,
who by that time was a successful lawyer
after the revolution. This developed further
his interest in writing.
At age 17, Joaquín was first published in
the literary section of the Pre-World War II
Tribune under writer and editor Serafín
Lanot. Before publishing in the Tribune,
Joaquin worked as a proofreader of the
paper.
After winning a Dominican Order-
sponsored nationwide essay competition
for La Naval de Manila, the University of
Santo Tomas awarded Joaquín an
honorary Associate in Arts (A.A.) and a
scholarship to St. Albert’s Convent, the
Dominican monastery in Hong Kong. Upon
his return to the Philippines, he joined the
Philippines Free Press, starting as a
proofreader. Soon, he was noticed for his
poems, stories and plays, as well as his
journalism under the pen name Quijano de
Manila. His journalism was markedly both
intellectual and provocative, an unknown
genre in the Philippines at that time,
raising the level of reportage in the
country.
Joaquín deeply admired José Rizal, the
national hero of the Philippines. Joaquín
paid tribute to Rizal by way of books such
as The Storyteller’s New Medium – Rizal in
Saga, The Complete Poems and Plays of
Jose Rizal, and A Question of Heroes:
Essays in Criticism on Ten Key Figures of
Philippine History. He also translated the
hero’s valedictory poem, in the original
Spanish “Mi Ultimo Adios,” as “Land That I
Love, Farewell!”
Joaquín served as a member of Motion
Pictures under President Diosdado
Macapagal and President Ferdinand E.
Marcos. Joaquin’s first move as National
Artist was to secure the release of
imprisoned writer José F. Lacaba. Later, at
a ceremony on Mount Makiling attended
by First Lady Imelda Marcos, Joaquín
delivered an invocation to Mariang
Makiling, the mountain’s mythical maiden.
Joaquín touched on the importance of
freedom and the artist. As a result, for the
remainder of the Marcos regime, Joaquín
no longer received invitations to address
important cultural events.
5. LUALHATI BAUTISTA
Lualhati Bautista is one of the foremost
Filipino female novelists in the history of
contemporary Philippine Literature. Her
novels include, “Dekada ’70 (Decade ’70)”,
“Bata, Bata, Pa’no Ka Ginawa? (Child,
Child… How were you made?”, and
“‘GAPÔ (short name for Olongapo,
Philippines)”.
In addition to being a novelist, Lualhati
Bautista is also a movie and television
screenwriter and a short story writer. Her
first screenplay was Sakada (Seasonal
Sugarcane Workers), a story written in
1975 that exposed the plight of Filipino
peasants. Bautista has received
recognition from the Philippines’ Don
Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for
Literature and the Surian ng Wikang
Pambansa in 1987. Her award-winning
screenplays include Bulaklak sa City Jail
(A Flower in City Jail) (1984), Kung
Mahawi Man ang Ulap (If The Clouds are
Parted) (1984), Sex Object (1985). For
screenplay writing, she has received
recognition from the Metro Manila Film
Festival (best story-best screenplay), Film
Academy Awards (best story-best
screenplay), Star Awards (best
screenplay), FAMAS (finalist for best
screenplay), and URIAN awards. Two of
her short stories have also won the Carlos
Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature,
Tatlong Kuwento ng Buhay ni Julian
Candelabra (Three Stories in the Life of
Julian Candelabra), first prize, 1982; and
Buwan, Buwan, Hulugan mo Ako ng
Sundang (Moon, Moon, Drop Me a
Sword), third prize, 1983. Bautista also
authored the television dramas Daga sa
Timba ng Tubig (The Mouse in the Bucket
of Water) (1975) and Isang Kabanata sa
Libro ng Buhay ni Leilani Cruzaldo (A
Chapter in the Book of Life of Leilani
Cruzaldo) (1987). The latter won best
drama story for television from the Catholic
Mass Media Awards.
Bautista was honored by the Ateneo
Library of Women’s Writings on March 10,
2004 during the 8th Annual Lecture on
Vernacular Literature by Women. In 2005,
the Feminist Centennial Film Festival
presented her with a recognition award for
her outstanding achievement in screenplay
writing. In 2006, she was recipient of the
Diwata Award for best writer by the 16th
International Women’s Film Festival of the
UP Film Center.
She is also the only Filipino included in a
book on foremost International Women
Writers published in Japan, 1991.
4. F. SIONIL JOSE
F. Sionil Jose is one of the most widely-
read Filipino writers in the English
language. His novels and short stories
depict the social underpinnings of class
struggles and colonialism in Filipino
society. José’s works – written in English –
have been translated into 22 languages,
including Korean, Indonesian, Russian,
Latvian, Ukrainian and Dutch.
Jose Rizal’s life and writings profoundly
influenced José’s work. The five volume
Rosales Saga, in particular, employs and
interrogates themes and characters from
Rizal’s work.
Throughout his career, Sionil José’s
writings espouse social justice and change
to better the lives of average Filipino
families. He is one of the most critically
acclaimed Filipino authors internationally,
although much underrated in his own
country because of his authentic Filipino
English and his anti-elite views.
In 1980, Sionil Jose received Ramon
Magsaysay Award (Asia’s Nobel Prize) for
Literature.
3. FRANCISCO BALAGTAS
Francisco Baltazar, known much more
widely through his nom-de-plume
Francisco Balagtas, was a prominent
Filipino poet, and is widely considered as
the Tagalog equivalent of William
Shakespeare for his impact on Filipino
literature. The famous epic, Florante at
Laura, is regarded as his defining work.
Balagtas learned to write poetry from José
de la Cruz (Huseng Sisiw), one of the most
famous poets of Tondo. It was de la Cruz
himself who personally challenged
Balagtas to improve his writing. (source:
Talambuhay ng mga Bayani, for Grade 5
textbook)
In 1835, Balagtas moved to Pandacan,
where he met María Asunción Rivera, who
would effectively serve as the muse for his
future works. She is referenced in Florante
at Laura as ‘Celia’ and ‘MAR’.
Balagtas’ affections for Celia were
challenged by the influential Mariano
Capule. Capule won the battle for Celia
when he used his wealth to get Balagtas
imprisoned under the accusation that he
ordered a servant girl’s head be shaved. It
was here that he wrote Florante at Laura—
In fact, the events of this poem were
meant to parallel his own situation.
He wrote his poems in Tagalog, during an
age when Filipino writing was
predominantly written in Spanish.
Balagtas published Florante at Laura upon
his release in 1838. He moved to Balanga,
Bataan in 1840 where he served as the
assistant to the Justice of peace and later,
in 1856, as the Major Lieutenant. He was
also appointed as the translator of the
court.
Balagtas is so greatly revered in the
Philippines that the term for Filipino debate
in extemporaneous verse is named for
him: balagtasan.
2. BOB ONG
Bob Ong, is the pseudonym of an
anonymous Filipino contemporary author
known for using conversational Filipino to
create humorous and reflective depictions
of life as a Filipino.
A Filipino Literary critic once commented:
” Filipinos really patronize Bob Ong’s
works because, while most of his books
may have an element of comedy in them,
this is presented in a manner that
replicates Filipino culture and traditions.
This is likely the reason why his first book
– and those that followed it, can be
considered true Pinoy classics.”
The six books he has published thus far
have surpassed a quarter of a million
copies. His words of wisdom were applied
by some of the Filipinos to their daily lives.
1. JOSE RIZAL
For obvious reasons, he is the most
influential and the most bestselling
author/writer until now.
Jose Rizal was a prolific poet, essayist,
diarist, correspondent, and novelist whose
most famous works were his two novels,
“Noli me Tangere (Touch Me Not)” and El
filibusterismo “The Filibuster”). These are
social commentaries on the Philippines
that formed the nucleus of literature that
inspired dissent among peaceful reformists
and spurred the militancy of armed
revolutionaries against the Spanish
colonial authorities.
His books are still cracking the bestselling
list