SLIDE 7: Hello, Good morning, agents! Am I being heard clearly? Alright. This is agent Jimmy.

We are now bound to move to our next mission. Our second mission as agents of LIT 213
Group 4 is now to investigate one local author in the Philippines. Are you in with this mission?
Good. Now let me introduce you to our target, namely Lualhati Bautista. Let's investigate her
further.
Lualhati Bautista was born on December 2, 1945 in Tondo, Manila. She was a journalism
student at the Lyceum of the Philippines, but later on dropped out because she wanted to focus
more on pursuing her career in writing. She then actually became a novelist, screenwriter as
well as an activist.

SLIDE 8:
Listen carefully, agents. Lualhati Bautista's name became influential and notable in Philippine
history for her bravery as a Filipina writer writing issues that are relevant in our country. She is
one of the foremost Filipino novelists in the history of contemporary Philippine literature.
Bautista also served as vice-president of the screenwriters guild of the Philippines and also a
chair of the kapisanan ng mga manunulat ng popular, making her the only Filipino included in a
book on foremost international women writers published in 1991. Do you copy? Alright.

SLIDE 9:
Now, let us investigate further why she was this influential. What did she do? What did she
write? Let's look for it, agents. So Lualhati Bautista wrote a lot of short stories, novels and
screenplays. Take note, she didn't just wrote but she won several palanca awards for her works.
She wrote books that exposes injustices and chronicling women during the Marcos era such as
Dekada 70, Bulaklak Sa City Jail, Bata Bata Paano Ka Ginawa, Gapo and Hinugot Sa Tadyang.
She also wrote several novelettes and some of these are Sila at ang Gabi: Isang Buong Laot
Kalahati Ng Daigdig, Ang Babae Sa Basag Na Salamin and Araw Ng Mga Puso. Some of these
works were also became films and Bautista was invited several times to scriptwright films
making her name also popular to Philippine cinemas.

SLIDE 10:
Are you still there, agents? Alright. As we go further, we are now investigating why Lualhati
Bautista and her stories are notable. Hmm, what may be her top secret in terms of writing style?
Listen carefully. So Bautista is known for her honest realism style in writing. She actually even
emphasize this quotation of hers, "I am a writer. I speak and write according to my conscience. I
believe in responsibility but not in censorship. No law shall be passed abridging my freedom
both as writer and as citizen of this country." Bautista had proven herself worthy of such a
distinction. She is too much of a visionary to be just an artist, and too much of an artist to be
simply called a storyteller. She takes her tales to the next level by keeping them readable,
intelligent, and invariably true to form.
She also brought her strong principles to the themes of her stories which are mostly all about
courageous exploration of Philippine women's issues, and her compelling female protagonists,
who confront difficult situations at home and in the workplace with uncommon grit and strength.
SLIDE 11:
Can you still hear me clearly? Good. Let us now investigate one of her most notable stories.
Here on screen is the story entitled "Bata Bata, Paano ka Ginawa?" To get it detail by detail, I
will first tell you the synopsis of this story. So Bata Bata Paano Ka Ginawa is a story which is all
about a working mother and a social activist, who has two children. The novel begun with an
introductory chapter about the graduation day from kindergarten of Maya, Lea’s daughter. A
program and a celebration were held. In the beginning, everything in Lea’s life were going
smoothly – her life in connection with her children, with friends of the opposite gender, and with
her volunteer work for a human rights organization. But Lea’s children were both growing-up
and Lea could see their gradual transformation. There were changes in their ways and
personalities. So Maya’s curiosity was becoming more obvious every day, while Ojie was
crossing the boundaries from boyhood to teenage years and to adulthood. In the end, all three,
and especially Lea, have to confront Philippine society’s view of single motherhood; and the
novel itself brazens out to the questions of how it is to be a mother, and how a mother executes
this role through modern-day concepts of parenthood.
Do you copy, agents? Alright the genre of this story is fiction, specifically another western
inspirational fiction wherein it contains a story of a person who overcome adversity or reach a
new level of understanding that opened the minds of the readers.

SLIDE 12:
Moving forward, agents. As we go along in further investigating Bata Bata Paano Ka Ginawa,
we should look for what makes this story stand out. So this is not just a mere novel but a
multi-award winning novel written by Lualhati Bautista. And aside from that, as stated here, it
was able to craft its own revolution within the minds of all readers due to how the
book-turned-film tackled ideologies and it opened all of our eyes to the situations around us. It
was written in the 1980s but it is still timeless. It stands out as the inspiring character of Lea
showed that women can be more than what the society have set them to be. And we, as
individuals, all of our struggles and experiences are valid and accepted as it makes us who we
are.

SLIDE 13:
Am I still clear, agents? For the last one, you should sharpen your minds and ears as I tell you
what could be the target grade level of this story. So in here, it says students in senior high
school level can greatly perceive the message of this story. Why do you think so? It's because in
senior high level, specifically the grade 12 students, they are more open minded with these
kinds of topics. And considering the competencies in teaching literature, modern literature
should be taught in Grade 12 level. Lualhati Bautista is a modern literature author so Bata Bata
Paano Ka Ginawa is more appropriate for the Grade 12 students. With their open-mindedness,
they could already understand and accept the struggles and decisions of Lea in life. She is a
woman whom society and even readers would not approve of based on their boxed beliefs of
how women should act, behave, and live. But with this modern era and open mindset, many of
the young minds could now assess these kinds of stories and how they could let this affect them
as an individual.
Now, agents we are done investigating a foreign and a local author, also their notable works. I
hope you gathered a lot of information. We are the agents of LIT 213 Group 4. Thank you and
once again, good day.