The Life and Works of Francico Sionil-Jose

Francisco Sionil-Jose was born in Pangasinan on December 3, 1924. He is a Filipino write who
mostly writes in the English language. Despite his odd use of the English language or more commonly
known as Filpino-English, his works have already been translated into 28 languages. The recurring
themes in his literary pieces are class struggles and colonialism in the Filipino society. Jose’s writings
espouse social justice and change in order to better the lives of average Filipino families. He is critically-
acclaimed internationally but underrated in the country because of his authentic Filipino-English and his
anti-elite views.

His greatest influence is his mother who got him books to read while making sure they don’t go
hungry despite poverty landlessnesss. Because of his passion for learning, one of Jose’s teachers opened
library to her students. Jose cried reading about Crispin and Basilio because he felt a connection to them
in the way they experienced injustice. When he was five years old, his grandfather who was a soldier
during the Philippine revolution showed land their family once owned but taken away by rich mestizo
landlords who knew how to work the systems against illiterates.

His writing career started began when he attended UST after WWII, but dropped out and went
into writing and journalism in Manila where he edited literary and journalistic publications. He also
started his own publishing house called Solidaridad Bookshop. He was also a founder of the Philippine
branch of PEN (poets, essayists, and novelists) which is an international organization for writers.

One of his works is the Rosales Saga which integrates themes and employs characters from
Rizal’s work. The novels traced the five generations of two families, namely the Samsons (poor farmers)
and the Asperri (wealthy mestizos) through Spanish and American periods in the history of the
Philippines until the period after Philippine Independence.

In an interview conducted by British Broadcasting Corporation in July 2003, he mentioned that

he chooses the city as the setting for his fictional works because on one hand, it depicts progress or
sophistication, but it may also reflect the decay in both social and moral that has come upon the people.
He also gave an advice to novice writers. He said, “Know yourself. Your self will be your critic. Your
experiences will shape you. Your community and nation is your primary audience.”•

Francisco Sionil-Jose is an amazing writer. His famous fictional works became hits because of the
true experiences embedded into the story. The plot may come across as something that is farfetched
from reality, but when analyzed, one would reflect that the conflicts and problems do occur in the real
world. His works can change mindsets and affect thoughts, and that for me is the greatest impact a
writer could have.