Gregorio Sancianco y Goson
musical instrument.
- (March 7, 1852, Malabon, - died November 17, 1897, Santo
Domingo, Nueva Ecija, Philippines) he was a lawyer and early
advocate of economic reforms in the Philippines, which was then
under Spanish rule. He was among the first generation of the
Propaganda Movement, the lobby for political and economic
reforms spearheaded by educated Filipinos (ilustrados) based in
Spain in the second half of the 19th century. Sancianco has been
called the first Filipino economist.
- Sancianco was born in Tonsuya, a district of Malabon
Tambobong (now Malabon), to Chinese mestizo (half-native, half-
Chinese) parents, he studied law at the University of Santo Tomas
(UST) and was a founding member of the reformist student
organization, Juventud Escolar Liberal. Two other founding
members were Paciano Mercado (Jose Rizal’s elder brother) and
Felipe Buencamino. Juventud was part of the broader reform
movement in the Philippines and worked under the direction of the
Comite de Reformadores, which was led by clergy including Jose
Burgos, Mariano Gomez, and Jacinto Zamora, and members of the
Manila elite such as the lawyers Joaquin Pardo de Tavera
and Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista.
- In 1881 while still in Spain, Sancianco published El progreso de
Filipinas (The progress of the Philippines); this work, the first
treatise on economic issues by a Filipino, analysed economic
conditions in the country. In the process Sancianco debunked
certain racist views, notably those revolving around the alleged
“indolence” of the natives; the work’s main purpose however was
to propose specific reforms in taxation and revenue-mobilisation
for the Philippines as a means of financing physical and social
infrastructure.
Work
- El Progreso de Filipinas
Epifanio delos Santos
- Epifanio delos Santos y Cristobal was born on April 7, 1871, in
Malabon, Rizal, the only son of Escolastico de los Santos and
Antonia Cristobal. His father was an educated and wealthy
hacendero, and ardent student of history and a product of Ateneo
de Manila his mother attended school at the Colegio de la
Consolacion, and was a finished player of the harp and other
- He enrolled at the Ateneo de Manila where he obtained after six
years a Bachelor of Arts with excellent grades and notable marks
in many subjects. Upon leaving Ateneo where he spent time in
painting, he concentrated of some time in music. The arts
fascinated him, but when he transferred to University of Santo
Tomas it was to up law which he finished in March in 1898.
- He and Jose Clemente Zulueta published in 1898 the news paper
Libertad in Malabon.He also became an associate editor of La
Independencia, the first revolutionary periodical, and a
contributor of El Renacimiento, La Democracia, La Patria, and
Malaysia.
- He was appointed District Attorney for San Isidro, Nueva Ecija in
1900. In 1902, he was elected as Governor of Nueva Ecija. In 1906,
he moved to Malolos where he was the provincial Fiscal for both
Provinces of Bulacan and Bataan.
- He conducted extensive researches on Philippine History and
Literatureand enriched his Filipiniana collection thereby
establishing his reputation as a historian and bibiliographer. He
married twice. His first wife was Ursula Paez of Malabon and the
second was Margarita of Malolos.
- On April 18,1928, Don Panyong died in Manila, a victim of
cerebral attack. The long highway EDSA was named after him.
- In his book, Nonoy Marcelo wrote that Don Panyong was born in
Barangay Longos. During the Philippine-American war, Don
Panyong used the pseudonym "G. Solon" and it is said that this
pseudonym, once unscrambled, would spell his birthplace
"Longos."
- In his honor, the former Highway 54 from Pasay City to
Caloocan City was renamed Epifaniodelos Santos Avenue (EDSA),
as well as several schools, streets, a college, and a hospital. There
is also an Epifanio de los Santos Auditorium in the Philippine
National Library.
Linda Ty-Casper
- Linda Ty-Casper is a highly-acclaimed Filipino writer. She was
born as Belinda Ty in Manila, Philippines in 1931. Her father worked
in the Philippine National Railways; her mother was a school
teacher and textbook writer. It was her grandmother who told her
stories about the Philippine struggle for independence, a topic she
picked up in her novels. She has law degrees from the University
of the Philippines and Harvard. However, erroneous and biased
statements in books at Widener Library converted her into an
advocate, through faithfully researched historical fiction, of
Filipino's right to self-definition/determination.
- Her stories, collected in Transparent Sun, The Secret Runner,
and Common Continent, originally appeared in magazines such as
Antioch Review, The Asia Magazine, Windsor Review, Hawaii
Review, and Triquarterly. One short story was cited in The Best
American Short Stories of 1977 Honor Roll. Another won a UNESCO
and P.E.N.prizes.
- She has held grants from the Djerassi Foundation, the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the Wheatland Foundation.
She and her husband, (literary critic and professor emeritus of
Boston College) Leonard Casper, reside in Massachusetts.
Works
- Her numerous books are generally historical fiction. The
Peninsulars centers on eighteenth-century Manila; The Three-
Cornered Sun written on a Radcliffe Institute grant, deals with the
1896 Revolution; and Ten Thousand Seeds, the start of the
Philippine American War. Contemporary events, including martial
law years, appear in Dread Empire, Hazards of Distance, Fortress
in the Plaza, Awaiting Trespass and Wings of Stone.
Gloria Villaraza Guzman
- Gloria Villaraza Guzman was born in Malabon on January 11,
1925. She is the daughter of LucinoVillaraza and
FlordelizaSogueco. She finished her elementary school at Malabon
Elementary School as Salutatorian.and high school in Malabon
Central Institute where she finished second honor. She earned her
bachelor’s degree at National Teachers College in 1955.
- As poet and fictionist her works were published in leading
magazines and journals like Liwayway Magazine (1943); Malaya
Magazine (1946); Philippine Free Press (1950’s –1960’s); and
Philippine Herald Midweek Magazine (1960’s). She has also written
materials for children like Munting Patak-ulan (1977), and Munting
Sinag-araw (1981), which were exhibited by UNESCO in Paris in
1985. Munting Patak-ulan was also made into murals in Children’s
Hospital, Lungsod ng Kabataan in Quezon City.
- Her “Sa Balantok ng Bahaghari at Iba pang mga Tula” won the
1975 Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature-Filipino
Poetry while her “Handog ng Kalayaan” was awarded Cultural
Center of the Philippines Grand Award for Epic in 1979. In 1983 she
was awarded Komisyon ng Wika Award for Poetry, Fiction and
Children’s Literature and in 1996 an Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa
Pilipinas (UMPIL) gave her Awards for Poetry and Fiction. The City
of Manila presented her the Gawad sa P.anitikan in 1998. She was
married to Leonardo Ilagan de Guzman.
Christine S. Bellen
- Christine S. Bellen graduated from UP-Diliman in 1995 with a
B.A. in Philippine Studies, majors in Creative Writing and Art
Studies. In 2003, she received an M.A. in Philippine Studies with
majors in Philippine Literature and Art Studies. Her M.A. thesis
was “Bisa ng Pantasya: Ang Imahinasyon sa Mga Kuwento ni Lola
Basyang ni Severino Reyes” which was awarded a grant from the
Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Development at UP-
Diliman. A faculty of the Ateneo de Manila University’s Filipino
Department, she is currently pursuing her doctorate in Phil
Studies with majors in History, Anthropology and Literature in UP.
- She is a Writing Fellow of Pambansang Unyon ng mga Manunulat
sa Pilipinas (PANULAT) and the Barlaya Writers for Children of the
UP Institute of Creative Writing and Adarna House. She is also a
Literary Criticism Fellow of the Bienvenido N. Santos Creative
Writing and Research Center at the De La Salle University. A
former vice president of Kuwentista ng mga Tsikiting (KUTING) and
a current member of Congress of Teachers/Educators for
Nationalism and Democracy (CONTEND), she has held several
lectures regarding Children’s Literature in different universities
and at the annual conferences of College Editors Guild of the
Philippines (CEGP). Her poems, stories for children and academic
papers have been featured in various publications
including Creative Juices: Works of the Ateneo Faculty -The First
Collection.
Works
- Her books include Og Uhog, which won recognition at the PBBY-
Alfredo Salanga Writer’s Prize and National Book Award in
2002, Filemon Mamon , and Ang Mahiwagang Biyulin, Rosamistica,
Ang Alamat ng Lamok, Ang Parusa ng Duwende and Ang Plautin ni
Periking , which are re-tellings of Severino Reyes’ Lola Basyang
stories. She is also the author of LUNA: Mga Pintura at Talinghaga ,
a collection of her short poetry where her co-author Joel Mendez
showcased his paintings, and the play Kamatayan ng Dinastiya ,
translated from Jean Cocteau’sThe Eagle Has Two Heads .
Vivian Balaris Tica
- She is a constant reminder of God’s faithfulness. Tica has
mentored young writers who have brought honor to Higher
Ground Baptist Academy at the national leg of Young Writers’
Press Conferences. As the school paper’s adviser, she was also
behind its victories in various competitions. Tica patiently helps
students master the English language. Her colleagues say she is a
also a joy to work with and she does not hesitate to help someone
in need. But Tica always makes time for the Lord and her family,
helping her children in their srudies. She inspires everyone she
meets through her words, action and her life. Though she is
content with what she has, she years to do more for the Lord and
prays that others be as blessed she is.
Soledad S. Reyes
- Soledad Sarmiento Reyes (born 5 March 1946) is a distinguished
and recognized Philippine literature scholar, literary and art
critic, author, anthologist, consultant, professor, instructor,
editor, annotator, researcher, and essayist in the Philippines.
Specializing in the field of popular culture and the arts in the
Philippines, Reyes is a professor teaching interdisciplinary studies
at the University of the Philippines and the Ateneo de Manila
University. She is an accomplished author of books and
anthologies. "Sa Nobela Mababalatuba Ang Mga Pangyayari Sa
Buhay ng Isang Kagawad Sa Union.
- In 1966, Reyes received her Bachelor of Arts degree
from Maryknoll College (now known as Miriam College. In 1977, she
received her M.A. degree from the University of the Philippines
Diliman. She obtained another master's degree, this time from
the Ateneo de Manila University. She completed her Ph.D. in
Philippine Studies at the University of the Philippines Diliman in
1976. In 1981, Reyes obtained her Masters in Arts degree in the
field of Sociology of Literature from University of Essex in England.
- Apart from teaching and acting as a consultant for Philippine
and international universities, Reyes acted as the Chair of the
Board of Judges for the Carlos Palanca and Cultural Center of the
Philippines awards. As an exchange professor at the Peking
University in China in 1977, Reyes focused on the preparation of
modules regarding Philippine literature and popular culture. In
1987, Reyes lectured about Philippine literature, culture,
and history at the Xiamen University in China. From 1987 to 1995,
she was a board member of the Writers' Union of the
Philippines (Unyon ng mga Manunulat ng Pilipinas, UMPIL). During
the Peking University-Ateneo de Manila University Exchange
Program in 1992, Reyes was assigned as the delegate of the
Ateneo de Manila University. Beginning 2001, Reyes served as the
editor of the Humanities section of the Loyola Schools Review. She
was a member of the PEN-International. Reyes is the editor and
annotator of the 100 Nobelang Tagalog Project (100 Tagalog Novels
Project) of Filipiniana.net, a digital library based in the Philippines.
Works
- Reyes authored works such as the Nobelang Tagalog, 1905-1975:
Tradisyon at Modernismo ("Tagalog Novel, 1905-1975: Tradition
and Modernism", 1982),The Romance Mode in Philippine Popular
Literature and Other Essays (1991), Kritisismo: Mga Teorya at
Antolohiya Para sa Epektibong Pagtuturo ng Panitikan ("Criticism,
Theories and Anthologies for the Effective Teaching of Literature",
1992) and Pagbasa ng Panitikan at Kulturang Popular: Piling
Sanaysay, 1976-1999 ("Reading Literature and Popular Culture,
Selected Essay, 1976-1999). Among the anthologies Reyes edited
were Katha ("Creation", 1992), Ang Silid na Mahiwaga: Kalipunan ng
Kuwento't Tula ng mga Babaeng Manunulat ("The Mysterious Room:
Compilation of Stories and Poems by Female Writers", 1994),
and ALIW! Essays on Popular Culture (2000).
Juan Miguel Severo
- Filipino actor and spoken word artist who came to fame playing
Rico on the comedy series On the Wings of Love. He received
increased attention for his spoken word art when his piece "Ang
Huling Tula na Isusulat Ko para sa 'Yo" went viral in 2015. Before
Fame He attended the College of Mass Communication, where he
was roommates with On the Wings of Love director Antoinette
Jadaone. Trivia His first play, Hintayan ng Langit, debutedin 2015. It
was so well-received that it was shown to Filipinos in the United
States. Family Life He was born in Malabon, Philippines. Associated
With He appeared alongside Nadine Lustre on On the Wings of
Love. Juan Miguel Severo is an actor and writer, known for
Hintayan ng langit (2018), Overtime (2014) and That Thing Called
Tadhana (2014). Trade Mark - Spoken word poetry
- Juan Miguel Severo, foremost figure of the spoken word
phenomenon in the Philippines, “Ang Tula Bilang Bigkas at
Palabas,” event is organized by the UST Center for Creative
Writing and Literary Studies (UST CCWLS), with the UST Literary
Society. Literature month This semester’s USTingan, forum is UST
CCWLS’s contribution to National Literature Month. Severo started
performing at Sev’s Café in 2014, where he met Words Anonymous,
an active group of spoken word artists, of which he is now the
most popular member. His fan base further increased when he
played Rico in the JaDine hit rom-com TV series “On the Wings of
Love.” Multi-awarded poet-writer translator-scholar-techer
Nadera is considered the “father of performance poetry in the
Philippines.”
- He is one of the foremost poets in Filipino and is director of the
Philippine High School for the Arts in Mt. Makiling, Laguna. Event is
open to creative writers, literary enthusiasts and the general
public.