REGION II AUTHORS

 
1.Emmanuel Agapito Flores Lacaba (December 10, 1948 – March 18, 1976), popularly known
as Eman Lacaba, was a Filipino writer, poet, essayist, playwright, fictionist, scriptwriter, songwriter
and activist and he is considered as the only poet warrior of the Philippines.

Lacaba was killed on March 18, 1976 in Tucaan Balaag, Asuncion, Davao de Norte he was set to go
back shortly to the city for a new assignment that would have used his writing skills, and had even
agreed to write a script for Lino Brocka once he got back there. He was 27 years old.[1]

Works

Lacaba wrote the lyrics of "Awit ni Kuala", the song sung by Lolita Rodriguez in the classic Lino
Brocka masterpiece 'Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang '. He also composed new revolutionary lyrics in
Cebuano for some well-known folk songs.
 
2.FERNANDO M. MARAMAG
(1893-1936)
Poet and Journalist

Fernando  Maramag  was  an  excellent  poet  and  journalist  in  English.    He  had  a  rich  style
and deep understanding of human nature – qualities which made his poetry appealing to all
readers.  On the other hand, his editorial writings “exerted great influence on the various phases
of the Filipino way of life, particularly in its government, economics, education and politics,”
according to a critic.

He was born on January 21, 1893 in Ilagan, Isabela, to Rafael Maramag and Victoria
Mamuri, a Spanish mestiza.  His parents were wealthy landowners.
At  age  seven,  he  was  enrolled  in  a  public  school in his hometown.  He finished his high
school  in  1908.    He  was  15  when  he  entered  the  Philippine  Normal  School.    However,  at  the
insistence of his father, he transferred to the University of the Philippines.
At UP he started writing for the school organ.  A brilliant student, he later became its
editor-in-chief.  Among his equally brilliant classmates, were Pilar Hidalgo-Lim and Jose Hilario.
Together, they managed the school newspaper.
At age 21, he was named principal of the Instituto de Manila, a prestigious school for
gifted and well-off students.    Later,  he  became  an  English  professor  at UP. He  also  taught  at
San
Juan de Letran.  During this time, he met and married Constancia Ablaza, by whom he had six
children.

In 1917, he became the editor of Rising Philippines, a daily read by almost every literate
Filipino because of its nationalistic contests.   The Philippines Herald and the National Weekly
also benefited from his editorship.
With his credentials, he started to work in the government as chief of the publications
division of the Department of Justice.  Later, he became technical assistant to then Senate
President Manuel Luis Quezon.

Maramag published countless poems which were devoured and admired by the reading
public, like “My Queen Tagala,” “The Atheist,” “A Christ Without a Cross,” “Jose Rizal,” and “The
Presentation.”  He wrote about the history of the English language in the Philippines.  This
enabled him to mine the secrets of English poetics, especially its techniques.  Leopoldo Y. Yabes, a
noted literary historian, included seven of Maramag’s works in his book of Filipino essays in
English, which has become a standard textbook in English in Philippine schools and universities.
Maramag also wrote appraisingly of some eminent Filipinos in history like the Presidents
Manuel Quezon and Sergio Osmeña , Sr., not to mention Dr. Jose Rizal, neither understating nor
over glorifying their qualities and achievements, but treating his subjects with sincerity and
respect.

He died on October 23, 1936.

In his honor, a marker was installed in his hometown on January 21, 1983. 
3.Leona Florentino (April 19, 1849-October 4, 1884) was a Filipino poet in
the Spanish and Ilocano languages. She is considered as the "mother of Philippine women's
literature" and the "bridge from oral to literary tradition".
Born to a wealthy and prominent family in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, Florentino began to write her first verses
in Ilocano at a young age. Despite her potential, she was not allowed to receive a university education
because of her gender. Florentino was instead tutored by her mother, and then a series of private
teachers. An educated Ilocano priest taught her advanced Spanish and encouraged her to develop her
voice in poetry.
Florentino married a politician named Elias de los Reyes at the age of 14. They had five children
together. Their son Isabelo de los Reyes later became a Filipino writer, activist and senator. Due to the
feminist nature of her writings, Florentino was shunned by her husband and son; she lived alone in
exile and separately from her family.She died at the age of 35.

Works
Her lyrical poetry in Spanish, and especially that in Ilocano, gained attention in various international
forums in Spain, Paris and St. Louis, Missouri. Her literary contributions - particularly 22 preserved
poems - were recognized when she was included in the Encyclopedia Internationale des Oeuvres des
Femmes (International Encyclopedia of Women’s Works) in 1889. She is believed to be the first
Filipina to receive this international recognition, an homage that occurred after her death at a young
age.
 
4. Alfred Yuson
Born on 23 February 1945 in Manila . (Also known as Krip Yuson.) He has authored 23 books,
including novels, poetry collections, short fiction, essays, and children's stories, apart from having
edited various other titles. Yuson was conferred the Southeast Asia Write Award (SEA Write) in 1992
in Bangkok, and has been elevated to the Hall of Fame of the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for
Literature, the Philippines ‘ most prestigious literary distinction. He has frequently represented the
Philippines in Literary conferences, festivals and reading tours in the United States, Japan, China,
Finland, Scotland, Thailand, Malaysia, United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Italy,
Belgium, the Netherlands, South Africa, and Columbia, and his works may be found in many
international anthologies.
Yuson is a founding member of the Philippine Literary Arts Council (PLAC), Creative Writing
Foundation, Inc. and Manila Critics Circle, and was Chairman of Writers Union of the Philippines .
His bibliography includes the potry collections:Sea Serpent, (Monsoon Press, 1980), Trading in
Mermaids (Anvil Publishing, Inc., 1993), Mothers Like Elephants (Anvil Publishing, Inc.,
2000) Hairtrigger Loves: 50 Poems on Woman (University of the Philippines Press, 2002), and the
translation, Love's A Vice/ Bisyo ang Pag-ibig: Translations into English of 60 Poems by mike L.
Birgonia (National Commission for Culture at the Arts, 2004). Yuson currently writes a literature and
culture column for The Philippines Star.He also teaches fiction and poetry at Ateneo de Manila
University, where he held the Henry Lee Irwin Professorial Chair in Creative Writing. His two
novels, The Great Philippine Jungle Café and Voyeurs and Savages are studies of Philippine culture.
Another novel, The Music Child , was among five works short listed for the second (2008) Man Asian
Literary Prize.

5.Ado Vinuya was born in Manila in 1930. He studied in the University of Santo Tomas and the Far
Eastern University. He served as editor and public information officer of the Manila Health
Department. A versatile worker, he has also been a laborer, sanitary inspector, laboratory technician,
clerk, and radio announcer. Vinuya also wrote fiction. He has a poetry collection, with preface written
by Carlos P. Romulo, entitled Pregnant Woman and Other Poems (1968

6.Norman Wilwayco, aside from being a multiple Palanca award winner (one being the prestigious
Grand Prize for the novel in 2002), plays bass for a rock and roll band and designs multimedia web
sites. He also writes for Filmless Films. He previously wrote for the popular television
show Batibot and has contributed articles to Liwayway, Manila Times and Inquirer. He was a fellow
of the UP Writers Workshop and won the first prize in the Amado Hernandez Award for Literature in
1999.

7.Gregorio Aglipay Cruz y Labayan (Latin: Gregorius Aglipay; 5 May 1860 – 1 September 1940)

was a former Roman Catholic priest who became the first Filipino Supreme Bishop of the Philippine
Independent Church, a Christian Protestant sect in the form of a national church in the country.
Known for inciting patriotic rebellion among the Filipino clergy, he was also a political activist who
became acquainted with Isabelo de los Reyes, who would start a Protestant church named after
Aglipay in 1902.

Aglipay was previously excommunicated by Archbishop of Manila Bernardino Norzaleda y Villa on

May 1899, upon the expressed permission of Pope Leo XIII. Aglipay later joined the Freemason Order
in May 1918. Aglipay later married Pilar Jamias y Ver from Sarrat, Ilocos Norte in 1939 and then died
one year later. Followers of Aglipay through the Philippine Independent Church colloquially
sometimes refer to their membership as Aglipayans.
 
8.Naya S. Valdellon grew up in Manila, Philippines and has worked as a magazine editorial
assistant, freelance copy editor, content writer for a website design company, and literature and
writing composition teacher. She graduated in 2002 with a BFA in Creative Writing from the Ateneo
de Manila University, where she was Associate Editor of Heights -- the university's official literary
publication. She was a fellow for poetry in English in the 38th UP National Writers Workshop (2001)
and the 41st Dumaguete National Writers Workshop (2002).

She is a recent M.A. in English and Creative Writing graduate now based in Toronto, Canada. She
loves cats, cooking, chess, crosswords, and crazy concoctions. 

9.
A BS computer science degree holder, Ana Maria Villanueva-Lykes discovered the world of words only
five years ago. Since then she has been published in The Philippines Free Press, Philippine Graphic,
Reader's Digest, and several collections and anthologies. She trained with the Philippine Daily
Inquirer for two years before she moved on to other publications. She currently works as editor-in-
chief for AsianTraveler Magazine and La Salle 's Rektikano Magazine.
Her novel, Caracol, earned her an outstanding thesis award for her MFA degree in Creative Writing at
De La Salle University in 2008. She is a fellow of the 7 th Iyas Creative Writing Workshop and the 44
th U.P. National Writers Workshop.
.REGION II AUTHORS