2. Literature Under The
Republic
(1946-1985)The Japanese
occupation leaves the
Philippine economy in ruins
and it seemed that massive
foreign aid could rebuild it.
With the life of the Filipinos
hanging in the balance
because of hunger, insecurity
and terror. Many Filipinos
resorted to collaborating
with the Japanese for
reasons such as
politics, survival and
This in turn put the
Filipino ruling elite’s
credibility at stake because
ambiguities and
irregularities that was not
resolved. The US colonialist
also linked the issue of
collaboration not as a
political will but as a
means of survival
(expediency). If a rigid trial
was done to the
detractors, many of the
Filipino ruling elite would
loose their credibility and
this was not favorable to
the US colonizers because at
that time the elites were
the intermediary between
the American colonizers and
the Filipinos. The elites had a
3. To secure the new
republics alliance with the
US after its independence
was granted a series of
treaties and agreements
were signed, and these
strengthened the ties
between the two countries.
The Bell Trade act, imposed
free trade which enforced
imports from US for 28
years and parity rights
allowing US citizens to have
equal rights to access to
the countries natural
With the US serving as
crutches to the
Philippines, westernization
occurred. The Educational
Exchange Program otherwise
known as the Fulbright
Program was the key to the
Philippines assimilation of US
culture – the program actually
aimed a 2-way exchange of
culture, but this did not
actually happen. This was the
time when Filipino
artist, writers, and musicians
were given a chance to go to the
US to learn about the
country, they also were given
lecturing privilege. The impact
of this program can be seen in
terms or the artwork and
literature that showed in their
works that they are able to
keep up with the literary and
artistic trends of the US during
5. Was Filipino writer
known for his
novels such as Ama
and Daluyong. He
was awarded the
National Artist for
Filipino Literature
in 2009. Francisco
also received the
Republic Cultural
Heritage Award for
Literature in 1970.
6. September 13, 1903–
March 24, 1970, was a
Filipino writer and
labor leader who was
known for his criticism
of social injustices in
the Philippines and was
later imprisoned for his
involvement in the
communist movement. He
was the central figure in
a landmark legal case
that took 13 years to
settle.
He was born in
Hagonoy, Bulacan but
grew up
Tondo, Manila, where he
7. He was born on April
29,1932 in MaTorres
obtained his BA Education at
the Ateneo de Manila
University, and in 1957, on a
Fulbright-Smith-Mundt
fellowship, he obtained his
M.A. in English at the State
University of Iowa where he
enjoyed an International
Scholarship in Creative
Writing and attended Paul
Engle’s Writers’ Workshop.
He joined the Ateneo
faculty in 1958, and since
1960 was curator of the
Ateneo University Art
Gallery. At the Ateneo, he
held the Henry Lee Erwin
Chair in Creative Writing
and the FEBTC/Jose B.
Fernandez Chair for art
Emmanuel
Torres is a poet, art
critic , professor of
English and
Comparative Literature
8. On 14 April 1987, the University
of the Philippines conferred
on N.V.M. González the degree
of Doctor of Humane Letters,
honoris causa, "For his
creative genius in shaping the
Philippine short story and
novel, and making a new
clearing within the English
idiom and tradition on which
he established an authentic
vocabulary, ...For his
insightful criticism by which
he advanced the literary
tradition of the Filipino and
enriched the vocation for all
writers of the present
generation...For his visions
and auguries by which he gave
the Filipino sense and
sensibility a profound and
unmistakable script read and
He was born on
8 September 1915 in
Romblon, Philippines.[1]
González, however, was
raised in Mansalay, a
southern town of the
9. Alejandro G.
Abadilla (March 10, 1906–
August 26, 1969),
commonly known as AGA,
was a Filipino poet,
essayist and fiction
writer. Critic Pedro
Ricarte referred to
Abadilla as the father
of modern Philippine
poetry, and was known
for challenging
established forms and
literature's "excessive
romanticism and
emphasis on rime and
meter". Abadilla helped
found the Kapisanang
Panitikan in 1935 and
10. After being read
poems and stories by
his mother, the boy
Joaquín read widely in
his father's library and
at the National Library
of the Philippines. By
then, his father had
become a successful
lawyer after the
revolution. From
reading, Joaquín became
interested in writing.
Was a Filipino writer,
historian and
journalist, best known
for his short stories
and novels in the
English language. He
also wrote using the
pen name Quijano de
Nicomedes Márquez
Joaquín was born in
Paco, Manila, one of ten
children of Leocadio
Joaquín, a colonel under
General Emilio Aguinaldo in
11. Maganda Pa Ang
Daigdig(Novel)
By: Lazaro FranciscoNobela ni Lazaro Francisco, ang
Maganda pa ang Daigdig (1955) ay naglalahad sa
buhay ni Lino Rivera. Si Lino ay anak ng
magsasaka at dumanas ng pagdurusa sa
sistemang piyudal. Nagbalik siya sa Pinyahan
makaraan ang digmaan, at hinanap ang kaniyang
anak na si Ernesto. Makikilala niya si Kumander
Hantik na hihimukin siyang sumama sa kilusan
upang wakasin ang bulok na sistemang agraryo.
Tatanggi si Lino. Darating sa buhay niya si Pari
Amando na nag-aari ng malalawak na lupain at
magpapanukala ng pagbabago. Tahimik na sana
ang pamumuhay ni Lino, lalo na't napaibig siya
kay Bb. Sanchez. Darating ang sandali na
masasangkot siya sa gulong, at pagbibintangang
pumatay sa isang lalaki. Mabibilanggo
siya, ngunit makatatakas, kasama ang iba pang
12. Walking Home (Poem)
By: Emmanuel S. Torres
At midnight I and a
stranger drowse
toward separate homes.
The crunch of small
stones underfoot
reminds us how far we
are
from each other,
although our shadows
would include each
other more
than once, streaming
forward
from the streetlight
behind us
13. A Merger Of Traditions.
The taga-bukid and
taga-bayan were the two
cultures that made up the
political entities. The
educated and the wealthy
and the ones who lacked
the education and
therefore did not qualify
to exercise power. The taga
bayan were more inclined
to the culture of the Free
World, while the taga-
bukid was the nationalistic
and anti American.
14. A transition from the
Euro-Hispanic (socially
conscious, deals with reality)
period to the Anglo-American
(thrived more on aesthetic
qualities and was full of
sentimentality and escapism)
period of literature in the
Philippines was brought about by
Villa, the contradictions
between the two styles resulted
in the emphasis of a crisis for the
Anglo American Tradition. It was
later resolved in the 1970s. These
two traditions had been
implanted with indigenous
traditions and through the
efforts of the Filipino writers
can be clearly called the
Filipino literary tradition.
15. Existentialism and the Search for Identity.
When President Ramon
Magsaysay died of a plan crash in
Cebu, this provoked an intellectual
crisis. Claro M. Recto criticized
President Ramon Magsaysay for being
submissive to the US, with the death of
Ramon Magsaysay; the country was
under confusion and the people
beginning to ask Recto for some
answers that would shed some light
regarding the country’s political
philosophy. However Recto was not
able to finish what he started because
he dies in Rome of a heart attack. With
Recto’s death, the cultural scene in the
Philippines became an extension of the
US; many major publications in New
York were brought to the Manila.