10 FAMOUS FILIPINO WRITERS

1. Jose Rizal
The countrys national hero is also known to be one of the greatest writers Philippines was
blessed to have. His writing caused the Filipino people to have the courage to fight for their
Freedom against the hands of the Spaniards. He was the man behind brilliant literary outputs
such as Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo which are considered to be precious treasures of
the Philippine Literature.
2. Bob Ong
Bob Ong is the most doted contemporary authors by the Filipino people of the recent times. He
uses conversational Filipino as his writing style to provide humor to his reader and to make his
books more interesting than others. Bob Ong is just a pseudonym of someone whose identity is
left as a mystery to the public. It was even stated in one of his books that he/she prefers his/her
identity remained unknown so he/she can still have a normal life and not be stereotyped
according to his manner of writing. ABNKKBSNLAko?, Bakit Baligtad Magbasa ng Libro ang
mga Pilipino?, and Alamat ng Gubat, are just some of his best-selling books. He was one of the
few authors whose release of next books are being anticipated by many and to some being
reserved in advance.
3. Francisco Balagtas
Francisco Baltazar, also known as Francisco Balagtas is a legendary as well as a historical figure
in Philippine Literature. In fact, the Filipino Poetic Debate is termed as Balagtasan, a name taken
in honor of him. He was like a Filipino version of William Shakespeare. His life and works has
even been incorporated in the high school curriculum. His most famous work was the epic
entitled Florante and Laura, whose story was said to be taken after his personal tragic love
relationship with Maria Asuncion Rivera. To further signify his vast contribution to the
Philippine Literature, an elementary school in Santa Cruz, Manila and a city in Bulacan where he
was born were named after him.
4. F. Sionil Jose
Francisco Sionil Jose is a Filipino novelist, writer, and journalist. Like Nick Joaquin, most of
Joses works are written in English and he became one of the most read Filipino writers both in
the local and foreign scene. His creations portray the social condition of the Filipino Society
under colonialism and since all of it were written in English, it has been easily translated into 22
languages like Korean, Russian, Dutch, and among any others. Joses writing has been deeply
influenced by the life and works of Jose Rizalhaving found some similarities between his and
Rizals life in terms of witnessing social injustices and poverty. Thus, its no surprise that most
of his works are all about promoting social justice, awakening social awareness, and making the
lives of the average Filipino people better. In 1980, Sionil Jose received a Ramon Magsaysay
Award for Literature.
5. Lualhati Bautista
Phenomenal novels such as Dekada 70, Bata, Bata, Pano ka Ginawa?, and Gapo are all written
by the multi-awarded Lualhati Bautista. She was one of the primary female writers in the history
of contemporary Philippine literature. Although a college dropout, her writing ability is praised
and admired by many. As a writer, she was highly commended for her honest realism and
fearless exploration of Philippine Womens and Political issues. Bautista earned several Palanca
Awards for her novels that exposed injustices and portrays women activism during the Martial
Law Period. Aside from being known locally, works by Lualhati are also being recognized
abroad. In fact, she was the only Filipino who got included in a book on Foremost International
Women Writers published in Japan in 1991. Lastly, excerpts from her novels have been
anthologized in a book of short stories written by Filipino women which was published in
Finland by the Finnish-Philippine Society
6. Nick Joaquin
He is one of the most renowned, well-respected, and highly admired writer in the Philippines. In
fact he was considered as the most important Filipino writer in English and in general the third
most important after Jose Rizal and Claro M. Recto. Nick Joaquin, also known by his pen name
Quijano de Manila, was a writer, historian, and journalist who used the English language in his
works. He received so many awards and recognition both local and international due to his
brilliance in writing. As a journalist he was both intellectual and provocativewhich pave the
way to increase the level of reportage in the countrysomething that is unknown to the
Philippines at that time. In 1976, he received the National Artist of the Philippines for Literature,
among any others. Famous works include.: May Day Eve A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino The
Summer Solstice The Woman Who Had Two Navels

7. Gilda Olvidado
Sinasamba kita, Babangon ako at Dudurugin kita, and Saan Nagtatago ang Pag-ibig are some of
the works done by Gilda Olvidado which made her popular. In fact, the screenplay Saan
Nagtatago ang Pag-ibig, became a blockbuster and was awarded Best Story during the 36th
FAMAS Awards Ceremonies in 1987. Currently, Olivado is an in-house writer of GMA
network, a popular broadcasting company in the Philippines.



8. Mars Ravelo
Like Caparas, Mars Ravelo is also a comic strip writer and creator who rose to popularity
because of his works such as Darna (a local version of Americas wonderwoman), Dysabel (a
mermaid whose fate is a little similar to Ariel of The Little Mermaid), and Captain Barbel (a
local version of Superman) to name a few. As you may have observed, Ravelos works are so
much alike to some American fictional stories. This is because he was born at the time when
Philippines was still an American Territory. Thus, its understandable that his writing is heavily
influenced by the American literature. Ravelo started out as a cartoonist who worked his way up
until he became an editor-in-chief for several publications and film companies before
establishing his own company. During his time, he was the highest paid comic writer.
9. Carlo J. Caparas
He was the man responsible for the creation of the undying story of Ang Panday (The
Blacksmith). In addition to that, he also created other great stories who later turned to movies
and/or TV series such as Gagambino, Bakekang, Totoy Bato, and Joaquin Bordado to name a
few. Caparas was originally a comic strip writer who later ventured in to film directing and
producing. In July 2009, he was proclaimed as a National Artist of the Philippines in the
category of Visual Arts and Film.
10. Martha Cecilia
Maribeth dela Cruz whos more known under her pen name, Martha Cecilia, which was taken
after her daughters name, is one of if not the most popular Tagalog romance pocketbook
writer of today. Most of her written works became best-sellers and her very popular Kristine
pocketbook series which consists of a total of 54 books was even turn into a TV series by one of
the largest broadcasting network in the country. She is best known for writing love stories with
happy endings and she has released over 100 books under her current company, Precious Heart
Romance.