The literature of the Philippines started with fables and legends of pre-colonial Philippines down to the Mexican (New Spain) and Spanish influences, but there was a pre-hispanical writing system. This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ...

Archaic Writing System

Compared to other Southeast Asian countries, the Philippines has very few artifacts that show evidence of writing. However literacy, with a script called Baybayin or Alibata, was widespread in Luzon when the Spaniards came in 1571. Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... Baybayin (sometimes called Alibata) is a pre-Hispanic Tagalog writing system that originated from the Javanese script Kavi. ... Baybayin or Alibata is a pre-Hispanic Tagalog writing system that originated from the Javanese script Kavi. ... Events January 11 - Austrian nobility is granted Freedom of religion. ...

The Spaniards recorded that people in Manila and other places wrote on bamboo and specially prepared palm leaves, using knives and styli. They were using the ancient Tagalog script which had 17 basic symbols, three of which were the vowels a/e, i, and o/u. Each basic consonantal symbol had the inherent a sound: ka, ga, nga, ta, da, na, pa, ba, ma, ya, la, wa, sa, and ha. Manila (Filipino: Maynila) is the capital of the Philippines. ... Diversity Around 91 genera and 1,000 species Subtribes Arthrostylidiinae Arundinariinae Bambusinae Chusqueinae Guaduinae Melocanninae Nastinae Racemobambodinae Shibataeinae See the full Taxonomy of the Bambuseae. ... Look up Palm in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

A diacritical mark, called "kudlit", modified the sound of the symbol. The kudlit could be a dot, a short line, or even an arrowhead. When placed above the symbol, it changed the inherent sound of the symbol from a/e to i; placed below, the sound became o/u. Thus a ba/be with a kudlit placed above became a bi; if the kudlit was placed below, the symbol became a bo/bu. A diacritic mark or accent mark is an additional mark added to a basic letter. ...

Colonial Literature (16th-18th Century)

The arrival of the Spaniards in 1565 brought Spanish culture and language. The Spanish conquerors, governing from Mexico for the crown of Spain, established a strict class system that was based on race and soon imposed Roman Catholicism on the native population. Augustinian and Franciscan missionaries, accompanied by Spanish soldiers soon spread Christianity from island to island. Their mission was made easier by the forced relocation of indigenous peoples during this time, as the uprooted natives turned to the foreign, structured religion as the new center of their lives. The priests and friars preached in local languages and employed indigenous peoples as translators, creating a bilingual class known as ladinos. // Events March 1 - the city of Rio de Janeiro is founded. ... The culture of Spain has roots in Iberian and Latin influences, Catholicism, Moorish Islam, tension between the centralized Castilian state and its regions, and its minority peoples. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... The Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo (died AD 430), are several Roman Catholic monastic orders and congregations of both men and women living according to a guide to religious life known as the Rule of Saint Augustine. ... The Order of Friars Minor and other Franciscan movements are disciples of Saint Francis of Assisi. ... Translation is an activity comprising the interpretation of the meaning of a text in one language—the source text—and the production of a new, equivalent text in another language—the target text, also called the translation. ... This article deals with the Judaeo-Spanish language. ...

The natives, called "indios", generally were not taught Spanish, but the bilingual individuals, notably poet-translator Gaspar Aquino de Belen, produced devotional poetry written in the Roman script in the Tagalog language. Pasyon, begun by Aquino de Belen, is a narrative of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, which has circulated in many versions. Later, the Mexican ballads of chivalry, the corrido, provided a model for secular literature. Verse narratives, or komedya, were performed in the regional languages for the illiterate majority. They were also written in the Roman alphabet in the principal languages and widely circulated. Tagalog (pronunciation: ) is one of the major languages of the Republic of the Philippines. ... Pasyon is a narrative of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ woven into a poem with stanzas of five lines and each line having eight syllables. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... This article concerns secularity, that is, being secular, in various senses. ... A regional language is a language spoken in a part of a country - it may be a small area, a federal state or province, or a wider area. ...

In the early seventeenth century a Tagalog printer, Tomas Pinpin, set out to write a book in romanized phonetic script, which would teach Tagalogs the principles of learning Castilian. His book, published by the Dominican press where he worked, appeared in 1610. Unlike the missionary's grammar (which Pinpin had set in type), the Tagalog native's book dealt with the language of the dominant rather than the subordinate other. Pinpin's book was the first such work ever written and published by a Philippine native. As such, it is richly instructive for what it tells us about the interests that animated Tagalog translation and, by implication, Tagalog conversion in the early colonial period. Pinpin construed translation in ways that tended less to oppose than to elude the totalizing claims of Spanish signifying conventions. The Tagalogs are the largest Filipino ethnic group. ... This article is about the international language known as Spanish. ... // Events January 7 - Galileo Galilei discovers the Galilean moons of Jupiter. ...

Classical Literature (XIX Century)

Classical literature (José Rizal, Pedro Paterno, Jesús Balmori, Huerta, Farolán, Licsi, Lumba, Castillo, etc.) and historical documents (the national anthem, Constitución Política de Malolos, etc.) were written in Spanish, which is no longer an official language. Nationalism was first propagated in the Spanish language, especially in the writings of Marcelo H. Del Pilar or "Plaridel" in the La Solidaridad publications. In Cebu, the first Spanish newspaper, El Boletin de Cebu, was published in 1886. Dr. José Protacio Mercado Rizal y Alonzo Realonda (June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896), variously called the Pride of the Malay Race, The Great Malayan, The First Filipino, The Messiah of the Revolution, The Universal Hero and The Messiah of the Redemption. ... Pedro Alejandro Paterno (February 27, 1858—March 11, 1911) was a Filipino statesman as well as a poet and writer. ... Marcelo Hilario Del Pilar Biography Biography Marcelo H. Del Pilar (1850-1896) was a Philippine revolutionary propagandist and satirist. ... La Solidaridad is the name of a society of Filipino intellectuals (ilustrados) in Spain who sought to create adequate representation for the Philippines in the Spanish Cortes (parliament). ... Cebu City is the provincial capital of Cebu in the Philippines and is the second most important metropolitan center in the country. ... 1886 (MDCCCLXXXVI) is a common year starting on Friday (click on link to calendar) // Events January 18 - Modern field hockey is born with the formation of The Hockey Association in England. ...

Modern Literature (XX Century)

Ironically, the greatest portion of Spanish literature by native Filipinos was written during the American commonwealth period, because the Spanish language was still predominant among the Filipino intellectuals. One of the country's major writers, Claro Mayo Recto, continued writing in Spanish until 1946. Other well-known Spanish-language writers, especially during the American period were Isidro Marfori, Cecilio Apostol (Pentelicas, 1941), Fernando Ma. Guerrero (Crisalidas, 1914), Gaspar Aquino de Belen, Flavio Zaragoza Cano (Cantos a Espana and De Mactan a Tirad) and others. Claro Mayo Recto (February 8, 1890—October 2, 1960), was a Filipino politician and one of the most brilliant statesmen of his generation. ... 1946 (MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ... Fernando Ma. ... 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

Among the newspapers published in Spanish were El Renacimiento, La Democracia, La Vanguardia, El Pueblo de Iloilo, El Tiempo and others. Three magazines, The Independent, Philippine Free Press and Philippine Review were published in English and Spanish.

In 1915, the local newspapers began publishing sections in English. Cebu had its share of writers in Spanish, most of whom flourished during the early decades of the century. Although their output would diminish in later years, Jose del Mar won a Zobel Prize (Premio Zobel) for his work Perfiles in 1965. 1915 (MCMXV) was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES Province of Cebu Region: Central Visayas (Region VII) Capital: Cebu City Founded: April 7, 1521 and April 27, 1565 Population: 2000 census—3,356,137 (largest) Density—660 per km² (6th highest) Area: 5,088. ... 1965 (MCMLXV) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ...

In Asian literature, Filipinos especially excel in short stories. Leon Comber, the former British publisher of the Heinemann Writing in Asia Series and the head judge for the Asiaweek Short Story Competition commended the Filipino writers in his introduction to the book Prize Winning Asian Fiction, published in 1991 by Times Book International. He wrote: "Many of the best short stories came from the Philippines... because Filipino writers felt at ease using English as a medium of expression. In fact, their country is the third-largest English-speaking nation in the world and they take to writing in the language as a form of 'artistic expression' and show just as much zest and natural talent for it as they do for painting, music and the other arts." Asiaweek was a news magazine focusing on Asia. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Literature by languages

• Cebuano literature
• Hiligaynon literature
• Ilokano literature
• Tagalog literature
• Waray literature
• Philippine epic poetry
• Philippine Literature in English
• Philippine Literature in Filipino
• Philippine Literature in Spanish

Ilokano literature or Iloko literature pertains to the literary works of writers of Ilocano ancestry regardless of the language used - be it Iloko, English, Spanish or other foreign and Philippine languages. ... // Overview Earliest accounts of this literature date back to 1668 when a Spanish Jesuit by the name of Fr. ... Centuries before the Spaniards came, the Filipinos already had their own cultural traditions, folklore, mythologies and epics. ... Philippine Literature in English has its roots in the efforts of the American forces at the turn of the century to pacify the Filipino people and instill in them the American ideals of universality, practicality, and democracy. ...

Notable People

• Carlos P. Romulo - He was the first Asian to win America's coveted Pulitzer Prize in Journalism(English).
• Jose Rizal
• Marcelo H. Del Pilar
• Francisco Balagtas
• Amado V. Hernandez
• Carlos Bulosan
• Teodoro M. Locsin
• Claro M. Recto

Carlos P. Rómulo (b. ... José Rizal José Protacio Rizal Mercado y Alonzo Realonda (June 19, 1861 - December 30, 1896) is the national hero of the Philippines. ... Marcelo Hilario Del Pilar Biography Biography Marcelo H. Del Pilar (1850-1896) was a Philippine revolutionary propagandist and satirist. ... Francisco Balagtas Francisco Balagtas (April 2, 1788—February 20, 1862), christened Francisco Baltazar, was a prominent Filipino poet, and is widely considered as the tagalog equivalent of William Shakespeare for his impact on Filipino literature. ... Carlos Bulosan (born to Ilocano parents in Pampanga, Philippines on November 24, 1913, died in Seattle, Washington on September 13, 1956) was a Filipino American novelist and poet, best-known for the semi-autobiographical America Is in the Heart. ... Claro Mayo Recto (February 8, 1890—October 2, 1960), was a Filipino politician and one of the most brilliant statesmen of his generation. ...

Notable Works

• Biag ni Lam-ang - Ilocano epic.
• Ibong Adarna
• Florante at Laura
• Doctrina Christiana
• Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo - both written by Jose Rizal in Spanish - created controversy among the Spanish authority in the Philippines. They were instrumental in creating a Filipino sense of identity during the Spanish colonial period by caricaturing and exposing the abuses of the Spanish colonial government and religious authority.
• Manuvu's Tuwaang
• Sulod's Hinilawod
• Maranaw's Bantugan
• Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas by Antonio de Morga
• Maragtas - A collection of legends of ten chiefs(datus) who escaped from the tyranny of Datu Makatunaw of Borneo to the island of Panay. The chiefs and followers are believed to be ancestors of the Visayans. The arrival is celebrated in the festival of the Ati-atihan ni Kalibo, Aklan.While they are legends, they are also based on actual facts and events. The legends were compiled into a book by Pedro Alcantara Monteclaro in 1907.
• The Good Fight - Manuel L. Quezon