Three professors and a workshop from the UP Diliman College of Arts and Letters are this year’s recipients of the Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas and the Gawad Pedro Bucaneg, respectively. Both distinctions are bestowed by the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL), the country’s largest organization of creative writers.
The Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas honorees are Glecy C. Atienza, PhD and Galileo S. Zafra, PhD from the Departamento ng Filipino at Panitikan ng Pilipinas (DFPP), and Jose Wendell P. Capili, PhD of the Department of English and Comparative Literature. Meanwhile, DFPP’s Palihang Rogelio Sicat is this year’s Gawad Pedro Bucaneg recipient.
According to an UMPIL post, the Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas is a lifetime achievement award for Filipino writers, while Gawad Pedro Bucaneg is “an award given to a literary-cultural group with significant contribution in promoting Philippine literature and culture.”
Atienza is a professor of Philippine literature, creative writing, and Philippine theatre. She is the founding chair of the community theatre network ALYANSA. She has received various awards as a writer of plays, scholarly work, and creative non-fiction research, among them the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature.
Zafra is a professor of literature, language, and Philippine studies with a comprehensive body of research on language and culture. The current director of the UP Press, he received the Kampeon ng Wika from the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino in 2019.
Capili is a professor of literature whose interests include comparative migration cultures and societies, and the former UP Vice President for Public Affairs. In 2020, he received the Department of Science and Technology National Research Council of the Philippines Achievement Award.
The Palihang Rogelio Sicat is the country’s only national writers’ workshop conducted purely in Filipino.
The recipients’ awarding ceremonies is at the 52nd National Writers’ Congress on April 25 at the UP Baguio College of Social Sciences Audio Visual Room. They will receive trophies designed and donated by visual artist Manuel D. Baldemor.
The event coincides with the National Literature Month, which carries the theme Harayang Pampanitikan sa Katwiran at Paninindigan ng Bayan. National Artist for Film Kidlat Tahimik will be the Congress’ key lecture. A new set of board directors for 2027-2029 will also be elected on that day.