Sa Bagwis ng Sining: Mga Nangaunang Manunulat
ng Cavite
by Efren R. Abueg
Efren R. Abueg is one of the authors of the landmark book in Philippine literature in Filipino, Mga Agos sa
Disyerto. When the book was published in 1964, it was to answer the claim of Quijano de Manila, a.k.a., Nick
Joaquin, that the literature in Filipino is like a desert, i.e., dead or dying.
Agos sa Disyerto proved Joaquin wrong. The anthology brought back the popularity of Filipino realist literature. I
said "realist" because if Filipino "escapist" literature (romance and YA) has always been around.
Aside from being one of the brave Agos boys, Abueg is also well anthologized and in those he initiated by himself,
he gives space to new writers. Not only that, he also writes about the writers of yesteryears. This is to make sure
that the writers who came before him, will not be forgotten. After all, they are the ones, or among those, who
taught all of us how to write prose and poetry.
There are 7 dead but still not forgotten authors from the province of Cavite (where Abueg was born) whose
biographical sketch and soome works are featured in this book. Cavite was the province that won over the Spanish
government during the Revolution of 1896-1898 and it was where the Declaration of Independence was
proclaimed. Cavite was also the cradle of literary masters. There were 50+ listed by Abueg on one of the first few
pages of the book but he had only the resources to write about 7 of them.
1) Diego Moxica. from General Trias
Moxica was a poet and one of the leaders of the Katipunan (Magdalo wing). He became one of the best friends of
Gen. Artemio Ricarte. He was born in Malabon but went to Cavite to fight with Aguinaldo. One of his nice poems
in old Tagalog is in the book. It is entitled Manga Pag-iiba. Let me share it with you:Cahapon sa iyo, i, humihinging
halic
Gen. Artemio Ricarte. He was born in Malabon but went to Cavite to fight with Aguinaldo. One of his nice poems
in old Tagalog is in the book. It is entitled Manga Pag-iiba. Let me share it with you:Cahapon sa iyo, i, humihinging
halic
sa dala ng aquing labis na pag-ibig
ay lumalayo ca,t, ayao na ilapit
ang mga labi mo,t, nagdadalang galit,
At ngayong hindi na quita pinapansin
at lumalamig na sa aquing pag guillio
mairog mong sabi - Sinta co ay baquit
hindi ca na ngayon mahalic sa aquin? It is so romantic, isn't it?
2) Carlos V. Ronquillo. (1877-1941) from Kawit
Ronquillo wrote the many local happy poems that became famous children's songs of my childhood. Examples of
these are: Tiririt ng ibon / tiririt ng maya / huni ng tiyan ko'y / ginumis na baboy... and also some folk songs like
Sinisinta kita / di ka kumikibo / akala mo yata / ako'y nabibiro... Ronquillo was the official record-keeper of the
Katipunan. In fact, he was the one who wrote the book entitled Ilang Talata Tungkol sa Paghihimagsik nang 18961897 (Medina 1998) and he used to call the attention of historians who include in their books wrong information
about the Katipunan.
3) Tomas P. Tirona. (1879-1900) from Imus
Best story told so far. Efren R. Abueg wrote his life story like a novel. Unlike the first two stories, Tirona's life is
more documented. According to this, Tirona served a personal secretary of Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo and at one time,
even introduced his as the Jose Rizal of the Katipunan. Why? He also studied at the Ateneo where he got
sobresaliente, he was a poet, he wrote good stories and essays and also worked as a teacher and more than
anything else, he loved Rizal very much.
4) Lorenzo B. Paredes. from Imus
Ang kauna-unahang manunulat na nakapagsulat at nakapaglimbag ng tulang nasusulat sa tatlong wika: Ingles,
Tagalog at Kastila. Siya ay si Dr. Lorenzo Benedicto Paredes y Ejercito. Isang scholar, guro, researcher at manunulat
na tubong Imus. He migrated to the US and taught at the University of Illinois and took doctoral degree at the
Harvard University.
5) Alejandro G. Abadilla. from Rosario
Among these 7 writers, if I were given a chance to choose one that I would have liked to meet (they are all dead
now), it should have been, AGA (yup, that was how his friends used to call him many years before Aga Mulach
entered show-business). Not that AGA was a nice guy. He was not. But he had the guts that I admired. Imagine: he
staged a public burning of Tagalog books written by writers like Lope K. Santos, Aurelio Alvero, Jose Esperanza
Cruz, Lazaro S. Francisco, Fausto Galauran, Susana de Guzman, Severino Reyes, Teodoro Agoncillo at Jose
Domingo Karasig. Reason? He said that those books were not worthy to be read by the next generations of
Tagalog writers. So, he gained many many enemies during his time. But many people respected him for his guts
and for telling the truth. I love those guys who are not afraid to what they believed is right! No matter if he losses
friends. Those who remain? They are the real ones :)
6) Timoteo "Teo" Seneca Baylen. (1904-1990) from Noveleta
What made Teo Baylen different among the early known writers in Cavite was that he became a religious poet.
Although not a poem, I like his short piece called Kuwako at Maybahay (Pipe and Housekeeper) where he
compared his pipe and his wife. Hilarious!
7) David T. Mamaril. from Noveleta
Mamaril was also a known poet. He and Teo Baylen were friends. Well, because he did not consider his fellow
poets as competitors (enemies). He wrote anywhere unlike other poets who had to close their doors and work in
complete silence. I enjoyed reading how he wrote a poem when one day he was on his desk writing when
suddenly a dry leaf fell on it. He did not write about the leaf but imagined that the leaf was a seed that on the
following day grew up to bear a beautiful flower.
I liked this book. I thought that the life stories of Tomas Tirona (#3) and Alejandro G. Abadilla or AGA (#5) were
both well-written. If Abueg could expand these into full-length biography, I thought those could be potential 5-
I liked this book. I thought that the life stories of Tomas Tirona (#3) and Alejandro G. Abadilla or AGA (#5) were
both well-written. If Abueg could expand these into full-length biography, I thought those could be potential 5star (amazing) stories or books.
Thank you Sir Efren R. Abueg for making the current and future generations aware of that once upon a time, these
great Filipino (Caviteno) writers once walked on this earth. Future writers should learn a thing or two about how to
live their lives from them. Godspeed, sir.