Rare in a nation of half-baked artistic careers and unfulfilled literary promise, Cirilo F. Bautista has shown a remarkable dedication to the literary arts both as a writer of monumental vision and unfailing craft and as an indefatigable model teacher of literature.
Mr. Bautista’s path-breaking writings represent key guideposts in the evolution and fruition of contemporary Filipino literature in English. Particularly in poetry, he has shown a mastery of the English language, much like what the late National Artist José Garcia Villa did among the first generation of Filipino writers in English.
In formal terms, he has also shown an uncanny mastery of poetic forms—lyric and narrative, short and long, traditional and avant-garde. Without a doubt, he is our most commanding poetic voice in English today.
But mastery of the English language and of Anglo-American poetics is not enough. Educated at University of Santo Tomas, St. Louis University in Baguio City, and De La Salle University, Mr. Bautista has not only shown mastery of them; he has also extended their length and breadth to suit the uniqueness of the Philippine experience.
Particularly in his magnum opus, his epic “Trilogy of St. Lazarus” (consisting of “Archipelago,” “Telex Moon” and “Sunlight on Broken Stones”), Mr. Bautista has “Filipinized” the English language and poetic genres to express the distinct Filipino vision and identity.
Two tongues
With its formalist bravado and humanist vision fired by spiritual faith, the “Trilogy” is a monumental work in the league, for instance, of the socially coruscating poetry of National Artist Amado Hernandez, the brilliant Hispanic evocations of National Artist Nick Joaquin, and the powerful Rosales Saga of National Artist F. Sionil José.
Bautista has shown the same adeptness, the same visionary insight in his fiction. More recently, he has embarked on writing a trilogy of novels in Tagalog, of which the first part, “Galaw ng Asoge,” was released by the UST Publishing House to much in the last decade.
With his new assay, Mr. Bautista threatens to apply the same verve and genius so evident in his English works to the tradition of Tagalog literature, two tongues joined by the artistic genius of one pen that knows no borders, no limits.
Paternal regard
In his criticism, Mr. Bautista has shown commitment to the craft, unerring poetics, and a familiarity with, but not uncritical adoption of, literary trends and theoretical currents.
And in his pedagogy, he has shown a paternal regard for the next generation’s writers and teachers, as well as a very admirable sense of sacrifice, considering the thanklessness of teaching.
For all of the above and more, the Pontifical University believes that Cirilo F. Bautista should be elevated to the Order of National Artists.
Excerpts from the endorsement of the nomination of Cirilo F. Bautista for National Artist of Literature by University of Santo Tomas Rector Fr. Herminio Dagohoy, OP.
