FOR HIS wide-ranging and intense examinations of Filipino art and culture, in a language that is admirable for its scholarly intelligence and rigor, and percipient sophistication. Writing in Filipino or English, he wields the tools of cultural studies, literary history, and post-colonial criticism in lifting and uncovering the layers of the Filipino imagination in literary works, painting, and film. In his long residency in various academic and administrative positions at the University of the Philippines in Baguio, he has also trained his scholarly sights on Cordillera culture, while lending his kindly and generous support as mentor to young writers and artists. His award-winning books, studies, and monographs are esteemed resources of Filipino scholarship in the West and in Southeast Asia.
BORN ON 4 August 1950 in Baliuag, Bulacan. He took his Master of Arts (Literature) at the Ateneo de Manila University, 1980. He served the University of the Philippines-Baguio since 1978, first as Coordinator of the Division of Humanities and then as Dean, College of Arts and Communications in 2003-2006. He was a 1993 Most Outstanding Faculty Award, University of the Philippines Diliman and 1990 Local Fellow for the Essay, University of the Philippines Creative Writing Center. His publications include Filipinos Writing: Philippine Literature from the Regions (Area Editor 2001, Benigno Ramos, Editor, Anvil Publishing, 1998); Gumising Ka Aking Bayan: Mga Piling Tula (Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1997 & 1998); Literary Theory and Critical Practice (Editor, University of the Philippines-Open University, 1994); Resistance and Revolution in the Cordillera (University of the Philippines College Baguio/National Commission for Culture & the Arts). Some of his articles and essays include 2008 “Against Western Paradigms: Postcolonialism and the Filipino Critic” in Festschrift in Honor of Muhammad Salleh Yaapar at the Universiti Sains Malaysia (Penang, Malaysia, forthcoming); “Ukayukay” in Sawikaan: Mga Salita ng Taon 2004 (University of the Philippines Press, Sentro ng Wikang Filipino/National Commission for Culture & the Arts); “Cinematic Counter-telling: The Reinscription of History in the Films of Raya Martin,” The Journal of History (forthcoming); and “Hudhud Bilang Epiko: Tradisyong Pasalita at Nakasulat na Kasaysayan,” Bulawan: Journal of Philippine Arts & Culture (2001).