Amado V. Hernandez

Amado Vera Hernandez was a Filipino writer and activist.

He was born in Hagonoy, Bulacan but grew up Tondo, Manila, where he studied at the Manila High School and at the American Correspondence School. While being a reporter, columnist and editor of several newspaper and magazines including Watawat, Mabuhay, Pilipino, Makabayan and Sampaguita. He also honed his poetic craft. He received the Republic Cultural Heritage Award, a number of Palancas and an award from the National Press Club for his journalistic achievements. After World War II, he became a member of the Philippine Newspaper Guild and his writings increasingly dealt with the plight of the peasants and laborers. Influenced by the philosophy of Hobbes and Locke, he advocated revolution as a means of change.

In 1947, he became the president of the Congress of Labor Organization (CLO). His activities and writings led him to imprisonment from 1951 to 1956. In prison he was still a leader and artist, spearheading education programs and mounting musical productions, plays and poetry readings. It was during his incarceration that he wrote one his masterpiece, Mga Ibong Mandaragit (Predatory Birds). His prison writings were smuggled out by his wife, zarzuela star Honarata “Atang” dela Rama, who would become our National Artist for Music and Theater.

Ka Amado died on 24 March 1970 in the wake of the First Quarter Storm, whose leaders and activists recited his words. He left a legacy that includes Isang Dipang Langit (An Arm-Stretch of Sky), Kung Tuyo na ang Luha Mo, Aking Bayan (When Your Tears Have Dried, My Country), Panata sa Kalayaan (Pledge to Freedom), and the novel Luha ng Buwaya (Crocodile Tears). He was posthumously honored as National Artist for Literature in 1973. Together with poet Jose Garcia Villa, Amado V. Hernandez was the first to receive the title in literature.