National Artists For Literature
National Artists For Literature
National Artists For Literature
FOR
LITERATURE
Philippineliterature is a rich group of literary works
that has developed along with the country’s history.
Long before the arrival of Western influences, early
Filipinos already have stories to tell to younger
generations.
For our awardee, the early beginnings were dire and uncertain. His
father was a kutsero, horse rig driver; the mother, totally blind,
and there were 10 children in the family.
Atty. Ramon L. Muzones was a lawyer by profession, a newspaper man
and was elected to public office as councilor of Iloilo City from 1963 to
1971. But it was writing in the vernacular that he excelled most. He first
wrote “The Ten Bornean Datus” which was published in the Philippine
Free Press when he was 19 years old.
His novels written in pure Ilonggo attracted national acclaim and he was
cited as an Outstanding Awardee of the Writers’ Union of the Philippines
and received its Literary Achievement Award in 1988.
He received the Cultural Artist of the Philippines Award in 1989 and
chosen as a Gawad Bonifacio – Centennial Artist of the Philippines
in 1997 in the company of illustrious regional writers as Amado
Hernandez, Tagalog; Iluminado Lucente, Waray; Mariano Perfecto,
Bicolano; Leon Pechay, Ilocano and Vicente Sotto, Cebuano.
He was a consultant of public schools in the vernacular; authored an
Ilonggo-English dictionary; and compiled a collection of Ilonggo
proverbs; short stories; poems and proclamation speeches, driven by
a passion to preserve the purity of the Ilonggo dialect.