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Amado V. Hernandez
Member of the Manila Municipal Board
In office 1945–1951
Personal details
Born	Amado Vera Hernandez (1903-09-13)September 13, 1903 Tondo, Manila, Philippine Islands
Died	March 24, 1970(1970-03-24) (aged 66) Manila, Philippines
Spouse	Atang de la Rama ​(m. 1932)​
Awards	Order of National Artists of the Philippines

Amado Vera Hernandez (September 13, 1903 – March 24, 1970), was a Filipino writer and labor leader who was known for his criticism of social injustices in the Philippines and was later imprisoned for his involvement in the communist movement. He was the central figure in a landmark legal case that took 13 years to settle.

He was born in Tondo, Manila, to parents Juan Hernandez from Hagonoy, Bulacan and Clara Vera of Baliuag, Bulacan. He grew up and studied at the Gagalangin, Tondo, the Manila High School and at the American Correspondence School.

Career as a Writer

While still a teenager, he began writing in Tagalog for the newspaper Watawat (Flag). He would later write a column for the Tagalog publication Pagkakaisa (Unity) and become the youngest patnugot (editor) of Mabuhay (Long Live) at the age of 28.

His writings gained the attention of Tagalog literati and some of his stories and poems were included in anthologies, such as Clodualdo del Mundo's Parolang Ginto and Alejandro Abadilla's Talaang Bughaw.

In 1922, at the age of 19, Hernandez became a member of the literary society Aklatang Bayan which included noted Tagalog writers Lope K. Santos and Jose Corazon de Jesus.

In 1932, he married the Filipino actress Atang de la Rama. Both of them would later be recognized as National Artists: Hernandez for literature and de la Rama for theater and music.

World War II

Hernandez joined the resistance movement when the Japanese invaded in the Philippines in 1941. He was an intelligence operative of the guerilla outfit of Marking and Anderson, whose operations covered Bulacan and the Sierra Madre mountains, throughout the Second World War.

While he was a guerilla, Hernandez came in contact with guerillas of the Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon (Hukbalahap) which was founded by Luis Taruc and other communist ideologues continued by the Philippine Commonwealth troops entered in Bulacan. It is believed that this was when Hernandez developed sympathies, if not belief, with the communist movement.

Labor leader

After the war, President Sergio Osmeña appointed him councilor of Manila during the reconstruction of the war-devastated city. He also became president of the defunct Philippine Newspaper Guild in coordination with its editor in chief, Narjeey Larasa. During this time he published articles on landlordism, collaboration with the Japanese, the reintroduction of American armed forces and the execution of guerilla leaders.

But his most significant activities after the war involved organizing labor unions across the country through the labor federation Congress of Labor Organizations (CLO). Influenced by the philosophy of Marx he advocated revolution as a means of change. On May 5, 1947, he led the biggest labor strike to hit Manila at that time. The following year, he became president of the CLO and led another massive labor demonstration in May 1948.

In 1950, the Philippine military started a crackdown against the communist movement, which was had sparked open rebellion in some areas on Luzon island, and the CLO headquarters was raided on January 20, 1951. Hernandez was arrested in January 1951 along with several trade union leaders in Manila on the suspicion that he was among the leaders of the rebellion.

Imprisonment

Though the authorities could not find evidence to charge him; For six months, he was transferred from one military camp to another and it took nearly a year before he was indicted on a charge of rebellion with murder, arson and robbery - a complex crime unheard of in Philippine legal history.

The case stirred the interest of civil rights activists in the Philippines and Hernandez was assisted at various times by legal luminaries like Senator Claro M. Recto, former President José P. Laurel and Claudio Teehankee, who would later become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. But he remained in prison while his appeal was pending.

It was while he was imprisoned that he wrote his most notable works. He wrote Isang Dipang Langit (A Stretch of Heaven), which later won a Republic Cultural Heritage Award, and Bayang Malaya (Free Nation), which later won a Balagtas Award. Also written in prison was his masterpiece Luha ng Buwaya (Tears of the Crocodile). Portions of his novel Mga Ibong Mandaragit (Birds of Prey) was also written while he was at the New Bilibid Prison. He also edited the prison's newspaper Muntinglupa Courier.

After five years of imprisonment, the Supreme Court allowed Hernandez to post bail on June 20, 1956. He then resumed his journalistic career and wrote a column for the Tagalog tabloid Taliba. He would later be conferred awards in prestigious literary contests, like the Commonwealth Literary Contest (twice), Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards (four times) and journalism awards given by the National Press Club of the Philippines (four times).

On May 30, 1964, the Supreme Court acquitted Hernandez in a decision that would be a landmark in Philippine jurisprudence. The case People of the Philippines vs. Amado V. Hernandez is now a standard case study in Philippine law schools.

Hernandez continued to write and teach after his acquittal. He was teaching at the University of the Philippines when he died on March 24, 1970. The University of the Philippines posthumously conferred on him the degree of Doctor of Humanities honoris causa on March 14, 1972. The Ateneo de Manila University awarded him its first Tanglaw ng Lahi award. He was posthumously honored as National Artist for Literature in 1973. Together with poet José García Villa, Hernández was the first to receive the title in literature.

Works

Novels

His socio-political novels were based on his experiences as a guerrilla, as a labour leader and as a political detainee.

• Mga Ibong Mandaragit (Birds of Prey),1969.
• Luha Ng Buwaya (Crocodile's Tears), 1972.
• Pili sa Pinili (Chosen from the Selected), 1964.

Poems

• Isang Dipang Langit (An Arm-Stretch of Sky),
• Panata sa Kalayaan (Pledge to Freedom) - this poem is carved on his marble headstone April 22, 1952
• Ang Mga Kayamanan ng Tao
• Ang Dalaw Kay Silaw
• Bartolina
• Kung Tuyo Na ang Luha Mo Aking Bayan (When Your Tears Have Dried, My Country)
• Bayang Malaya
• Ang Taong Kapos
• Bayani
• Sa Batang Walang Bagong Damit
• Isang Sining ng Pagbigkas
• Ang Panday
• Inang Wika
• Ang Tao
• Ang Aklasan

Essays

• Si Atang at ang Dulaan (Atang and the Theater)
• Si Jose Corazon de Jesus at ang Ating Panulaan (Jose Corazon de Jesus and Our Poetry)

Awards and nominations

References

1. ^ Peralta, Arnel (2015). "Review of Ka Amado". Philippine Studies: Historical & Ethnographic Viewpoints. 63 (2): 279–282. doi:10.1353/phs.2015.0015. ISSN 2244-1093. JSTOR 24672338. S2CID 192384479. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
2. Degroot, Veronique; Klokke, Marijke J. (1 May 2013). Materializing Southeast Asia's Past: Selected Papers from the 12th International Conference of the European Association of Southeast Asian Archaeologists. NUS Press. ISBN 978-9971-69-655-9. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
3. "Order of National Artists: Amado V. Hernandez". National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
4. ^ Tablan, Ferdinand (June 2011). "Kaisipang Sosyalismo sa mga Akda ni Amado V. Hernandez" (PDF). Kritike (in Tagalog). 5 (1): 15–35. doi:10.25138/5.1.a.2. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
5. Gregorio, Ferdinand S (4 September 2012). "In Defense of Freedom: Philippine Press Through the Ages". National Historical Commission of the Philippines. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
6. ^ Valiente, Tito Genova (2 June 2021). "The Mighty Words: Writers of Protest and Revolution". Philippines Graphic. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
7. Bulosan, Carlos (1 May 1979). "Terrorism Rides the Philippines". Amerasia Journal. 6 (1): 139–141. doi:10.17953/amer.6.1.x025433333186258. ISSN 0044-7471. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
8. "Did You Know: Amado V. Hernandez born today". INQUIRER.net. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
9. Alfonso, Oscar M.; Bauzon, Leslie E. (1985). University of the Philippines: The First 75 Years (1908-1983). University of the Philippines Press. p. 699. ISBN 978-971-10-5018-4. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
10. ^ Coroza, Michael M. (2006). "Review of Bullets and Roses: The Poetry of Amado V. Hernandez, a Bilingual Edition". Philippine Studies. 54 (3): 487–490. ISSN 0031-7837. JSTOR 42633884. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
11. ^ Manipon, Roel Hoang (15 September 2003). "In Focus: The Amado V. Hernandez Birth Centenary: The Revolution of His Words". National Commission for Culture and the Arts. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
12. Cruz, Andres Cristobal (1971). "Ka Amado: Bartolina at Barikada". Philippine Studies (in Tagalog). 19 (2): 255–286. ISSN 0031-7837. JSTOR 42632100. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
13. ^ "Hernandez, Amado V." Sagisag Kultura (in Tagalog). National Commission for Culture and the Arts. 2015. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
14. "Tanglaw ng Lahi Award". Ateneo de Manila University. 26 June 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2021.

Sources

• National Historical Institute, Filipinos in History 5 vols. (Manila: National Historical Institute, 1995)
• Amado V. Hernandez

External links

•   Wikisource has original text related to this article: Amado V. Hernandez

v t e National Artists of the Philippines
Pambansang Alagad ng Sining ng Pilipinas
Architecture	1973 Juan Nakpil 1976 Pablo Antonio 1990 Leandro Locsin 2006 Ildefonso P. Santos Jr. 2014 José María Zaragoza 2018 Francisco Mañosa
Dance	1973 Francisca R. Aquino 1976 Leonor Orosa 1988 Lucrecia Reyes 2006 Ramon Obusan 2014 Alice Reyes 2022 Agnes Locsin
Fashion Design	2006 Ramón Valera 2022 Salvacion Lim Higgins
Film and Broadcast Arts	1976 Lamberto V. Avellana 1982 Gerardo de León 1997 Lino Brocka 2001 Ishmael Bernal 2003 Eddie Romero 2006 Fernando Poe Jr. 2009 Manuel Conde 2018 Kidlat Tahimik 2022 Nora Aunor 2022 Marilou Diaz-Abaya 2022 Ricardo Lee
Historical Literature	1997 Carlos Quirino
Literature	1973 Amado V. Hernandez 1973 José Garcia Villa 1976 Nick Joaquin 1982 Carlos P. Romulo 1990 Francisco Arcellana 1997 N. V. M. Gonzalez 1999 Edith Tiempo 2001 F. Sionil José 2003 Virgilio S. Almario 2003 Alejandro Roces 2006 Bienvenido Lumbera 2009 Lazaro Francisco 2014 Cirilo F. Bautista 2018 Ramon Muzones 2018 Resil B. Mojares 2022 Gémino Abad
Music	1973 Antonio Molina 1976 Jovita Fuentes 1988 Antonino Buenaventura 1988 Lucrecia Kasilag 1991 Lucio San Pedro 1997 Levi Celerio 1997 Felipe Padilla de León 1997 José Maceda 1999 Ernani Joson Cuenco 1999 Andrea Veneracion 2014 Ramon Santos 2014 Francisco Feliciano 2018 Ryan Cayabyab 2022 Fides Cuyugan-Asensio
Theatre	1987 Atang de la Rama 1997 Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero 1997 Rolando Tinio 1999 Daisy Avellana 2001 Severino Montano 2003 Salvador Bernal 2018 Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio 2022 Tony Mabesa
Visual Arts	1972 Fernando Amorsolo 1973 Botong Francisco 1973 Guillermo Tolentino 1976 Napoleon Abueva 1976 Victorio Edades 1981 Vicente Manansala 1990 Cesar Legaspi 1991 Hernando R. Ocampo 1997 Arturo R. Luz 1999 J. Navarro Elizalde 2001 Ang Kiukok 2003 José T. Joya 2006 Benedicto Cabrera 2006 Abdulmari Imao 2009 Federico Aguilar Alcuaz 2014 Francisco Coching 2018 Larry Alcala
National Commission for Culture and the Arts Cultural Center of the Philippines

• National Artists of the Philippines
• People from Bulacan
• People from Tondo, Manila
• Manila City Council members
• Writers from Manila
• 1903 births
• 1970 deaths
• Filipino communists
• Burials at the Manila North Cemetery
• Inmates of the New Bilibid Prison
• Academic staff of the University of the Philippines
• Filipino journalists