Dr. Francisco Sionil Jose was a Visiting Professor at De La Salle University Department of Literature where he taught Philippine fiction and creative writing. He was conferred an honoris causa the Doctor of Philosophy in Humane Letters by DLSU in 1995.

Dr. Jose is known for his magnum opus, the Rosales Saga, comprising five novels—Poon, Tree, My Brother, My Executioner, The Pretenders, and Mass. Significant also are his other novels such as Gagamba, Sin, Viajero, and Ermita; his short stories in collections such as The God Stealer and Other Stories, Waywaya, and Platinum; and his essays in Why We are Poor and This I Believe: Gleanings from a Life in Literature. Aside from the Order of the National Artist (2001), he was honored with manifold international awards, including The Pablo Neruda Centennial Award (2004), The Order of Sacred Treasure from the Emperor of Japan (2001), Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres (2000), and the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts (1980).

The French philosopher Simone Weil believed that only two things pierce the heart—beauty and affliction. Dr. Jose’s work possesses both: they are stories of pain recounted in beauty. Of intricate design and intellectual magnitude, his fictions are judicious meditations on human sufferings and forthright exposés of the cancers lurking in the backstreets of our society. They serve as witnesses to the wounds of our history, from colonial oppressions to agrarian unrests, and repressive rules and class struggles to natural adversities. These stories, nonetheless, are testimonies of our people’s claim to survival, and of resistance against annihilation and oblivion.

Dr. Jose’s novels Ermita, The Pretenders, Mass, and My Brother, My Executioner have been among the required texts for Lasallian Core Curriculum literature courses. Through the readings, our students have formed sentiment-laden bonds with Dr. Jose’s unforgettable characters, such as the hauntingly brilliant but conflicted Tony Samson or the tormented Luis Asperri. Truly, his fictions are some of the most heart-rending Filipino masterworks, their disquieting power on par with that of José Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere or Carlos Bulosan’s America is in the Heart. His graduate class in Ilocano literature included a road trip to his beloved hometown Rosales in Pangasinan. The students were struck by the wild splendor of Lingayen Gulf and regaled by his merry anecdotes of childhood jaunts, like catching crabs in rice fields.

The F. Sionil Jose Museum, located at DLSU Libraries, houses the mementoes of the seven ages of Dr. Jose’s magnificent writerly life. Museums and archives are there to remind us of the vital roles of art, writing, and cultural artefacts in the formation of our national ideoscape. We recall that once upon a time we were navigators who ventured into the deepest seas in search of adventures and bartered for tales of marvel in the farthest shores. Today, in our own University, we see the enshrinement of such priceless narratives, fragments of a writer’s toils and joys yet representing the grandeur of Philippine literary and cultural empire. Prior to the pandemic, regular conversations on Philippine history and the craft of writing were held at the museum, with students and lovers of literature sitting at the feet of their Rabbi Dr. Jose.

Dr. Jose was also a shop owner, publisher, and leader of the cultural community. He founded Solidaridad Bookshop, a quaint, delightful cubbyhole in Ermita which became a sanctuary for writers and intellectuals to break bread and swap political tsismis over the best vodka from Manong Frankie’s wine cellar; Solidaridad Publishing House, which produced the Solidarity journal and the Asian PEN Anthologies; and Solidaridad Art Gallery, which held cutting-edge exhibitions and seminars on Asian art and culture. He established the Philippine Center of International PEN (Poets, Playwrights, Essayists, Novelists) in 1958; this writers’ organization holds high the banner of free speech as it advocates for a healthier climate of democratic exchange and dissent.

The last intellectual Jedi of his era, Dr. F. Sionil Jose would be fondly remembered for his passion for the word, his zest for all sorts of escapades, and his staunch belief in humanity’s true grit.

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The Works of F. Sionil Jose

National Artist for Literature, 2001

Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts, 1980