Zambales town marks ‘Buwan ng Panitikan’ with National Artist Ricky Lee
SAN ANTONIO, ZAMBALES, Philippines — Writers, students, and cultural advocates gathered on Thursday, April 30, at the San Antonio Youth Center to mark the culmination of the country’s Buwan ng Pambansang Panitikan (National Literature Month), with National Artist Ricky Lee as guest of honor.
Lee, a National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts, headlined the main session “Mga pagninilay sa pagkuwento, bayan, at sining” (Meditations on storytelling, country, and arts), where he reflected on storytelling as both a personal craft and a social responsibility.
The event, held on the final day of the month-long observance of nationwide National Literature Month, underscored the importance of Filipino literature in shaping national identity at a time when attention is increasingly fragmented by digital media.
Local writers Joshua Paradeza and Adalric Cabal served as respondents, offering insights on Lee’s body of work and its resonance with emerging voices from the provinces.
READ: For Ricky Lee, to write is to be free
In his remarks, Joey Tabula, executive council member of the National Committee on Literary Arts, emphasized the role of literature in preserving cultural memory and encouraging critical engagement with contemporary issues.
“Why do we need National Literature Month? To remind us that we have our own literature, our own stories, poems, essays, novels, and plays,” he said in Filipino, noting that the celebration serves as both tribute and reminder for Filipinos to reconnect with their stories amid the distractions of modern life.
Tabula also highlighted how literature continues to reflect and engage with the realities of this province — from territorial tensions in the West Philippine Sea to environmental concerns such as mining and dredging.
Despite often being in the headlines for such issues, said Tabula, the province remains present in the national imagination through literature and film.
He also turned the spotlight on homegrown talent, from established figures to emerging writers, as organizers expressed hopes of expanding recognition for Zambaleño voices in the national literary scene.
They said the convergence of culture and community during the event served as a reminder that beyond its beaches and headlines, the province has stories worth telling — and writers ready to tell them.
With support from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the local government, the gathering closed with a call for continued reading, writing, and collective engagement with Filipino literature.
“In this commemoration,” Tabula said, “we are all connected at the umbilical cord as one nation that reads and writes our stories.” /cb /atm
