Poet, essayist Rogelio Mangahas dies at 79
AWARD-WINNING poet and esM sayist Rogelio G. Mangahas, whose poems in the 1960s and 1970s made him a major force in Filipino modernist poetry, died on WednesM day at the age of 79.
Mangahas died at 6:14 a.m. at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Hospital in Manila, where he had been confined after suffering a masM sive stroke on Monday, according to his widow, historian and professor Fe Mangahas, and poet Vim Nadera.
FellowwriterspaidtributesonFacebook after news of Mangahas’ death broke.
The Komisyon sa Wikang FiliM pino (KWF or the Commission on the Filipino Language) said in Filipino that Mangahas was a proM moter of Filipino modernist poetry, together with Lamberto E. Antonio and National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario.
“Siya ay [isang] premyadong makata, manunulat, kritiko, guro, aktibista,makabayan,attagapagsuM longngpanitikanatwikangFilipino@ (He is a prize-winning poet, writer, critic, teacher, activist, nationalist, and promoter of Filipino literature and language),” it added.
Alma Cruz-Miclat, wife of author Mario Miclat, described Mangahas as a “people’s poet,” and “staunch nationalist and activist.”
Essayist-critic Roland Tolentino regarded the poet as one of his first writing mentors when he studied at the De La Salle University (DLSU), calling him “mabait (kind), gentleM manly, malumanay magsalita, matipid ngumiti at mas matipid tumawa@ (softspoken who smiled and laughed sparingly).”
“IsasapinakamalalimnaminaM mahalatiginagalangnamakataat kapwatao@( One of the most deeply loved and respected poets and fellow human beings),” poet and professor Rebecca Añonuevo wrote of Mangahas.
Other writers, including Perfecto Martin and Michael Coroza, posted Mangahas’ poems on their respecM tive Facebook accounts in his honor.
Mangahas was born in Palasinan village, Cabiao, Nueva Ejica on May 9, 1939. He finished AB Filipino at the University of the East (UE), where he met and became associated with Almario and Antonio. He also studM ied MA Philippine Literature at the University of the Philippines (UP).
The author was editor-in-chief of Phoenix Publishing House and of SIBS Publishing House and taught Filipino language and literature at DLSU, UE, UP Manila and Saint Scholastica’s College.