This combination of photos show (clockwise from top left) Tita Lacambra-Ayala, Leoncio P. Deriada, Clinton Palanca, Sylvia L. Mayuga, Michael P. de Guzman and Gerry Alanguilan. (Photos from the Facebook accounts of the authors, Lourdes Gordolan, and Davao Writers Guild and Kasingkasing Press Facebook pages)
LIKE the year before it, 2019 saw several members of the Philippine writing community pass on, leaving behind invaluable works for admirers and scholars to revisit and relish. They include a Palanca Hall of Fame inductee, two beloved female writers and an influential comics creator. They may be fewer than those who died in 2018, but their departure continues to be deeply felt.