National Artist, UST Alumnus Bienvenido Lumbera passes away
by Angela Atejera
National Artist for Literature and UST Alumnus Bienvenido Lumbera passed away at age 89 on Tuesday, Sept. 28.
Lumbera’s daughter said that he died peacefully at their Quezon City home due to complications of a stroke in June this year.
Heartfelt condolences and tributes for the beloved author, poet, and educator poured on social media sites upon the news of his passing.
“Maraming salamat at paalam Tatay Bien! Pumanaw na ang ating Pambansang Alagad Ng Sining sa Panitikan,” Metro Manila Film Festival spokesperson Noel Ferrer said in a Facebook post.
Online novena masses are set to be scheduled starting Tuesday after the cremation of Lumbera’s remains at Arlington, Quezon City.
Lumbera is a Litt. B Journalism alumnus of the former Faculty of Philosophy and Letters (now Faculty of Arts and Letters) and also served as the former literary editor of the University’s official publication, The Varsitarian.
He received the 1975 Palanca Award for Literature; the 1993 Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts; National Book Awards from the Manila Critics Circle; the 1998 Philippine Centennial Literary Prize for Drama; and the 1999 Cultural Center of the Philippines Centennial Honors for the Arts.
