
Nat’l Artist for Literature Cirilo Bautista dies at 76
By ALI IAN MARCELINO V. BIONG
NATIONAL ARTIST for Literature and UST Literature alumnus Cirilo Bautista has died early morning on May 6. He was 76.
De La Salle University’s (DLSU) literature department broke the news of its faculty member’s passing on the same day.
“It is with deep sadness we announce the passing of our beloved professor/mentor and perhaps the greatest poet in the annals of Philippine literature—Dr. Cirilo F. Bautista. Rest in peace, our Moses, Gandalf, Nero Wolfe, Obi Wan Kenobi. Till we meet again in Paradise,” the Facebook post of the DLSU literature department read.
Bautista graduated magna cum laude from the then UST College of Liberal Arts in 1963 and was former literary editor of the Varsitarian. He obtained his doctorate degree in language and liter...