National Artist for Literature F. Sionil Jose, pumanaw na sa edad na 97

ni Jasmin Joy Evangelista | January 7, 2022

Pumanaw na ang National Artist for Literature na si F. Sionil Jose, nitong Huwebes nang gabi sa edad na 97.

Ito ay kinumpirma ng Philippine Center of International Poets, Essayists, Novelists sa isang pahayag.

“Jose died Thursday evening at the Makati Medical Center where he was supposed to undergo an angioplasty Friday Jan. 7, according to his wife, Tessie Jovellanos Jose,” pahayag ng organisasyon na binuo ni Jose.

“Tessie said Jose apparently died in his sleep. He was declared dead at 9:30 p.m,” dagdag pa nito.

Noon lamang December 3, 2021 ay ipinagdiwang ni Jose ang kanyang ika-97 kaarawan.

Nitong Huwebes nang tanghali ay nag-post pa ang National artist sa kanyang FB account ng isang tila liham para sa kanyang puso.

“For 97 years you have been constantly working patiently pumping much more efficiently and longer than most machines. Of course, I know that a book lasts long too, as the libraries have shown, books that have lived more than 300 years,” post niya.

“Now, that I am here in waiting for an angioplasty, I hope that you will survive it and I with it, so that I will be able to continue what I have been doing with so much energy that only you have been able to give,” dagdag pa niya.

Kilala si F. Sionil bilang isa sa most widely read Filipino authors sa English language, kung saan ang mga akda nito ay naisalin na sa 28 iba’t ibang lengguwahe.

Ang kanyang mga akda ay nagwagi sa Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature sa limang magkakaibang taon, at nakatanggap ng iba’t ibang pagkilala mula sa mga award-giving bodies, tulad ng Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Centennial Award noong 1999, France’s Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres noong 2000, at Pablo Neruda Centennial Award in Chile noong 2004.