Pete Lacaba - Biography and Career

Biography and Career

Born in Cagayan de Oro in 1945 to Jose Monreal Lacaba of Loon, Bohol and Fe Flores from Pateros, Rizal, he is one of the leading figures in Philippine literature today. He is well known in various fields, including creative writing, journalism, editing and scriptwriting.

Lacaba was recognized for his coverage of the First Quarter Storm, an anti-Marcos movement, in 1970. During Martial Law, Lacaba fought President Ferdinand Marcos and his US-backed military dictatorship. Under the nom de plume Ruben Cuevas, Lacaba published his poem “Prometheus Unbound” at Focus, a magazine that had allied itself with the Marcos regime.

His poetry collections include Ang Mga Kagilagilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni Juan de la Cruz (1979), Sa Daigdig ng Kontradiksyon (1991) and Sa Panahon ng Ligalig (1991). A new edition of his important, highly charged Days of Disquiet, Nights of Rage (1982), a reportage on the First Quarter Storm and the subsequent times, has also been released.

He worked with well-known directors like Lino Brocka and Mike de Leon in producing films that expose ordinary people's lives that experienced poverty and injustice. He continued writing poems, and in 1999, was decorated as one of 100 "Bayani ng Sining".

Lacaba is currently the executive editor of Summit Media's YES! magazine, the sister publication of PEP. His screenplay credits include Jaguar, which competed at the Cannes International Film Festival in 1980, while Bayan Ko: Kapit sa Patalim competed in 1984. Orapronobis was screened out of competition in 1989. Ricky Lee co-wrote Jaguar with Lacaba.

In honor of Lacaba for being the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Awardee, the classic film Bayan Ko was screened as the closing film of Dekada Cinemanila. According to Anima Aguiluz, the daughter of Direk Tikoy and festival programmer of Cinemanila, Bayan Ko could be found in Toronto, Canada.