Authors

AMBROSIO RIANZARES BAUTISTA (1830 - 1903)

He wrote the Declaration of Philippine independence, which he read during the proclamation in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898.  Bautista, a lawyer, was involved in the movement to free the Philippines from the Spanish yoke of tyranny and oppression.  He helped finance La Solidaridad, organ of the
propaganda movement in Spain.  He succeeded Pedro Paterno as president of the revolutionary congress when it reconvened in Tarlac in 1899.  When the Philippine-American Revolution ended, he was appointed judge of the court of first instance.

CECILIO APOSTOL (1877 - 1938)

Spanish-language poet.  When the Philippine-Spanish Revolution broke out, he joined as a
propagandist using his skill in the Spanish language.  When the revolution was over, he got his law degree in 1903.  He became a staff member of La Independencia and El Renacimiento newspapers, which had nationalist persuasions.  Apostol's forte was patriotic poems.  Two of his masterpieces were A' Rizal (To Rizal) and Mi Raza (My Race).  They placed first in a national contest. 

JORGE BOCOBO (1886 - 1965)

Educator, jurist, and author.  After he obtained his law degree, he became an instructor in the College of Law at the University of the Philippines, and in a few years, rose to full professor and dean.  In 1934, he was appointed president of the University of the Philippines.  During the independence movement, he helped the cause by writing two books and by translating them into English Jose Rizal's novels, Code of Kalantiao and the Philippine National Anthem.  In 1939, Bocobo served as secretary of public
instruction and then became a justice of the Supreme Court.  He was the principal author of the Civil Code of the Philippines, which he received the Presidential Award of Merit in 1949.

CAMILO OSIAS (1889 - 1976)

Writer, educator, and legislator.  He began his career as a public school teacher and rose to become president of National University in Manila.  During his educational stint, he authored the popular Philippine Readers, a textbook widely used in primary and  intermediate schools.  In 1928, Osias was elected senator and was instrumental in legislations which improved the quality of the educational system.  He was reelected senator several times and made educational legislation his priority.  He was also known as an avid writer on Jose Rizal.  He translated his hero's novels into English and wrote
numerous books and essays on Rizal.