A Calendar of Rizaliana in the Vault of the Philippine National Library

Ambeth Ocampo

After completing the process of research and authentication that led to the publication of the drafts of Rizal’s hitherto unpublished third novel Makamisa, Ambeth Ocampo surveyed his field notes and discovered that he had completed an inventory of the precious and inaccessible Rizal manuscripts and materials in the vault of the Philippine National Library. Arranged chronologically to become a bibliographical calendar, this book is not a mere listing, but includes descriptive details, annotations, and even an abstract in English of most manuscripts.

Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, 1993

A Cofradia of Two: Oral History on the Family Life and Lay Religiosity of Juan D. Nepomuceno and Teresa G. Nepomuceno of Angeles, Pampanga

Erlita Mendoza

This is the story of a remarkable couple whose unlikely partnership helped build the first city of the Kapampangan Region—as told by their eight surviving children and two daughters-in-law. But it was really their unassailable family values, their love and their faith, and their belief in their hometown’s capacity for greatness, that will be the lasting legacy of this couple—the unforgettable Juan and his enigmatic wife Teresa.

Angeles City, Pampanga: Holy Angel University Juan D. Nepomuceno Center for Kapampangan Studies, 2004

A Companion Manual to Helping Our Children Do Well in School: 10 Successful Strategies from the Parents’ Best Practices Study of the Ateneo de Manila High School

Queena Lee-Chua, Ma. Isabel Sison-Dionisio

What makes students do well in school? A survey of more than 500 parents of honor students, athletes, student leaders, and students excelling in extracurricular activities, yielded 10 simple strategies for good parenting. This companion manual also covers other topics such as spotting possible learning disorders, checklists of child and parenting styles, computer addiction, the truth about the Chinese and math, and more.

Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, 2004

A Dictionary of Philippine Plant Names (Volumes I and II)

Domingo Madulid

This is the most comprehensive dictionary on Philippine plant names, with more than 43,300 vernacular names representing more than 97 languages and dialects in the country. It covers various groups of plants from algae, mosses, fungi, ferns and fern-allies, and flowering plants. It is intended as a general reference and guide for easy identification or naming of Philippine plant life, which is one of the most diverse and richest in the world.

Makati City: Bookmark, 2001

A Field Guide to the Whales and Dolphins in the Philippines

Jose Ma. Lorenzo Tan

“A well-made, exhaustively researched, and well-documented book with a conscience. Author Lory Tan shows us the beauty of these animals and what is happening to them now. A scaled recognition chart in full color is an added treat for kids and conscientious adults. The quality of this book is as impressive as its purpose is urgent.”—Sunday Inquirer

Makati City: Bookmark, 1995

A Life Shaped by Music: Andrea Ofilada Veneracion and the Philippine Madrigal Singers

Marjorie Evasco

A Life Shaped by Music is a story of National Artist for Music Andrea O. Veneracion and her lifework as founder and choirmaster of the Philippine Madrigal Singers. Poet Marjorie Evasco weaves the multi-colored strands of more than 37 years of the story, clarifying for those who admire Prof. Veneracion and the Philippine Madrigal Singers the intrinsic spirit, the magical rapport, the discipline, and the passion that animate every performance of the choir.

Makati City: Bookmark, 2001

A Makeshift Sun: Stories and Poems

Gemino H. Abad

Drawing from Abad’s introduction, one could regard the stories as a quest of memory, and the poems a probe of feeling, which both seek to define our humanity as Filipino. Whether the subject in story or poem is love or family, a natural function or even an idea, what is crucial for the definition is the integrity of the fictional persona’s response. But the form that integrity takes is always, for both persona and reader, a work of imagination.

Quezon City: University of the Phillipines Press, 2001

A Maranao Dictionary


Edited by Howard P. McKaughan, Batua Al-Macaraya

Aside from the introduction and a bibliography, this book contains two major chapters: a Maranao Dictionary and a Maranao–English Dictionary.

Manila: De La Salle University Press, 1996

A Nation for Our Children: Human Rights, Nationalism, Sovereignty

Jose Diokno
Edited by Santos Manalang Pricila

“This invaluable collection of Jose W. Diokno’s speeches and articles will serve as a monument to his unceasing vigilant pursuit and commitment to securing and protecting the quality of life of the Filipino human person in a just and humane society. His presentations addressed to his three major concerns—respect for human rights, nationalism, and Philippine sovereignty—reflect a contagious passion shared objectively through the use of substantive facts from the causes of our past and present political and economic circumstances.”—Lourdes R. Quisumbing, former secretary of Education, Culture, and Sports

Quezon City: Claretian Publications and The Jose W. Diokno Foundation, 1987

A Native Clearing: Filipino Poetry and Verse from English since the ’50s to the Present from Edith L. Tiempo and Cirilo F. Bautista


Edited by Gemino H. Abad

A Native Clearing is the sequel to Man of Earth (1989). It covers Filipino poetry wrought from English since the 1950s to the present. Because there are many more poets over that period, Prof. Abad decided to include only those who were born between 1919 and 1941, i.e., those who, from Edith L. Tiempo to Cirilo F. Bautista, worked and remolded English to the Filipino sense of his own reality. A few older poets from Man of Earth provide continuity in the poetic tradition.

Quezon City: University of the Phillipines Press, 1993

A Normal Life and Other Stories

Reine Arcache Melvin

The subject of her stories is desire for a lover, for a homeland, for the possibility of a simple life. Many of these tales take place in the Philippines during the time of coups d’état and revolutions, but the men and women of A Normal Life are caught in their own private dramas: the end of marriage, the beginning of a love affair, the ambiguities of motherhood, and the thrall of eroticism.

Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Office of Research and Publications,, 1999

A Passionate Patience: Ten Filipino Poets on the Writing of Their Poems


Edited by Ricardo M. De Ungria

How are poems made? What brings them about and how do they begin? How are they cared for? How are they ever brought to a close? What do poets think about when they are writing a poem? Features 10 major poets: Gemino Abad, Carlos Angeles, Cirilo Bautista, Ricaredo Demetillo, Ophelia Dimalanta, Marjorie Evasco, Alejandrino Hufana, Edith Tiempo, Trinidad Tarrosa-Subido, and Alfred Yuson.

Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, 1995

A Philippine Album: American Era Photographs 1900-1930

Jonathan Best

In his second book of vintage photographs, Jonathan Best has retrieved a beautiful collection of Philippine images from the dusty albums and old picture cards sent to America decades long ago. This “album” of timeless images is a visual feast and a poignant reminder of much which remains of the rich heritage and unique character of the Filipino people.

Makati City: Bookmark, 1998

A Pictorial Cyclopedia of Philippine Ornamental Plants

Domingo Madulid

Revised Edition, 2000 with 388 pages and ISBN 971-569-366-0

People from various walks of life have long wanted an easy-to-read, comprehensive reference that will lead them to the identification and description of the numerous beautiful ornamental plants of the Philippines and to other pertinent information. This book provides an answer to this long-felt need and presents in a systematic and pictorial form more than 1,000 species and varieties of native and introduced ornamental plants in the country.

Makati City: Bookmark, 1995

A Pilgrim’s Notes: Ethics, Social Ethics, Bioethics

Fausto B. Gomez, OP

A Pilgrim’s Notes is the third collection of essays in English by Father Fausto Gomez y Berlanas, OP, professor of moral theology, social ethics, and bioethics at the Faculties of Theology and Medicine of the University of Santo Tomas and other schools of theology.

Manila: University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2005

A Sea of Stories: Tales from Sulu

Carla M. Pacis

This children’s book features five charming and sentimental stories that speak of the people and the fascinating animals living in the islands of Sulu. The book is an effort to document and preserve some of the indigenous literary genres like legends, myths, and folktales, and create short stories for both the young and old from these raw, orally transmitted tales.

Makati City: Bookmark, 2000

A Trick of Mirrors: Selected Poems in English and Tagalog

Rolando S. Tinio

Also published by Anvil Publishing in 1993.

This book represents the first collection of Rolando S. Tinio’s poetry in English and covers work from the late 1950s to the early 1990s. It also contains selections from his three poetry books in Tagalog: Sitsit sa Kuliglig, Dunung-Dunungan, and Kristal na Uniberso.

Mandaluyong City: Cacho Publishing House, 1993

A Voice from the Hills: Essays on the Culture and World View of the Western Bukidnon Manobo People

Francisco Col-om Polenda
Edited by Richard E. Elkins

The book contains “Life Cycle,” “Social Values,” “The Home,” “Livelihood,” “Politics and Peacekeeping,” “Getting Along with Gods and Spirits,” and “Leisure and Beauty.” Text in English with Manobo translation.

Manila: Linguistics Society of the Philippines, 1989

Abot Mo ba ang Tainga Mo?

Heidi Abad
Illustrated by Jose Magno Tejido

Why do people wear black at funerals? Will a pregnant woman give birth to twins if she eats twin bananas? These and other questions are answered in 10 amusing stories about Filipino folk beliefs.

Quezon City: Adarna House, 2001

Abot-Tanaw: Sulyap at Suri sa Nagbabagong Kultura at Lipunan

Bienvenido Lumbera

A collection of essays in Filipino, mostly written during Martial Law, arranged by topics indicating the author’s involvement in issues relating to culture and society as these manifest themselves in literature and media.

Quezon City: Linangan ng Kamalayang Makabansa, 1987