The Vocalization of Political and Social Issues: Why Lualhati Torres Bautista is a Great Writer

 

    Lualhati Torres Bautista (1945 - 2023) is a Filipino writer and liberal activist known for her works that tackle on women's issues, oppression, and social realism. Born in Manila, she graduated high school in Florentino Torres High School in 1962. After high school, she became a journalism student at the Lyceum of the Philippines, but dropped out to pursue being a full time writer as schoolwork was taking too much of her time.

    Bautista published her first work; a short story titled "Katugon ng Damdamin (1963)" in Liway Magazine, which started her writing career. Writing almost a dozen novels and even more short stories, her works that talk about injustices during the Marcos era, scrutiny on the treatment of Filipinos by the Americans, and her way of showcasing these struggles through the eyes of ordinary citizens of the Philippines garnered her several Palanca Awards. She continued to write more stories even in the modern day, until her passing in February 2023.

    Having said that her stories revolve around political and social topics concerning the common man during her time, the protagonists of the story consists of average citizens of the Philippines, showcasing their struggles through their experiences to give more emphasis on what the individual and their group goes through.

Some of her more popular works are:

    "'GAPÔ (1988)" which is about the oppression of Filipinos by the Americans, shows the unjust treatment of the Filipinos through the eyes of a group that experienced these first hand during the story. Showcasing the relationship of the foreigners to the main characters, the foreigners took advantage or discriminated against them in one way or another, with the character Mike hating Americans because of their oppression, which in my opinion is justified during that era. 

    While even to this day some Americans continue to take advantage of Filipinos, it wasn't as prevalent as it was back then as with more and more people becoming progressive and fighting discrimination of any kind. 

    "Dekada '70 (1983)" is a story about a middle class family witnessing the rise against the Marcos rule and facing the struggles of the events of what led to it. Written in the perspective of Amanda Bartolome, a mother of 5 boys during that time of Philippine history. A relatively peaceful family, their lives were flipped on their heads with the sudden declaration of martial law. Her family struggled with the sudden change, with the eldest son fighting against the fascist government ending up caught and going to jail, and the fourth being unjustifiably killed by the police. 

    Showcasing the horrors of martial law and the blatant abuse of power, people ended up risking their lives for freedom from oppression. 

    "Bata, Bata... Pa'no Ka Ginawa? (1988)" follows the life of a mother and social activist named Lea. It explores women's struggles in Filipino society where males assumed more dominant roles in society and women were expected to be submissive and defer to their husbands and men. Lea, while being a mother, does not fit these expectations of gender roles. Volunteering at a human rights organization and being friends with the opposite gender, her life is more or less going really well. But Lea's children were growing up and changing with adolescence and adulthood. When Lea's ex-husbands returned to persuade her son to join him in the US and accused her of neglect, her job and relationship with her coworker were threatened. But in the last part of the novel, both of her children decided to stay with her - even without compelling them to stay.

    This novel story shows that gender roles are not required like how some people say. Even if you do not fit the standard of what society expects you to be, and even if you struggle because of this, as long as you love and care for your friends, family, children, and just other people in general - the people will love and care for you back, no matter what you identify as.

    In my opinion, Her works that I mentioned here are incredibly written political and social commentary. Showing the lives of people in their daily struggles during the times where these issues are incredibly prevalent increased awareness on the history of the sufferings of the people and the minority. Even though the Philippines still has a long way to go to overcome these problems, people like her that stood up and vocalized these issues, either through novels or what else, are incredibly important to change for the better.