Jose Maria Flores Lacaba, popularly known as Pete Lacaba, is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

screenwriter, editor, poet, journalist and translator.

Early life

Born in

Misamis Oriental Misamis Oriental ( ceb, Sidlakang Misamis; tl, Silangang Misamis), officially the Province of Misamis Oriental, is a province located in the region of Northern Mindanao in the Philippines. Its capital, largest city and provincial center is th ...

in 1945 to Jose Monreal Lacaba of

Loon Loons (North American English) or divers (British / Irish English) are a group of aquatic birds found in much of North America and northern Eurasia. All living species of loons are members of the genus ''Gavia'', family Gaviidae and order Gavi ...

Bohol Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Bohol; tl, Lalawigan ng Bohol), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region, consisting of the island itself and 75 m ...

and Fe Flores from Pateros, Rizal. He is the brother of writer and activist

Eman Lacaba Emmanuel Agapito Flores Lacaba (December 10, 1948 – March 18, 1976), popularly known as Eman Lacaba, was a Filipino writer, poet, essayist, playwright, short story writer, scriptwriter, songwriter and activist, often referred to as t ...

, who was murdered in March 1976 and later honored at the Philippines' Bantayog ng mga Bayani memorial as a martyr who fought the Marcos dictatorship.

Early career

He is also well known for his role in the fight against President

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

and his US-backed military dictatorship during the Philippines' martial law era. Among his most notable works during this time are his coverage of the First Quarter Storm protests for the Philippines Free Press magazine, which were compiled into the book ''Days of Disquiet, Nights of Rage'' in 1982, and the controversial poem "Prometheus Unbound," an

acrostic poem An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the Fre ...

through which he managed to trick the publishers of a pro-Marcos magazine to publish a secretly anti-Marcos message. Lacaba has been especially recognized for his coverage of the

First Quarter Storm The First Quarter Storm ( fil, Sigwa ng Unang Sangkapat), often shortened into the acronym FQS, was a period of civil unrest in the Philippines which took place during the "first quarter of the year 1970". It included a series of demonstrations, ...

, an anti-Marcos movement, in 1970. His firsthand account of the events of the First Quarter Storm protests, ''Days of Disquiet, Nights of Rage'' (1982), compiled from articles first published in the Philippine Free Press and the Asia-Philippines Leader magazines, are considered important accounts of that period. Another influential work Lacaba wrote during this period, under the nom de plume Ruben Cuevas, was the poem "Prometheus Unbound," which was published by Focus, a magazine allied with the Marcos regime. The editors did not immediately realize that the work was an acrostic poem, whose first letters spelled out the popular protest slogan "Marcos Hitler Diktador Tuta" (Marcos, Hitler, Dictator, Lapdog).

Later career

Lacaba is recognized as one of the leading figures in Philippine literature today. He is well known in various fields, including creative writing, journalism, editing and

scriptwriting Screenwriting or scriptwriting is the art and craft of writing scripts for mass media such as feature films, television productions or video games. It is often a freelance profession. Screenwriters are responsible for researching the story, devel ...

. 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. His screenplay credits include ''

Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus '' Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

'', 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 Ricardo Lee (born as March 19, 1948) is a Filipino screenwriter, journalist, novelist, and playwright. He was conferred the Order of National Artists of the Philippines for Film and Broadcast Arts in 2022. Starting in 1973, he has written more ...

co-wrote ''Jaguar'' with Lacaba. He continued writing poems, and in 1999, was decorated as one of 100 "Bayani ng Sining". Lacaba's poetry has been compiled in collections which include ''Ang Mga Kagilagilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni Juan de la Cruz'' (1979), ''Sa Daigdig ng Kontradiksyon'' (1991) and ''Sa Panahon ng Ligalig'' (1991). Lacaba is currently the executive editor of Summit Media's ''YES!'' magazine, the sister publication of PEP. 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.

Works

Screenwriter

*''

'' (1979) *''Angela Markado'' (1980; as Jose Lacaba) *''Pakawalan Mo Ako'' (1981) *''Boatman'' (1984; additional dialogue) *''

Sister Stella L. ''Sister Stella L.'' is a 1984 Philippine political drama film co-written and directed by Mike de Leon. The film written by de Leon, Pete Lacaba, and Jose Almojuela was based and inspired by the life and experiences of Sister Chayong Battung and ...

'' (1984) *''Experience'' (1984) *''

This Is My Country "This Is My Country" is an American patriotic song composed in 1940. The lyrics are by Don Raye and the music is by Al Jacobs. Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians were the first to record the song, in 1942. The song has played at the end of Walt ...

'' (1985) *''Victor Corpuz'' (1987) (writer)... aka Get Victor Corpus: The Rebel Soldier (Philippines: English title) *''

Fight for Us ''Fight for Us'' ( fil, Orapronobis) is a 1989 Philippine political thriller film directed by Lino Brocka and written by Jose F. Lacaba. It stars Phillip Salvador and Dina Bonnevie. During its initial release, the film was banned in the Philippi ...

'' (1989) (writer)... aka Fight for Us... aka Insoumis, Les (France) *''

Eskapo ''Eskapo'' is a 1995 Filipino historical thriller film directed by Chito S. Roño and written by Roy Iglesias and Jose Lacaba. It stars Christopher de Leon and Richard Gomez as Eugenio "Geny" Lopez Jr. and Sergio "Serge" Osmeña III respectivel ...

'' (1995) (screenplay) ... aka Escape (Philippines: English title: literal title) *''Bagong Bayani'' (1995) (writer)... aka A New Hero (Philippines: English title)... aka Flor Contemplacion's Last Wish ... aka Unsung Heroine (USA) *''Segurista'' (1996) (writer)... aka Dead Sure ... aka The Insurance Agent (International: English title) *''

Rizal sa Dapitan ''Rizal sa Dapitan'' () is a 1997 Philippine biographical film directed by Tikoy Aguiluz about the four-year exile of Filipino propagandist and patriot José Rizal in Dapitan, starring Albert Martinez as Rizal and Amanda Page as Josephine Brack ...

'' (1997) (screenplay)... aka Rizal in Dapitan *''Tatsulok'' (1998) (writer) ... aka Triangle (International: English title) ;Miscellaneous crew *''

Imelda Imelda is a feminine Spanish/Italian given name derived from the German form of Irmhild. Notable people with the name include: * Imelda Calixto-Rubiano, Filipina politician * Imelda Chiappa, Italian road racing cyclist * Imelda Concepcion, Fil ...

'' (2003) (translator: dialogue) (as Jose Lacaba) ;Soundtrack *''Sister Stella L.'' (1984) (lyrics: "Sangandaan," "Aling Pag-ibig Pa?") ;Self *''Imelda'' (2003) (as Pete Lacaba) .... Himself

Discography

*''Tagubilin at Habilin'' (2003, Viva Records) *Prometheus Unbound

Awards and achievements

;Star Awards for Movies *(Nominated) Original Screenplay of the Year for ''Segurista'' (1996) shared with Amable Aguiluz and Amado Lacuesta, 1997 *Star Award, Adapted Screenplay of the Year for ''Rizal sa Dapitan'' (1997), 1998 ;Metro Manila Film Festival *Festival Prize, Best Screenplay for ''Rizal sa Dapitan'' (1997) ;Gawad Urian Awards *Best Screenplay (Pinakamahusay na Dulang Pampelikula) for Jaguar (1979) shared with Ricardo Lee, 1980 *Best Screenplay (Pinakamahusay na Dulang Pampelikula) for Sister Stella L. (1984) shared with Jose Almojuela Mike De Leon, 1985 *Best Screenplay (Pinakamahusay na Dulang Pampelikula) for Bayan ko: Kapit sa patalim (1985), 1986 *(Nominated) Best Screenplay (Pinakamahusay na Dulang Pampelikula) for Bagong bayani (1995, 1996) *Best Screenplay (Pinakamahusay na Dulang Pampelikula) for Segurista (1996) shared with Amable Aguiluz Amado Lacuesta, 1997 ;FAP Awards, Philippines *Best Story Adaptation for Bayan ko: Kapit sa patalim (1985), 1986 ;FAMAS Awards *Best Screenplay for Rizal sa Dapitan (1997), 1998 ;Cinemanila International Film Festival *The 10th edition of the Cinemanila International Film Festival conferred the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Award to screenplay writer Jose "Pete" Lacaba Jr. ;Other awards *Lacaba received the Aruna Vasudev Lifetime Achievement Award at the 10th Osian's-Cinefan Festival of Arab and Asian Cinema in New Delhi, India.

Trivia

*Jose Maria Flores Lacaba Jr. Usual byline: Jose F. Lacaba. The late Jose Sr. was nicknamed Pepe, so Jr. was nicknamed Pepito, the little Pepe. In college, Pepito's nickname got shortened to Pito, then Pit, but the last gave rise to jokes about armpits, so Pit was respelled Pete.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lacaba, Pete 1945 births Living people 20th-century Filipino poets 20th-century male writers Boholano writers Filipino male poets People from Cagayan de Oro Writers from Misamis Oriental