Jesús Manuel Santiago, better known as Jess Santiago, is a Filipino poet, songwriter, singer-composer, protest musician and translator.Alliance Caravan Official Website
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Early life and family

He was born in Obando,

Bulacan Bulacan, officially the Province of Bulacan (; ; ; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. Its capital is the city of Malolos. Bulacan was established on ...

, Philippines. He was married to Lilia Quindoza Santiago, a professor in Filipino literature at the

University of the Philippines The University of the Philippines (UP; ) is a Higher education in the Philippines#State universities and colleges, state university system in the Philippines. It is the country's national university, as mandated by List of Philippine laws, Re ...

, and also an accomplished poet and writer. They have four children: Haya Pagasa, Halina Mandala, Balagtas Himig Bayan, and Daniw.

Career

Literary work

His poems had been published in both national and international magazines and anthologies including the ''Caravan'' magazine of the global group Alliance for the Responsible and United World. ''Caravan'' published his poem ''There is a Village in the Making'' which has also been translated from English into French. He was the Institute of Philippine Languages's Poet of the Year in 1978 and 1979. Santiago translated

Lu Xun Lu Xun ( zh, c=魯迅, p=Lǔ Xùn, ; 25 September 188119 October 1936), pen name of Zhou Shuren, born Zhou Zhangshou, was a Chinese writer. A leading figure of modern Chinese literature, he wrote in both vernacular and literary Chinese as a no ...

's " Diary of a Madman",

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

's ''

Death of a Salesman ''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by the American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a ...

'' into the

Filipino language Filipino ( ; , ) is the national language of the Philippines, the main lingua franca, and one of the two official languages of the country, along with Philippine English, English. It is only a ''de facto'' and not a ''de jure'' standard langu ...

, as well as some songs and poems of

Latin American Latin Americans (; ) are the citizenship, citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their Latin American diaspora, diasporas are Metroethnicity, ...

and African-Asian writers.

Musical work

Among his music

albums An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

are ''Halina'' (1990) and ''Obando'' (1993). These

include the songs ''Huling Balita'' (Last News), ''Martsa ng Bayan'' (March of the Nation), the lullaby ''Meme Na'' (Sleep Now) and ''Pitong Libong Pulo'' (Seven Thousand Islands). His themes and the Filipino lower-class characters in his

songs A song is a musical composition performed by the human voice. The voice often carries the melody (a series of distinct and fixed pitches) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs have a structure, such as the common ABA form, and are usuall ...

evolved from the political and social realities during the decade of

Marcos Marcos may refer to: People with the given name ''Marcos'' *Marcos (given name) * Marcos family Sports ;Surnamed * Dayton Marcos, Negro league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio (early twentieth-century) * Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer * Né ...

despotism In political science, despotism () is a government, form of government in which a single entity rules with absolute Power (social and political), power. Normally, that entity is an individual, the despot (as in an autocracy), but societies whi ...

in the 1970s. Santiago was also awarded the Mother Country Award by the

Polytechnic University of the Philippines The Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP; ) is a public, coeducational, research university in Santa Mesa, Manila, Philippines. It was founded on 19 October 1904, as the Manila Business School (MBS) and as part of Manila's public sch ...

because of his role as a figurehead in the people's music movement in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. He was a member of the Galian sa Arte at Tula, Cultural Action Program of the Asian Cultural Forum on Development (ACFOD), Asia-Pacific Regional Consultation on People's Culture, and National Union of Writers in the Philippines (PANULAT). He had been composing and performing for 15 years. He also has a column ''Usapang Kanto'' (Street Corner Talk) on the pages of the Pinoy Weekly newspaper in the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Santiago, Jesusmanuel Writers from Bulacan Musicians from Bulacan Tagalog-language writers Filipino translators Linguists from the Philippines 20th-century Filipino poets 20th-century Filipino male singers Filipino folk composers Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Filipino male poets 20th-century Filipino male writers