On January 6 this year, Francisco Sionil Jose, novelist, journalist, social and political critic, and Philippine national artist for literature, died at 97. His death has irreparably affected the nation’s literary, social, cultural and political scene.
The Philippine Center of International PEN has issued a statement denouncing the closure of ABS-CBN, ignoring the position of its founder, National Artist F. Sionil Jose, who wrote a “requiem” for the country’s largest media network and said it was time to dismantle the oligarchs who own it.