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Creative Writer and journalist Adrian E. Cristobal Sr., whose writing career spanned more than five decades, succumbed to lung cancer last Dec. 22. He was 75.
Cristobal, widely known for his “Breakfast Table” newspaper column, wrote opinion pieces for the Manila Bulletin (where he was an associate editor) and the Philippine Graphic (where he served as executive publisher) before his death. He was a columnist, editorial writer, editor, and publisher for other publications, among them the Manila Times, the Evening News, and the Philippine Daily Inquirer. He started his journalism career at the Manila Times Group as a Sunday Times Magazine and Saturday Mirror Magazine writer-reporter in the 1950s.
Also known as a historian, fictionist, playwright, and government official, Cristobal helped establish the University of the Philippines Creative Writing Center (now the UP Institute of Creative Writing) as a member of the UP Board of Regents in the 1970s. He was a founding member of Poets, Playwrights, Essayists, Novelists (PEN) Philippines and the Ravens, a literary group at the University of the Philippines. He founded the Unyon ng Manunulat na Pilipino, a national union of Filipino writers. He was several times a member of the board of judges of the Jaime V. Ongpin Awards for Excellence in Journalism, the annual journalism awards administered by the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility.
He gained recognition as a writer at a very young age, after winning his first major literary prize when he was 15. At 17, his byline was appearing in some of Manila’s major papers such as the Manila Chronicle, Sunday Times, Saturday Mirror, Free Press, and Midweek.
Cristobal received numerous awards for his literary and journalistic work, including the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, Asean SEAWRITE Award, Manila Critics Circle Award, and the National Book Award.
He wrote five books, among them Filipino First: An Approach to Economic Policy, a blueprint for the economic policy of President Carlos P. Garcia, and two books on national hero Andres Bonifacio—The Tragedy of the Revolution and The Trial.
Born on Feb. 20, 1932, Cristobal was a graduate of the Arellano (Manila North) High School and studied at the University of the Philippines and the University of the East, but never completed a college degree. His lack of college education did not hinder the self-taught Cristobal to become a member of the UP Board of Regents and a full professor at the UP Asian Center. Cristobal later received honoris causa degrees from the UE and the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
Cristobal also served as vice-chairman of the board of trustees of the UP’s Philippine Center for Advanced Studies and taught Jose Rizal, journalism, and political science courses at the Philippine College of Commerce and the Lyceum of the Philippines. He also lectured in various international universities, such as the University of Cambridge and Oxford in the United Kingdom, the University of Paris (Sorbonne), and the University of California-Berkeley in the United States.
Cristobal also served in government for two decades. During the Marcos period, Cristobal headed the President’s Center for Special Studies, a Malacañang think tank whose staff crafted speeches and policy papers for Ferdinand Marcos and issued publications on public affairs. Cristobal also served as commissioner and chair of the Social Security System, labor secretary, acting minister of public information, and presidential spokesman in the Marcos government.
Press organizations and journalism and literary colleagues mourned Cristobal’s passing. “Mister Cristobal may (have been) many other things—public servant, administrator, academic, presidential adviser, etc., but he was first and last, a writer,” the National Press Club said in a statement.
“(Cristobal’s) own tragedy wasn’t that society was unprepared for him, it was that society had lost interest in people like him,” friend and Inquirer columnist Conrado de Quiros wrote Dec. 26 (“Adrian Cristobal, writer,” p. A10). “In people like Franz Arcellana, Nick Joaquin, Wilfrido Nolledo, Doreen Fernandez, all of whom died in one fell swoop some years ago without grinding this world to a halt.”
“Cristobal is a great loss to the writing profession and whose memories will forever be etched in the minds of those who seek truth, justice and peace,” the Publishers Association of the Philippines, Inc. said in a statement.
His last public appearance was at his lecture on Gabriel Paz Marquez in November under the auspices of the Instituto Cervantes, according to the Manila Times in its Dec. 24 tribute-editorial (“Adrian Cristobal, an appreciation”)
His remains were cremated Dec. 22. A wake was held Dec. 26 and 27 at the Santuario de San Antonio in Forbes Park, Makati. A funeral Mass was held Dec. 28.
Cristobal is survived by his wife, the former Ma. Teresita Soriano, and six children including Adrian Cristobal Jr.
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