1.     Alberto Florentino 

He is a Filipino playwright and book publisher. His plays in English center on the conflicts in the everyday lives of ordinary Filipinos. The most famous among his works is The World is an Apple which earned him his first Palanca Award in 1954 and remains one of the most performed plays in the Philippines.

His books of plays include: The World is an Apple and Other Prize Plays; The Portable Florentino; Memento Mori; Sangyugto; Panahon ng Digma; From Book to Stage; among others.

He published/edited 75 books under his imprints from 1959 to 2001. Among them were the early works of his colleagues like Jose Garcia Villa (Poems 55, A Doveglion Book of Philippine Poetry, Poems in Praise of Love, Selected Stories from Footnote to Youth, The Essential Villa) Nick Joaquin (Portrait of the Artist as Filipino, Laval de Manila and Other Essays, The Song of Maria Clara and Other Poems, San Eustaquio, martir, Saint Eustachius, martyr)and Francisco Arcellana (Selected Stories, 15 Stories by Francisco Arcellana, The Essential Arcellana)among many others.

He was also the main scriptwriter for the television show Balintataw and was recently honoured by Radyo Balintataw for his role in the award-winning drama series of the early 60s and 70s. The show, spearheaded by producer Cecile Guidote (now Alvarez), directors Lupita Concio (now Kashiwahara)and Nick Lizaso and Florentino was noteworthy for adapting short stories by Filipino writers like Amador T. Dagiuo, Nick Joaquin, Jose Garcia Villa, Wilfrido Nolledo, Bienvenido Santos among others.

He was one of the 1960 TOYM Awardees for Literature, an honor he shared that year with Benigno Aquino Jr. (for Public Service). In 2008, he was given a Presidential Medal of Merit for being a distinguished literary figure by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Also in 2008 he was presented with a Dakilang Pilipino Award by the Consulate General in New York. In 2011 he was among the honorees in a Tribute to the Living Legends of Philippine Theatre. On Oct 1, 2011 Florentino was one of 12 honored at the Tribute to Filipino Literary Laureates, a highlight of the first Filipino American International Book Festival (FilBookFest) held in San Francisco, CA.

He migrated to the U.S. in the early 80s and lived in New York where his third daughter Leila took over the role of Miss Saigon on Broadway after Lea Salonga. He recently moved to Portland Oregon.

2.      Adrian E. Cristobal   

(February 20, 1932 – December 22, 2007) was a Filipino writer who frequently touched on political and historical themes. Perhaps best known to the public for his "Breakfast Table" newspaper column, he was also a Palanca Award-winning playwright, fictionist and essayist. He likewise held several positions in government during the administration of PresidentFerdinand E. Marcos.

Upon his death from lung cancer on December 22, 2007, a Resolution was proposed in the Philippine Senate[1] citing Cristobal as "a prolific journalist, a political satirist, a historical writer and lecturer, a well-respected columnist, a brilliant fictionist and essayist, a creative playwright, a literary genius and a hardworking publisher.

Cristobal studied at the University of the East, though he would drop out of college. By age 15, he had won literary prizes for his fiction, and by 17, his byline was appearing in the pages of the country's leading newspapers such as the Manila Chronicle.^[3] As a young writer, he became affiliated with a group of fellow writers based in U.P. Diliman known as the Ravens.

In the 1960 Palanca Awards, Cristobal garnered the Second Prize in the One-Act Play (English) category for his satirical play The Largest Crocodile in the World. All copies of the play have reputedly been lost upon the initiative of the politician believed to have been depicted in the work.^[3] Cristobal again won the Second Prize in the 1983 Palanca Awards, this time in the essay category. Cristobal also authored two books on the national hero Andres Bonifacio; The Tragedy of the Revolution and The Trial.^[4] In 1962, Cristobal was contracted to write the screenplay of Gerardo de Leon's film adaptation of El Filibusterismo, for which he won aFAMAS award for Best Screenplay.^[2]

Cristobal was among the intellectuals enticed by Ferdinand Marcos to join his administration. During martial law, he headed the speech-writing office of the Office of the President. He was later appointed as the Chairman of the Social Security System and a member of the Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines.

3.     Wilfrido Maria Guerrero

            (January 22, 1911 - April 28, 1995) was a Filipino playwright, director, teacher and theater artist. Guerrero wrote well over 100 plays, 41 of which have been published. His unpublished plays have either been broadcast over the radio or staged in various parts of the Philippines.

His plays can be found in various anthologies: 13 Plays (first published in 1947), 8 Other Plays (1952), 7 More Plays (1962), 12 New Plays (1975), My Favorite 11 Plays (1976), 4 Latest Plays (1980), and Retribution and eight other selected plays (1990). Guerrero also published a family memoir, The Guerreros of Ermita (1988).

Guerrero taught and trained many notable figures in the Philippine Performing Arts: Behn Cervantes, Celia Diaz-Laurel, Joy Virata, and Joonee Gamboa Guerrero worked as a reporter and proofreader for La Vanguardia, a Spanish newspaper, and as a drama critic for the Manila Tribune. He also worked for some time in the Philippine film industry as a scriptwriter. He served as director of the Filipino Players from 1941-1947. In 1947 he was appointed as Director of the Dramatic Club at the University of the Philippines despite not having a degree, and he held that position for sixteen years.^[2]

In 1962, he organized and directed the U.P. Mobile Theater, which travels around the Philippines to give performances.^[2]

Several of Guerrero's plays have been translated into and produced in Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Tagalog, Visayan, Ilocano and Waray. Six of his plays have been produced abroad: "Half an Hour in a Convent" at the Pasadena Playhouse, California; "Three Rats" at the University of Kansas; "Condemned" in Oahu, Hawaii; "One, Two, Three" (premiere performance) at the University of Washington, Seattle; "Wanted: A Chaperon" at the University of Hawaii; and "Conflict" in Sydney, Australia.^[2]

He is the first Filipino to have a theater named after him within his lifetime: The Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater of the University of the Philippines.

4.    Jesus Tamayo Peralta

(born December 26, 1932 in Ft. William McKinley) is a painter, photographer, graphic artist, poet, anthropologist/archaeologist, essayist, and is also one of the prizewinning playwrights in the Philippines.

He burst into the literary scene dramatically by winning first prize in the two play-writing contest in the same year (1957) in the Arena Theater Playwriting Contest for the Other Son (My Brother’s Keeper) and in the Palanca Memorial Awards One-Act Play Contest for the Play, The Judas. Two Years (1959) he was to write another first prize for Somnambulists in the Philippine Mental Health Association playwriting contest.

He earned university degrees from the University of Santo Tomas (Manila), the University of the Philippines and finally earning his doctorate from the University of California, Davis. He taught a year at Letran and then decided to join the National Museum as a museum curator and assistant director. He has participated in many literature, art, archeology, social science and cultural workshops and conferences including the writer's workshop in Silliman University, the writer's workshop at the University of Iowa, USA. He has contributed much to the cultural facet of the Philippines by being a consultant in restoration project in Intramuros, the chairperson of the Intra-ASEAN project in Butuan City and a commissioner in the UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines.

A Bachelor of Philosophy graduate from the University of Sto. Tomas, with a Master of Arts in Anthropology from the University of the Philippines, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Anthropology from the University of California, Davis Campus, Jesus T. Peralta was Director III of the National Museum until he retired in 1997. Presently, he is a Consultant of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). He is the Program Director of the UNESCO project in conserving the Ifugao Epic Chant, the hudhud, which was declared an Intangible Heritage of Humanity, and member of the Intangible Heritage Committee of the NCCA (IHC/NCCA).

Among the recognition he has earned are: the 1967 Leader and Specialist from the State Department of USA in the field of Theatre; a Ford Foundation grant for graduate studies in 1872; the 1965 Golden Sto. Nino Award for Cultural Contributions in the country; Outstanding Alumnus in the field of Literature from the Colegio de San Juan de Letran; 1964; Award of Merit in the field of Literature from the University of Sto. Tomas; Meritorious Honor Award from the National Museum, and Civil Service Commission; and a 1985 Outstanding Professional Award in the field of Literature and Anthropology from Letran College. He is a Gawad Bantayog ng Museo awardee in 1993 and in 2001, received the Dangal ng Haraya award for lifetime achievements in cultural conservation from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. He was awarded the Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas by the Union ng Manunulat ng Pilipinas (UMPIL- Writers Union of the Philippines) on 31 August 2001 and four days later in September 3, he was awarded by the Manila Critics Circle as editor of the Best Anthology for the book, “Reflections on Philippine Culture and Society”; Rubi Awards for Arts and Culture, by the University of Sto. Tomas, 2004; and Most Distinguished Alumnus, Colegio Awards, by Colegio de San Juan the Letran, 2005. On 24 June he was awarded the Úlirang Ama Award by the Ulirang Ina/Ama Foundation.

5. Jun Robles Lana

(born October 10, 1972), born as Rodolfo R. Lana, Jr., is an internationally acclaimed Filipino filmmaker. The winner of 11 Palanca Awards for Literature, he became the youngest member of the Palanca Hall of Fame in 2006. In 2015, he directed the multi-awarded film "Shadow Behind The Moon" which won the Best Director, NETPAC and FIPRESCI awards at the 13th Pacific Meridian Film Festival. At the 20th International Film Festival of Kerala, he won the Best Director award for the same film.

He was born Rodolfo Lana, Jr. in Makati. Lana attended local schools.

Interested in writing from an early age, he began to write and submit plays in Filipino language to competitions. He has adopted Jun Lana as his pen name. At age 19, he received an "Honorable Mention" citation in the 1991 Palanca Awards in the category Dulang May Isang Yugto (One-Act Play in Filipino), for his play Eksodo. The following year, Lana won Third Prize in the same category for Churchill.

In the next eight years, Lana won nine more Palanca Awards for his Filipino-language screenplays and teleplays, including First Prizes for the screenplays Karinyo-Brutal (1995) and Mga Bangka sa Tag-araw (1996); and for the teleplays Sa Daigdig ng mga Taksil (1995), and together with Peter Ong Lim, for Pula (1997)

In 2006, Lana's teleplay Milagrosa won his fifth First Prize Palanca Award and his 11th overall. With his fifth First Prize, Lana was inducted into the Palanca Hall of Fame.