Manuel Bernabe

The Honourable Manuel Bernabe
Bernabe (right) with Salvador Rueda (left) in 1915
Member of the House of Representatives from Rizal's 1st district
In office 1928–1931
Preceded by	Basilio Bautista
Succeeded by	Pedro Magsalin
Personal details
Born	(1890-02-27)February 27, 1890 Parañaque, Manila, Captaincy General of the Philippines
Died	November 29, 1960(1960-11-29) (aged 70) Parañaque, Rizal, Philippines
Citizenship	Filipino
Political party	Democrata
Alma mater	Ateneo Municipal de Manila (BA) University of Santo Tomas (Law)
Occupation	Poet, journalist, politician, teacher
Awards	Premio Zóbel (1926) El Yugo y las Flechas (1940) Order of Isabella the Catholic (1953)

Manuel Bernabe y Hernandez (February 27, 1890 – November 29, 1960) was a Filipino journalist, politician, linguist, and poet in Spanish and Latin languages. He was given the title "King of Balagtasan" in Spanish.

Bernabe was born on February 17, 1890, in Parañaque to Timoteo Bernabe, who would later serve as the municipal president of Parañaque, and Emilia Hernandez. He was only nine years old when he began to write verses in Spanish and by the age of fourteen, he was already speaking Latin.

Bernabe earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at Ateneo Municipal de Manila as a valedictorian. There, he translated Virgil's Aeneid from Latin to Spanish. He later took up law at University of Santo Tomas.

After graduating from law, Bernabe joined the newspaper La Democracia and then La Vanguardia before becoming a contributor to Excelsior. He taught Spanish at the University of Santo Tomas, University of the Philippines, Far Eastern University, Philippine Law School and Colegio de San Juan de Letran.^[1]

Bernabe was a lyric poet, and the usual subject of his poems are festivals and celebrations although he can cover any subject. The collection of poems written by him is titled Cantos del Tropico. Another book by Bernabe that also contains his writings is the Perfil de Cresta, which includes his translation of Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat and Claro M. Recto's portico.^[2] Bernabe's other poems are: No Mas Amor Que El Tuyo, El Imposible, Canta Poeta, Castidad, Mi Adios a Ilo-ilo and España en Filipinas.^[1]

In a balagtasan where he and Jesus Balmori fought on the subject of El Recuerdo y el Olvido, no winner was revealed because they were both good but in the sound of applause after the balagtasan, it appeared that Bernabe attracted the audience.^[3]

As a politician, Bernabe was elected as a representative from the 1st district of Rizal in 1928 and served for one term until 1931. He retired from politics and returned to La Vanguardia. He was appointed technical assistant for Filipino–Spanish Relations at Malacañang, serving from 1943 to 1947.

He was later appointed head of the National Library of the Philippines in the 1950s, where he translated Marcelo H. del Pilar's writings to Tagalog.^[1]

As early as 1913, Bernabe had already won three awards from three different organizations for his works Himno al Sagrado Corazon de Jesus, El Zapote, and España en Filipinas.

In 1926, he and Balmori were awarded the Premio Zóbel for their work Hombre y mujer. Because of his efforts to use the Spanish language as a medium of writing, he was conferred the award El Yugo y las Flechas in 1940 and Order of Isabella the Catholic in 1953. He was honored at the University of Santo Tomas as the best poet in Spanish in 1950.^[1]

• Cantos del Tropico
• Perfil de Cresta

Bernabe died on November 29, 1960.

The Manuel Bernabé Research Writing Contest, which existed until the mid-1990s, was named after him.^[4]