Cover image via Paula Isaiah Panganiban SAYS Philippines
It shocked the Philippine literary world when Rogelio L. Ordoñez died of liver cancer last 19 May 2016. He was 75.
Ordoñez is a multi-awarded Filipino fiction writer and journalist. He is one of the authors of the iconic Tagalog literature anthology "Mga Agos sa Disyerto" in the 1960s. He has been a contributor to Liwayway Magazine, Pilipino Free Press, Asia-Philippines Leader, Pilosopong Tasyo, Diario Uno and Pinoy Weekly.
For his colleagues, his legacy as a nationalist writer who never failed to write about the situation of his motherland
Because of what he has done, there are lots of people who had given him tribute.
Known as Ka Roger, he began writing at a very young age and even had a chance to interview the first president of the Republic, Emilio Aguinaldo, who also hails from Cavite
He used to be an editorial staff for the Asia Philippines Leader in the 1960s as well as the Pilipino Free Press, the sister publication of the defunct Philippines Free Press. Ordoñez has been a staunch critic of the alleged anti-people policies of the Philippine Government.
During his stint at progressive Filipino weekly publication, [Pinoy Weekly](https://www.facebook.com/pinoyweekly.org/?fref=ts), he maintained a column titled [Pluma at Papel](https://plumaatpapel.wordpress.com) that criticizes the economic, political, and social policies being implemented in the Philippines as well as the liberalization of the world's economy and politics. It is actually a revival of his column published in the defunct Dyaryo Uno. The compilation of his Pluma at Papel column has been published by the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and by Prometheus Publishing Corporation in years 2004 and 2007, respectively.
Aside from being a journalist, Ordoñez is a prized storywriter. He is one of the Mga Agos sa Disyerto (Streams in the Desert) writers in the 1960s. The anthology has been highly praised by literary and cultural critics, the likes of Dr. Bienvenido L. Lumbera and Pablo R. Glorioso.
Besides Agos, Ordoñez's works have also been published into books or had been included in anthologies: Saan Papunta ang mga Putok? (UP Press, 1998); Ipuipo sa Piging (2010); Feelings International Book of Poetry, Edition 2 an international anthology of poems edited by Dr. Armeli Quezon (2015); and The Blossoming of Talahib (PUP Creative Writing Center, 2015), among others.
He is also a spoken word artist
Even poets from other countries such as the United States read his poems online.
Here are compilations of his poetry that touched the hearts of many Filipinos, as it speaks of the struggles of the working class and even the farmers.
