ILOILO City – Leoncio Deriada, acknowledged in literary circles as the “Father of Contemporary West Visayan Literature”, died of complications from diabetes at 4:25 p.m. of April 3, 2019, his daughter Dulce Deriada, announced on Facebook.
Deriada was a multi-awarded novelist, playwright, poet, and professor who was elevated to the Palanca Hall of Fame in 2001 after winning 15 prizes, five of which are first prizes in various categories.
Confined at the Iloilo Doctor’s Hospital for nearly a month since the first week of March this year, Deriada, 81, had an urgent critical operation on March 10, 2019 for a perforation in his stomach that has been causing him to vomit and excrete a lot of blood. Then on March 19, he underwent a second surgery to amputate his right foot from complications due to diabetes. He was also undergoing dialysis.
Deriada, a multi-lingual writer who produced works in English, Filipino, Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a, and Cebuano, retired from the University of the Philippines as a Full Professor of Comparative Literature.
Though born in Iloilo, he spent most of his growing years in Davao where he earned his BA English degree in Ateneo de Davao and proceeded to Xavier Univeristy for his m MA in English and further to Silliman University to receive his PhD in English and Literature with a specialization in creative writing.
His wake will be at Cosmopolitan-Somo Memorial Homes in Delgado Street with viewing to start on the afternoon of April 5. The requiem mass and interment will be on April 10.
Among other achievements, Dr. Deriada was awarded by the Metrobank Foundation as Most Outstanding Teacher in 2002 and the Civil Service Commission in 2003 awarded him its Lingkod Bayan Award./PN
