National Artist F. Sionil Jose passes away at 97

National Artist for Literature F. Sionil Jose passed away on Thursday evening, family members announced. He was 97.

In a short message posted on Sionil's social media account, his family said "Our father passed away peacefully this evening."

"Many years ago, he told us this is what he wants written about him: 'He wrote stories and he believed in them'," they added.

A multi-awarded writer, Sionil has won several Carlos Palanca Memorial awards, including "The God Stealer" in 1959.

He is best known for his "Rosales Saga" novels. He is among the list of most widely read Filipino authors in the English language whose works have been translated in nearly 30 languages. 

Sionil was named National Artist for Literature in 2001, was given the the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts in 1980, and CCP Centennial Honors for the Arts in 1999.

The Philippine Center of International PEN (Poets, Playwrights, Essayists, Novelists), which Sionil founded posted a tribute and some details of his recent hospital confinement.

Quoting Sionil's wife, Tessie Jovellanos Jose, PEN said the writer "died Thursday evening at the Makati Medical Center where he was supposed to undergo an angioplasty Friday Jan. 7."

"Tessie said Jose apparently died in his sleep. He was declared dead at 9:30 p.m."

Before the announcement of his death, the last post on his Facebook page was an update from Sionil, written while he was waiting for his angioplasty. 

"Thank you brave heart. There are times when as an agnostic I doubt the presence of an almighty and loving God. But dear brave heart you are here to disprove this illusion, to do away with the conclusion that if you doubt Him, you kill Him. I cannot kill you dear heart; you have to do that yourself," he wrote.

"Now, that I am here in waiting for an angioplasty, I hope that you will survive it and I with it, so that I will be able to continue what I have been doing with so much energy that only you have been able to give. Thank you dear brave heart and dear Lord for this most precious gift," he concluded. 

-- BAP/LA, GMA News