GENOVEVA EDROZA

MATUTE

Genoveva Matute was born on the 3rd of

January in 1915.
Her parents were Anastacio B. Edrosa and
Maria Magdalena K. Dizon.
She finished her secondary schooling in
Manila North High School (Arellano High
School).

She graduated in Philippine

Normal College then took up
her Masterals degree in
Filipino and Doctorals degree
in Education at the University
of Sto. Tomas.

She worked in the teaching profession for a

duration of 46 years.
In the year 1980, she retired from her career
as a teacher. By the time she retired, she had
become head of the Philippine Normal
College under the Department of Filipino.
During her time at this university she had
also become the Dean of Instruction.

During her time as a teacher, Matute

authored a number of short stories. All
of the short stories that she wrote were
in the native language of the Philippines,
Tagalog. She is best known in Philippine
history for these short stories.
To this day her most popular short story
is Kuwento ni Mabuti. This short story
is said to be the most anthologized short
story in the native Philippine Tagalog
language.

In 1992, the Cultural Center of the

Philippines conferred on Genoveva
Edroza-Matute the CCP Gawad Para
Sa Sining for her valuable
contributions
in
elevating
the
standards of the Tagalog short story
and in forging a national identity
through the active promotion of
Filipino.

She was so talented as an

author that she had the honor of
receiving four Palanca Awards
for her creative work during her
lifetime. Matute won first prize
for her short stories on three
different occasions.

The first prize she was awarded was in

1951 for her short story entitled Kuwento
ni Mabuti.
The second first prize she was awarded
was for her short story Paglalayag sa
Puso ng Isang Bata.
The third first prize that acknowledged
her work as an author was for her short
story entitled Parusa, which she was
awarded in 1961.

Her greatest award was bestowed

upon her in the year 2005. At this
time, she received recognition for her
work by the President of the
Philippines,
Gloria
MacapagalArroyo. The award was to recognize
her
creativeness
and
the
contributions she made as an author
throughout her lifetime.

Sa tunay na buhay, may mga

bagay na mabuting ilihim, kahit
ang tapat na pagtulong at
pagmamahal sa kapwa at
kababayan.

Mabuti naman at mababait ang mga guro sa mga paaralang pinasukan

ni Bebang, bagaman ang guro niya sa Unang Baitang ay may
kakatuwang pamamalakad. Bawal na bawal noon ang pagsasalita ng
Tagalog. Ang kanyang guro ay may malalim na bulsa sa saya (barot
saya pa ang kasuotan ng mga gurong babae noon), na may lamang
siling labuyo. Kapag may nahuli siyang mag-aaral na nagsasalita ng
Tagalog ay dumudukot siya ng sili at pilit na ipinangunguya sa pobreng
nagkasala. Sinasabitan din ng kartong may ganitong nakasulat: I was
caught speaking the dialect.
Ang palakad na ito ay laganap noon sa buong Pilipinas. Hindi lamang
Tagalog kundi lahat ng wikang pansarili ng ibat ibang rehiyon ay
ipinagbawal. Ito ay nanatili hanggang maging malaya na ang Pilipinas.
Mabuti ang hangarinupang matulungan ang mga mag-aaral na
madaling matuto ng Inglessubalit masama ang naging epekto sa
damdaming makabansa ng mga Pilipino. Maliit pa siyay naiisip na:
Biglang naipit sa desk ang paa ko. Siyempre, masasabi ko ang Aray!
Ang lagay ba, iisipin ko muna ang tawag doon sa Ingles, at pagkatapos
ng mahahabang sandali ay saka pa ako dadaing ng Ouch!

Ang wika ay susi ng

puso at diwa, tuluyan
ng taot ugnayan ng
bansa.

Genoveva Matute married one time

in her lifetime. Her husband was
Epifano G. Matute, who was best
known for his role in the creation of
the
Filipino
radio
program
Kuwentong Kutsero. The radio
program was created by her husband
and grew in popularity throughout
the 1950s.

In addition to the short stories that she

wrote, Genoveva also wrote plays and
productions to air on the radio during the
time when this radio show was popular.
Matute died on March 21, 2009 at the
age of 94. She died in her own bedroom
in the city of Cubao in the Philippines.
The specifics of her death remain
unknown.