Rommel N. Angara


Rommel N. Angara is a Filipino poet and essayist. His poems saw print in Pambata, a magazine for Filipino children; Sipag Pinoy, a publication of the Department of Labor and Employment ; and Liwayway, the oldest existing Tagalog weekly magazine in the Philippines. His essays saw print in The Modern Teacher, a magazine for Filipino teachers.

Personal life

He was born in the town of Baler in the Philippine province of Aurora. He is the youngest of the sons of Rodolfo R. Angara, Sr. of Baler, Aurora and Milagros D. Nazareno of Goa, Camarines Sur.
During his childhood through early adolescence, he witnessed his father’s occasional violence toward his mother, who eventually fled their house. During his childhood through early adulthood, he also witnessed the former’s occasional drunkenness and regular smoking.
As a young adult, he worked as a clerk, tutor, and houseboy.
In late December 2015, he was diagnosed with Ménière's disease.

Education

He graduated as high school valedictorian in 1997 and as a commended college student in 2013 with a Bachelor of Secondary Education degree from the Mount Carmel College of Baler, the oldest Catholic mission school in the province of Aurora.

Writing career

A member of a broken family in his early adolescence, he turned to poetry writing for consolation. His first published poem was the children’s poem “Why Do They Cut Me, Lord?” which appeared in Pambata in 1998. He wrote some poems for Sipag Pinoy from 2000 to 2002 and for Liwayway between 2011 and 2012. Among the poems he wrote for Liwayway was the sonnet "En Su Incansable Labor" included in the National Library of the Philippines catalog in 2012. He wrote some essays for The Modern Teacher from 2016 to 2019. Among the essays he wrote for The Modern Teacher was "Is It Time for You to Say 'I Do'?—An Open Letter to a Young Student in Love."

Media portrayal

His life story was featured in the Maalaala Mo Kaya? episode “Pasa” aired on ABS-CBN on May 21, 2016, with child actor Raikko Mateo and actor, model, and video jockey Diego Loyzaga playing the lead role. Kantar Media revealed that the MMK episode reached a 30.2% nationwide rating compared with the 15.0% and 1.5% ratings garnered by the Magpakailanman episode and the Wattpad Presents episode, respectively.