Filipino screenwriter, journalist, novelist, and playwright. He has written more than 150 film screenplays since 1973, earning him more than 50 trophies from various award-giving bodies, including a 2003 Natatanging Gawad Urian Lifetime Achievement Award from the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (Filipino Film Critics). As a screenwriter, he has worked with many Filipino film directors, most notably with Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal. Many of his films have been screened in the international film festival circuit in Cannes, Toronto, Berlin, among others.