Juan laya biography

We join the people of San Manuel, Pangasinan today, July 12, 2022, in commemorating the town’s “Juan Cabreros Laya Day” by virtue of Ordinance No.

2017-05 passed by its Sangguniang Bayan in 2017.

A native of San Manuel, Juan C. Laya was a  teacher and a novelist. Born on July 12, 1911, Laya finished his Bachelor of Science in Education and a master’s degree at the University of the Philippines Diliman and his graduate studies in English at Indiana University, U.S.A.

Juan laya biography

Some of his notable novels are “Humiliation of His Children” (1931) and “Out of Storm” (1939). But it was his “His Native Soil” (1940) that won him the first prize in the First Commonwealth Literary Awards on the same year.

After World War II, he was designated as principal of the Manila High School and the first Filipino principal of the Manila North High School (now Arellano High School).

He was also the first non-Tagalog member of Surian ng Wikang Pambansa (now Komisyon sa Wikang Fili