dekada '70

Dekada '70 is the story of a family caught in the middle of the tumultuous decade of the 1970s.

The play details how a middle-class family struggled and faced the changes that empowered Filipinos to rise against the Marcos government. These events happened after the bombing of Plaza Miranda, the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, the proclamation of martial law, and the random arrests of political prisoners.

The oppressive nature of the Marcos regime, which made the people become more radical, and the shaping of the decade were all witnessed by the female protagonist, Amanda Bartolome, the mother of five boys.

LUALHATI BAUTISTA

Lualhati Torres Bautista is one of the foremost Filipino female novelists in the history of contemporary Philippine literature. Her novels include Dekada '70, Bata, Bata... Pa'no Ka Ginawa?, and GAPÔ.

Baustista was born in Tondo, Manila, Philippines, on December 2, 1945, to Esteban Bautista and Gloria Torres. She graduated from Emilio Jacinto Elementary School in 1958, and from Torres High School in 1962. She was a journalism student at the Lyceum of the Philippines, but dropped out because she had always wanted to be a writer and schoolwork was taking too much time. Her first short story, Katugon ng Damdamin, was published in Liwayway Magazine and thus started her writing career. Despite a lack of formal training, Baustista, as a writer became known for her honest realism, courageous exploration of Philippine women's issues, and compelling female protagonists who confront difficult situations at home and in the workplace with uncommon grit and strength.

Baustista garnered several Palanca Awards (1980, 1983, 1984) for her novels GAPÔ, Dekada '70, and Bata, Bata... Pa'no Ka Ginawa?, which exposed injustices and chronicled women's activism during the Marcos era.