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I have not read any of L. Bautista's books, but I think she writes in Tagalog. Sionil Jose writes in English though.
Among writers, it's Sionil Jose's name that I would hear most often. I think it's because he continues to relate to society, unlike most other authors who give the impression that they are in seclusion, writing. I have only read a couple of his short stories though while I was still in college. We had this Philippine Literature subject and his short stories were part of the reading requirements.
I think what we lack here in the Philippines is the promotion of locally written books. So, if we are interested in local literature, we have to look for them. English literature, however, seems to find us. If we'd read the then ubiquitous Time or Newsweek or Reader's Digest, there would always be a section there, no matter how small, that will make us aware of what books are bestsellers or worth reading. Over here, we usually get to know about local books only after they've been made into movies, and there are not that many that get transported to that medium. Also, by then, fewer people will still bother to read the book since they have already seen the movie.
There must still be a substantial number of Filipinos who are into books though, printed or electronic, but I think they need to be enticed somehow for them to get a hold of one. I remember when Brown's The Da Vinci Code came out, soon bookstores ran out of stock of them. There was so much excitement to read it that even I had to borrow a copy from a friend, who also just borrowed it from someone else.
When Bob Ong's first book "ABNKKBSNPLAKO" came out, it was not even promoted. However, through word of mouth it became quite popular. I think it was its style of writing that made it accessible to a wide range of readers. It's just a series of anecdotes, but he presents it in a way that you'd feel like you're a plane passenger on a long flight and this stranger who happens to be your seatmate starts telling you stories, that you can relate to, about his life. It's also riddled with humor and Filipinos love humor. His subsequent books though did not have that same casual approach to it that they did not become as popular as the first one.
With regard to the Filipinos' love for humor, I would say that its for that reason also why local noontime shows now are patronized by millions even if they don't do anything at all to help elevate their sense of decency or propriety. I see those shows as just fun at all costs. In the early years of TV here, noontime shows were a lot different. Wit was then the basis of humor. Leila Benitez was, at that time, like the first lady of noontime shows and she only spoke in English, but perfectly in both grammar and diction. I believe that's because she was educated abroad and she's Visayan, who knew very little Tagalog. Those shows would have legitimate local performers as guests and contests that challenge the contestants' intelligence about things that matter. Such shows, therefore, serve to provide clean entertainment and educate viewers at the same time. Off-color jokes on TV then, even if subtly said, would be thwarted nicely by the other hosts. That was then.
BTW, if I remember it correctly, I think it was also Sionil Jose who once said that many Filipinos are shallow. I think it was a comment he made in relation to how Filipinos choose who to vote for during elections.
Don't get me wrong though. I love my country and its people. It's just that I hope that those of my countrymen who are public personalities would make the effort to improve the lot of their followers instead of seeing their positions as just a way to be rich.
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