Amado V. Hernandez, poet, playwright, and novelist, is among the Filipino writers who practiced “committed art”. In his view, the function of the writer is to act as the conscience of society and to affirm the greatness of the human spirit in the face of inequity and oppression. Hernandez’s contribution to the development of Tagalog prose is considerable — he stripped Tagalog of its ornate character and wrote in prose closer to the colloquial than the “official” style permitted. His novel Mga Ibong Mandaragit, first written by Hernandez while in prison, is the first Filipino socio-political novel that exposes the ills of the society as evident in the agrarian problems of the 50s.
Hernandez’s other works include Bayang Malaya, Isang Dipang Langit, Luha ng Buwaya, Amado V. Hernandez: Tudla at Tudling: Katipunan ng mga Nalathalang Tula 1921-1970, Langaw sa Isang Basong Gatas at Iba Pang Kuwento ni Amado V. Hernandez, Magkabilang Mukha ng Isang Bagol at Iba Pang Akda ni Amado V. Hernandez.