Lerry Nofuente was mostly called Lerry or Leri, and sometimes Vale. He was eldest of eight brothers and sisters. His family remembers him as someone loving, caring, and dedicated to his country. His friends describe him as kind and gentle, with an infectious laughter and always a smile on his face. He treated people as equals, including the vendors selling taho outside his office at the university. This gentle personality however had another side – he had a deep love for his art, for his country, and for suffering people. He was a tireless writer, and he wrote simply and in his native Tagalog language because he wanted to be understood by ordinary people. He wrote to call attention to injustices. He wanted to be an instrument of change.
The student movement was in its infancy when Lerry entered the University of the Philippines in Diliman in 1964. As a political science student his first organizations were the Political Science Club and the newly-organized Kabataang Makabayan (KM).
Certain events quickly raised Lerry’s political awareness. He was present at the 1967 demonstration of Lapiang Malaya farmers which was fired upon by soldiers, resulting in the death of about two dozen farmer-demonstrators. He participated in the First Quarter Storm of 1970 and the Diliman Commune in 1971.
At this time he started writing. He produced poems, short stories and essays, submitting them for publication in various journals such as Banyuhay, Collegian Folio, Diliman Review, Sagisag Magazine and Kamao, and later Ulos, and Dare to Struggle Dare to Win.
He also worked as a research assistant at the Filipiniana Section of the university’s Main Library, where he met his future wife Evelyn. He later taught at the then UP College of Arts and Sciences’ Filipino department.
Lerry continued to teach during the years of the Marcos dictatorship. He joined a core of activists doing cultural work both aboveground and underground. Many also recalled that he offered his house to friends who needed to find refuge from the martial-law authorities.
With some of his colleagues, Lerry began collecting banned documents mostly from organizations illegalized under martial law. Those documents from the protest, radical and underground movements were kept secure for many years and eventually became the seed of the Philippine Radical Papers Guide, published by the university in 1996.
Lerry also joined and helped found many organizations, including Sanduguang Kayumanggi in 1967, Panulat para sa Kaunlaran ng Sambayanan (PAKSA) in 1971 and the Cultural Research Association of the Philippines (CRP). He was a member of the UP Writers Club and the Kapisanang Pampanitikang Pilipino (KPP).
Lerry met his death violently and in still mysterious circumstances. To and from the university, he would pass by Marikina, then a town with huge factories and thousands of laborers. The Marcos authorities had banned unions and no unions could recruit or operate in that locality. Lerry had been visiting and making friends with factory workers, including those at the factory of the Fortune Tobacco. On that day in 1981, he failed to return home. A search found his Beetle car near a bridge just outside of Marikina. Blood was found all over the vehicle and Lerry himself, lying dead with many stab wounds. Valuables were still recovered inside the car. His killers, apparently presenting themselves as hitchhikers, had never been found. Lerry was 34 years old.
Days before his murder, Lerry had just won a poetry contest sponsored by the Surian ng Wikang Pambansa. He had received many such awards while he lived. Today his poems remain popular and in use in academe. One of his essays, “The Jeepney: Vehicle As Art” is in a high school textbook for Communication Arts in English. Posthumously, he has also received several important awards, including from his university’s College of Arts and Letters, from the Concerned Artists of the Philippines, and from the Sanduguang Kayumanggi. The Center of the Philippines cited him in its 1994 Encyclopedia of Philippine Art and Philippine Literature. The CCP also launched in February 2022 an online exhibition called “Banned: The Valerio Nofuente Collection,” featuring items from Lerry’s library.
Some of his works include:
- “Ang Epiko ni Labaw Donggon,” May-June, 1978
- “Ang Paghihimagsik ni Alejandro G. Abadilla sa Tradisyon ng Panulaang Tagalog,” 1977
- “Ang Pananaw sa Buhay na Hatid ng Drama sa Radyo at Telebisyon,” Jan.-Dec. 1978
- “Ang Tulang Pasalaysay sa Panahon ng Amerikano, 1898-1928.” 1995
- “The Jeepney: Vehicle as Art.” 1980
- “Haplusan ang Lungsod ng Liwanag ng Takipsilim,” Kamao: Panitikan ng Protesta, 1970-1986
- “Kailangan Ko Pa Bang Sagutin,” Kamao: Panitikan ng Protesta, 1970-1986
- “Sa Gabi ng Paglisan,” Kamao: Panitikan ng Protesta, 1970-1986
- “The Media in Search of Social Function.” WHO?, 22 July 1978, pp.23-25
- “Mga Salamangka ng Patalastas sa Telebisyon.” Sagisag 2 (February 1976): 5- 6.
- “Panitikan at Lipunan.” Asian Studies, vol.45, page 92.
- “Pumapatak Ang Ulan Kung Mayo.” Published in Teodoro, Luis P., “The Summer of Discontent,” 1990.
