Ricky Lee

Ricardo Arreola Lee ONA (born March 19, 1948) is a Filipino screenwriter, journalist, novelist, and playwright. Starting in 1973, he has written more than 180 film screenplays and collaborated with many of the Philippines' most notable film directors, including Lino Brocka, Marilou Diaz-Abaya, and Ishmael Bernal. Many of his films he written have been screened in international film festivals, including Cannes, Toronto, and Berlin, among others.

Lee grew up with his relatives in Daet, Camarines Norte. His mother died when he was five years old, and he saw his father only on a few occasions. He completed his primary and secondary education in the same town. It is said that Lee often sneaked into film houses and buried himself in books at the school library, tearing out pages with striking images. An intelligent student, he consistently topped his class from grade school to high school. His writing career began when he won his first national literary award for a short story he wrote while still in high school. Driven by his passion to pursue his dreams, he ran away from home and took a bus to Manila. He roamed the streets, taking on menial tasks as a waiter during the day and asking his townspeople for accommodation at night until he eventually collapsed in Avenida from hunger.

He was accepted at the University of the Philippines Diliman as an AB English major but never earned his diploma. He later taught screenwriting in the university's College of Mass Communication.

He started writing fiction in the late 1960s, gaining confidence with the publication of his first short story, "Mayon," in the Philippine Free Press while he was still in high school. His early efforts earned him several national awards, including Third Place in the Pilipino Free Press for "Pagtatapos" (1969) and first prizes in consecutive years for the short story at the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature for "Huwag, Huwag Mong Kukuwentuhan ang Batang si Weng Fung" (1969) and "Servando Magdamag" (1970).

A rare achievement for a writer, two of his short stories won first prizes at the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature in two consecutive years, 1970 and 1971.

He became an activist during those politically turbulent times and was affiliated with Panulat para sa Kaunlaran ng Sambayanan (PAKSA, or Pen for People's Progress), alongside Bienvenido Lumbera and Jose F. Lacaba.

Since Ferdinand Marcos was arresting numerous academics and writers when he placed the Philippines under martial law in 1972, Lee and Lumbera made themselves scarce and avoided being caught in the initial wave of arrests. However, they were both apprehended by Marcos' forces in 1974.

Lumbera had gone to Lee's house on España Boulevard to warn him about a recent wave of arrests, only to find that soldiers were already there arresting Lee. Lumbera ran away and made it as far as the corner of Banawe Street, but the soldiers eventually caught up with him.