At the Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois (MFA 1972), he studied, practiced, and handled courses in the art and craft of theater design. At the Ateneo de Manila (BS 1966), he honed his talent as a poet and philosopher, acquiring the ability to read a text and imagine its theme as a visual conceit. Bernal Born in 1945 to a family that ran a terno shop, Bernal was exposed to the rudiments of fabric, cut, and silhouette early in life. Guerrero’s undoubted skill had lead him to render his talent in teaching and devoting 35 years of his life as a theater practitioner-ultimately playing an integral part of the revolution in Philippine drama and theater in the 1940s and beyond. From being able to write a full-length play at the age of 14 to working as a scriptwriter for Filipino films, a proofreader and drama critic for news publications (La Vanguardia and Manila Tribune, respectively), Wilfrido Ma. His works often portray subject matters well-known and well-received by Filipinos reinstating social conditions, realities and disparities of his contemporary whilst utilizing humor and wit in his dialogues.
As a playwright having written over 40 plays in his lifetime including Wanted: A Chaperon, The Forsaken House, Three Rats, Half an Hour in a Convent and more, it is not a surprise that educational institutions would integrate his works in learning structures and generate discourses regarding the themes present in his works and their socio-political significance. Guerrero is widely recognized in the field of theater and literature.
Among the most popular of his poems are a handful of poems not wholly in Tagalog, but in a code-switching combination of Tagalog and English. These books don’t include the lyrics to numerous songs. His first book of poems in Tagalog, Sitsit sa Kuliglig (Cricket Gossip), was published in 1972 there were two others and in 1994, a selection of his poems in English and Tagalog. He worked as a set designer as well as director, had a career as an actor for film and television, wrote film scripts and teleplays. The plays he translated into Tagalog range from Sophocles and Shakespeare to Chekhov and Beckett. He is better known as a playwright and translator of plays, founding and artistically directing the Teatro Pilipino (1975-92). Tinio’s chief distinction is as a stage director whose original insights into the scripts he handled brought forth productions notable for their visual impact and intellectual cogency. Tinio, playwright, thespian, poet, teacher, critic, and translator marked his career with prolific artistic productions. Tinio National Artist for Theater and Literature (1997) (Ma– July 7, 1997) Rolando S.