Leonardo Dioko, champion of modern Cebuano poetry
He was the champion for the revitalization of Cebuano poetry. Leonardo Dioko was born on January 20, 1938, his parents were Aurelio and Restituta. His siblings were Jose, Eladio, Melitona, Aproniano, and Gaudencio.
Eladio was Regional Director of the Department of Education Culture and Sports from 1991 to 2000, the department was renamed as the Department of Education. He was also an advocate of Cebuano letters and he named his daughter, Suga, after the first newspaper in Cebuano.
Leonardo finished his elementary schooling at the San Nicolas Elementary School (along Carlock Street, Cebu City) and high school at the Abellana National School (named after the martyred Governor of Cebu, Hilario Abellana). He married Alicia Najarro and had the following children: Lisa Mona, Leonardo Anthony, and Allan.
Leonardo graduated college with the course of Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from the University of the Visayas (founded in 1919 by Don Vicente Gullas, brother of Don Paulino Gullas, the founder and publisher of Cebu's oldest newspaper, The FREEMAN).
It was in high school that Leonardo showed brilliance in letters as he became Editor of "Light of Lapulapu", the school organ. He became active with the "The Visayanian" of the University of the Visayas. His poems and short stories were featured in the "Philippine Free Press".
Leonardo became the chief accountant and vice president of General Milling Corp. and later founded his own business, the Loans and Credit Development Corp.
Leonardo was a bilingual writer, excelling both in English and Cebuano. It was from 1958 to 1965 that he wrote his masterpieces. He was a recipient of the LUDABI (Lubas sa Dagang Bisaya) for poetry. He died on July 19, 1983, but he left to us poems and shorts stories. Among them is the poem "Inday" written in 1959. The first few lines are quoted:
"Buot ko ikawng hubaron sa mga pulong
Buot kong ang imong mga hiyas hugpongon
Tunawon sa tubig ug imnon.
Inday, ampingi ang imong katam-is.
Itago sa kasing-kasing. Ayaw idayan-dayan.
Ayaw ipasundayag. Kay daghan
Ang mga kawatan sa pagbati,"
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