THE UST Publishing House (USTPH) is returning to the 2026 Philippine Book Festival, the largest marketplace dedicated to books by Filipino authors.
USTPH is set to showcase a range of titles that will cater to junior and senior high school students during the four-day festival.
“Though we are an academic publisher, that does not mean our books are meant only for tertiary and graduate students and professionals,” USTPH assistant director Paul Castillo said in an interview with the Varsitarian.
Among the titles in the lineup is “Tanga ka lang kung naniniwala ka pa sa kapangyarihan ng kuwento,” by creative writing instructor Benjamin Joshua “Benjo” Gutierrez. He will have a book signing on March 14.
The collection departs from institutional methods used in universities and writing workshops, integrating the author’s material into a distinct narrative style.
A short story with the same title was published under Katipunan, an online scholarly journal of Ateneo de Manila University.
Veteran news anchor and journalism faculty member Jose Maria Carlos will deliver a talk about his decades of experience in broadcast journalism and the process of writing his media guidebook on March 13. There will be a sit-down interview with UST communications faculty member Jose Mojica, Castillo said.
Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo, director of UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies (CCWLS), will participate in a meet-and-greet where she will sign copies of her compendium, titled “Complete Stories and Tales,” on March 14.
National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario will join the festival with his newly released poetry collection, “Kinutsaritang Liwanag,” on March 14.
There will be “author encounters” with CCWLS Assistant Director Ralph Galan, and literature and creative writing professors John Jack Wigley and Chuckberry Pascual.
Other participating writers are journalism alumni and former Varsitarian staffers Lourd de Veyra and Chuck Smith, and author-surgeon Alyza Taguilaso.
Organized by the National Book Development Board, the Philippine Book Festival will run from March 12 to 15 at the Megatrade Hall, 5th Floor of SM Megamall, Mandaluyong. John Kobe S. Balod
