GILBERT LUIS R. CENTINA III is one of the last Filipino poets in Spanish. And he would have written only in Spanish had he been born in 1895 as Claro M. Recto. But American colonialism imposed English on him, and, like Nick Joaquin and his friend Federico Licsi Espino Jr., and Jose Mario "Pepe" Alas, who came later, we all had to write in English. But the tradition of the Spanish language is so latent that the true poet on Philippine soil if he is sensitive and intelligent enough has to also write in this language to round out his identity as a Filipino. In the case of Gilbert Luis Centina, he had to be strictly bilingual—that is, to write the same inspiration in two languages. Whoever knows English and Spanish, and reads him in these two languages, at every title he offers us, will realize what a great genius this Augustinian poet, Filipino by origin, resident of Spain, an American citizen, is. And in the end, saint and martyr of the plague that oppresses the world today, May 1, 2020. The church and convent of San Agustin, Intramuros de Manila, where Father Gilbert Luis resided for many years, should remember him with a plaque in its museum. —  GUILLERMO GÓMEZ RIVERA, ​ poet, playwright, author​, linguist