Lacaba was born in
Cagayan de Oro and lived there with his family until moving to
Pateros, at the age of seven. After attending
Ateneo de Manila University, he worked in a variety of fields: as a teacher, production hand, and stage actor. During this time, he also became deeply involved in labor movements, such as Panulat Para sa Kaunlaran ng Sambayanan (PAKSA), as well as leftist political groups like the
New People's Army. A prolific diarist and writer, Jose Lacaba wrote of his brother Emmanuel, "When there was no more paper to write on, he would write on the backs of cigarette tinfoil." As Emmanuel became more deeply involved with the New People's Army, and with other guerilla groups opposed to the
martial law regime under the
Marcos dictatorship, he went deeper into the Philippines' underground, but his poems and stories continued to circulate and find wide readership. Lacaba, along with three other dissidents, was killed on March 18, 1976, in Tucaan Balaag,
Asuncion, Davao del Norte by members of the
Integrated Civilian Home Defense Forces. He had been set to go back shortly to the city for a new assignment that would have used his writing skills, and had agreed to write a script for director
Lino Brocka once he got back there. He was 27 years old. ==Works==