Epitacio Tongohan

Epitacio Ramos Tongohan (born 19 November 1958), known in global literary circuits as Doc PenPen Bugtong Takipsilim, or simply Doc Penpen, is a medical doctor, indie filmmaker and producer, artist, and poet from Tanay, Rizal, the Philippines, and conferred by different poets organizations in different parts of the globe the title “Father of Visual Poetry”. He is also the founder of the global organization of poets and artists Pentasi B World Friendship Poetry. He is also actively campaigning for the Philippines be declared as the "Poetry Heart of the World" to help boost its tourism and literary industry.

Early life and education
Tongohan grew up in Tanay, a municipality in Rizal. A trained medical doctor specialising in anatomic pathology, he obtained his degree in Medical Technology from University of Santo Tomas in Manila in 1979. He got his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of the East - Ramon Magsaysay Memorial Medical Center in 1984. He returned to UST for his post-doctorate studies specializing in Anatomic Pathology in 1988.

Poetic style
As a visual poet, Tongohan's poetry is "controversial" as it does not follow the conventional way of writing poetry. A journalist and critic from the Philippines called Tongohan's poetry as "out of the box," and "...dared provoke the standard, the conventional and the traditional." The critic said that Tongohan's visual poetry are "...nearly insolent bravado with which the poems were written defies time-honored rules, taunting rather mischievously the establishment without reservation, hesitation or trepidation." His experimentation with words, symbols, and other elements has given his poetry "abstract" and "surrealist" characteristics, if compared to paintings.

Awards and recognitions
In 2013, Tongohan was given the title "Father of Visual Poetry" by different Filipino poets at the National Library of the Philippines during the Pentasi B Historical forum, organized by the National Library. Earlier, in 2011, he was awarded by OTUSA TV as the "Father of Philippine Visual Poetry," in an event held at the Grand Ballroom Cloud 9, in Antipolo City, Rizal. Chinese poets in Beijing also conferred the same title to Tongohan during the Pentasi B World Poetree in Beijing, China in 2020. Tongohan received numerous recognitions and accolades from prominent poetry groups worldwide, including the title "King of Visual Poetry," which has been given to him by poets in India. During that poetry festival, Tongohan has been able to meet the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As a filmmaker, Tongohan has received a special citation from FAMAS for his docu-indie film, "Takipsilim" in 2007.

Philanthropy
Tongohan is also a philanthropist, having his work auctioned for a cause. The sales of his books and paintings have been used to finance education of less privileged youths in the Philippines. In fact, his Pentasi B poetry book fetched US$30,000 and used the money for this purpose. According to sources, he also solely financed the Pentasi B Award for deserving poets and creatives worldwide.