Rogelio R. Sikat

In 1969, Sikat's socio-critical play Moses, Moses won the Carlos Palanca Award, further solidifying Sikat's position among the titans of Philippine literature.

Sikat wrote several other short stories during his lifetime including Tata Selo, a fictional narrative based on the real-life land reform issues and recurring political cruelties in the Philippines. It won the second prize in the Carlos Palanca Award for 1963.

In 1962, Sikat's Impeng Negro won the first prize in Liwayway magazine's best short story and the prized Carlos Palanca Award both in the same year. The short story Impeng Negro catapulted Sikat into the upper echelons of Philippine literature. Impeng Negro touches critical social issues including racism and bullying.

Rogelio Sicat (June 26, 1940 – 1997) sometimes referred to as “Rogelio Sikat”, was a prolific Filipino novelist, playwright and short story writer. Sikat is best known for his classic masterpieces particularly Impeng Negro, a short story based on a half-black, half-Filipino boy and Moses, Moses, a play in one act that depicts the social injustices and the abuse of the country's oppressive politicians. He uses "Sikat" as a pen name to reflect on his Filipino identity (The Filipino alphabet originally does not have the letter c) as his real surname is "Sicat".

Sikat was born on June 26, 1940 in the town of San Isidro in the province of Nueva Ecija, as the sixth of eight children of Estanislao Sikat and Crisanta Rodriguez. For his college education, Sikat went to Manila to study in the University of Santo Tomas.

Impeng Negro was adapted into a short film entitled, Impen, the Negro. The short 30-minute film won 1st prize in the Short Feature Film Category in the 12th Gawad CCP for alternative film and video.