Gilbert Luis R. Centina III place of birth La Carlota
Early life and education
Born in La Carlota City on May 19, 1947, he was the second child of Luis T. Centina Jr., an educator, and Eva Gómez Ramos, a homemaker. He came from a family of artists, according to his biography in his official web site. His father, an educator, contributed articles to national magazines in the Philippines and authored a posthumously published book, Almost on the Carpet. One of his two younger sisters is a painter while two of his four brothers are poets. His artistic bent drew inspiration from a childhood surrounded with charcoal etchings by his maternal grandfather.After graduating from La Carlota High School, he attended a number of colleges in his freshman year in university, including La Consolacion College Bacolod in Bacolod City, University of Negros Occidental - Recoletos, also in the same city, and University of San Agustin in Iloilo City.
In 1964, he entered the Augustinian Monastery in historic Intramuros, Manila and attended the University of Santo Tomas, the Philippines' royal and pontifical university. He graduated cum laude in each of his four ecclesiastical degrees from the University of Santo Tomas: BA classical, Ph.B., STB, and STL.
He earned his MA in comparative literature at the University of the Philippines and completed the coursework toward a Ph.D. in comparative literature at another state university but left without completing his dissertation.
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