After months of uncertainty over Solidaridad Bookshop’s fate, the beloved store has found a new owner.
On November 23, 2025, Solidaridad announced via Facebook that the shop had been formally sold to Batangas Representative Leandro Legarda Leviste. The representative’s mother, Senator Loren Legarda, had been a close friend of Solidaridad’s founder, National Artist for Literature F. Sionil José. “Leviste is making this investment to ensure Solidaridad’s continued operations and help preserve the legacy of F. Sionil José with the continued advice of the José family,” read the shop’s announcement.
Established in 1965, Solidaridad became not only a place to buy local and international books, but also a space for some of the country’s most respected writers to gather. The likes of National Artist Nick Joaquin and Palanca Award-winning author Jose “Butch” Dalisay Jr. paid frequent visits to Solidaridad, where José and his wife Tessie would host intimate events on the store’s second floor. It was also the headquarters of the Philippine chapter of International PEN (Poets, Essayists, and Novelists), which Jose founded in 1958. In 2022, the author passed away at the age of 97, while his wife passed away in October of the same year.
Although their eldest son, Antonio, took charge of managing the store after his parents’ deaths, he announced earlier this June that the store was officially up for sale. “After me, none of my siblings will be able to manage it,” he said in an interview with The Varsitarian. “My siblings are all abroad, [and] it was only I who came back to take care of our parents and manage the bookshop. If I were a lot younger, I would not sell [it] at all.”
As of writing, Leviste has not stated his future plans for the bookstore. “We thank the José family for entrusting us with Solidaridad,” the Batangas representative wrote in an official Facebook post announcing the sale. “We hope they can remain involved and help ensure that the Bookshop’s operations stay true to its history and the legacy of F. Sionil José.”
