In addition to the Order of National Artists, the Philippines' highest recognition for individuals who have made significant contributions to the classical arts, his work has earned him over 70 trophies from various award-giving bodies.
He roamed the streets, taking on menial tasks as a waiter during the day and asking his townspeople for accommodation at night until he eventually collapsed in Avenida from hunger.
He started writing fiction in the late 1960s, gaining confidence with the publication of his first short story, "Mayon," in the Philippine Free Press while he was still in high school.
A rare achievement for a writer, two of his short stories won first prizes at the Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature in two consecutive years, 1970 and 1971.
He became an activist during those politically turbulent times and was affiliated with Panulat para sa Kaunlaran ng Sambayanan (PAKSA, or Pen for People's Progress), alongside Bienvenido Lumbera and Jose F.
Throughout that turbulent decade and into the 1990s, he wrote features and interviews for Asia-Philippines Leader, Metro Magazine, Expressweek, TV Times, Malaya Midday, The National Midweek, Veritas, and Sunday Inquirer Magazine on topics as diverse as street children, vendors around Quiapo Church, an NPA commander, unsung workers in the film industry, a defunct Gala vaudeville-and-burlesque theater, film actors, an activist martyr during a tragic peasant protest march, and teenage prostitutes, as well as Director Lino Brocka, among others.
[11] Eventually, the screenplay won a contest launched by the Experimental Cinema of the Philippines, which meant that Lee would ironically be working with Imee Marcos.
[6][12] At the turn of the decade, Lee was introduced to director Marilou Diaz-Abaya as the screenwriter for Brutal (1980), which premiered at the 1980 Metro Manila Film Festival and became very successful.
This marked the beginning of a widely acclaimed feminist trilogy of films that included Moral (1982) and Karnal (1983), featuring Diaz-Abaya as director and Lee as screenwriter.
Lee wrote extensively over the next two and a half decades, with some of his most critically acclaimed works including Sandakot Na Bala (1988), co-written and directed by Jose Carreon; Dyesebel (1990); Juan Tamad at Mister Shooli: Mongolian Barbecue (1991); Mayor Cesar Climaco (1994); The Flor Contemplacion Story (1995); the psychological horror film Patayin sa Sindak si Barbara (1995); Sharon Cuneta starrer Madrasta (1996); and Labs Kita... Okey Ka Lang?
The late 1990s and early 2000s marked a period during which Lee penned screenplays for several highly acclaimed films, most notably the 1998 bio-epic José Rizal, which he co-wrote with Jun Lana and Peter Ong Lim; Muro-Ami (1999); Bulaklak ng Maynila (1999); the 2000 films Anak, Lagarista, and Deathrow; Mila, Tatarin, and Bagong Buwan (2001); and Aishite Imasu 1941: Mahal Kita (2004).
In 2000, he was one of the recipients of the Centennial Honors for the Arts from the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Gawad Pambansang Alagad ni Balagtas for Tagalog fiction from the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas.
This was followed exactly three years later by Si Amapola sa 65 na Kabanata, which was launched at the SM North EDSA Skydome and received similar public acclaim and support.
[15] In September 2024, he launched Kalahating Bahaghari (addressing the oppression and discrimination toward the LGBTQ+ community) and Kabilang sa mga Nawawa (or Among the Disappeared, about a teenager named Junjun, a “desaparecido”) at the Manila International Book Fair at the SMX Convention Center.
The more intrepid students may choose to act as a beggar in Quiapo, a bargirl in Ermita, or a squatter in Smokey Mountain, even for just one day, often with hilarious results.
Five films were shown at the festival: Gina Alajar's Salome, Anak, Muro Ami, Gumapang Ka sa Lusak, and Memories of Old Manila.