A novel by Filipino author Miguel Syjuco, that touches on 150 years of often turbulent Philippines history, has won a major Asian literary prize, organisers said.

Syjuco`s `Ilustrado` was awarded the second annual Man Asian Literary Prize, which is open to novels from the region that have not yet been published in English.

`Ilustrado seems to us to possess formal ambition, linguistic inventiveness and socio-political insight in the most satisfying measure,` the panel of three judges said in a statement, after awarding the 10,000 US dollar prize Thursday.

`Brilliantly conceived, and stylishly executed, it covers a large and tumultuous historical period with seemingly effortless skill. It is also ceaselessly entertaining, frequently raunchy, and effervescent with humour.`

The story is a fictional account of a young Filipino investigating the life of his mentor Crispin Salvador, a real-life writer and thinker, after the man`s death.

It examines the disappearance of Salvador`s manuscript about the corruption behind rich Filipino families.

Syjuco beat off competition from fellow Filipino Alfred A. Yuson for `The Music Child,` Indian writers Kavery Nambisan for `The Story that Must Not be Told` and Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi for `The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay.`

Chinese writer Yu Hua was also shortlisted for `Brothers.`

The panel said the shortlist of five novels had shown the `great vitality` of the novel in a region `undergoing hectic and unexpected transformations.`

Last year`s inaugural prize was won by Chinese author Jiang Rong for his novel `Wolf Totem,` which has since been published by Penguin.

The prize is backed by the company that sponsors the prestigious Booker prize, based in Britain.