• CHERYL G. CRUZ
National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) executives were in Bacolod City March 8 to launch the first leg for the Visayas of the call for nominations for the Order of National Artist award.
Dennis Marasigan, CCP vice president and artistic director, as well as NCCA’s executive director Oscar Casaysay, and deputy executive director for Administration and Support Services Marichu Tellano took turns urging local government units, non-government cultural organizations, schools, and private foundations and councils, to nominate artists for the award, with the deadline set on June 30, 2024.
They said the Order of National Artist (ONA), or Orden ng Pambansang Alagad ng Sining, is the highest national recognition given to a Filipino individual who made significant contributions to the country, through their feats in the fields of architecture and allied arts, dance, design, film and broadcast arts, literature, music, theater, and visual arts.
The Order, with the selection and conferment done every three years, is jointly administered by the NCCA, and the CCP, and conferred by the President of the Philippines upon recommendation by both institutions.
The last awarding was held in 2022, with eight bestowed the ONA, including multi-awarded actress Nora Cabaltera Villamayor (known professionally as Nora Aunor) and director Marilou Diaz, both for Film and Broadcast Arts.
The lone ONA from Negros Occidental, so far, was Leandro Locsin of Silay City, who was conferred the recognition in 1990 for architecture.
The NCCA said that Locsin “reshaped the urban landscape with a distinctive architecture, reflective of Philippine Art and Culture. Every Locsin building is an original, and identifiable as a Locsin, with themes of floating volume, the duality of light and heavy, buoyant and massive running in his major works.
“From 1955 to 1994, Locsin produced 75 residences and 88 buildings, including 11 churches and chapels, 23 public buildings, 48 commercial buildings, six major hotels, and an airport terminal building.
“His largest single work is the Istana Nurul Iman, the palace of the Sultan of Brunei, which has a floor area of 2.2 million square feet. The CCP Complex itself is a virtual Locsin complex with all five buildings designed by him — the CCP, the Folk Arts Theater, Philippine International Convention Center, Philcite, and The Westin Hotel (now Sofitel Philippine Plaza)”.
Since the Order was established in 1972, Marasigan said 81 were given the recognition. In Western Visayas, aside from Locsin, the other ONAs included Ramon Muzones of Iloilo, for literature in 2018; Daisy Avellana from Roxas City, Capiz, for theater in 1999; N.V.M. Gonzalez, also from Capiz, for literature in 1997; Lucresia Reyes Urtula, from Iloilo, for dance in 1988; and Jovita Fuentes, from Capiz, for music in 1976.
The first awardee was Fernando Amorsolo, for painting, in 1972.
Aside from the rank and title as National Artist, an awardee also received a gold-plated medallion minted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and citation, a lifetime emolument and materials; a one-time cash award of P200,000, lifetime monthly stipend of P50,000, medical and hospitalization benefits, and life insurance coverage from the GSIS and/or private insurance companies.
Inquiries and nominations should be submitted to The Order of National Artist Secretariat, at onaa@ncca.gov.ph, telephone #8-5272192 local 507, or the Office of the NCCA Executive Director at NCCA Building, 633 General Luna Street, Intramuros 1002 Manila. | CGC
