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A National Artist of the Philippines is a title given to a Filipino who has been given the highest recognition for

having
made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts. Such Filipinos are announced, by virtue of a
Presidential Proclamation, as National Artist or in Filipino, Gawad Pambansang Alagad ng Sining. They are then
conferred membership in the Order of National Artists, the regalia of which is an ornate, gilden collar of honor. In
addition to the collar, each newly proclaimed member of the Order is given a citation that is presented during the
awardees' conferment ceremonies. The Cultural Center of the Philippines then hosts a Memorabilia Exhibit and Gabi
ng Parangal (A Night of Tributes) for the National Artists at the Tanghalang Pambansa. More
here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Artist_of_the_Philippines
** Controversy marred the recognition of the following individuals as they were unilaterally awarded by Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo (in the exercise of "presidential prerogative") despite the rejection of the screening committee and
the artistic community.
Find similar Filipino projects at the master project page, Families of the Philippines.

Architecture

Antonio, Pablo (1976)


Locsin, Leandro (1990)
Maosa, Francisco (2009) **
Nakpil, Juan F. de Jesus (1973)
Santos, Ildefonso Paez (2006)

Cinema

Avellana, Lamberto Vera (1976)


Berna, Ishmael (2001)
Brocka, Lino (1997)
Caparas, Carlo (2009) **
Conde, Manuel (2009)
de Len, Gerardo (1982)
Poe, Ronald Allan K. (2006)
Romero, Eddie S. (2003)*

Dance

Aquino, Francisca Reyes (1973)


Goquingco, Leonor Orosa (1976)
Obusan, Ramon (2006)
Urtula, Lucrecia Reyes (1988)

Fashion Design

Valera, Ramon (2006)


Moreno, Pitoy (2009) **

Literature

Arcellana, Francisco (1990)


Almario, Virgilio S. (2003)
Celerio, Levi (1997)
Francisco, Lazaro (2009)
Gonzalez, Nestor Vicente Madali (1990)
Hernandez, Amado V. (1973)

Joaquin, Nick (1976)


Jose, F. Sionil (2001)
Lumbera, Bienvenido (2006)
Roces, Alejandro Reyes (2003)
Romulo, Carlos P. (1982)
Tiempo, Edith L. (1999)
Tinio, Rolando Santos (1997)
Villa, Jose Garcia (1973)

Literature: Historical

Quirino, Carlos Felix L. (1997)

Music

Buenaventura, Antonio R. (1988)


Celerio, Levi (1997)
Cuenco, Ernani Joson (1999)
Fuentes, Jovita (1976)
Kasilag, Lucresia R. (1989)
de Leon, Felipe Padilla (1997)
Maceda, Jose (1997)
Molina, Antonio J. (1973)
de la Rama, Honorata (1987)
San Pedro, Lucio D. (1991)
Veneracion, Andrea O. (1999)

Theater

Alvarez, Cecilia Guidote (2009) **


Avellana, Daisy Hontiveros (1999)
Avellana, Lamberto Vera (1976)
Bernal, Salvador F. (2003) - Theater Design
Conde, Manuel (2009) **
Guerrero, Wilfrido Ma. (1997)
Montano, Severino (2001)
de la Rama, Honorata (1987)
Tinio, Rolando Santos (1997)

Visual Arts

Abueva, Napoleon Isabelo Veloso (1976) - Sculpture


Alcuaz, Federico Aguilar Alcuaz (2009) - Painting, Sculpture and Mixed Media
Amorsolo, Fernando C. (1972) - Painting
Cabrera, Benedicto R. (2006) - Painting
Caparas, Carlo J. (2009) - Graphic Novels **
Eduardo Castrillo - Sculpture
Edades, Victorio C. (1976) - Painting
Francisco, Carlos V. (1973) - Painting and Murals
Imao, Abdulmari Asia (2006) - Sculpture
Joya, Jose T. (2003) - Painting
Kiukok, Ang (2001) - Painting
Legaspi, Cesar (1990) - Painting
Luz, Arturo R. (1997) - Painting
Manansala, Vicente S. (1981) - Painting

Navarro, Jeremias Elizalde (1999) - Painting


Ocampo, Hernando R. (1991) - Painting
Tolentino, Guillermo (1973) -- Sculpture

How to Contribute
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Please click the "Join Project" button on the upper right of the project page.
After getting yourself added as a collaborator for the surname, select the profile of the prominent Filipino you
wish to add.
Navigate to the profile. Under the "More Actions" link, choose "Add to Project" and select sub-project to
which your ancestor should be included in.
Include in the "About Me" section a brief biographical sketch, summarizing the person's significant
contributions and accomplishments. (Required)
Include a photograph, if one exists.
Mark the profile as "public" and not "private". (Required)

National Artist for Literature (1973)


(September 13, 1903 May 24, 1970)
Amado V. Hernandez, poet, playwright, and novelist, is among the Filipino writers who
practiced committed art. In his view, the function of the writer is to act as the
conscience of society and to affirm the greatness of the human spirit in the face of
inequity and oppression. Hernandezs contribution to the development of Tagalog prose
is considerable he stripped Tagalog of its ornate character and wrote in prose closer
to the colloquial than the official style permitted. His novel Mga Ibong Mandaragit,
first written by Hernandez while in prison, is the first Filipino socio-political novel that
exposes the ills of the society as evident in the agrarian problems of the 50s.
Hernandezs other works include Bayang Malaya, Isang Dipang Langit, Luha ng
Buwaya,Amado V. Hernandez: Tudla at Tudling: Katipunan ng mga Nalathalang
Tula 1921-1970,Langaw sa Isang Basong Gatas at Iba Pang Kuwento ni Amado V.
Hernandez, Magkabilang Mukha ng Isang Bagol at Iba Pang Akda ni Amado V.
Hernandez.

Jose Garcia Villa


National Artist for Literature (1973)
(August 5, 1908 July 7, 1997)

Art is a miraculous flirtation with Nothing!


Aiming for nothing, and landing on the Sun.
Doveglion: Collected Poems
Jose Garcia Villa is considered as one of the finest contemporary poets regardless of
race or language. Villa, who lived in Singalong, Manila, introduced the reversed
consonance rime scheme, including the comma poems that made full use of the
punctuation mark in an innovative, poetic way. The first of his poems Have Come, Am
Here received critical recognition when it appeared in New York in 1942 that, soon
enough, honors and fellowships were heaped on him: Guggenheim, Bollingen, the
American Academy of Arts and Letters Awards. He used Doveglion (Dove, Eagle, Lion)
as penname, the very characters he attributed to himself, and the same ones explored
by e.e. cummings in the poem he wrote for Villa (Doveglion, Adventures in Value). Villa
is also known for the tartness of his tongue.
Villas works have been collected into the following books: Footnote to Youth,Many
Voices,Poems by Doveglion, Poems 55, Poems in Praise of Love: The Best Love
Poems of Jose Garcia Villa as Chosen By Himself, Selected Stories,The Portable
Villa, The Essential Villa,Mir-i-nisa, Storymasters 3: Selected Stories from
Footnote to Youth, 55 Poems: Selected and Translated into Tagalog by Hilario S.
Francia.

Nick Joaquin
National Artist for Literature (1976)
(May 4, 1917 April 29, 2004)
Before 1521 we could have been anything and everything not Filipino; after 1565 we
can be nothing but Filipino. Culture and History, 1988
Nick Joaquin, is regarded by many as the most distinguished Filipino writer in English
writing so variedly and so well about so many aspects of the Filipino. Nick Joaquin has
also enriched the English language with critics coining Joaquinesque to describe his
baroque Spanish-flavored English or his reinventions of English based on Filipinisms.
Aside from his handling of language, Bienvenido Lumbera writes that Nick Joaquins
significance in Philippine literature involves his exploration of the Philippine colonial past
under Spain and his probing into the psychology of social changes as seen by the
young, as exemplified in stories such as Doa Jeronima,Candidos
Apocalypse and The Order of Melchizedek. Nick Joaquin has written plays, novels,
poems, short stories and essays including reportage and journalism. As a journalist,

Nick Joaquin uses the nome de guerre Quijano de Manila but whether he is writing
literature or journalism, fellow National Artist Francisco Arcellana opines that it is
always of the highest skill and quality.
Among his voluminous works are The Woman Who Had Two Navels, A Portrait of the
Artist as Filipino, Manila, My Manila: A History for the Young, The Ballad of the
Five Battles, Rizal in Saga, Almanac for Manileos, Cave and Shadows.
Nick Joaquin died April 29, 2004.

Carlos P. Romulo
Image credit: LIFE Photo Collection
National Artist for Literature (1982)
(January 14, 1899 December 15, 1985)
Carlos P. Romulos multifaceted career spanned 50 years of public service as
educator, soldier, university president, journalist and diplomat. It is common knowledge
that he was the first Asian president of the United Nations General Assembly, then
Philippine Ambassador to Washington, D.C., and later minister of foreign affairs.
Essentially though, Romulo was very much into writing: he was a reporter at 16, a
newspaper editor by the age of 20, and a publisher at 32. He was the only Asian to win
Americas coveted Pulitzer Prize in Journalism for a series of articles predicting the
outbreak of World War II. Romulo, in all, wrote and published 18 books, a range of
literary
works
which
included The
United (novel), I
Walked
with
Heroes (autobiography), I Saw the Fall of the Philippines, Mother America, I See the
Philippines Rise (war-time memoirs).
His other books include his memoirs of his many years affiliations with United Nations
(UN),Forty Years: A Third World Soldier at the UN, and The Philippine Presidents,
his oral history of his experiences serving all the Philippine presidents.

National Artist for Theater and Literature (1997)


(March 5, 1937 July 7, 1997)
Rolando S. Tinio, playwright, thespian, poet, teacher, critic and translator, marked his
career with prolific artistic productions. Tinios chief distinction is as a stage director
whose original insights into the scripts he handled brought forth productions notable for
their visual impact and intellectual cogency. Subsequently, after staging productions for

the Ateneo Experimental Theater (its organizer and administrator as well), he took on
Teatro Pilipino. It was to Teatro Pilipino which he left a considerable amount of work
reviving traditional Filipino drama by re-staging old theater forms like the sarswela and
opening a treasure-house of contemporary Western drama. It was the excellence and
beauty of his practice that claimed for theater a place among the arts in the Philippines
in the 1960s.
Aside from his collections of poetry (Sitsit sa Kuliglig, Dunung Dunungan, Kristal
na Uniberso, A Trick of Mirrors) among his works were the following: film scripts
for Now and Forever, Gamitin Mo Ako, Bayad Puri and Milagros; sarswelas Ang
Mestisa, Ako, Ang Kiri, Ana Maria; the komedya Orosman at Zafira; and Larawan,
the musical.

National Artist for Literature / Music (1997)


(April 30, 1910 April 2, 2002)
Levi Celerio is a prolific lyricist and composer for decades. He effortlessly
translated/wrote anew the lyrics to traditional melodies: O Maliwanag Na Buwan
(Iloko), Ako ay May Singsing (Pampango), Alibangbang (Visaya) among others.
Born in Tondo, Celerio received his scholarship at the Academy of Music in Manila that
made it possible for him to join the Manila Symphony Orchestra, becoming its youngest
member. He made it to the Guinness Book of World Records as the only person able to
make music using just a leaf.
A great number of his songs have been written for the local movies, which earned for
him the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Film Academy of the Philippines. Levi
Celerio, more importantly, has enriched the Philippine music for no less than two
generations with a treasury of more than 4,000 songs in an idiom that has proven to
appeal to all social classes.

National Artist for Literature (1997)


(September 8, 1915 November 28, 1999)
Nestor Vicente Madali Gonzalez, better known as N.V.M. Gonzalez, fictionist,
essayist, poet, and teacher, articulated the Filipino spirit in rural, urban landscapes.
Among the many recognitions, he won the First Commonwealth Literary Contest in
1940, received the Republic Cultural Heritage Award in 1960 and the Gawad CCP Para

sa Sining in 1990. The awards attest to his triumph in appropriating the English
language to express, reflect and shape Philippine culture and Philippine sensibility. He
became U.P.s International-Writer-In-Residence and a member of the Board of Advisers
of the U.P. Creative Writing Center. In 1987, U.P. conferred on him the Doctor of
Humane Letters, honoris causa, its highest academic recognition.
Major works of N.V.M Gonzalez include the following: The Winds of April, Seven Hills
Away, Children of the Ash-Covered Loam and Other Stories, The Bamboo
Dancers, Look Stranger, on this Island Now, Mindoro and Beyond: Twenty -One
Stories, The Bread of Salt and Other Stories, Work on the Mountain, The Novel of
Justice: Selected Essays 1968-1994, A Grammar of Dreams and Other Stories.

Carlos Quirino
1st Filipino National Artist in Historical Literature
Philippine National Artist in Historical Literature (1997)
National Artist for Historical Literature (1997)
(January 14, 1910 May 20, 1999)
Carlos Quirino, biographer, has the distinction of having written one of the earliest
biographies of Jose Rizal titled The Great Malayan. Quirinos books and articles span
the whole gamut of Philippine history and culturefrom Bonifacios trial to Aguinaldos
biography, from Philippine cartography to culinary arts, from cash crops to tycoons and
presidents lives, among so many subjects. In 1997, Pres. Fidel Ramos created
historical literature as a new category in the National Artist Awards and Quirino was its
first recipient. He made a record earlier on when he became the very first Filipino
correspondent for the United Press Institute.
His book Maps and Views of Old Manila is considered as the best book on the
subject. His other books includeQuezon, Man of Destiny, Magsaysay of the
Philippines, Lives of the Philippine Presidents, Philippine Cartography, The
History of Philippine Sugar Industry, Filipino Heritage: The Making of a
Nation, Filipinos at War: The Fight for Freedom from Mactan to EDSA.

F. Sionil Jose
National Artist for Literature (2001)

F. Sionil Joses writings since the late 60s, when taken collectively can best be
described as epic. Its sheer volume puts him on the forefront of Philippine writing in
English. But ultimately, it is the consistent espousal of the aspirations of the Filipinofor
national sovereignty and social justicethat guarantees the value of his oeuvre.
In the five-novel masterpiece, the Rosales saga, consisting of The Pretenders, Tree,
My Brother, My Executioner, Mass, and Po-on, he captures the sweep of Philippine
history while simultaneously narrating the lives of generations of the Samsons whose
personal lives intertwine with the social struggles of the nation. Because of their
international appeal, his works, including his many short stories, have been published
and translated into various languages.
F. Sionil Jose is also a publisher, lecturer on cultural issues, and the founder of the
Philippine chapter of the international organization PEN. He was bestowed the CCP
Centennial Honors for the Arts in 1999; the Outstanding Fulbrighters Award for
Literature in 1988; and the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and
Creative Communication Arts in 1980.
Virgilio S. Almario
National Artist for Literature (2003)
Virgilio S. Almario, also known as Rio Alma, is a poet, literary historian and critic, who
has revived and reinvented traditional Filipino poetic forms, even as he championed
modernist poetics. In 34 years, he has published 12 books of poetry, which include the
seminal Makinasyon and Peregrinasyon, and the landmark trilogy Doktrinang
Anakpawis, Mga Retrato at Rekwerdo and Muli, Sa Kandungan ng Lupa. In these
works, his poetic voice soared from the lyrical to the satirical to the epic, from the
dramatic to the incantatory, in his often severe examination of the self, and the society.
He has also redefined how the Filipino poetry is viewed and paved the way for the
discussion of the same in his 10 books of criticisms and anthologies, among which
are Ang Makata sa Panahon ng Makina, Balagtasismo versus
Modernismo,Walong Dekada ng Makabagong Tula Pilipino, Mutyang
Dilim and Barlaan at Josaphat.
Many Filipino writers have come under his wing in the literary workshops he founded
the Galian sa Arte at Tula (GAT) and the Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika at Anyo (LIRA).
He has also long been involved with childrens literature through the Aklat Adarna
series, published by his Childrens Communication Center. He has been a constant
presence as well in national writing workshops and galvanizes member writers as
chairman emeritus of the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL).

He headed the National Commission for Culture and the Arts as Executive Director,
(from 1998 to 2001) ably steering the Commission towards its goals.
But more than anything else, what Almario accomplished was that he put a face to the
Filipino writer in the country, one strong face determinedly wielding a pen into untruths,
hypocrisy, injustice, among others.

National Artist for Literature (2009)


(February 22, 1898 June 17, 1980)
Prize-winning writer Lazaro A. Francisco developed the social realist tradition in
Philippine fiction. His eleven novels, now acknowledged classics of Philippine literature,
embodies the authors commitment to nationalism. Amadis Ma. Guerrero wrote,
Francisco championed the cause of the common man, specifically the oppressed
peasants. His novels exposed the evils of the tenancy system, the exploitation of
farmers by unscrupulous landlords, and foreign domination. Teodoro Valencia also
observed, His pen dignifies the Filipino and accents all the positives about the Filipino
way of life. His writings have contributed much to the formation of a Filipino
nationalism. Literary historian and critic Bienvenido Lumbera also wrote, When the
history of the Filipino novel is written, Francisco is likely to occupy an eminent place in
it. Already in Tagalog literature, he ranks among the finest novelists since the beginning
of the 20th century. In addition to a deft hand at characterization, Francisco has a
supple prose style responsive to the subtlest nuances of ideas and the sternest stuff of
passions.
Francisco gained prominence as a writer not only for his social conscience but also for
his masterful handling of the Tagalog language and supple prose style. With his
literary output in Tagalog, he contributed to the enrichment of the Filipino language and
literature for which he is a staunch advocate. He put up an arm to his advocacy of
Tagalog as a national language by establishing the Kapatiran ng mga Alagad ng Wikang
Pilipino (KAWIKA) in 1958.
His reputation as the Master of the Tagalog Novel is backed up by numerous awards
he received for his meritorious novels in particular, and for his contribution to Philippine
literature and culture in general. His masterpiece novelsAma, Bayang
Nagpatiwakal, Maganda Pa Ang Daigdig and Daluyongaffirm his eminent place in
Philippine literature. In 1997, he was honored by the University of the Philippines with a
special convocation, where he was cited as the foremost Filipino novelist of his
generation and champion of the Filipino writers struggle for national identity.

National Artist for Literature (2014)


Cirilo F. Bautista is a poet, fictionist and essayist with exceptional achievements and
significant contributions to the development of the countrys literary arts. He is
acknowledged by peers and critics, and the nation at large as the foremost writer of his
generation.
Throughout his career that spans more than four decades, he has established a
reputation for fine and profound artistry; his books, lectures, poetry readings and
creative writing workshops continue to influence his peers and generations of young
writers.
As a way of bringing poetry and fiction closer to the people who otherwise would not
have the opportunity to develop their creative talent, Bautista has been holding regular
funded and unfunded workshops throughout the country. In his campus lecture circuits,
Bautista has updated students and student-writers on literary developments and
techniques.
As a teacher of literature, Bautista has realized that the classroom is an important
training ground for Filipino writers. In De La Salle University, he was instrumental in the
formation of the Bienvenido Santos Creative Writing Center. He was also the moving
spirit behind the founding of the Philippine Literary Arts Council in 1981, the Iligan
National Writers Workshop in 1993, and the Baguio Writers Group.
Thus, Bautista continues to contribute to the development of Philippine literature: as a
writer, through his significant body of works; as a teacher, through his discovery and
encouragement of young writers in workshops and lectures; and as a critic, through his
essays that provide insights into the craft of writing and correctives to misconceptions
about art.
Major works: Summer Suns (1963), Words and Battlefields (1998), The Trilogy of
Saint Lazarus (2001), Galaw ng Asoge (2003).

Bienvenido Lumbera
Literature (2006)
Bienvenido Lumbera, is a poet, librettist, and scholar.
*As a poet, he introduced to Tagalog literature what is now known as Bagay poetry, a
landmark aesthetic tendency that has helped to change the vernacular poetic tradition.
He is the author of the following works: Likhang Dila, Likhang Diwa (poems in Filipino
and English), 1993;Balaybay, Mga Tulang Lunot at Manibalang, 2002; Sa Sariling

Bayan, Apat na Dulang May Musika, 2004; Agunyas sa Hacienda


Luisita, Pakikiramay, 2004.
As a librettist for the Tales of the Manuvu and Rama Hari, he pioneered the creative
fusion of fine arts and popular imagination. As a scholar, his major books include the
following: Tagalog Poetry, 1570-1898: Tradition and Influences in its Development;
Philippine Literature: A History and Anthology, Revaluation: Essays on Philippine
Literature, Writing the Nation/Pag-akda ng Bansa.
*(taken from the citation)

President Aquino poses with (from left) National Artists Bienvenido Lumbera (literature), Benedicto
Cabrera (visual arts), Virgilio Almario (literature) and Order of National Artist awardees Manuel Jun
Urbano (son of Manuel Conde, film, posthumous), Alicia Reyes (dance), Rebecca Feliciano (wife of
Francisco Feliciano, music, posthumous), Filomena Coching (wife of Francisco Coching, visual arts,
posthumous), Cirilo Bautista (literature), Ramon Santos (music), Pilar Zaragoza (wife of Jose Maria
Zaragoza, architecture, posthumous), Raphael Francisco (son of Lazaro Francisco, literature,
posthumous) and Christian Alcuaz (son of Federico Alcuaz, visual arts, posthumous). KRIZJOHN
ROSALES
MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino yesterday conferred the National Artist award on nine Filipino
artists, six of them posthumously.
The National Artists awarded posthumously were Federico Alcuaz and Francisco Coching for visual arts,
Lazaro Francisco for literature, Jose Maria Zaragoza for architecture, Manuel Conde for film and
Francisco Feliciano for music.
Three other artists were also recipients of the Pambansang Alagad ng Sining: Ramon Santos for music,
Cirilo F. Bautista for literature and Alicia Reyes for dance.
The six awardees for National Artists for 2014 were Bautista, Coching, Feliciano, Reyes, Santos and
Zaragoza while the remaining three Alcuaz, Conde and Francisco were declared National Artists in
2009.
The names of the new National Artists were announced by the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP),
which revealed that proclamations for such had been signed by Aquino in June 2014.
Aquino, in a simple ceremony, hailed the outstanding talent and skills of the artists.

Headlines ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1


Over the years, you have served as a bright example and inspiration for the next generation, Aquino
said in Filipino.
Though you have reached the peak of your endeavor, this does not stop you from pursuing excellence in
your chosen field or profession, Aquino said.
Bautista is a poet and educator, Coching helped nurture the local comics industry, Feliciano combined
Filipino culture and Western musical idiom in his operas and ballets, while Reyes is a dancer,
choreographer and founding artistic director of Ballet Philippines who pioneered contemporary and
modern dance in the country.
On the other hand, Santos is a noted composer, conductor, musicologist, scholar and mentor; Zaragoza
was a towering Philippine architectural figure in the 1950s; Alcuaz was a painter and lawyer; Conde was a
film director, writer, actor and producer, while Francisco was a popular novelist in the 1950s.

http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/04/15/1573056/award-conferred-9-nationalartists

THE NATIONAL ARTISTS AWARD


The Order of the National Artists Award (Orden ng Gawad Pambansang Alagad ng Sining) is the highest
national recognition given to Filipino individuals who have made significant contributions to the
development of Philippine arts; namely, Music, Dance, Theater, Visual Arts, Literature, Film and
Broadcast Arts, and Architecture and Allied Arts. The order is jointly administered by the National
Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and conferred
by the President of the Philippines upon recommendation by both institutions.

The Order of National Artists Award is one of the honors conferred by the Republic of the Philippines that
embodies the nations highest ideals in the humanities and aesthetic expression through the distinct
achievements of individual citizens. While the Republic bestows due recognition to these singular
achievements, it also honors its own cultural heritage, whose enrichment these achievements have
significantly effected, enhanced, and given direction.

These achievements are measured in terms of their vision, unusual insight, creativity and imagination,
technical proficiency of the highest order in expressing Filipino culture and traditions, history, way of life,
and aspirations.

Roster of National Artists

http://culturalcenter.gov.ph/programs/the-national-artists-award/

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