Philippines Artist

ARCHITECTURE
Pablo S. Antonio
Far Eastern University Administration and Science buildings; Manila Polo Club; Ideal
Theater; Lyric Theater; Galaxy Theater; Capitan Luis Gonzaga Building; Boulevard-
Alhambra (now Bel-Air) apartments; Ramon Roces Publications Building (now Guzman Institute
of Electronics).
Leandro V. Locsin
Locsin’s 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 Cultural Center of the Philippines, Folk Arts Theater,
Philippine International Convention Center, Philcite and The Westin Hotel (now Sofitel
Philippine Plaza).
Juan F. Nakpil
Among others, Nakpil’s major works are the Geronimo de los Reyes Building,Magsaysay
Building, Rizal Theater, Capitol Theater, Captain Pepe Building, Manila Jockey
Club, Rufino Building, Philippine Village Hotel, University of the Philippines
Administration and University Library, and the reconstructed Rizal housein Calamba,
Laguna.
Ildefonso P. Santos, Jr.

Santos, Jr.’s most recent projects were the Tagaytay Highland Resort, the Mt. Malarayat Golf
and Country Clubin Lipa, Batangas, and the Orchard Golf and Country Club in Imus, Cavite
José María V. Zaragoza

Major Works: Meralco Building (Pasig Cty), Sto. Domingo Church and Convent (Quezon
City), Metropolitan Cathedral of Cebu City, Villa San Miguel, Mandaluyoung.
CINEMA
Lamberto V. Avellana
Avellana was also the first filmmaker to have his film Kandelerong Pilak shown at the Cannes International Film Festival.
Among the films he directed for worldwide release were Sergeant Hasan (1967), Destination Vietnam(1969), and The Evil
Within (1970).
Lino Brocka
o name a few, Brocka’s films include the following: “Santiago” (1970), “Wanted: Perfect Mother” (1970), “Tubog sa Ginto”
(1971), “Stardoom” (1971), “Tinimbang Ka Ngunit Kulang” (1974), “Maynila: Sa Kuko ng Liwanag” (1975), “Insiang”
(1976), “Jaguar” (1979), “Bona” (1980), “Macho Dancer” (1989), “Orapronobis” (1989), “Makiusap Ka sa Diyos” (1991
Ishmael Bernal
Among his notable films are “Pahiram ng Isang Umaga” (1989), “Broken Marriage” (1983), “Himala” (1982),
“City After Dark” (1980), and “Nunal sa Tubig” (1976).He was recognized as the Director of the Decade of the
1970s by the Catholic Mass Media Awards; four-time Best Director by the Urian Awards (1989, 1985, 1983, and
1977); and given the ASEAN Cultural Award in Communication Arts in 1993.
Manuel Conde
Major works: Ibong Adarna (1941), Si Juan Tamad (1947), Siete Infantes de Lara (1950), Genghis
Khan (1950), Ikaw Kasi! (1955) Juan Tamad Goes To Congress (1959).
Gerardo “Gerry” de Leon

In the 50s and 60s, he produced many films that are now considered classics including “Daigdig ng Mga Api,” “Noli Me Tangere,”
“El Filibusterismo,” and “Sisa.” Among a long list of films are “Sawa sa Lumang Simboryo,” “Dyesebel,” “The Gold Bikini,”
“Banaue,” “The Brides of Blood Island.”
Ronald Allan K. Poe

The image of the underdog was projected in his films such as Apollo Robles(1961), Batang Maynila (1962), Mga Alabok sa
Lupa (1967), Batang Matador and Batang Estibador (1969), Ako ang Katarungan (1974), Tatak ng Alipin(1975), Totoy
Bato (1977), Asedillo (1981), Partida (1985), and Ang Probisyano (1996), among many others. The mythical hero, on the other
hand, was highlighted in Ang Alamat (1972), Ang Pagbabalik ng Lawin(1975) including his Panday series (1980, 1981, 1982,
1984) and the action adventure films adapted from komiks materials such as Ang Kampana sa Santa Quiteria(1971), Santo
Domingo (1972), and Alupihang Dagat (1975), among others.
Eddie S. Romero
Eddie Romero, is a screenwriter, film director and producer, is the quintessential Filipino filmmaker whose life is
devoted to the art and commerce of cinema spanning three generations of filmmakers. His film “Ganito Kami
Noon…Paano Kayo Ngayon?,” set at the turn of the century during the revolution against the Spaniards and,
later, the American colonizers, follows a naïve peasant through his leap of faith to become a member of an
imagined community. “Aguila” situates a family’s story against the backdrop of the country’s history.
“Kamakalawa” explores the folkloric of prehistoric Philippines. “Banta ng Kahapon,” his ‘small’ political film, is set
against the turmoil of the late 1960s, tracing the connection of the underworld to the corrupt halls of politics. His
13-part series of “Noli Me Tangere” brings the national hero’s polemic novel to a new generation of viewers
VISUAL ARTS
Fernando Amorsolo
Among others, his major works include the following: Maiden in a Stream(1921)-GSIS collection; El Ciego (1928)-Central
Bank of the Philippines collection; Dalagang Bukid (1936) – Club Filipino collection; The Mestiza (1943) – National
Museum of the Philippines collection; Planting Rice (1946)-UCPB collection; Sunday Morning Going to Town (1958)-
Ayala Museum Collection.
Hernando R. Ocampo
Ocampo’s acknowledged masterpiece Genesis served as the basis of the curtain design of the Cultural
Center of the Philippines Main Theater. His other major works include Ina ng Balon, Calvary, Slum
Dwellers, Nude with Candle and Flower, Man and Carabao, Angel’s Kiss, Palayok at
Kalan, Ancestors,Isda at Mangga, The Resurrection, Fifty-three “Q”, Backdrop, Fiesta.
Benedicto Cabrera
Selected works
Madonna with Objects, 1991
Studies of Sabel, dyptych, 1991
People Waiting, 1989
The Indifference, 1988
Waiting for the Monsoon, 1986
Carlos “Botong” Francisco

His other major works include the following: Portrait of Purita, The Invasion of
Limahong, Serenade, Muslim Betrothal, Blood Compact, First Mass at Limasawa, The
Martyrdom of Rizal, Bayanihan, Magpupukot, Fiesta, Bayanihan sa Bukid, Sandugo.
Cesar Legaspi
Among his works are Gadgets I, Gadgets II, Diggers, Idols of the Third Eye, Facade, Ovary, Flora
and Fauna, Triptych, Flight, Bayanihan, Struggle,Avenging Figure, Turning Point, Peace, The
Survivor, The Ritual.
Abdulmari Asia Imao

Selected works:
Industry Brass Mural, Philippine National Bank, San Fernando, La Union
Mural Relief on Filmmaking, Manila City Hall
Industrial Mural, Central Bank of the Philippines, San Fernando, La Union
Sulu Warriors (statues of Panglima Unaid and Captain Abdurahim Imao), 6 ft., Sulu Provincial Capitol
Arturo Luz
Among his other significant paintings are Bagong Taon, Vendador de Flores, Skipping Rope, Candle
Vendors, Procession, Self-Portrait, Night Glows,Grand Finale, Cities of the Past, Imaginary Landscapes. His
mural painting Black and White is displayed in the lobby of the CCP’s Bulwagang Carlos V. Francisco (Little
Theater). His sculpture of a stainless steel cube is located in front of the Benguet Mining Corporation Building in
Pasig.
Guillermo Tolentino
Other works include the bronze figures of President Quezon at Quezon Memorial, life-size busts of Jose Rizal at UP and UE, marble
statue of Ramon Magsaysay in GSIS Building; granolithics of heroic statues representing education, medicine, forestry, veterinary science,
fine arts and music at UP.He also designed the gold and bronze medals for the Ramon Magsaysay Award and did the seal of the Republic
of the Philippines.
Napoleon Abueva
Posted on June 2, 2015
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National Artist for Sculpture (1976)
At 46 then, Napoleon V. Abueva, a native of Bohol, was the youngest National Artist awardee.
Considered as the Father of Modern Philippine Sculpture, Abueva has helped shape the local sculpture
scene to what it is now. Being adept in either academic representational style or modern abstract, he has
utilized almost all kinds of materials from hard wood (molave, acacia, langka wood, ipil, kamagong, palm
wood and bamboo) to adobe, metal, stainless steel, cement, marble, bronze, iron, alabaster, coral and
brass. Among the early innovations Abueva introduced in 1951 was what he referred to as “buoyant
sculpture” — sculpture meant to be appreciated from the surface of a placid pool. In the 80’s, Abueva put
up a one-man show at the Philippine Center, New York. His works have been installed in different
museums here and abroad, such as The Sculpture at the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
Nine Muses of the Arts (Ramon Velasquez via Wikimedia Commons)
Some of his major works include Kaganapan (1953), Kiss of Judas (1955),Thirty Pieces of Silver, The
Transfiguration (1979), Eternal Garden Memorial Park, UP Gateway (1967), Nine Muses (1994), UP
Faculty Center, Sunburst (1994)-Peninsula Manila Hotel, the bronze figure of Teodoro M. Kalaw in front
of National Library, and murals in marble at the National Heroes Shrine, Mt. Samat, Bataan.
J. Elizalde Navarro
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National Artist for Painting (1999)
(May 22, 1924 – June 10, 1999)
J. (Jeremias) Elizalde Navarro, was born on May 22, 1924 in Antique. He is a versatile artist, being both
a proficient painter and sculptor. His devotion to the visual arts spans 40 years of drawing, printmaking,
graphic designing, painting and sculpting. His masks carved in hardwood merge the human and the
animal; his paintings consists of abstracts and figures in oil and watercolor; and his assemblages fuse
found objects and metal parts. He has done a series of figurative works drawing inspiration from Balinese
art and culture, his power as a master of colors largely evident in his large four-panel The Seasons (1992:
Prudential Bank collection).
A Navarro sampler includes his ’50s and ’60s fiction illustrations for This Week of the Manila Chronicle,
and the rotund, India-ink figurative drawings for Lydia Arguilla’s storybook, Juan Tamad. Three of his
major mixed media works are I’m Sorry Jesus, I Can’t Attend Christmas This Year (1965), and
his Homage to Dodjie Laurel (1969: Ateneo Art Gallery collection), and A Flying Contraption for Mr.
Icarus (1984: Lopez Museum).
Francisco Coching
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National Artist for Visual Arts (2014)
(January 29, 1919 – September 1, 1998)
Francisco Coching, acknowledged as the “Dean of Filipino Illustrators” and son of noted Tagalog
novelist and comics illustrator Gregorio Coching, was a master storyteller – in images and in print. His
illustrations and novels were products of that happy combination of fertile imagination, a love of
storytelling, and fine draftsmanship. He synthesized images and stories informing Philippine folk and
popular imagination of culture. His career spanned four decades.
Starting his career in 1934, he was a central force in the formation of the popular art form of comics. He
was a part of the golden age of the Filipino comics in the 50’s and 60’s. Until his early retirement in 1973,
Coching mesmerized the comics-reading public as well as his fellow artists, cartoonists and writers.
The source of his imagery can be traced to the Philippine culture from the 19th century to the 1960s. His
works reflected the dynamics brought about by the racial and class conflict in Philippine colonial society in
the 19th century, a theme that continued to be dealt with for a long time in Philippine cinema. He valorized
the indigenous, untrammeled Filipino in Lapu-Lapu and Sagisag ng Lahing Pilipino, and created the types
that affirm the native sense of self in his Malay heroes of stunning physique. His women are beautiful and
gentle, but at the same time can be warrior-like, as in Marabini (Marahas na Binibini) or the strong
seductive, modern women of his comics in the 50s and 60s.
There is myth and fantasy, too, featuring the grotesque characters, vampire bats, shriveled witches, as
in Haring Ulopong. Yet, Coching grounded his works too in the experience of war during the Japanese
occupation, he was a guerilla of the Kamagong Unit, Las Pinas branch of the ROTC hunters in the
Philippines. He also drew from the popular post-war culture of the 50s, as seen in Movie Fan. At this
point, his settings and characters became more urbane, and the narratives he weaved scanned the
changing times and mores, as in Pusakal, Talipandas, Gigolo, and Maldita.
In his characters and storylines, Coching brings to popular consciousness the issues concerning race and
identity. He also discussed in his works the concept of the hero, which resonate through the characters on
his comics like in Dimasalang and El Vibora.
He also left a lasting influence on the succeeding generations of younger cartoonist such as Larry Alcala,
Ben Infante and Nestor Redondo. The comics as popular art also helped forge the practice and
consciousness as a national language.
Victorio C. Edades
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(December 23, 1895 – March 7, 1985)
Painting distorted human figures in rough, bold impasto strokes, and standing tall and singular in his
advocacy and practice of what he believes is the creative art, Victorio C. Edades emerged as the “Father
of Modern Philippine Painting”. Unlike, Amorsolo’s bright, sunny, cheerful hues, Edades’ colors were dark
and somber with subject matter or themes depicting laborers, factory workers or the simple folk in all their
dirt, sweat and grime. In the 1930s, Edades taught at the University of Santos Tomas and became dean
of its Department of Architecture where he stayed for three full decades. It was during this time that he
introduced a liberal arts program that offers subjects as art history and foreign languages that will lead to
a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. This development brought about a first in Philippine education since art
schools then were vocational schools.
It was also the time that Edades invited Carlos “Botong” Francisco and Galo B. Ocampo to become
professor artists for the university. The three, who would later be known as the formidable “Triumvirate”,
led the growth of mural painting in the country. Finally retiring from teaching at age 70, the university
conferred on Edades the degree of Doctor of Fine Arts, honoris causa, for being an outstanding
“visionary, teacher and artist.”
The Sketch, 1928
Among his works are The Sketch, The Artist and the Model, Portrait of the Professor, Japanese
Girl, Mother and Daughter, The Wrestlers, and Poinsettia Girl.
Ang Kiukok
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(March 1, 1931 – May 9, 2005)
Born to immigrant Chinese parents Vicente Ang and Chin Lim, Ang Kiukok is one of the most vital and
dynamic figures who emerged during the 60s. As one of those who came at the heels of the pioneering
modernists during that decade, Ang Kiukok blazed a formal and iconographic path of his own through
expressionistic works of high visual impact and compelling meaning.
He crystallized in vivid, cubistic figures the terror and angst of the times. Shaped in the furnace of the
political turmoil of those times, Ang Kiukok pursued an expression imbued with nationalist fervor and
sociological agenda.
Some of his works include Geometric Landscape (1969); Pieta, which won for him the bronze medal in
the 1st International Art Exhibition held in Saigon (1962); and the Seated Figure (1979), auctioned at
Sotheby’s in Singapore.
His works can be found in many major art collections, among them the Cultural Center of the Philippines,
National Historical Museum of Taipei, and the National Museum in Singapore.
Ang Kiukok died on May 9, 2005
Jose Joya
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(June 3, 1931 – May 11, 1995)
Jose Joya is a painter and multimedia artist who distinguished himself by
creating an authentic Filipino abstract idiom that transcended foreign
influences. Most of Joya’s paintings of harmonious colors were inspired
by Philippine landscapes, such as green rice paddies and golden fields of
harvest. His use of rice paper in collages placed value on transparency, a
common characteristic of folk art. The curvilinear forms of his paintings
often recall the colorful and multilayered ‘kiping’ of the Pahiyas festival.
His important mandala series was also drawn from Asian aesthetic forms
and concepts.
He espoused the value of kinetic energy and spontaneity in painting
which became significant artistic values in Philippine art. His paintings
clearly show his mastery of ‘gestural paintings’ where paint is applied
intuitively and spontaneously, in broad brush strokes, using brushes or
spatula or is directly squeezed from the tube and splashed across the
canvas. His 1958 landmark painting Granadean Arabesque,a work on
canvas big enough to be called a mural, features swipes and gobs of
impasto and sand. The choice of Joya to represent the Philippines in the
1964 Venice Biennial itself represents a high peak in the rise of the
modern art in the country.
Granadean Arabesque, 1958 (Ateneo Art Gallery Collection)

Joya also led the way for younger artists in bringing out the potentials of
multimedia. He designed and painted on ceramic vessels, plates and
tiles, and stimulated regional workshops. He also did work in the graphic
arts, particularly in printmaking.
His legacy is undeniably a large body of work of consistent excellence
which has won the admiration of artists both in the local and international
scene. Among them are his compositions Beethoven Listening to the
Blues, and Space Transfiguration, and other works like Hills of
Nikko, Abstraction, Dimension of Fear, Naiad, Torogan,Cityscape.
Vicente Manansala
(January 22, 1910 – August 22, 1981)
Vicente Manansala‘s paintings are described as visions of reality
teetering on the edge of abstraction. As a young boy, his talent was
revealed through the copies he made of the Sagrada Familia and his
mother’s portrait that he copied from a photograph. After finishing the
fine arts course from the University of the Philippines, he ran away from
home and later found himself at the Philippines Herald as an illustrator. It
was there that Manansala developed close association with Hernando R.
Ocampo, Cesar Legaspi, and Carlos Botong Francisco, the latter being
the first he admired most. For Manansala, Botong was a master of the
human figure. Among the masters, Manansala professes a preference for
Cezanne and Picasso whom he says have achieved a balance of skill and
artistry.
He trained at Paris and at Otis School of Drawing in Los Angeles.
Manansala believes that the beauty of art is in the process, in the moment
of doing a particular painting, closely associating it with the act of
making love. “The climax is just when it’s really finished.”
Mother and Child, 1967
Manansala’s works include A Cluster of Nipa Hut, San Francisco Del
Monte,Banaklaot, I Believe in God, Market Venders, Madonna of the
Slums, Still Life with Green Guitar, Via Crucis, Whirr, Nude
LITERATURE
Francisco Arcellana
National Artist for Literature (1990)
(September 6, 1916 – August 1, 2002)
Francisco Arcellana, writer, poet, essayist, critic, journalist and teacher,
is one of the most important progenitors of the modern Filipino short
story in English. He pioneered the development of the short story as a
lyrical prose-poetic form. For Arcellana, the pride of fiction is “that it is
able to render truth, that is able to present reality”. Arcellana kept alive
the experimental tradition in fiction, and had been most daring in
exploring new literary forms to express the sensibility of the Filipino
people. A brilliant craftsman, his works are now an indispensable part of
a tertiary-level-syllabi all over the country. Arcellana’s published books
are Selected Stories (1962), Poetry and Politics: The State of Original
Writing in English in the Philippines Today (1977), The Francisco
Arcellana Sampler(1990).
“The names which were with infinite slowness revealed, seemed strange
and stranger still; the colors not bright but deathly dull; the separate
letters spelling out the names of the dead among them, did not seem to
glow or shine with a festive sheen as did the other living names.”
(from “The Mats”, Philippine Contemporary Literature, 1963)
Some of his short stories are Frankie, The Man Who Would Be Poe, Death
in a Factory, Lina, A Clown Remembers, Divided by Two, The Mats, and
his poems being The Other Woman, This Being the Third Poem This
Poem is for Mathilda, To Touch You and I Touched Her, among others.
Edith L. Tiempo
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(April 22, 1919 – August 21, 2011)
Edith L. Tiempo, poet, fictionist, teacher and literary critic is one of the finest Filipino writers in English
whose works are characterized by a remarkable fusion of style and substance, of craftsmanship and
insight. Born on April 22, 1919 in Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya, her poems are intricate verbal
transfigurations of significant experiences as revealed, in two of her much anthologized pieces, “The Little
Marmoset” and “Bonsai”. As fictionist, Tiempo is as morally profound. Her language has been marked as
“descriptive but unburdened by scrupulous detailing.” She is an influential tradition in Philippine literature
in English. Together with her late husband, Edilberto K. Tiempo, she founded and directed the Silliman
National Writers Workshop in Dumaguete City, which has produced some of the country’s best writers.
Tiempo’s published works include the novel A Blade of Fern (1978), The Native Coast (1979), and The
Alien Corn(1992); the poetry collections, The Tracks of Babylon and Other Poems (1966), and The
Charmer’s Box and Other Poems(1993); and the short story collection Abide, Joshua, and Other
Stories (1964).
NVM Gonzalez

(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.
Virgilio S. Almario
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
children’s literature through the Aklat Adarna series, published by his
Children’s 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.
Cirilo F. Bautista

Cirilo F. Bautista is a poet, fictionist and essayist with exceptional
achievements and significant contributions to the development of the
country’s 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).
Nick Joaquin

(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 Joaquin’s
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 Doña Jeronima, Candido’s Apocalypseand 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
Manileños, Cave and Shadows.
Amado V. Hernandez
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.
Hernandez’s 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.
Hernandez’s 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.
Lazaro Francisco
(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 author’s 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 novels—Ama, Bayang Nagpatiwakal, Maganda Pa Ang
Daigdig and Daluyong—affirm 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 writer’s struggle
for national identity.”
F. Sionil Jose
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F. Sionil Jose’s 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 Filipino–for national sovereignty and social justice–that 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.
Carlos P. Romulo
(January 14, 1899 – December 15, 1985)
Carlos P. Romulo‘s 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 America’s 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.
Jose Garcia Villa
(August 5, 1908 – February 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 pen name, 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.
Villa’s 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.
Alejandro Roces
(July 13, 1924 – May 23, 2011)
“You cannot be a great writer; first, you have to be a good person”
Alejandro Roces, is a short story writer and essayist, and considered as the
country’s best writer of comic short stories. He is known for his widely
anthologized “My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken.” In his innumerable newspaper
columns, he has always focused on the neglected aspects of the Filipino
cultural heritage. His works have been published in various international
magazines and has received national and international awards.
Ever the champion of Filipino culture, Roces brought to public attention the
aesthetics of the country’s fiestas. He was instrumental in popularizing several
local fiestas, notably, Moriones and Ati-atihan. He personally led the campaign
to change the country’s Independence Day from July 4 to June 12, and caused
the change of language from English to Filipino in the country’s stamps,
currency and passports, and recovered Jose Rizal’s manuscripts when they
were stolen from the National Archives.
His unflinching love of country led him to become a guerilla during the Second
World War, to defy martial law and to found the major opposition party under
the dictatorship. His works have been published in various international
magazines and received numerous national and international awards, including
several decorations from various governments.
Rolando S. Tinio
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. Tinio’s 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.
FASHION DESIGN
Ramon Valera
National Artist for Fashion Design (2006)

(August 31, 1912 – May 25, 1972)
The contribution of Ramon Valera, whose family hails from Abra, lies in the
tradition of excellence of his works, and his commitment to his profession,
performing his magical seminal innovations on the Philippine terno.
Valera is said to have given the country its visual icon to the world via the
terno. In the early 40s, Valera produced a single piece of clothing from a four-
piece ensemble consisting of a blouse, skirt, overskirt, and long scarf. He
unified the components of the baro’t saya into a single dress with exaggerated
bell sleeves, cinched at the waist, grazing the ankle, and zipped up at the back.
Using zipper in place of hooks was already a radical change for the country’s
elite then. Dropping the panuelo–the long folded scarf hanging down the chest,
thus serving as the Filipina’s gesture of modesty–from the entire ensemble
became a bigger shock for the women then. Valera constructed the terno’s
butterfly sleeves, giving them a solid, built-in but hidden support. To the world,
the butterfly sleeves became the terno’s defining feature.
Even today, Filipino fashion designers study Valera’s ternos: its construction,
beadworks, applique, etc. *Valera helped mold generations of artists and
helped fashion to become no less than a nation’s sense of aesthetics. But more
important than these, he helped form a sense of the Filipino nation by his
pursuit of excellence.
*from the citation
THEATER DESIGN
alvador F. Bernal
Salvador F. Bernal designed more than 300 productions distinguished for their
originality since 1969. Sensitive to the budget limitations of local productions,
he harnessed the design potential of inexpensive local materials, pioneering or
maximizing the use of bamboo, raw abaca, and abaca fiber, hemp twine, rattan
chain links and gauze cacha.
As the acknowledged guru of contemporary Filipino theater design, Bernal
shared his skills with younger designers through his classes at the University of
the Philippines and the Ateneo de Manila University, and through the programs
he created for the CCP Production Design Center which he himself
conceptualized and organized.
To promote and professionalize theater design, he organized the PATDAT
(Philippine Association of Theatre Designers and Technicians) in 1995 and by
way of Philippine Center of OISTAT (Organization Internationale des
Scenographes, Techniciens et Architectes du Theatre), he introduced
Philippine theater design to the world.
DANCE
Francisca Reyes Aquino
National Artist for Dance (1973)
(March 9, 1899 – November 21, 1983)
Francisca Reyes Aquino is acknowledged as the Folk Dance Pioneer. This
Bulakeña began her research on folk dances in the 1920’s making trips to
remote barrios in Central and Northern Luzon. Her research on the unrecorded
forms of local celebration, ritual and sport resulted into a 1926 thesis titled
“Philippine Folk Dances and Games,” and arranged specifically for use by
teachers and playground instructors in public and private schools.
In the 1940’s, she served as supervisor of physical education at the Bureau of
Education that distributed her work and adapted the teaching of folk dancing as
a medium of making young Filipinos aware of their cultural heritage. In 1954,
she received the Republic Award of Merit given by the late Pres. Ramon
Magsaysay for “outstanding contribution toward the advancement of Filipino
culture”, one among the many awards and recognition given to her.
Her books include the following: Philippine National
Dances (1946); Gymnastics for Girls (1947); Fundamental Dance Steps
and Music (1948);Foreign Folk Dances (1949); Dances for all
Occasion (1950); Playground Demonstration (1951); and Philippine Folk
Dances, Volumes I to VI.
Alice Reyes
Alice Reyes
The name Alice Reyes has become a significant part of Philippine dance
parlance. As a dancer, choreographer, teacher and director, she has made a
lasting impact on the development and promotion of contemporary dance in the
Philippines. Her dance legacy is evident in the dance companies, teachers,
choreographers and the exciting Filipino modern dance repertoire of our
country today.
Reyes’ dance training started at an early age with classical ballet under the
tutelage of Rosalia Merino Santos. She subsequently trained in folk dance
under the Bayanihan Philippine National Dance Company and pursued modern
dance and jazz education and training in the United States. Since then, during
a professional dance career that spanned over two decades, her innovative
artistic vision, firm leadership and passion for dance have made a lasting mark
on Philippine dance.
Perhaps the biggest contribution of Alice Reyes to Philippine dance is the
development of a distinctly Filipino modern dance idiom. Utilizing inherently
Filipino materials and subject matters expressed through a combination of
movements and styles from Philippine indigenous dance, modern dance and
classical ballet she has successfully created a contemporary dance language
that is uniquely Filipino. From her early masterpiece Amada to the modern
dance classic Itim-Asu, to her last major work Bayanihan Remembered which
she staged for Ballet Philippines, she utilized this idiom to promote unique
facets of Philippine arts, culture and heritage.
By introducing the first modern dance concert at the CCP Main Theater in
February 1970 featuring an all contemporary dance repertoire and by
promoting it successfully to a wide audience, she initiated the popularization of
modern dance in the country. She followed this up by programs that developed
modern dancers, teachers, choreographers and audiences. By organizing
outreach tours to many provinces, lecture-demonstrations in schools, television
promotions, a subscription season and children’s matinee series, she slowly
helped build an audience base for Ballet Philippines and modern dance in the
country.
Among her major works: Amada (1969), At a Maranaw
Gathering (1970) Itim-Asu (1971), Tales of the Manuvu(1977), Rama
Hari (1980), Bayanihan Remembered (1987).
Leonor Orosa Goquingco
National Artist for Dance

(July 24, 1917 – July 15, 2005)
Dubbed the “Trailblazer”, “Mother of Philippine Theater Dance” and “Dean of
Filipino Performing Arts Critics”, Leonor Orosa Goquingco, pioneer Filipino
choreographer in balletic folkloric and Asian styles, produced for over 50 years
highly original, first-of-a-kind choreographies, mostly to her own storylines.
These include “TREND: Return to Native,” “In a Javanese Garden,” “Sports,”
“VINTA!,” “In a Concentration Camp,” “The Magic Garden,” “The Clowns,”
“Firebird,” “Noli Dance Suite,” “The Flagellant,” “The Creation…” Seen as
her most ambitious work is the dance epic “Filipinescas: Philippine Life,
Legend and Lore.” With it, Orosa brought native folk dance, mirroring
Philippine culture from pagan to modern times, to its highest stage of
development.
She was the Honorary Chair of the Association of Ballet Academies of the
Philippines (ABAP), and was a founding member of the Philippine Ballet
Theater.
Lucrecia Reyes-Urtula

(June 29, 1929 – August 4, 1999)
Lucrecia Reyes-Urtula, choreographer, dance educator and researcher, spent
almost four decades in the discovery and study of Philippine folk and ethnic
dances. She applied her findings to project a new example of an ethnic dance
culture that goes beyond simple preservation and into creative growth. Over a
period of thirty years, she had choreographed suites of mountain dances,
Spanish-influenced dances, Muslim pageants and festivals, regional variations
and dances of the countryside for the Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company of
which she was the dance director. These dances have all earned critical
acclaim and rave reviews from audiences in their world tours in Americas,
Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa.
Among the widely acclaimed dances she had staged were the
following: Singkil, a Bayanihan signature number based on a Maranao epic
poem; Vinta, a dance honoring Filipino sailing prowess; Tagabili, a tale of
tribal conflict; Pagdiwata, a four-day harvest festival condensed into a six-
minute breath-taking spectacle; Salidsid, a mountain wedding dance ; Idaw,
Banga and Aires de Verbena.
HISTORICAL LITERATURE
Carlos Quirino
National Artist for Historical Literature (1997)

(January 14, 1910 – May 20, 1999)
Carlos Quirino, a biographer, has the distinction of having written one of the
earliest biographies of Jose Rizal titled The Great Malayan. Quirino’s books
and articles span the whole gamut of Philippine history and culture–from
Bonifacio’s trial to Aguinaldo’s biography, from Philippine cartography to
culinary arts, from cash crops to tycoons and president’s 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 include Quezon, 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.
MUSIC
Antonino R. Buenaventura
National Artist for Music (1988)
(May 4, 1904 – January 25, 1996)
Antonino R. Buenaventura vigorously pursued a musical career that spanned
seven decades of unwavering commitment to advancing the frontiers of
Philippine music. In 1935, Buenaventura joined Francisca Reyes-Aquino to
conduct research on folksongs and dances that led to its popularization.
Buenaventura composed songs, compositions, for solo instruments as well as
symphonic and orchestral works based on the folksongs of various Philippine
ethnic groups. He was also a conductor and restored the Philippine Army Band
to its former prestige as one of the finest military bands in the world making it
“the only band that can sound like a symphony orchestra”.
This once sickly boy who played the clarinet proficiently has written several
marches such as the “Triumphal March,” “Echoes of the Past,” “History
Fantasy,” Second Symphony in E-flat, “Echoes from the Philippines,” “Ode
to Freedom.” His orchestral music compositions include Concert Overture,
Prelude and Fugue in G Minor, Philippines Triumphant, Mindanao Sketches,
Symphony in C Major, among others.
Jose Maceda
(January 31, 1917 – May 5, 2004)
Jose Maceda, composer, musicologist, teacher and performer, explored the
musicality of the Filipino deeply. Maceda embarked on a life-long dedication to
the understanding and popularization of Filipino traditional music. Maceda’s
researches and fieldwork have resulted in the collection of an immense number
of recorded music taken from the remotest mountain villages and farthest
island communities. He wrote papers that enlightened scholars, both Filipino
and foreign, about the nature of Philippine traditional and ethnic music.
Maceda’s experimentation also freed Filipino musical expression from a strictly
Eurocentric mold.
Usually performed as a communal ritual, his compositions like Ugma-
ugma(1963), Pagsamba (1968), and Udlot-udlot (1975), are monuments to
his unflagging commitment to Philippine music. Other major works
include Agungan, Kubing, Pagsamba, Ugnayan, Ading, Aroding, Siasid,
Suling-suling.
Lucrecia R. Kasilag
(August 31, 1918 – August 16, 2008)
Lucrecia R. Kasilag, an educator, composer, performing artist, administrator
and cultural entrepreneur of national and international caliber, had involved
herself wholly in sharpening the Filipino audience’s appreciation of music.
Kasilag’s pioneering task to discover the Filipino roots through ethnic music
and fusing it with Western influences has led many Filipino composers to
experiment with such an approach. She dared to incorporate indigenous
Filipino instruments in orchestral productions, such as the prize-winning
“Toccata for Percussions and Winds, Divertissement and Concertante,”
and the scores of the Filiasiana, Misang Pilipino, and De Profundis. “Tita
King”, as she was fondly called, worked closely as music director with
colleagues Lucresia Reyes-Urtula, Isabel Santos, Jose Lardizabal and Dr.
Leticia P. de Guzman and made Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company one of
the premier artistic and cultural groups in the country.
Her orchestral music includes Love Songs, Legend of the Sarimanok, Ang
Pamana, Philippine Scenes, Her Son, Jose, Sisa and chamber music
like Awit ng mga Awit Psalms, Fantaisie on a 4-Note Theme, and East
Meets Jazz Ethnika.
Ernani J. Cuenco

(May 10, 1936 – June 11, 1988)
Ernani J. Cuenco is a seasoned musician born in May 10, 1936 in Malolos,
Bulacan. A composer, film scorer, musical director and music teacher, he wrote
an outstanding and memorable body of works that resonate with the Filipino
sense of musicality and which embody an ingenious voice that raises the
aesthetic dimensions of contemporary Filipino music. Cuenco played with the
Filipino Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Manila Symphony Orchestra from
1960 to 1968, and the Manila Chamber Soloists from 1966 to 1970. He
completed a music degree in piano and cello from the University of Santo
Tomas where he also taught for decades until his death in 1988.
His songs and ballads include “Nahan, Kahit na Magtiis,” and “Diligin Mo ng
Hamog ang Uhaw na Lupa,” “Pilipinas,” “Inang Bayan,” “Isang Dalangin,”
“Kalesa,” “Bato sa Buhangin” and “Gaano Kita Kamahal.” The latter song
shows how Cuenco has enriched the Filipino love ballad by adding the
elements of kundiman to it.
Lucio San Pedro

(February 11, 1913 – March 31, 2002)
Lucio San Pedro is a master composer, conductor, and teacher whose music
evokes the folk elements of the Filipino heritage. Cousin to “Botong” Francisco,
San Pedro produced a wide-ranging body of works that includes band music,
concertos for violin and orchestra, choral works, cantatas, chamber music,
music for violin and piano, and songs for solo voice. He was the conductor of
the much acclaimed Peng Kong Grand Mason Concert Band, the San Pedro
Band of Angono, his father’s former band, and the Banda Angono Numero
Uno. His civic commitment and work with town bands have significantly
contributed to the development of a civic culture among Filipino communities
and opened a creative outlet for young Filipinos.
His orchestral music include The Devil’s Bridge, Malakas at Maganda
Overture,Prelude and Fugue in D minor, Hope and Ambition; choral
music Easter Cantata, Sa Mahal Kong Bayan, Rizal’s Valedictory Poem;
vocal music Lulay,Sa Ugoy ng Duyan, In the Silence of the Night; and band
music Dance of the Fairies, Triumphal March, Lahing
Kayumanggi, Angononian March among others.
Antonio J. Molina

(December 26, 1894 – January 29, 1980)
Antonio J. Molina, versatile musician, composer, music educator was the last
of the musical triumvirate, two of whom were Nicanor Abelardo and Francisco
Santiago, who elevated music beyond the realm of folk music. At an early age,
he took to playing the violoncello and played it so well it did not take long
before he was playing as orchestra soloist for the Manila Grand Opera House.
Molina is credited with introducing such innovations as the whole tone scale,
pentatonic scale, exuberance of dominant ninths and eleventh cords, and linear
counterpoints. As a member of the faculty of the UP Conservatory, he had
taught many of the country’s leading musical personalities and educators like
Lucresia Kasilag and Felipe de Leon.
Molina’s most familiar composition is Hatinggabi, a serenade for solo violin
and piano accompaniment. Other works are (orchestral music) Misa
Antoniana Grand Festival Mass, Ang Batingaw, Kundiman- Kundangan;
(chamber music) Hating Gabi, String Quartet, Kung sa Iyong
Gunita, Pandangguhan; (vocal music) Amihan, Awit ni Maria
Clara, Larawan Nitong Pilipinas, among others.
Francisco Feliciano
Posted on July 8, 2015
Francisco Feliciano
Francisco Feliciano’s corpus of creative work attests to the exceptional talent of
the Filipino as an artist. His lifetime conscientiousness in bringing out the
“Asianness” in his music, whether as a composer, conductor, or
educator, contributed to bringing the awareness of people all over the world to
view the Asian culture as a rich source of inspiration and a celebration of our
ethnicity, particularly the Philippines. He brought out the unique sounds of our
indigenous music in compositions that have high technical demands equal to
the compositions of masters in the western world. By his numerous creative
outputs, he has elevated the Filipino artistry into one that is highly esteemed by
the people all over the world.
Many of his choral compositions have been performed by the best choirs in the
country, such as the world-renowned Philippines Madrigal Singers, UST
Singers, and the Novo Concertante Manila, and have won for them numerous
awards in international choral competitions. The technical requirement of his
choral pieces is almost at the tip of the scale that many who listen to their
rendition are awed, especially because he incorporates the many subtleties of
rhythmic vitality and intricate interweaving of lines inspired from the songs of
our indigenous tribes. He not only borrows these musical lines, albeit he quotes
them and transforms them into completely energetic fusions of sound and
culture that does nothing less than celebrate our various ethnicities.
His operas and orchestral works also showcase the masterful treatment of a
musical language that is unique and carries with it a contemporary style that
allows for the use of modal scales, Feliciano’s preferred tonality. The influence
of bringing out the indigenous culture, particularly in sound, is strongly evident
in La Loba Negra, Ashen Wings, and Yerma. In his modest hymns, Feliciano
was able to bring out the Filipino mysticism in the simple harmonies that is able
to captivate and charm his audiences. It is his matchless genius in choosing to
state his ideas in their simplest state but producing a haunting and long-lasting
impact on the listening soul that makes his music extraordinarily sublime.
Major Works: Ashen Wings (1995), Sikhay sa Kabila ng Paalam (1993), La
Loba Negra (1983), Yerma (1982), Pamugun (1995), Pokpok Alimako (1981)
Levi Celerio
Posted on January 20, 2016
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.
Ramon P. Santos
Posted on January 20, 2016

Ramon Pagayon Santos, composer, conductor and musicologist, is currently
the country’s foremost exponent of contemporary Filipino music. A prime figure
in the second generation of Filipino composers in the modern idiom, Santos
has contributed greatly to the quest for new directions in music, taking as basis
non-Western traditions in the Philippines and Southeast Asia.
He graduated in 1965 from the UP College of Music with a Teacher’s Diploma
and a Bachelor of Music degree in both Composition and Conducting. Higher
studies in the United States under a Fulbright Scholarship at Indiana University
(for a Master’s degree, 1968) and at the State University of New York at Buffalo
(for a Doctorate, 1972) exposed him to the world of contemporary and avant-
garde musical idioms: the rigorous processes of serialism, electronic and
contemporary music, indeterminacy, and new vocal and improvisational
techniques. He received further training in New Music in Darmstadt, Germany
and in Utrecht, the Netherlands. His initial interest in Mahler and Debussy while
still a student at UP waned as his compositional style shifted to Neo Classicism
and finally to a distinct merging of the varied influences that he had assimilated
abroad.
His return to the Philippines marked a new path in his style. After immersing
himself in indigenous Philippine and Asian (Javanese music and dance,
Chinese nan kuan music), he became more interested in open-ended
structures of time and space, function as a compositional concept,
environmental works, non-conventional instruments, the dialectics of control
and non-control, and the incorporation of natural forces in the execution of
sound-creating tasks. All these would lead to the forging of a new alternative
musical language founded on a profound understanding and a thriving and
sensitive awareness of Asian music aesthetics and culture.
Simultaneous with this was a reverting back to more orthodox performance
modes: chamber works and multimedia works for dance and
theatre. Panaghoy (1984), for reader, voices, gongs and bass drum, on the
poetry of Benigno Aquino, Jr. was a powerful musical discourse on the fallen
leader’s assassination in 1983, which subsequently brought on the victorious
People Power uprising in 1986.
An active musicologist, Santos’ interest in traditional music cultures was
heretofore realized in 1976 by embarking on fieldwork to collect and document
music from folk religious groups in Quezon. He has also done research and
fieldwork among the Ibaloi of Northern Luzon. His ethnomusicological
orientation has but richly enhanced his compositional outlook. Embedded in the
works of this period are the people-specific concepts central to the
ethnomusicological discipline, the translation of indigenous musical systems
into modern musical discourse, and the marriage of Western and non-Western
sound.
An intense and avid pedagogue, Santos, as Chair of the Department of
Compositiion and Theory (and formerly, as Dean) of the College of Music, UP,
has remained instrumental in espousing a modern Philippine music rooted in
old Asian practices and life concepts. With generation upon generation of
students and teachers that have come under his wing, he continues to shape a
legacy of modernity anchored on the values of traditional Asian music.
Jovita Fuentes
(February 15, 1895 – August 7, 1978)
Long before Lea Salonga’s break into Broadway, there was already Jovita
Fuentes‘ portrayal of Cio-cio san in Giacomo Puccini’s Madame Butterfly at
Italy’s Teatro Municipale di Piacenza. Her performance was hailed as the “most
sublime interpretation of the part”. This is all the more significant because it
happened at a time when the Philippines and its people were scarcely heard of
in Europe. Prior to that, she was teaching at the University of the Philippines
Conservatory of Music (1917) before leaving for Milan in 1924 for further voice
studies. After eight months of arduous training, she made her stage debut at
the Piacenza. She later embarked on a string of music performances in Europe
essaying the roles of Liu Yu in Puccini’s Turandot, Mimi in Puccini’s La
Boheme, Iris in Pietro Mascagni’s Iris, the title role of Salome (which
composer Richard Strauss personally offered to her including the special role
of Princess Yang Gui Fe in Li Tai Pe). In recognition of these achievements,
she was given the unprecedented award of “Embahadora de Filipinas a su
Madre Patria” by Spain.
Her dream to develop the love for opera among her countrymen led her to
found the Artists’ Guild of the Philippines, which was responsible for the
periodic “Tour of Operaland” productions. Her life story has been documented
in the biography Jovita Fuentes: A Lifetime of Music (1978) written by Lilia
H. Chung, and later translated into Filipino by Virgilio Almario.
Felipe Padilla de Leon
(May 1, 1912 – December 5, 1992)
Felipe Padilla de Leon, composer, conductor, and scholar, Filipinized western
music forms, a feat aspired for by Filipino composers who preceded him.The
prodigious body of De Leon’s musical compositions, notably the sonatas,
marches, and concertos have become the full expression of the sentiments and
aspirations of the Filipino in times of strife and of peace, making him the
epitome of a people’s musician. He is the recipient of various awards and
distinctions: Republic Cultural Heritage Award, Doctor of Humanities from UP,
Rizal Pro-Patria Award, Presidential Award of Merit, Patnubay ng Kalinangan
Award, among others.
De Leon’s orchestral music include Mariang Makiling Overture (1939), Roca
Encantada, symphonic legend (1950), Maynila
Overture (1976), Orchesterstuk(1981); choral music like Payapang
Daigdig, Ako’y Pilipino, Lupang Tinubuan, Ama Namin; and
songs Bulaklak, Alitaptap, and Mutya ng Lahi.
Andrea Veneracion

(July 11, 1928 – July 9, 2013)
Andrea Veneracion, is highly esteemed for her achievements as choirmaster
and choral arranger. Two of her indispensable contributions in culture and the
arts include the founding of the Philippine Madrigal Singers and the
spearheading of the development of Philippine choral music. A former faculty
member of the UP College of Music and honorary chair of the Philippine
Federation of Choral Music, she also organized a cultural outreach program to
provide music education and exposure in several provinces. Born in Manila on
July 11, 1928, she is recognized as an authority on choral music and
performance and has served as adjudicator in international music competitions.
Honorata “Atang” Dela Rama
National Artist for Theater and Music (1987)
(January 11, 1902 – July 11, 1991)
Honorata “Atang” Dela Rama was formally honored as the Queen of
Kundiman in 1979, then already 74 years old singing the same song (“Nabasag
na Banga”) that she sang as a 15-year old girl in the sarsuela Dalagang
Bukid. Atang became the very first actress in the very first locally produced
Filipino film when she essayed the same role in the sarsuela’s film version. As
early as age seven, Atang was already being cast in Spanish zarzuelas such
as Mascota, Sueño de un Vals, and Marina. She counts the role though of an
orphan in Pangarap ni Rosa as her most rewarding and satisfying role that
she played with realism, the stage sparkling with silver coins tossed by a teary-
eyed audience. Atang firmly believes that the sarswela and the kundiman
expresses best the Filipino soul, and has even performed kundiman and other
Filipino songs for the Aetas or Negritos of Zambales and the Sierra Madre, the
Bagobos of Davao and other Lumad of Mindanao.
Atang firmly believes that the sarswela and the kundiman expresses best the
Filipino soul, and had even performed kundiman and other Filipino songs for
the Aetas or Negritos of Zambales and the Sierra Madre, the Bagobos of
Davao and other Lumad of Mindanao.
Among the kundiman and the other songs she premiered or popularized
were Pakiusap, Ay, Ay Kalisud, Kung Iibig Ka and Madaling Araw by Jose
Corazon de Jesus, and Mutya ng Pasig by Deogracias Rosario and Nicanor
Abelardo. She also wrote her own sarswelas: Anak ni Eba, Aking Ina,
and Puri at Buhay.
THEATER
Daisy H. Avellana
National Artist for Theater (1999)

(January 26, 1917 – May 12, 2013)
Daisy H. Avellana, is an actor, director and writer. Born in Roxas City, Capiz
on January 26, 1917, she elevated legitimate theater and dramatic arts to a
new level of excellence by staging and performing in breakthrough productions
of classic Filipino and foreign plays and by encouraging the establishment of
performing groups and the professionalization of Filipino theater. Together with
her husband, National Artist Lamberto Avellana and other artists, she co-
founded the Barangay Theatre Guild in 1939 which paved the way for the
popularization of theatre and dramatic arts in the country, utilizing radio and
television.
She starred in plays like Othello (1953), Macbeth in Black (1959), Casa de
Bernarda Alba (1967), Tatarin. She is best remembered for her portrayal
of Candida Marasigan in the stage and film versions of Nick
Joaquin’s Portrait of the Artist as Filipino. Her directorial credits
include Diego Silang (1968), and Walang Sugat (1971). Among her
screenplays were Sakay (1939) and Portrait of the Artist as Filipino (1955).
Rolando S. Tinio
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. Tinio’s 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.
Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero
(January 22, 1910 – April 28, 1995)
Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero is a teacher and theater artist whose 35 years of
devoted professorship has produced the most sterling luminaries in Philippine
performing arts today: Behn Cervantes, Celia Diaz-Laurel, Joy Virata, Joonee
Gamboa, etc. In 1947, he was appointed as UP Dramatic Club director and
served for 16 years. As founder and artistic director of the UP Mobile Theater,
he pioneered the concept of theater campus tour and delivered no less than
2,500 performances in a span of 19 committed years of service. By bringing
theatre to the countryside, Guerrero made it possible for students and
audiences, in general, to experience the basic grammar of staging and acting
in familiar and friendly ways through his plays that humorously reflect the
behavior of the Filipino.
His plays include Half an Hour in a Convent, Wanted: A Chaperon, Forever,
Condemned, Perhaps, In Unity, Deep in My Heart, Three Rats, Our
Strange Ways, The Forsaken House, Frustrations.
Honorata “Atang” Dela Rama
National Artist for Theater and Music (1987)

(January 11, 1902 – July 11, 1991)
Honorata “Atang” Dela Rama was formally honored as the Queen of
Kundiman in 1979, then already 74 years old singing the same song (“Nabasag
na Banga”) that she sang as a 15-year old girl in the sarsuela Dalagang
Bukid. Atang became the very first actress in the very first locally produced
Filipino film when she essayed the same role in the sarsuela’s film version. As
early as age seven, Atang was already being cast in Spanish zarzuelas such
as Mascota, Sueño de un Vals, and Marina. She counts the role though of an
orphan in Pangarap ni Rosa as her most rewarding and satisfying role that
she played with realism, the stage sparkling with silver coins tossed by a teary-
eyed audience. Atang firmly believes that the sarswela and the kundiman
expresses best the Filipino soul, and has even performed kundiman and other
Filipino songs for the Aetas or Negritos of Zambales and the Sierra Madre, the
Bagobos of Davao and other Lumad of Mindanao.
Atang firmly believes that the sarswela and the kundiman expresses best the
Filipino soul, and had even performed kundiman and other Filipino songs for
the Aetas or Negritos of Zambales and the Sierra Madre, the Bagobos of
Davao and other Lumad of Mindanao.
Among the kundiman and the other songs she premiered or popularized
were Pakiusap, Ay, Ay Kalisud, Kung Iibig Ka and Madaling Araw by Jose
Corazon de Jesus, and Mutya ng Pasig by Deogracias Rosario and Nicanor
Abelardo. She also wrote her own sarswelas: Anak ni Eba, Aking Ina,
and Puri at Buhay.
Salvador F. Bernal
Salvador F. Bernal designed more than 300 productions distinguished for their
originality since 1969. Sensitive to the budget limitations of local productions,
he harnessed the design potential of inexpensive local materials, pioneering or
maximizing the use of bamboo, raw abaca, and abaca fiber, hemp twine, rattan
chain links and gauze cacha.
As the acknowledged guru of contemporary Filipino theater design, Bernal
shared his skills with younger designers through his classes at the University of
the Philippines and the Ateneo de Manila University, and through the programs
he created for the CCP Production Design Center which he himself
conceptualized and organized.
To promote and professionalize theater design, he organized the PATDAT
(Philippine Association of Theatre Designers and Technicians) in 1995 and by
way of Philippine Center of OISTAT (Organization Internationale des
Scenographes, Techniciens et Architectes du Theatre), he introduced
Philippine theater design to the world.
Severino Montano
(January 3, 1915 – December 12, 1980)
Playwright, director, actor, and theater organizer Severino Montano is the
forerunner in institutionalizing “legitimate theater” in the Philippines. Taking up
courses and graduate degrees abroad, he honed and shared his expertise with
his countrymates.
As Dean of Instruction of the Philippine Normal College, Montano organized
the Arena Theater to bring drama to the masses. He trained and directed the
new generations of dramatists including Rolando S. Tinio, Emmanuel Borlaza,
Joonee Gamboa, and Behn Cervantes.
He established a graduate program at the Philippine Normal College for the
training of playwrights, directors, technicians, actors, and designers. He also
established the Arena Theater Playwriting Contest that led to the discovery of
Wilfrido Nolledo, Jesus T. Peralta, and Estrella Alfon.
Among his awards and recognitions are the Patnubay ng Kalinangan Award
from the City of Manila (1968), Presidential Award for Merit in Drama and
Theater (1961), and the Rockefeller Foundation Grant to travel to 98 cities
abroad (1950, 1952, 1962, and 1963).
Lamberto V. Avellana
National Artist for Theater and Film (1976)
Lamberto V. Avellana, director for theater and film, has the distinction of being
called “The Boy Wonder of Philippine Movies” as early as 1939. He was the
first to use the motion picture camera to establish a point-of-view, a move that
revolutionized the techniques of film narration. Avellana, who at 20 portrayed
Joan of Arc in time for Ateneo’s diamond jubilee, initially set out to establish a
Filipino theater. Together with Daisy Hontiveros, star of many UP plays and his
future wife, he formed the Barangay Theater Guild which had, among others,
Leon Ma .Guerrero and Raul Manglapus as members. It was after seeing such
plays that Carlos P. Romulo, then president of Philippine Films, encouraged
him to try his hand at directing films. In his first film Sakay, Avellana
demonstrated a kind of visual rhythm that established a new filmic language.
Sakay was declared the best picture of 1939 by critics and journalists alike and
set the tone for Avellana’s career in film that would be capped by such
distinctive achievements as the Grand Prix at the Asian Film Festival in Hong
Kong for Anak Dalita (1956); Best Director of Asia award in Tokyo for Badjao,
among others.
Avellana was also the first filmmaker to have his film Kandelerong
Pilak shown at the Cannes International Film Festival. Among the films he
directed for worldwide release were Sergeant Hasan (1967), Destination
Vietnam(1969), and The Evil Within (1970).

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ARCHITECTURE

Ildefonso P. Santos, Jr.

José María V. Zaragoza

Gerardo “Gerry” de Leon

Ronald Allan K. Poe

Carlos “Botong” Francisco

Abdulmari Asia Imao

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National Artist for Painting (1976)

The Sketch, 1928

National Artist for Visual Arts (2001)

Ang Kiukok died on May 9, 2005

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National Artist for Literature (1976)

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National Artist for Dance

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National Artist for Historical Literature (1997)

National Artist for Music (1999)

National Artist for Music (1991)

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National Artist for Music (2014)

National Artist for Music (1999)

National Artist for Theater (1999)

National Artist for Theater and Music (1987)

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