Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Gamaba Awards
Gamaba Awards
Gamaba Awards
Researcher:
JAN JAN DOMAGTONG SIERAS
National Artist Award
The National Artist Award is the highest
distinction/ bestowed upon Filipino Artists
MERIT
• Artists who have helped build a Filipino sense of nationhood through the content and form of
their works;
• Artists who have created a significant body of works and/or have consistently displayed
excellence in the practice of their art form, enriching artistic expression or style; and
• Artists who enjoy broad acceptance through prestigious national and/or international recognition,
awards in prestigious national and/or international events, critical acclaim and/or reviews of their
works, and/or respect and esteem from peers within an artistic discipline.
Fernando Amorsolo
The country had its first National Artist & the
official title “Grand Old Man of Philippine
Art”
He developed the backlighting technique
that became his trademark where figures, a
cluster of leaves, spill of hair, the swell of
Antipolo, depicting Filipinos
breast, are seen aglow on canvas. celebrating a town fiesta.
This light, Nick Joaquin opines/LECTURES, is the
rapture of a sensualist utterly in love with
the earth, with the Philippine sun, and is an
accurate expression of Amorsolo’s own
exuberance.
His citation underscores all his years of
creative activity which have “defined and
perpetuated a distinct element of the
nation’s artistic and cultural heritage”.
Carlos “Botong” Francisco
National Artist for Painting (1973)
The poet of Angono, single-handedly revived
the forgotten art of mural and remained its
most distinguished practitioner for nearly three
decades.
In panels such as those that grace the City
Hall of Manila, he turned fragments of the
historic past into vivid records of the legendary
courage of the ancestors of his race.
He was invariably linked with the “modernist”
artists, forming with Victorio C. Edades and
Galo Ocampo what was then known in the
local art circles as “The Triumvirate”.
Victorio C. Edades
National Artist for Painting (1976)
Painting distorted human figures in rough, bold
impasto strokes, and standing tall and singular in
his advocacy and practice of what he believes is
creative art
Emerged as the “Father of Modern Philippine
Painting”.
Unlike, Amorsolo’s bright, sunny, cheerful hues, he
colors were dark and somber/DARK with subject
matter or themes depicting laborers, factory
workers or the simple folk in all their dirt, sweat
and grime.
Vicente Silva Manansala
National Artist for Painting (1981)
His paintings are described as… …visions of
reality teetering/SHAKING 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.
He 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
Jerry Navarro Elizalde
National Artist for Painting (1999)
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).
Jose Joya
National Artist for Visual Arts (2003)
A painter and multimedia artist who
distinguished himself by creating an
authentic Filipino abstract idiom that
transcended foreign influences.
Most of his paintings of harmonious
colors were inspired by Philippine
landscapes, such as green rice paddies
and golden fields of harvest.
He use of rice paper in collages placed
value on transparency, a common
characteristic of folk art.
Cesar Legaspi
National Artist for Visual Arts (1990)
A pioŶeeƌ ͞Neo-Realist͟ of the ĐouŶtƌLJ.
Remembered for his singular
achievement of refining cubism in the
Philippine context.
He belonged to the so-Đalled ͞ ThiƌteeŶ
ModeƌŶs͟ aŶd lateƌ, the ͞Neo-ƌealists.͟
WORKERS
Combancheros, 1954
Hernando R. Ocampo
National Artist for Visual Arts (1991)
A self-taught painter, was a leading member of
the pre-war Thirteen Moderns, the group that
charted the course of modern art in the
Philippines.
His works provided an understanding and
awareness of the harsh social realities in the
country immediately after the Second World
War and contributed significantly to the rise of
the nationalist spirit in the post-war era.
It was, however, his abstract works that left an
indelible mark on Philippine modern art.
His canvases evoked the lush Philippine
landscape, its flora and fauna, under the sun
and rain in fierce and bold colors. He also
played a pivotal role in sustaining the Philippine Genesis. 1969
Ocampo’s acknowledged masterpiece Genesis served as
Art Gallery, the country’s first. the basis of the curtain design of the Cultural Center of the
Philippines Main Theater.
Arturo Luz
National Artist for Visual Arts (1997)
A painter, sculptor, and designer for more than
40 years, created masterpieces that exemplify
an ideal of sublime austerity in expression and
form.
From the Carnival series of the late 1950s to
the recent Cyclist paintings, Luz produced
works that elevated Filipino aesthetic vision to
new heights of sophisticated simplicity.
By establishing the Gallery that
professionalized the art gallery as an
institution and set a prestigious influence over
generations of Filipino artists, he inspired and
developed a Filipino artistic community that
nurtures impeccable/PERFECT designs.
Ang Kiukok (Ang Hwa Shing)
National Artist for Visual Arts (2001)
Born to immigrant Chinese parents
Vicente Ang and Chin Lim, he 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, he blazed a
formal and iconographic path of his
own through expressionistic works of
high visual impact and compelling
meaning.
Benedicto R. Cabrera (BenCab)
National Artist for Visual Arts (2006)
Who signs his paintings “Bencab,” upheld the
primacy of drawing over the decorative color.
Bencab started his career in the mid-sixties as a
lyrical expressionist.
His solitary figures of scavengers emerging from
a dark landscape were piercing stabs at the social
conscience of a people long inured to poverty and
dereliction.
Bencab, who was born in Malabon, has
christened the emblematic scavenger figure
“Sabel.”
For Bencab, Sabel is a melancholic symbol of
dislocation, despair and isolation–the
personification of human dignity threatened by
life’s vicissitudes/CHANGES, and the vast
inequities of Philippine society.
Abdulmari Asia Imao
National Artist for Visual Arts (2006)
A native of Sulu, is a sculptor, painter,
photographer, ceramist, documentary film maker,
cultural researcher, writer, and articulator of
Philippine Muslim art and culture.
Through his works, the indigenous ukkil,
sarimanok and naga motifs have been popularized
and instilled in the consciousness of the Filipino
nation and other peoples as original Filipino
creations.
With his large-scale sculptures and monuments of
Muslim and regional heroes and leaders gracing
selected sites from Batanes to Tawi-tawi, Imao has
helped develop among cultural groups trust and
confidence necessary for the building of a more
just and humane society.
Federico Aguilar Alcuaz
National Artist for Visual Arts (2009)
Signed his works as Aguilar Alcuaz was
an artist of voluminous output.
He is known mainly for his gestural
paintings in acrylic and oil, as well as
sketches in ink, watercolor and pencil.
He was also a sculptor of note and has
rendered abstract and figurative works in
ceramics, tapestries and even in relief
sculptures made of paper and mixed
media, which he simply calls
“Alcuazaics.”
The preference to use his maternal
name was more for practical reasons;
Alcuaz was rarer than the name Aguilar,
and thus ensured better recall; it was
also simpler to drop the customary y
between the two names.
Francisco V. Coching
National Artist for Visual Arts (2014)
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.
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
ϱϬ͛s aŶd ϲϬ͛s.
Guillermo E. Tolentino
National Artist for Sculpture (1973)
A product of the Revival period in Philippine
art.
Returning from Europe (where he was
enrolled at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts,
Rome) in 1925, he was appointed as
professor at the UP School of Fine Arts
where the idea also of executing a
monument for national heroes struck him.
The result was the UP Oblation that became
the symbol of freedom at the campus.
Acknowledged as his masterpiece and
completed in 1933, The Bonifacio
Monument in Caloocan stands as an
enduring symbol of the Filipinos’ cry for
freedom.
Napoleon V. Abueva
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.
Francisca R. Aquino
National Artist for Dance (1973)
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 Her books include the following: Philippine
dancing as a medium of making young Filipinos National Dances (1946); Gymnastics for
aware of their cultural heritage. In 1954, she Girls (1947); Fundamental Dance Steps
and Music (1948);Foreign Folk Dances
received the Republic Award of Merit given by the
(1949); Dances for all Occasion (1950);
late Pres. Ramon Magsaysay for “outstanding
Playground Demonstration (1951); and
contribution toward the advancement of Filipino
Philippine Folk Dances, Volumes I to VI.
culture”, one among the many awards and
recognition given to her.
Leonor O. Goquingco
National Artist for Dance
Dubbed the “Trailblazer”, “Mother of Philippine
Theater Dance” and “Dean of Filipino Performing
Arts Critics”, 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.
Lucrecia R. Urtula
National Artist for Dance (1988)
A 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.
Ramon A. Obusan
National Artist for Dance (2006)
A *dancer, choreographer, stage designer
and artistic director.
He achieved phenomenal success in
Philippine dance and cultural work.
He was also acknowledged as a
researcher, archivist and documentary
filmmaker who broadened and deepened
the Filipino understanding of his own
cultural life and expressions.
Through the Ramon Obusan Folkloric
Grop (ROFG), he had effected cultural
and diplomatic exchanges using the
multifarious aspects and dimensions of
the art of dance.
Alice Reyes
National Artist for Dance (2014)
The name Alice Reyes has become a
significant part of Philippine dance
parlance/DIALECT.
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.
Amado V. Hernandez
National Artist for Literature (1973)
A 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.
Jose Garcia Villa
National Artist for Literature (1973)
“Art is a miraculous flirtation with Nothing!
Aiming for nothing, and landing on the Sun.”
— Doveglion: Collected Poems
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.
Nick M. Joaquin
National Artist for Literature (1976)
“Before 1521 we could have been anything and everything not Filipino;
after 1565 we can be nothing but Filipino.” ― Culture and History, 1988
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.
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
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”.
Carlos P. Romulo
National Artist for Literature (1982)
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).
Francisco Arcellana
National Artist for Literature (1990)
A 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).
Nestor Vicente Madali Gonzalez
National Artist for Literature (1997)
A 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.
Carlos Quirino
National Artist for Historical Literature (1997)
A biographer, has the distinction of having written one
of the earliest biographies of Jose Rizal titled The
Great Malayan.
His 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.
Francisco Arcellana
National Artist for Literature (1990)
A 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).
Nestor Vicente Madali Gonzalez
National Artist for Literature (1997)
A 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 ďeĐaŵe U.P.͛s IŶteƌŶatioŶal-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.
Carlos Quirino
National Artist for Historical Literature (1997)
A biographer, has the distinction of having written one of the
earliest biographies of Jose Rizal titled The Great Malayan.
QuiƌiŶo͛ s books and articles span the whole gamut of
Philippine history and culture–fƌoŵ BoŶifaĐio͛ s tƌial to
AguiŶaldo͛ s ďiogƌaphLJ, fƌoŵ PhilippiŶe ĐaƌtogƌaphLJ to ĐuliŶaƌLJ
aƌts, fƌoŵ Đash Đƌops to tLJĐooŶs aŶd pƌesideŶt͛s liǀes, aŵoŶg
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.
Edith L. Tiempo
National Artist for Literature (1999)
A 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
pieĐes, ͞ The Little Maƌŵoset͟ aŶd ͞BoŶsai͟.
As fictionist, Tiempo is as morally profound.
Heƌ laŶguage has ďeeŶ ŵaƌked as ͞desĐƌiptiǀe ďut uŶďuƌdeŶed
ďLJ sĐƌupulous detailiŶg.͟
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
iŶ Duŵaguete CitLJ, ǁhiĐh has pƌoduĐed soŵe of the ĐouŶtƌLJ͛s
best writers.
F. Sionil Jose
National Artist for Literature (2001)
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.
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.
Alejandro R. Roces
National Artist for Literature (2003)
(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.
Dr. 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.
Lazaro Francisco
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
ĐlassiĐs of PhilippiŶe liteƌatuƌe, eŵďodies the authoƌ͛s ĐoŵŵitŵeŶt to
nationalism. Amadis Ma. Gueƌƌeƌo ǁƌote, ͞FƌaŶĐisĐo ĐhaŵpioŶed the
cause of the common man, specifically the oppressed peasants. His
novels exposed the evils of the tenancy system, the exploitation of
faƌŵeƌs ďLJ uŶsĐƌupulous laŶdloƌds, aŶd foƌeigŶ doŵiŶatioŶ.͟ Teodoƌo
ValeŶĐia also oďseƌǀed, ͞His peŶ digŶifies the FilipiŶo aŶd aĐĐeŶts all the
positives about the Filipino way of life. His writings have contributed
ŵuĐh to the foƌŵatioŶ of a FilipiŶo ŶatioŶalisŵ.͟ LiteƌaƌLJ histoƌiaŶ aŶd
critic Bienvenido Lumbera also ǁƌote, ͞WheŶ the histoƌLJ of the FilipiŶo
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
suďtlest ŶuaŶĐes of ideas aŶd the steƌŶest stuff of passioŶs.͟
Cirilo F. Bautista
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 ĐouŶtƌLJ͛s liteƌaƌLJ aƌts. 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.
Antonio J. Molina
National Artist for Music (1973)
(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 for 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
CoŶseƌǀatoƌLJ, he had taught ŵaŶLJ of the ĐouŶtƌLJ͛s leadiŶg
musical personalities and educators like Lucresia Kasilag
and Felipe de Leon.
Jovita Fuentes
National Artist for Music (1976)
(February 15, 1895 – August 7, 1978)
Long before Lea SaloŶga͛s break into Broadway, there was already Jovita
Fuentes͚ poƌtƌaLJal of Cio-cio saŶ iŶ GiaĐoŵo PuĐĐiŶi͛s Madaŵe ButteƌflLJ
at ItalLJ͛s Teatƌo Municipale di Piacenza. Her performance was hailed as
the ͞ŵost suďliŵe iŶteƌpƌetatioŶ of the paƌt͟. This is all the ŵoƌe
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 Turnadot, 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
uŶpƌeĐedeŶted aǁaƌd of ͞Embahadora de Filipinas a su Madƌe Patƌia͟ ďLJ
Spain.
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
fiŶest ŵilitaƌLJ ďaŶds iŶ the ǁoƌld ŵakiŶg it ͞the oŶlLJ ďaŶd
that ĐaŶ souŶd like a sLJŵphoŶLJ oƌĐhestƌa͟.
Lucresia R. Kasilag
National Artist for Music (1989)
(August 31, 1918 – August 16, 2008)
Lucrecia R. Kasilag, as educator, composer, performing artist,
administrator and cultural entrepreneur of national and international
Đaliďeƌ, had iŶǀolǀed heƌself ǁhollLJ iŶ shaƌpeŶiŶg the FilipiŶo audieŶĐe͛s
appreciation of music. Kasilag͛s 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-ǁiŶŶiŶg ͞Toccata for Percussions and
Winds, Divertissement and Concertante,͟ aŶd the sĐoƌes of the
Filiasiana, Misang Pilipino and De Profundis. ͞ Tita KiŶg͟, as she ǁas
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.
Lucio D. San Pedro
National Artist for Music (1991)
(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
heƌitage. CousiŶ to ͞Botong͟ FƌaŶĐisĐo, SaŶ Pedƌo pƌoduĐed
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 fatheƌ͛s foƌŵeƌ ďaŶd, aŶd the BaŶda 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.
Felipe P. De Leon
National Artist for Music (1997)
(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
pƌodigious ďodLJ of De LeoŶ͛s ŵusiĐal ĐoŵpositioŶs,
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,
ŵakiŶg hiŵ the epitoŵe of a people͛s ŵusiĐiaŶ. 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.
Jose M. Maceda
National Artist for Music (1997)
(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. MaĐeda͛s 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. MaĐeda͛s
experimentation also freed Filipino musical expression
from a strictly Eurocentric mold.
Levi Celerio
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
tƌaditioŶal ŵelodies: ͞O Maliwanag Na Buwan͟ ;Iloko),
͞Ako ay May Singsing͟ ;PampangoͿ, ͞Alibangbang͟ ;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.
Prof. Andrea O. Veneracion
National Artist for Music (1999)
(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.
Ernani J. Cuenco
National Artist for Music (1999)
(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.
Francisco F. Feliciano
National Artist for Music (2014)
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.
Ramon P. Santos
National Artist for Music (2014)
Ramon Pagayon Santos, composer,
conductor and musicologist, is currently
the ĐouŶtƌLJ͛s foƌeŵost edžpoŶeŶt 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.
Lamberto V. Avellana
National Artist for Theater and Film (1976)
Lamberto V. Avellana, director for theater and film, has the
distiŶĐtioŶ of ďeiŶg Đalled ͞The BoLJ WoŶdeƌ of PhilippiŶe Moǀies͟
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 AteŶeo͛ 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.
Manuel Conde
National Artist for Cinema (2009)
(October 9, 1915 – August 11, 1985)