Francisca Reyes-Aquino is a Filipino folk dancer and academic noted for her research on

Philippine folk dance. She is a recipient of the Republic Award of Merit and the Ramon
Magsaysay Award and is a designated National Artist of the Philippines for Dance.
Works
Among Reyes-Aquino's most noted works is her research on folk dances and songs as a
student assistant at the University of the Philippines (UP). Pursuing her graduate studies, she
started her work in the 1921 traveling to remote barrios in Central and Northern Luzon.[1][2]
She published a thesis in 1926 entitled Philippine Folk Dances and Games where she noted
on previously unrecorded forms of local celebra tion, ritual and sports. Her thesis was made
with teachers and playground instructors from both public and private institutions in mind. [2]
This work was expanded with the official support of UP President Jorge Bocobo in 1927. She then served at the
university as part of the faculty for 18 years.
She served as supervisor of physical education at the Bureau of Education in the 1940s. The education body distributed
her work and adapted the teaching of folk dancing in an effort to promote awareness among the Filipino youth
regarding their cultural heritage. The then President Ramon Magsaysay conferred her the Republic Award of Merit in
1954 for her “outstanding contribution toward the advancement of Filipino culture”. [2][3]
Reyes-Aquino also had other books published including: 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.
Reyes-Aquino also received recognition for her works such as the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Government Service
in 1962 and her designation as National Artist of the Philippines for Dance in 1973.

Carlos Modesto Villaluz Francis co [2] (November 4, 1912 – March 31, 1969), popularly
known as Botong, was a muralist from Angono, Rizal.
Francisco was a most distinguished practitioner of mural painting for many decades and
best known for his historical pieces. He was one of the first Filipino modernists along with
Galo Ocampo and Victorio C. Edades who broke away from Fernando Amorsolo's
romanticism of Philippine scenes. According to restorer Helmuth Josef Zotter, Francisco's
art "is a prime example of linear painting where lines and contours appear like cutouts."[3]
His great works include Blood Compact, First Mass at Limasawa, The Martyrdom of
Rizal, Bayanihan, Magpupukot, Fiesta, Bayanihan sa Bukid, Sandugo, Portrait of Purita,
The Invasion of Limahong, Serenade, and Muslim Betrothal. Some of his murals have suffered damage over the years.
The "Pageant of Commerce" emerged from several years of restoration in 2000. [3]
His murals in the lobby of the Philippine General Hospital were restored for the 3rd time in 2007. [4]
He was also responsible for the discovery of the now famous Angono Petroglyphs in 1965. He was also involved in
Costume Design in Philippine cinema.

Amado Vera Hernandez, commonly known as Amado V. Hernandez (September 13,

1903–March 24, 1970), was a Filipino writer and labor leader who was known for his
criticism of social injustices in the Philippines and was later imprisoned for his
involvement in the communist movement. He was the central figure in a landmark
legal case that took 13 years to settle.
He was born in Hagonoy, Bulacan but grew up in Tondo, Manila, where he studied at
the Gagalangin, Tondo, the Manila High Schoo l and at the American Correspondence
School.
Writer
While still a teenager, he began writing in Tagalog for the newspaper Watawat (Flag).
He would later write a column for the Tagalog publication Pagkakaisa (Unity) and
become editor of Mabuhay (Long Live).
His writings gained the attention of Tagalog literati and some of his stories and poems were included in anthologies,
such as Clodualdo del Mundo's Parolang Ginto and Alejandro Abadilla's Talaang Bughaw.
In 1922, at the age of 19, Hernandez became a member of the literary society Aklatang Bayan which included noted
Tagalog writers Lope K. Santos and Jose Corazon de Jesus.
In 1932, he married the Filipino actress Atang de la Rama. Both of them would later be recognized as National
Artists: Hernandez for Literature, de la Rama for Theater, Dance and Music.
 Antonio J. Molina (26 December 1894 – 29 January 1980) was a Filipino composer,
conductor and music administrator. He was named a National Artist of the Philippines for
his services to music. He was also known as the Claude Debussy of the Philippines due to
his use of impressionism in music.
Musical career
Molina made his first composition in 1912 titled Matinal, which is preserved in an
unpublished volume called Miniaturas, Vol. 1.[1]:147 He was appointed to teach harmony,
composition, music history, and violincello at the UP Conservatory of Music, pursuing a
career in music education until being appointed dean of the Centro Escolar Conservatory of
Music. He founded the CEU String Quartet which was professionally organized and
financed by its music school.
As a composer Molina is credited with over 500 compositions.

Juan F. Nakpil (May 26, 1899 – May 7, 1986) was a Filipino architect, teacher and a
community leader. In 1973, he was named one of the National Artists for architecture. He also
served as the Dean of Filipino Architects.
Career
Nakpil worked at Andres Luna de San Pedro's architectural firm (1928) and at Don Gonzalo
Puyat & Sons, opening his own architectural firm in 1930. [3] Among Nakpil's works are San
Carlos Seminary, Geronimo de los Reyes Building, Iglesia ni Cristo Riverside Locale (Now
F. Manalo, San Juan), 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 Rizal Shrine in Calamba, Laguna.
He also designed the International Eucharistic Congress altar and improved the Quiapo
Church in 1930 by erecting a dome and a second belfry. He was hailed as a National Artist for
Architecture in 1973. [4]

Fernando Cueto Amorsolo (May 30, 1892 – April 24, 1972) was one of the most important
artists in the history of painting in the Philippines.[1] Amorsolo was a portraitist and painter of
rural Philippine landscapes. He is popularly known for his craftsmanship and mastery in the
use of light.
Career
After graduating from the Univeajor influences on his work.
Amorsolo set up his own studio upon his return to Manila and painted prodigiously during
the 1920s and the 1930s. His Rice Planting (1922), which appeared on posters and tourist
brochures, became one of the most popular images of the Commonwealth of the Philippines.
Beginning in the 1930s, Amorsolo's work was exhibited widely both in the Philippines and
abroad. His bright,optimistic, pastoral images set the tone for Philippine painting before
World War II . Except for his darker World War II-era paintings, Amorsolo painted quiet and
peaceful scenes throughout his career.
Amorsolo was sought after by influential Filipinos including Luis Araneta, Antonio Araneta and Jorge B. Vargas.
Amorsolo also became the favourite Philippine artist of United States officials and visitors to the country. Due to his
popularity, Amorsolo had to resort to photographing his works and pasted and mounted them in an album. Prospective
patrons could then choose from this catalog of his works. Amorsolo did not create exact replicas of his trademark
themes; he recreated the paintings by varying some elements.
His works later appeared on the cover and pages of children textbooks, in novels, in commercial designs, in cartoons
and illustrations for the Philippine publications such The Independent, Philippine Magazine, Telembang, El
Renacimiento Filipino, and Excelsior. He was the director of the University of the Philippine's College of Fine Arts
from 1938 to 1952.
During the 1950s until his death in 1972, Amorsolo averaged to finishing 10 paintings a month. However, during his
later years, diabetes, cataracts, arthritis, headaches, dizziness and the death of two sons affected the execution of his
works. Amorsolo underwent a cataract operation when he was 70 years old, a surgery that did not impede him from
drawing and painting.
Amorsolo was a close friend of the Philippine sculptor Guillermo Tolentino, the creator of the Caloocan City
monument to the patriot Andrés Bonifacio.
 Guillermo Estrella Tolentino (July 24, 1890 – July 12, 1976) was a Filipino sculptor and
professor of the University of the Philippines. He was designated as a National Artist of the
Philippines for Sculpture in 1973, three years before his death.
Career
Tolentino, upon returning from Europe in 1925, was appointed as a professor at the
University of the Philippines' School of Fine Arts and opened his studio in Manila on January
24.[3][4] Along with thirteen artists, Tolentino joined a contest in 1930 to design the Bonifacio
Monument. Instead of basing the statues on printed materials, he interviewed people who
participated in the Philippine Revolution. Bonifacio's figure was based on the bone structure
of Espiridiona Bonifacio, the Supremo's surviving sister. [6] Down to seven entries, the
committee had its winners by July 29. Tolentino's entry won first place and was given a cash
prize of 3,000 pesos.[7] In 1935, Rafael Palma, president of the University of the Philippines, commissioned Tolentino
to sculpt the Oblation, a statue based on the second stanza of Jose Rizal's Mi ultimo adios. Tolentino used concrete to
create the statue but it was painted to look like bronze.[8] The statue's model was Anastacio Caedo, his assistant, whose
physique was combined with the proportion of Virgilio Raymundo, his brother-in-law.[9]
The University of the Philippines Alumni Association requested Tolentino on October 25, 1935 to construct an arch
commemorating the inauguration of the Commonwealth of the Philippines but it was never built, because of the war.

Napoleón Isabelo Veloso Abueva (born January 26, 1930), more popularly known as
Napoleón Abueva, is a Filipino artist. He is a sculptor given the distinction as the
Philippines' National Artist for Sculpture. He is also entitled as the "Father of Modern
Philippine Sculpture". He was awarded National Artist of the Philippines in the field of
Visual Arts.
At U.P, one of his mentors was Guillermo Tolentino, also a national artist, who created the
oblation at the university entrance . Tolentino later relegated to him the task of replicating the
sculpture for the Campus of U.P. Los Banos.
In 1976, he was proclaimed as National Artist of the Philippines for Visual Arts by then
President Ferdinand Marcos. He was the youngest recipient of the title at age 46. Some of his major works include
Kaganapan (1953), Kiss of Judas (1955), Thirty Pieces of Silver, The Transfiguration, Eternal Gardens Memorial Park
(1979), UP Gateway (1967), Nine Muses (1994), UP Faculty Center, S unburst (1994)-Peninsula Manila Hotel. His
Sandugo or Blood Compact shrine in Bohol, Tagbilaran City is a landmark at the site of the first international treaty of
friendship between Spaniards and Filipinos. His son, Mulawin Abueva performed the death mask procedure of
opposition leader Ninoy Aquino in 1983 while the elder Abueva made the death mask of Fernando Poe, Jr. in 2004.
Both masks are now displayed at the Center for Kapampangan Studies, Hacienda Luisita, Tarlac. Incidentally, he also
made a death mask of Cardinal Sin.[5] He is married to Cherry Abueva, a psychiatrist, and has three children,
Amihan,Mulawin, and Duero. Before his stroke, he used to teach at the Industrial Design department of the De La
Salle-College of Saint Benilde School of Design and Arts

Leonor Orosa-Goquingco (July 24, 1917 – July 15, 2005) was a Filipino national artist
in creative dance. She could play the piano, draw, design scenery and costumes, sculpt,
act, direct, dance and choreograph. Her pen name was Cristina Luna and she was
known as Trailblazer, Mother of Philippine Theater Dance and Dean of Filipino
Performing Arts Critics. She died on July 15, 2005 of "cardiac arrest secondary to
cerebro-vascular accident" at the age of 87.
Accomplishments
n 1939, Leonor Orosa-Goquingco was the only dancer sent on the first cultural mission
to Japan, at the age of 19. She produced Circling the Globe (1939) and Dance
Panorama in the same year. She created The Elements in 1940, the first ballet
choreographed by a Filipino to commissioned music. She also created Sports during the same year, featuring
cheerleaders, a tennis match and a basketball game. The first Philippine folkloric ballet, Trend: Return to the Native,
was choreographed by Goquingco in 1941. After the Second World War, she organized the Philippine Ballet and
brought the famous Filipino novel, Noli Me Tángere, to life. The Noli Dance Suite consisted of several dances. Maria
Clara and the Leper, Salome and Elias, Sisa, Asalto for Maria Clara and The Gossips are some of the dances found in
the Noli Dance Suite. Leonor Orosa-Goquingco also danced during her early years.
 Lamberto Vera Avellana (February 12, 1915 – April 25, 1991) was a prominent
Filipino film and stage director. Despite considerable budgetary limitations that
hampered the post-war Filipino film industry, Avellana's films such as Anak Dalita
and Badjao attained international acclaim. In 1976, Avellana was named by President
Ferdinand Marcos as the very first National Artist of the Philippines for Film. While
Avellana remains an important figure in Filipino cinema, his reputation as a film
director has since been eclipsed by the next wave of Filipino film directors who
emerged in the 1970s, such as Lino Brocka and Ishmael Bernal.
Film career
Avellana made his film debut with Sakay in 1939, a biopic on the early 20th century
Filipino revolutionary Macario Sakay. The film was an immediate sensation,
particularly distinguished for its realism which was a typical of Filipino cinema at the time. The treatment is the
subject of some controversy today. Avellana's Sakay toed the line with the American-fostered perception of Sakay as a
mere bandit, different from the current-day appreciation of Sakay as a fighter for Filipino independence. Raymond
Red's 1993 film, Sakay hews closer to this modern view of Sakay. Interestingly, Leopoldo Salcedo, who played Sakay
in the 1939 Avellana version, portrayed Sakay's father in the 1993 version in his final film role. Avellana directed
more than 70 films in a career that spanned six decades. Anak Dalita (1956) and Badjao (1957) perhaps stand as the
most prominent works from his oeuvre. Anak Dalita, which was named Best Film at the 1956 Asia-Pacific Film
Festival, was a realistic portrayal of poverty-stricken Filipinos coping with the aftermath of World War II. Badjao was
a love-story among the sea-dwelling Badjaos, an indigenous Filipino people hailing from Mindanao. Rolf Bayer was
the screenwriter for both films.

Nicomedes Márquez Joaquín (May 4, 1917 – April 29, 2004) was a Filipino
writer, historian and journalist, best known for his short stories and novels in the
English language. He also wrote using the pen name Quijano de Manila.
Joaquín was conferred the rank and title of National Artist of the Philippines for
Literature.
He is considered[by whom? ] one of the most important Filipino writers in English,
and the third most important overall, after José Riz al and Claro M. Recto.
Career
After returning to the Philippines, Joaquín joined the Philippines Free Press,
starting as a proofreader. He soon attracted notice for his poems, stories and
plays, as well as his journalism under the pen name Quijano de Manila. His
journalism was both intellectual and provocative, an unknown genre in the
Philippines at that time, and raised the country's level of reportage.
Joaquín deeply admired José Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines, paying him tribute in such books as The
Storyteller's New Medium – Rizal in Saga, The Complete Poems and Plays of Jose Rizal, and A Question of Heroes:
Essays in Criticism on Ten Key Figures of Philippine History. He translated the hero's valedictory poem, in the
original Spanish Mi Ultimo Adios, as "Land That I Love, Farewell!"
Joaquín represented the Philippines at the International PEN Congress in Tokyo in 1957, and was appointed as a
member of the Motion Pictures commission under presidents Diosdado Macapagal and Ferdinand E. Marcos.
After being honored as National Artist, Joaquin used his position to work for intellectual freedom in society. He
secured the release of imprisoned writer José F. Lacaba. At a ceremony on Mount Makiling attended by First Lady
Imelda Marcos, Joaquín delivered an invocation to Mariang Makiling, the mountain's mythical maiden. Joaquín
touched on the importance of freedom and the artist. After that, Joaquín was excluded by the Marcos regime as a
speaker at important cultural events.
Joaquín died of cardiac arrest in the early morning of April 29, 2004, at his home in San Juan, Metro Manila. He was
then editor of Philippine Graphic magazine, where he worked with Juan P. Dayang, the magazine's first publisher.
Joaquín was also publisher of its sister publication, Mirror Weekly, a women’s magazine, and wrote the column “Small
Beer” for the Philippine Daily Inquirer and Isyu, an opinion tabloid.
 Victorio C. Edades (December 23, 1895 – March 7, 1985) is a Filipino painter
who was the leader of the revolutionary Thirteen Moderns who engaged their
classical compatriots in heated debate over the nature and function of art. He was
named a National Artist in 1976.
Artistic Development
Early styles after his stint in architecture already show his inclination towards
modernist technique. In The Market and The Picnic, his choice of subject matter
do not take flight from pleasant daily scenery; yet his brush strokes and observance
of non-proportionality in the figures made his teachers consider him "very
ambitious." His earlier works already showed his affinity towards the style of
Cézanne and other Post-Impressionists. The height of his artistic development is
his dynamic entry into Philippine art in 1928 with his solo exhibit at the Philippine
Columbia Club. Here he mounted his most renowned work, The Builders. This work is the sum total of all the other
pieces included in the show. They are a far cry from the works of the first Philippine national artist and most popular
painter Fernando Amorsolo and the other classicists who painted bright cheery scenes of flawless Filipinos and their
idealized daily routines. Edades, on the other hand, presented figures in muddy earth colors – yellow ochres and raw
sienna accented by bold black contours. Subjects are distorted figures (those whose proportions defy classical
measure), and Edades’ brush strokes are agitated and harsh. The choice of his subject also caused quite a stir to those
who viewed the show. He portrayed tough, dirty construction laborers and simple folk wrestling in dung and dust.
Even his nudes are nothing like Amorsolo's portrayal of the Filipina at her best.

Vicente Silva Manansala (January 22, 1910 – August 22, 1981) was a Filipino cubist
painter and illustrator.[1]
Manansala was born in Macabebe, Pampanga. From 1926 to 1930, he studied at the U.P.
School of Fine Arts. In 1949, Manansala received a six-month grant by UNESCO to study
at the École des Beaux-Arts in Banff and Montreal, Canada. In 1950, he received a nine-
month scholarship to study at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris by the French government.
Manansala's canvases were described as masterpieces that brought the cultures of the
barrio and the city together. His Madonna of the Slums is a portrayal of a mother and child
from the countryside who became urban shanty residents once in the city. In h is Jeepneys,
Manansala combined the elements of provincial folk culture with the congestion issues of
the city.Manansala developed transparent cubism, wherein the "delicate tones, shapes, and patterns of figure and
environment are masterfully superimposed". A fine example of Manansala using this "transparent and translucent"
technique is his composition, Kalabaw (Carabao). Vicente Manansala, a National Artist of the Philippines in Visual
Arts, was a direct influence to his fellow Filipino neo-realists: Malang, Angelito Antonio, Norma Belleza and Manuel
Baldemor.[1]

Pablo Sebero Antonio (January 25, 1901 – June 14, 1975)[1] was a Filipino architect. A
pioneer of modern Philippine architecture,[2] he was recognized in some quarters as the
foremost Filipino modernist architect of his time. [3] He was conferred the rank and title of
National Artist of the Philippines by President Ferdinand Marcos in 1976.
Works
Antonio first came into prominence in 1933 with the construction of the Ideal Theater
along Avenida Rizal in Manila. His work caught the eye of the founder of the Far Eastern
University in Manila, Nicanor Reyes, Sr., who was looking to build a school campus that
was modern in style. Between 1938 and 1950, he designed several buildings on the
university campus in the Art Deco style.[3][4] The FEU campus is considered as the largest
ensemble of surviving Art Deco architecture in Manila,[5] and in 2005, it received an
Honorable Mention citation from the UNESCO for the body's 2005 Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage
Conservation.[5] Antonio also designed the White Cross Orphanage (1938) along Santolan Road in San Juan City, and
the Manila Polo Club (1950) in Makati City.[3] He likewise designed the Ramon Roces Publications Building (now
Guzman Institute of Electronics) in Soler Street in Manila, the Capitan Luis Gonzaga Building (1953), and the
Boulevard-Alhambra (now called Bel-Air) Apartments Building in Roxas Boulevard & where Manila Bay Hostel is
located on the 4th floor. The art deco apartment is near T. M. Kalaw Avenue & beside Miramar Hotel. It was built in
1937.[2]
 José María V. Zaragoza[1] (December 6, 1912[2]-1994[3]) was a Filipino architect.
Career
During the earlier years of his career, Zaragoza had meetings with American
architect Frank Lloyd Wright culminating with a visit to Wright' atelier in Arizona in
the United States in 1956. However, unlike his contemporaries, Zaragoza looked into
European architecture for inspiration instead of drawing from American
architecture.[1]
Style
Zaragoza derived traditional forms from Spanish colonial architecture and combined
it with simple, unornamented designs of the International style. This design was
evident in the arcades of the Santo Domingo Church in Quezon City.[1]
His style had an impact of designs of houses. The visual framework of the "Spanish
style" architecture which was favored in residences from the 1950s to the 1960s was
derived from his designs. The "Spanish style" is not widely used in Spain but the
name was an adopted term in Philippine residential architecture. Among Zaragoza's works this style is most evident in
his design of the 1951 building of the Casino Español de Manila.[1]
After his involvements in Brazil, his later works had influences from Brazilian architecture as evident in the Meralco
Center in Ortigas and Philbank Building in the Port Area, Manila both finished in 1965. The Commercial and Bank
Trust Company Building, completed in 1969, in Escolta, Manila, incorporates subtle flowing Latino line design. [1]

Francisco Feliciano (19 February 1941 – 19 September 2014) was a Filipino composer
and conductor. He was a National Artist of the Philippines for Music.
Early life and educat ion
Feliciano was born in 1941, in Morong, Rizal.[2]
Francisco Feliciano graduated from the University of the Philippines with a Masters in
Music Composition. He went to the Hochschule der Kuenste in Berlin, Germany to
obtain a diploma in Music Composition. He later attended Yale University School of
Music and graduated with a Master of Musical Arts and a Doctorate in Musical Arts,
Composition. His teachers in conducting were Arthur Weisberg and Martin Behrmann,
while he studied composition under Jacob Druckman, Isang Yun, H.W. Zimmerman and
Krzysztof Penderecki
Career
In 2014, Feliciano was named one of 12 National Artists of the Philippines, together with eleven other persons. [1]

Francisco V. Coching (January 29, 1919[1] – September 1, 1998[2]) was a Filipino comic
books illustrator and writer and is regarded as one of the “pillars of the Philippine
Komiks Industry”.[3] He served as both illustrator and writer for his comic book stories,[2]
Coching is referred to as the "King of Komiks",[4] and as the "Dean of Philippine
Comics".
Influence
Coching influenced many other Filipino illustrators. Among them were Noly Panaligan,
Federico C. Javinal, Carlos Lemos, Celso Trinidad, Emil Quizon-Cruz, Nestor Redondo,
Alfredo Alcala, and Emil Rodriguez.[2]
Film adaptation
Almost all of Coching’s komiks novels were adapted into films, with the exception of
three titles. Among those that were made into a movie was El Negro in 1974.
Awards
In 1981, Coching obtained the Makasining na Komiks Award in the Tanging Parangal for
Comics Art from the Manila Commission of Arts and Culture.
In 1984, Coching received the Komiks Operation Brotherhood Inc. (KOMOPEB) Life Achievement Award.
In 1998, he received the Award of Excellence from the government of Pasay City.
Coching received the nomination as a National Artist of the Philippines for the Visual Arts in 1999 and in 2001.[2] On
June 20, 2014, Coching was posthumously named as a National Artist for the Visual Arts by virtue of Proclamation
No. 808, series of 2014. [8]