Order of National Artist 1

ARCHITECTURE
PABLO S. ANTONIO
National Artist for Architecture (1976)
(January 25, 1902 – June 14, 1975)
Born at the turn of the century, National Artist for Architecture Pablo Sebero
Antonio pioneered modern Philippine architecture. His basic design is grounded on
simplicity, no clutter. The lines are clean and smooth, and where there are curves, these
are made integral to the structure. Pablo Jr. points out, “For our father, every line must
have a meaning, a purpose. For him, function comes first before elegance or form“. The
other thing that characterizes an Antonio structure is the maximum use of natural light
and cross ventilation. Antonio believes that buildings “should be planned with austerity
in mind and its stability forever as the aim of true architecture, that buildings must be
progressive, simple in design but dignified, true to a purpose without resorting to an
applied set of aesthetics and should eternally recreate truth.”
Antonio’s major works include the following: 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
National Artist for Architecture, 1990
(August 15, 1928 – November 15, 1994)
Leandro V. Locsin reshaped the urban landscape with a distinctive architecture

reflective of Philippine Art and Culture. He believes that the true Philippine Architecture
is “the product of two great streams of culture, the oriental and the occidental… to
produce a new object of profound harmony.” It is this synthesis that underlies all his
works, with his achievements in concrete reflecting his mastery of space and scale.
Every Locsin Building is an original, and identifiable as a Locsin with themes of floating
volume, the duality of light and heavy, buoyant and massive running in his major works.
From 1955 to 1994, Locsin has produced 75 residences and 88 buildings, including 11
churches and chapels, 23 public buildings, 48 commercial buildings, six major hotels,
and an airport terminal building.
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
(May 26, 1899 – May 7, 1986)
Juan F. Nakpil, architect, teacher, and civic leader is a pioneer and innovator in
Philippine architecture. In essence, Nakpil’s greatest contribution is his belief that there
is such a thing as Philippine Architecture, espousing architecture reflective of Philippine
traditions and culture. It is also largely due to his zealous representation and efforts that
private Filipino architects and engineers, by law, are now able to participate in the
design and execution of government projects. He has integrated strength, function, and
beauty in the buildings that are the country’s heritage today. He designed the 1937
International Eucharistic Congress altar and rebuilt and enlarged the Quiapo Church in
1930 adding a dome and a second belfry to the original design.
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.
(September 5, 1929 – January 29, 2014)
Ildefonso Paez Santos, Jr., distinguished himself by pioneering the practice of

landscape architecture–an allied field of architecture–in the Philippines and then
producing four decades of exemplary and engaging work that has included hundreds of
parks, plazas, gardens, and a wide range of outdoor settings that have enhanced
contemporary Filipino life.
Santos, Jr., who grew up in Malabon, made his first mark with the Makati Commercial
Center where he introduced a new concept of outdoor shopping with landscaped walks,
fountains and sculptures as accents. Santos, Jr.’s contribution to modern Filipino
landscape architecture was the seminal public landscape in Paco Park.
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

National Artist for Architecture (2014)
(December 6, 1912 – November 26, 1994)
José María V. Zaragoza’s place in Philippine architecture history is defined by a

significant body of modern edifices that address spiritual and secular requirements.
Zaragoza’s name is synonymous to modern ecclesiastical architecture. Notwithstanding
his affinity to liturgical structures, he greatly excelled in secular works: 36 office
buildings, 4 hotels, 2, hospitals, 5 low-cost and middle-income housing projects; and
more than 270 residences – all demonstrating his typological versatility and his mastery
of modernist architectural vocabulary.
Zaragoza graduated from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila in 1936, passing the
licensure examinations in 1938 to become the 82nd architect of the Philippines. With
growing interest in specializing in religious architecture, Zaragoza also studied at
International Institute of Liturgical Art (IILA) in Rome in the late 1950s, where he
obtained a diploma in liturgical art and architecture. His training in Rome resulted in
innovative approaches, setting new standards for the design of mid-century Catholic
churches in the Philippines. His prolificacy in designing religious edifices was reflected
in his body of work that was predominated by about 45 churches and religious centers,
including the Santo Domingo Church, Our Lady of Rosary in Tala, Don Bosco Church,
the Convent of the Pink Sisters, the San Beda Convent, Villa San Miguel, Pius XII
Center, the Union Church, and the controversial restoration of the Quiapo Church,
among others.
Zaragoza is a pillar of modern architecture in the Philippines buttressed by a half-

century career that produced ecclesiastical edifices and structures of modernity in the
service of God and humanity.
Major Works: Meralco Building (Pasig Cty), Sto. Domingo Church and Convent (Quezon City),
Metropolitan Cathedral of Cebu City, Villa San Miguel, Mandaluyoung.
Francisco T. Mañosa
National Artist for Architecture and Allied Arts (2018)
Birthday: 12 February 1931
For all of his more than 60 years of architecture life, Ar. Bobby Mañosa designed Filipino.
From the 1960s in his landmark design of the Sulo Hotel until his retirement about 2015,
he courageously and passionately created original Filipino forms, spaces with intricate
and refined details. But what is most valuable is that Mañosa was in the heart and soul of
a Philippine architectural movement. He has developed a legacy of Philippine
architecture, which is essential to our Filipino identity and at the same time, deeply
appreciated and shared in our world today.
Major Works:
 San Miguel Building, Ortigas Center, Pasig City (designed with the Mañosa
Brothers)
 Chapel of the Risen Lord, Las Piñas City
 Our Lady of Peace Shrine, EDSA, Quezon City
 World Youth Day Papal Altar, Quirino Grandstand, Manila, 1995
 Metrorail Transit System Stations for LRT 1, circa 1980s
 Quezon Memorial Circle Development Plan
 Lanao del Norte Provincial Capitol, Tubod, Lanao del Norte
 Tahanang Pilipino (Coconut Palace), CCP Complex, Manila
 Amanpulo Resort, Palawan
 Pearl Farm Resort, Samal Island, Davao, completed 1994
 La Mesa Watershed Resort and Ecological Park, La Mesa Dam, Quezon City
CINEMA
Lamberto V. Avellana
National Artist for Theater and Film (1976)
FEBRUARY 12, 1915 – APRIL 25, 1991
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).
Catalino “Lino” Ortiz Brocka
National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts (1997)

(April 3, 1939 – May 22, 1991)
Catalino “Lino” Ortiz Brocka, director for film and broadcast arts, espoused the term
“freedom of expression” in the Philippine Constitution. Brocka took his social activist
spirit to the screen leaving behind 66 films which breathed life and hope for the
marginalized sectors of society — slum-dwellers, prostitutes, construction workers, etc.
He also directed for theater with equal zeal and served in organizations that offer
alternative visions, like the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) and the
Concerned Artists of the Philippines (CAP). At the same time, he garnered awards and
recognition from institutions like the CCP, FAMAS, TOYM, and Cannes Film Festival.
Lino Brocka has left behind his masterpieces, bequeathing to our country a heritage of
cinematic harvest; a bounty of stunning images, memorable conversations that speak
volumes on love, betrayal and redemption, pestilence and plenty all pointing towards
the recovery and rediscovery of our nation.
To 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
National Artist for Cinema (2001)

(September 30, 1938 – June 2, 1996)
Ishmael Bernal was a filmmaker of the first order and one of the very few who can be
truly called a maestro. Critics have hailed him as “the genius of Philippine cinema.”
He is recognized as a director of films that serve as social commentaries and bold

reflections on the existing realities of the struggle of the Filipino. His art extends beyond
the confines of aesthetics. By polishing its visuals, or innovating in the medium, he
manages to send his message across: to fight the censors, free the artists, give justice
to the oppressed, and enlighten as well as entertain the audience.
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

(October 9, 1915 – August 11, 1985)
Born on October 9, 1915 and christened Manuel Pabustan Urbano, Manuel

Conde grew up and studied in Daet, Camarines Norte.
In the decades before and after World War II when Philippine society was being
inundated by American popular culture, Conde invested local cinema with a distinct
cultural history of its own through movies that translated onto the silver screen the age-
old stories that Filipinos had told and retold from generation to generation for at least
the past one hundred years. Among the narratives that Conde directed and/or produced
for the screen were three of the most famous metrical romances in Philippine lowland
culture: Siete Infantes de Lara, Ibong Adarna, and Prinsipe Tenoso.
Through the more than forty films he created from 1940 to 1963, Manuel Conde
contributed in no small measure to the indigenization of the cinema, specifically: by
assigning it a history and culture of its own; by revitalizing folk culture with urgent
issues, fresh themes and new techniques; by depicting and critiquing Filipino customs,
values and traditions according to the needs of the present; by employing and at the
same time innovating on the traditional cinematic genres of his time; and by opening the
local cinema to the world.
With a curious mind and restless spirit that could not be contained by what is, Conde
went beyond the usual narratives of the traditional genres and ventured into subject
matter that would have been deemed too monumental or quixotic by the average
producer. Conde dared to recreate on screen the grand narratives of larger-than-life
figures from world history and literature, like Genghis Khan and Sigfredo. In doing
films on these world figures, Conde had in effect forced the Filipino moviegoer out of the
parochial and predictable concerns of the run-of-the-mill formulaic film and thrust him
into a larger world where visions and emotions were loftier and nobler and very very far
from the pedestrian whims and sentiments that constituted the Filipino moviegoer’s
usual fare.
Serendipitously, as these movies opened the vistas of the Filipino film to other cultures,
they also unlocked the doors of western cinema to the Filipino film, allowing it entry into
one of the most prestigious film festivals of the globe. Later, when these films were
bought by foreign distributors, they were exhibited in all parts of the cinematic world of
the time, establishing the presence of the Filipino cinema in the eyes of that world.
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

(September 12, 1913 – July 25, 1981)
Gerardo “Gerry” De Leon, film director, belongs to the Ilagan clan and as such grew
up in an atmosphere rich in theater. Significantly, De Leon’s first job — while in still in
high school — was as a piano player at Cine Moderno in Quiapo playing the musical
accompaniment to the silent films that were being shown at that time. The silent movies
served as De Leon’s “very good” training ground because the pictures told the story.
Though he finished medicine, his practice did not last long because he found himself
“too compassionate” to be one, this aside from the lure of the movies. His first directorial
job was “Ama’t Anak” in which he directed himself and his brother Tito Arevalo. The
movie got good reviews. De Leon’s biggest pre-war hit was “Ang Maestra” which
starred Rogelio de la Rosa and Rosa del Rosario with the still unknown Eddie Romero
as writer.
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

(August 20, 1939 – December 14, 2004)
Ronald Allan K. Poe, popularly known as Fernando Poe, Jr., was a cultural icon of
tremendous audience impact and cinema artist and craftsman–as actor, director, writer
and producer.*
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.
Poe was born in Manila on August 20, 1939. After the death of his father, he dropped
out of the University of the East in his sophomore year to support his family. He was the
second of six siblings. He married actress Susan Roces in a civil ceremony in
December 1968.
He died on December 14, 2004

Eddie Romero

(July 7, 1924 – May 28, 2013)
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.
Romero, the ambitious yet practical artist, was not satisfied with dreaming up grand ideas. He
found ways to produce these dreams into films. His concepts, ironically, as stated in the
National Artist citation “are delivered in an utterly simple style – minimalist, but never empty,
always calculated, precise and functional, but never predictable.”
Kidlat Tahimik
National Artist for Film (2018)
Birthday: 3 October 1942
Kidlat Tahimik has continually invented himself through his cinema, and so his cinema is
as singular as the man. His debut film, Mababangong Bangungot (1977), was praised by
critics and filmmakers from Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa and is still considered
by many as a pioneering postcolonial essay film. Tahimik’s intense independence as an
artist and, at the same time, the film itself called for Filipinos to actively live out their
independence and not allow their culture to be imperialized by the west. Kidlat’s
“imperfect” film is an exemplar of what is worldwide known as “Third Cinema,” a cinema
that is critical of neocolonial exploitation and state oppression. But, unlike other Third
Cinema films, Kidlat’s work does not glory in ugliness. His films, even those that lament
injustice and violence, are premised on the hope of possible, though yet unrealized,
triumph. His constant claim is that whatever “progress” has relegated to the realm of
sadness and poverty should never remain self-referentially sad or poor.
Notable Works:
 Balikbayan #1: Memories of Overdevelopment Redux (2015)

 Japanese Summers of a Filipino Fundoshi (1996)
 Why Is Yellow the Middle of the Rainbow? (1983-1994)
 Orbit 50: Letters to My 3 Sons (1990-1992)
 Turumba (1983)
 Who Invented the Yoyo? Who Invented the Moon Buggy? (1979)
 Mababangong Bangungot/Perfumed Nightmare (1977)
VISUAL ARTS
FERNANDO AMORSOLO
National Artist for Visual Arts
(May 30, 1892 – April 24, 1972)
The country had its first National Artist in Fernando C. Amorsolo. The official title “Grand
Old Man of Philippine Art” was bestowed on Amorsolo when the Manila Hilton inaugurated
its art center on January 23, 1969, with an exhibit of a selection of his works. Returning
from his studies abroad in the 1920s, Amorsolo developed the backlighting technique that
became his trademark were figures, a cluster of leaves, a spill of hair, the swell of breast,
are seen aglow on canvas. This light, Nick Joaquin opines, 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”.
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
National Artist for Visual Arts (1991)

(April 28, 1911 – December 28, 1978)
Hernando R. Ocampo, 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 Art Gallery, the country’s first.
Genesis. 1969
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 ‘BENCAB’ CABRERA

Benedicto R. Cabrera, 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, and the vast inequities of Philippine society.*
Bencab’s exploration of form, finding his way out of the late neo-realism and high
abstraction of the sixties to be able to reconsider the potency of figurative expression
had held out vital options for Philippine art in the Martial Law years in the seventies
through the contemporary era.
*from the citation
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
National Artist for Painting (1973)

(November 4, 1912 – March 31, 1969)
Carlos “Botong” Francisco, 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, Francisco 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”.
Botong’s unerring eye for composition, the lush tropical sense of color and an abiding
faith in the folk values typified by the townspeople of Angono became the hallmark of
his art.
Harana, 1957 (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Collection)
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 F. Legaspi

(April 2, 1917 – April 7, 1994)
A pioneer “Neo-Realist” of the country, Cesar Legaspi is remembered for his singular
achievement of refining cubism in the Philippine context. Legaspi belonged to the so-called
“Thirteen Moderns” and later, the “Neo-realists”. His distinctive style and daring themes
contributed significantly to the advent and eventual acceptance of modern art in the Philippines.
Legaspi made use of the geometric fragmentation technique, weaving social comment and
juxtaposing the mythical and modern into his overlapping, interacting forms with disturbing
power and intensity.
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

(January 14, 1936 – December 16, 2014)
Abdulmari Asia Imao, 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.
His U.P. art education introduced him to Filipino masters like Guillermo Tolentino and
Napoleon Abueva, who were among his mentors.
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.
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
GUILLERMO TOLENTINO
National Artist for Sculpture (1973)
(July 24, 1890 – July 12, 1976)
Guillermo Estrella Tolentino is 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.
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.
Arturo Luz
Arturo Luz, 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 Luz Gallery that
professionalized the art gallery as an institution and set a prestigious influence over generations
of Filipino artists, Luz inspired and developed a Filipino artistic community that nurtures
impeccable designs.
Night Glows, 1960
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.
Federico Aguilar y Alcuaz

June 6, 1932 – February 2, 2011
Federico Aguilar y Alcuaz, who 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.
Alcuaz belongs to the second generation of Filipino modernists after the fabled Thirteen
Moderns, credited along with Jose Joya, Constancio Bernardo, Fernando Zobel and
Arturo Luz, for building a significant body of abstract art from the arguably more tentative
efforts of their predecessors. Alcuaz went to the UP College of Fine Arts in Diliman while
also taking up his pre-law course at San Beda College. Napoleon Abueva, Jose Joya and
Juvenal Sanso were also in school with him at that time, studying under Fernando
Amorsolo, Guillermo Tolentino, Irineo Miranda, Constancio Bernardo and Toribio Herrera.
He would go on to win prizes at UP and at the national Shell Art competition, and
embarked on several solo exhibits after graduating from San Beda
Alcuaz would go on in 1955 to obtain a law degree at the Ateneo de Manila in Padre
Faura, Manila in deference to his father’s wishes, but after mounting an exhibit at the
legendary Philippine Art Gallery, he received a fellowship from the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs in Spain and proceeded to study at the Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando
in Madrid, where other Filipino expatriates like Juan Luna, Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo,
Fernando Amorsolo, Fabian dela Rosa and Jose Ma. Asuncion received a similar
classical training.
After his studies, he stayed on to live and familiarize himself with the art and culture of
Europe. He had exhibits in Madrid and then in Barcelona, where he met his future wife
Ute Schmidt who he married in 1959. They have three children. In 1964, the family moved
to Manila, but after 4 years his wife returned to Germany with their three sons, whereupon,
Alcuaz embarked once more on shuttling between Europe to see his family and mount
exhibits, and then to Manila, where he preferred to do his studio at the Manila Hilton (now
the Manila Pavilion).
His works are highly favored, not only for its studied refinement and European flair, but
also for the ease and pleasure conveyed by his choice of light, color and composition; all
of which add up to scenes which are always quite playful but never cluttered. His love for
classical music is also apparent in this constant fluidity.
Proclamation No. 1825, s. 2009
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.
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. (Jeremias) Elizalde Navarro

(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).
Morning Mist Over Ubud, Bali (1992)
Francisco Coching

(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

(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

(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

(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.
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.
Lauro “Larry” Alcala

(18 August 1926-24 June 2002)
His comic strips spiced up the slices of Filipino lives with witty illustrations executed
throughout his 56 years of cartooning. He created over 500 characters and 20 comic
strips in widely circulated publications. Alcala’s most iconic work, Slice of Life, not only
made for decades long of widely circulated images of Filipino everyday life, it also
symbolically became an experiential way for his followers to find a sense of self in the
midst of an often cacophonic, raucous and at odds environment that Filipinos found
themselves amidst.
Notable Works:
 Slice of Life Weekend 1980-1986

 Asiong Aksaya, Daily Express, Tagalog Klasiks, 1976-1984
 Smolbatteribols, Darna Komiks 1972-1984
 Siopawman, Daily Express, 1972-1983, 2002
 Kalabogesyons, Pilipino Komiks, 1966-1972
 Congressman Kalog, Aliwan Komiks, 1966-1972
 Baryo Pogspak, Holiday Komiks, 1966-1972
 Loverboy, Redondo Komiks, 1964-1969
 Mang Ambo, Weekly Graphic, 1963-1965
 Kalabog en Bosyo, Pilipino Komiks, 1949-1983
 Islaw Palitaw, 1946-1948
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
(April 22, 1919 – August 21, 2011)
A poet, fictionist, teacher and literary critic, Edith L. Tiempo is one of the finest Filipino
writers in English. Her 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).
Bienvenido Lumbera
April 11, 1932
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.
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
March 9, 1944
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).
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

(July 9, 1941 – May 6, 2018)
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 spanned more than four decades, he 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 held funded and unfunded
workshops throughout the country. In his campus lecture circuits, Bautista updated
students and student-writers on literary developments and techniques.
As a teacher of literature, Bautista 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 contributed 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 provided 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 JOQUIN
(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
Apocalypse and The Order of Melchizedek. Nick Joaquin has written plays, novels,
poems, short stories and essays including reportage and journalism. As a journalist,
Nick Joaquin uses the nome de guerre Quijano de Manila but whether he is writing
literature or journalism, fellow National Artist Francisco Arcellana opines that “it is
always of the highest skill and quality”.
Among his voluminous works are The Woman Who Had Two Navels, A Portrait of
the Artist as Filipino, Manila, My Manila: A History for the Young, The Ballad of
the Five Battles, Rizal in Saga, Almanac for Manileños, Cave and Shadows.
Nick Joaquin died on April 29, 2004.
AMADO V. HERNANDEZ
National Artist for Literature
(September 13, 1903 – May 24, 1970)
Amado V. Hernandez, poet, playwright, and novelist, is among the Filipino writers who
practiced “committed art.” In his view, the function of the writer is to act as the
conscience of society and to affirm the greatness of the human spirit in the face of
inequity and oppression. 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
December 3, 1924
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
Carlos P. Romulo‘s multifaceted career spanned 50 years of public service as an

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 have received national and international awards.
Ever the champion of Filipino culture, Roces brought to public attention to 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.
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 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.
Resil B. Mojares
Birthday: 4 September 1943
A teacher and scholar, essayist and fictionist, and cultural and literary historian, Resil
Mojares is acknowledged as a leading figure in the promotion of regional literature and
history. As founding director of the Cebuano Studies Center—an important research
institution which placed Cebu in the research and documentation map—he pioneered
Cebuano and national identity formation. As a leading figure in cultural and literary history,
he networked actively in many organizations. For over 50 years, Mojares has published
in diverse forms (fiction, essay, journalism, scholarly articles, and books) across a wide
range of discipline (literature, history, biography, cultural studies, and others). To date, he
has 17 published books (3 more in the press) and edited, co-edited, or co-authored 11
books, and written numerous articles for popular and scholarly publications.
Notable Works:
 Origins and Rise of the Filipino Novel: A Generic Study of the Novel Until 1940
(Quezon City, UP Press, 1983; second ed. 1998)
 The Man Who Would Be President: Serging Osmeña and Philippine Politics
(Cebu: Maria Cacao, 1986)
 Waiting for Mariang Makiling: Essays on Philippine Cultural History
(Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2002)
 Theater in Society, Society in Theater: Social History of a Cebuano Village, 1840-
1940 (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1985)
 The War Against the Americans: Resistance and Collaboration in Cebu, 1899-
1906 (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1999)
 House of Memory: Essays (Metro Manila: Anvil Publishing, 1997)
 Brains of the Nation: Pedro Paterno, T.H. Pardo de Tavera, Isabelo de los Reyes
and the Production of Modern Knowledge
(Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2006)
 Isabelo’s Archive (Metro Manila: Anvil Publishing, 2013).
Ramon L. Muzones (+)
(20 March 1913-17 August 1992)
Ramon Muzones was a Hiligaynon poet, essayist, short story writer, critic, grammarian,
editor, lexicographer, and novelist who authored an unprecedented 61 completed
novels. A number of these represent groundbreaking “firsts’ in Hiligaynon literature such
as the feminist Ang Bag-ong Maria Clara, the roman a clef Maambong Nga
Sapat (Magnificent Brute,1940), the comic Si Tamblot (1946), the politically satirical Si
Tamblot Kandidato Man (Tamblot is Also a Candidate, 1949), the 125- installment
longest serialized novel Dama de Noche (1982-84), etc. Hailed by his peers as the
longest reigning (1938-1972) among “the three kings of the Hiligaynon novel,” Muzones
brought about its most radical changes while ushering in modernism. With a literary
career that spanned fifty-three years (1938-1990), his evolution covers the whole history
of the Hiligaynon novel from its rise in the 1940s to its decline in the 1970s. Muzones
tried his hand at a variety of types and proved adept in all as literary fashions. In the
process, he not only extended with remarkable versatility and inventiveness the scope
and style of the Hiligaynon novel, but he also enriched Hiligaynon literature’s dramatis
personae.
Notable Works:
 Shri-Bishaya (1969)
 Malala nga Gutom (Malignant Hunger,1965)
 Babae Batuk sa Kalibutan (Woman Against the World,1959)
 Ang Gugma sang Gugma Bayaran (Love with Love Be Paid, 1955)
 Si Tamblot (1948)
 Margosatubig (1946)
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.
THEATER DESIGN
Salvador F. Bernal
NATIONAL ARTIST FOR THEATER DESIGN

JANUARY 7, 1945 – OCTOBER 26, 2011
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 1920s 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 1940s, 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.
Ramon Obusan

(June 16, 1938 – December 21, 2006)
Ramon Obusan was 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.
Among the full-length productions he choreographed are the following:
“Vamos a Belen! Series” (1998-2004) Philippine Dances Tradition

“Noon Po sa Amin,” tableaux of Philippine History in song, drama and dance
“Obra Maestra,” a collection of Ramon Obusan’s dance masterpieces
“Unpublished Dances of the Philippines,” Series I-IV
“Water, Fire and Life, Philippine Dances and Music–A Celebration of Life
Saludo sa Sentenyal”
“Glimpses of ASEAN, Dances and Music of the ASEAN-Member Countries”
“Saplot (Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group): Philippines Costumes in Dance”
Alice Reyes
OCTOBER 14, 1942
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 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
NATIONAL ARTIST FOR MUSIC
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
FEBRUARY 19, 1941 – SEPTEMBER 19, 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.
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
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 Pagayon Santos
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 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 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 believed that the sarswela and the kundiman express 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.
Ryan Cayabyab
Birthday: 4 May 1954
Mr. C the most accomplished composer, arranger, and musical director in the Philippine
music industry since this bloomed beginning 1970s. His learned, skillful, and versatile
musical style spans a wide range of genres: from conservatory or art compositions such
as concert religious music, symphonic work, art song, opera, and concerto to mainstream
popular idioms in the music industry and in live contemporary multimedia shows (musical
theater, dance, and film). Being very visible in the national media (once a TV host of a
long-running arts and culture series and recently a judge in reality TV singing
competitions), Cayabyab is a household name. His compositions reflect a perspective of
music that extols the exuberance of life and human happiness, thus capturing the very
essence of our Filipino soul.
Notable Works:
 Rama-Hari (Two-act musical ballet, 1980)

 Katy! The Musical (Two-act musical, 1988)
 Smokey Mountain (Pop CD album, 1990)
 One Christmas (Christmas Album, 1993)
 Noli Me Tangere (Tele-sine musical, 1995)
 Spoliarium (Three-act opera, 2003)
 Ignacio Of Loyola (Film Score, 2016)
 Larawan: The Musical (Full-length musical film, 2017)
 Da Coconut Nut
 Kay Ganda Ng Ating Musika
 Nais Ko
 Paraiso
 Kahit Ika’y Panaginip Lang
 Kailan
 Tuwing Umuulan at Kapiling Ka
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 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 believed that the sarswela and the kundiman express 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
NATIONAL ARTIST FOR THEATER DESIGN

JANUARY 7, 1945 – OCTOBER 26, 2011
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

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)
FEBRUARY 12, 1915 – APRIL 25, 1991
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).
Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio
Birthday: 4 April 1930
Known as the Grand Dame of Southeast Asian children’s theatre, Tita Amel is the founder
and playwright-director of the Teatrong Mulat ng Pilipinas, which has placed the
Philippines on the artistic map of world theater. She has written most of the plays
performed by the group based on materials culled from painstaking researches. She has
also been involved in the production and design of puppets. All in all, what she has
achieved is an indigenous fusion of puppetry, children’s literature, folklore, and theater.
Notable Works:
 6 na Dulang Filipino Para Sa Mga Bata, 1976

 Tat-lu-han (Three Plays), 1975
 Ang Paglalakbay ni Sisa: Isang Noh Sa Laguna, 1998
 Isang Kyogen sa Pritil, 1977
 Sepang Loca, 1957
 Papet Pasyon, 1985
 Abadeja: Ang Ating Sinderela, 1977

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ARCHITECTURE

Antonio’s major works include the following: Far Eastern University

Leandro V. Locsin reshaped the urban landscape with a distinctive architecture

Ildefonso Paez Santos, Jr., distinguished himself by pioneering the practice of

JOSÉ MARÍA V. ZARAGOZA

José María V. Zaragoza’s place in Philippine architecture history is defined by a

Zaragoza is a pillar of modern architecture in the Philippines buttressed by a half-

National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts (1997)

National Artist for Cinema (2001)

He is recognized as a director of films that serve as social commentaries and bold

National Artist for Cinema (2009)

Born on October 9, 1915 and christened Manuel Pabustan Urbano, Manuel

Gerardo “Gerry” De Leon

National Artist for Cinema (1982)

National Artist for Cinema (2006)

He died on December 14, 2004

National Artist for Cinema (2003)

 Balikbayan #1: Memories of Overdevelopment Redux (2015)

National Artist for Visual Arts (1991)

Hernando R. Ocampo, a self-taught painter, was a leading member of the pre-war

Ocampo’s acknowledged masterpiece Genesis served as the basis of the curtain

BENEDICTO ‘BENCAB’ CABRERA

*from the citation

Madonna with Objects, 1991

Carlos “Botong” Francisco

National Artist for Painting (1973)

Harana, 1957 (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Collection)

National Artist for Visual Arts (1990)

Abdulmari Asia Imao

National Artist for Visual Arts (2006)

Abdulmari Asia Imao, a native of Sulu, is a sculptor, painter, photographer, ceramist,

Industry Brass Mural, Philippine National Bank, San Fernando, La Union

Guillermo Estrella Tolentino is a product of the Revival period in Philippine art.

National Artist for Visual Arts (1997)

Night Glows, 1960

Among his other significant paintings are Bagong Taon, Vendador de

Federico Aguilar y Alcuaz

June 6, 1932 – February 2, 2011

Proclamation No. 1825, s. 2009

J. (Jeremias) Elizalde Navarro

National Artist for Painting (1999)

National Artist for Visual Arts (2014)

Francisco Coching, acknowledged as the “Dean of Filipino Illustrators” and son of

He also left a lasting influence on the succeeding generations of younger cartoonist

National Artist for Painting (1976)

The Sketch, 1928

National Artist for Visual Arts (2001)

Ang Kiukok died on May 9, 2005

National Artist for Visual Arts (2003)

National Artist for Painting (1981)

Mother and Child, 1967

Manansala’s works include A Cluster of Nipa Hut, San Francisco Del

Lauro “Larry” Alcala

 Slice of Life Weekend 1980-1986

(from “The Mats”, Philippine Contemporary Literature, 1963)

April 11, 1932

Bienvenido Lumbera, is a poet, librettist, and scholar.

Nestor Vicente Madali Gonzalez, better known as N.V.M. Gonzalez, fictionist,

National Artist for Literature (2003)

National Artist for Literature (2014)

As a teacher of literature, Bautista realized that the classroom is an important training

Thus, Bautista contributed to the development of Philippine literature: as a writer,

Nick Joaquin died on April 29, 2004.