ARTS

PROMOTION AND
PRESERVATION
ART
• Is a national heritage that is essential in building the nation
and ensuring democracy.
• Paintings, sculpture, songs, dances, poetry and other art
forms remind people of the origins, histories, struggles and
triumphs of the nation.
• When people, for example, look at the Rizal monument in
Luneta or sing the national anthem, they are participating in
the expression of the country’s nationhood.
ART
• When citizens are conscious and proud of their cultural
heritage, they became active agents in nation building.
• As part of the democratic thrust of the Corazon Aquino
administration, Executive Order No. 118 created the
Presidential Commission on Culture and the Arts in 1987.
• Five years later, Republic Act 7356 established the National
Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).
NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR
CULTURE AND THE ARTS
• The NCCA is the country’s “overall policy making body, coordinating,
and grants giving agency for the preservation, development, and
promotion of Philippine arts and culture”.
• The creation of NCCA serves as the state’s initiative to promote and
develop art and culture awareness in the country.
• The need for a government institution for culture and arts
dissemination is imperative because the Philippines is composed of
many regions.
• The NCCA, through its committees and subcommittees, ensures that
the interests of the various regions are represented.
6 ARTS AND CULTURAL
GOVERNMENT
AGENCIES UNDER THE
NCCA
1. CULTURAL CENTER OF THE
PHILIPPINES (CCP)
• For almost 50 years, CCP has been serving as the
premier venue in the Philippines for culture an the
arts.
• It has hosted numerous shows and exhibitions on
both performance and visual arts.
• CCP is also responsible for bringing together the
different arts from various regions to the entire
country and the whole world.
CULTURAL CENTER OF THE
PHILIPPINES (CCP)
• It is home to nine artistic resident companies such as
1. National Music Competition for Young Artists Foundation (NAMCYA)
2. Ballet Philippines
3. Philippine Madrigal Singers
4. Philippine Ballet Theater
5. UST Symphony Orchestra
6. Tanghalanag Pilipino
7. Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company
8. Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group
• These companies regularly stage productions,
conducts workshops and provide outreach to
the community.
Founded in 1969 by Alice Reyes with the support of Eddie Elejar
and the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Ballet Philippines (BP)
is widely recognized today as a cornerstone of the Filipino
cultural identity. Its audience represents a cross-section of
Manila’s populace and includes visitors from around the country
and around the world. Each year outreach and educational
programs introduce new generations of audience members not
only to dance, but to music and visual art as well. BP’s official
school, the CCP Dance School, continues to produce dancers of
international caliber. As the dance company in residence at the
Cultural Center of the Philippines, Ballet Philippines is globally
recognized as the country’s flagship company in ballet and
contemporary dance.
With a treasure trove of over 400 works, Ballet
Philippines’ wide ranging, eclectic repertory is
unparalleled in Asia. From full-length classical ballets
and internationally recognized masterworks to
indigenous works of Filipino folklore and social
issues, the company weaves a colorful tapestry of
the Philippine’s rich and diverse cultural heritage –
uniquely and distinctly Filipino.
The Company’s achievements, coupled with
the generous and prestigious support of
numerous local and national funding
sources, have dramatically strengthened
BP’s position as a world-class ballet
company within the local, national, and
international arts communities.
As the Philippines’ premiere dance
company, now in its 43rd season, BP
continues its vision of nurturing the
best Filipino dance artists, in year long
program of professional and
developmental dance.
BAYANIHAN
DANCE
COMPANY
Bayanihan, the National Dance Company of the Philippines takes
its name from an ancient Filipino tradition called Bayanihan,
which means working together for a common good. In 1956 Dr.
Helena Z Benitez founded the Bayanihan Folk Dance Group of
the Philippine Women’s University. The following year, 1957, it
was formally organized as the Bayanihan Folk Arts Center with
the Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company as its performing arm.
Both the center and the dance company were tasked to
research on and preserve indigenous Philippine art forms in
music, dance, costumes and folklore; to restructure and enhance
these research findings to evolve repertoires suited to the
demands of contemporary theater; and to promote international
goodwill through performances at home and abroad.
Since its formal organization the company has
mounted fourteen (14) major tours (of six months
to a year in duration) to Asia, Australia, Africa,
Europe, the Middle East and Americas and over a
hundred short tours to foreign countries. In half a
century Bayanihan has performed in six continents,
sixty-six countries and 700 cities world wide.
A multi-awarded company, both nationally
and internationally, Bayanihan has
awakened a new pride among Filipinos in
their cultural heritage; added a new
dimension to the country’s dance tradition;
and has built a rich reserve of international
goodwill.
In appreciation and recognition of their
pioneering efforts and international success,
the people of the Philippines through the 10th
Congress enacted R.A. 8626 declaring the
Bayanihan Philippine Dance Company as The
Philippines National Folk Dance Company.
Since then Bayanihan has won 6 Grand prizes
in World Dance competitions.
 BALLET
PHILIPPINES
Founded in 1987, Philippine Ballet Theatre
(PBT) has established itself as the pre-
eminent classical ballet company in the
Philippines today. It was borne out of an
alliance of leading dance groups in the
eighties but immediately won recognition
as a resident ballet company of the
Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Philippine Ballet Theatre has now expanded its vision and
pursues the goal of bringing the upscale art of dance to general
appreciation among Filipino audiences. With its concurrent
preservation of the rich and elegant classical story ballets, such
as Swan Lake, Giselle, Nutcracker, and Raymonda, PBT also
launches contemporary ballets that are of emotional depth,
dramatic realism and stark inventiveness like the critically
acclaimed Carmina Burana and Daughters of Mourning
(Bernarda Alba). Its repertoire continues to dazzle and amaze
various audiences with its distinct and poetic delicacy and
refined sophistication.
The company has traveled in national and
international tours presenting the best of
its Filipino and Western repertoire;
highlighting the company’s commitment to
artistic excellence in the classical, neo-
classical and pop-classical traditions.
PHILIPPINE
MADRIGAL
SINGERS
The University of the Philippines Madrigal Singers was organized in 1963 by
National Artist Professor Andrea O. Veneracion. The group is composed of students,
faculty and alumni from the different colleges of the University of the Philippines
(UP). The choir is one of the world’s most awarded, having consistently won all the
top prizes in most of the world’s prestigious choral competitions: Concorso
Polifónico Guido d’Arezzo (Arezzo, Italy); Concorso e Festival Internazionale Di
Canto Corale “Seghizzi” (Gorizia, Italy); International Chamber Choir Competition
(Marktoberdorf, Germany); International Chorwettbewerb (Spittal, Austria); Festival
Choral International de Neuchatel (Neuchatel, Switzerland); Florilège Vocal de Tours
(Tours, France); International May Choir Competition Prof. G. Dimitrov (Varna,
Bulgaria); Béla Bartók International Choir Competition (Debrecen, Hungary);
Festival Internacional de Música de Cantonigròs (Cantonigros, Spain), Certamen
Coral de Tolosa (Tolosa, Basque Country, Spain) and Certamen Internacional de
Habaneras y Polifonia (Torrevieja, Spain). They hold the distinction of being the first
choir in the world to win the European Grand Prix for Choral Singing twice(1997
and 2007).
The ensemble performs a wide repertoire of various styles and forms:
renaissance music, classical music, Filipino and international folksongs,
contemporary and avant-garde music, opera and even popular music.
Their specialization and focus on the madrigal idiom has inspired their
unique set-up of singing while seated in a semi-circle, without a
conductor.

The influence of the UP Madrigal Singers on the Philippine and Asian

choral scene has also been far-reaching. Since 1963, more than 200
singers have joined the choir, many of whom are now choral and vocal
pedagogues actively involved in organizing and conducting choirs. This
eventually led to the organization of the Madz Et Al, a network of choirs
who gather regularly for festivals and workshops. To date, the network
has a membership of almost 60 choirs from all over the country. This
contributes to the now very active choral life in the Philippines.
Through the direction of Mark Anthony Carpio, the corps of
composers and choral arrangers of the UP Madrigal Singers
continue to produce new compositions and choral settings of
Philippine, Asian and international songs, thus contributing to the
growth of world choral literature.

The UP Madrigal Singers also maintain an active outreach and

concert tour schedule, performing in far-flung areas of the
Philippines seldom reached by choral artists. With an average of
two overseas concert tours a year, the UP Madrigal Singers is
the country’s most active ambassadors of goodwill and perhaps,
also one of the world’s most-traveled choirs.
The group was recognized in 2009 by the UNESCO as Artists for Peace for “putting
fame and influence at the service of UNESCO’s ideals and efforts to promote cultural
diversity, intercultural dialogue and a culture of peace”. Then in 2010, the Concorso
Polifonico Guido d’ Arezzo Foundation honored the group with the Guidoneum Award
by for “their artistic and choral promotion activity”. In July 2012, the group became the
first choir in the world to receive The BrandLaureate Premier Award from the Asia
Pacific Brands Foundation, in recognition for its “significant contribution to the world of
choral music, producing new compositions and choral settings for Philippine, Asian and
International songs, spreading the beauty of this genre and giving a good musical
experience to the audience.”

In 2013, the Philippine Madrigal Singers have been invited to perform during the
American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) National Convention in Dallas, Texas
and during the America Cantat in Bogota, Columbia. All these coincide with the group’s
celebration of its 50th year.
 PHILIPPINE
HARMONIC
ORCHESTRA
The Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra (PPO)
is the country’s leading orchestra and is
widely regarded as one of the top musical
ensembles in the Asia-Pacific region. The
Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra was
established on May 15, 1973 as the CCP
Philharmonic Orchestra and was initially
intended to accompany performing artists at
the CCP Theater.
The PPO’s first music director was Prof.
Luis Valencia with Julian Quirit as
concertmaster. In 1979, then First Lady
Imelda R. Marcos asked Prof. Oscar C.
Yatco to reorganize the orchestra. Three
years later, the Philippine Philharmonic
Orchestra was born with a new vision –
to be ranked among the best in the world.
The PPO has performed with many of the
world’s renowned conductors that include
Mendi Rodan, Piero Gamba, Enrique Batis,
Sebastian Bereau and Nicholas Koch. It has
also performed with the best foreign and
Filipino artists such as Van Cliburn, Renata
Tebaldi, Judith Engel, Anthony Camden, David
Benoit, Cecile Licad, Raul Sunico and Lea
Salonga.
The PPO has toured Europe in 2001 and has
participated in the Asia Orchestra Week in
September 2002 held at the Tokyo Opera City
Hall upon the invitation of the Association of
Japanese Symphony Orchestras. It has
performed at Bangkok’s National Theater in
September 2004 upon the invitation of Her
Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vandhana of
Thailand.
The PPO has premiered Filipino compositions
and has featured works by foreign composers
not yet performed in the Philippines. It
continues to promote music appreciation
through outreach concerts in schools,
parishes, government agencies and
underserved communities in Metro Manila and
in different regions in the country
The Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group
(ROFG) celebrates 32 years of
preservation and perpetuation of
Philippine traditions with special
emphasis on music and dance.
Founded in 1972, the ROFG started as a
fledging folk dance company, composed of
some thirty performers. Leaning on the vast
amount of data and artifacts that he has
accumulated while he was doing researches,
Ramon A. Obusan thought of starting a dance
company that will mirror the traditional culture
of the Filipinos through dance and music.
For thirty-two years, the ROFG has
created a niche in the world of dance as
forerunner of Philippine folk dance
performed closest to the original. Boasting
of over a thousand performances in the
Philippines and abroad, the ROFG is one
of the Cultural Center of the Philippines’
leading resident companies since 1986.
Though steep with international recognition, the ROFG
has never forgotten the people who are the very source
of its pride. For the past two decades it has documented
and performed the rituals of more than 50 ethno-
linguistic groups in the country. With more than twenty
outstanding full-length Filipino dance works, among
which are the memorable suites from the Cordillera,
Bagobo, T’boli, Tausug, Maranao, the Aetas and the
Talaandig among others – the ROFG has served to
highlight the authenticity of the movements and
costumes of these people.
Tanghalang Pilipino (TP) is the resident
drama company of the Cultural Center of
the Philippines. Since it was established in
1987, it has successfully presented 114
productions within 15 seasons while
generating one of the best attendance
records among the CCP’s resident
companies.
Tanghalang Pilipino challenges each
Filipino to remain committed to
his moral convictions, to uphold
what is right and just, and
therefore fulfill a social
responsibility shared by all.
Tanghalang Pilipino envisions raising Philippine theatre to heights
of professional and artistic excellence, dedicated to developing
and training actors, playwrights and designers with special
emphasis in the production of original Filipino plays. By staging
plays from the repertoire of Philippine past and plays in
translation from other countries, TP hopes to bring to the
experience of both artists and audience the best of Philippine and
global theater tradition. It looks forward to educating and
awakening the cultural consciousness of the Filipino audiences
through its regular performances and other related activities like
workshops, symposia and interactions.
In recognition of the Filipinos’ innate love for music, the National Music
Competitions for Young Artists (NAMCYA) was formally organized in
1973 under Presidential Proclamation 1173, and amended in November
1988 as a response to the “Imperative need to preserve, develop and
promote Philippine music as an art and as a handmaid of cultural
development. PP1173 designated the last week of November of each year
as National Music Week, with the NAMCYA Competitions as the main
highlights of the celebration. In 2001 President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
signed Presidential Proclamation No. 80 which affirms NAMCYA’s mission
for the nation’s young artists. This proclamation further designates the
National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) as the primary
supporting agency of this endeavour.
NAMCYA has been a principal instrument
in discovering major music talents from all
over the country. Its projects have involved
and continue to involve countless musicians,
trainers and administrators, all serving in
the difficult but fulfilling process of selecting
the best artists from all seventeen regions
of the nation annually.
.

NAMCYA carries out a three-fold program:

discovering outstanding young Filipino musicians
from every region of the country through annual
competitions; developing these musicians through
Workshops and Training Programs; and enhancing
and expanding the appreciation for and
performance of Filipino music by way of mandated
competition repertoire programs and
commissioning of new works.
In 1927, Dr. Manuel Casas of the University of Santo
Tomas (UST) College of Medicine founded the UST
Symphony Orchestra. Also serving as the conductor, he
formed the group with university students. After four
public performances from 1929 to 1931, the group
apparently disbanded and was reorganized in 1961 by
National Artist for Music Antonio Buenaventura. The
orchestra subsequently embarked on a concert tour in
nearby provinces aside from performing within the
metropolis.
The orchestra presently consists of 70 student-members
with 15 UST faculty and staff. Many of the student-
members are former winners of national music
competitions. Others have qualified for scholarships
abroad or participated in summer camps like those held
in the ASEAN countries in Australia. Some of these
instrumentalists have had stints with world-class youth
ensembles such as the Asian Youth Orchestra and the
World Youth Orchestra. As a resident performing group
of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the orchestra
performs regularly at the CCP.
https://www.culturalcen
ter.gov.ph/programs/res
ident-companies
2. NATIONAL HISTORIC COMMISSION
OF THE PHILIPPINES (NHCP)
• The NHCP was created with a vision of “a
Filipino society with citizens informed of their
history, who love their country and are proud
of their cultural heritage”.
NATIONAL HISTORIC COMMISSION OF
THE PHILIPPINES (NHCP)
• The NHCP carries out its mandate by
promoting “Philippine history and cultural
heritage through research, dissemination,
conservation, sites management and heraldy
works.”
NATIONAL HISTORIC COMMISSION OF
THE PHILIPPINES (NHCP)
• Much of the work done by NHCP is the
identification, conservation and restoration of
historical sites around the different regions of
the country.
NATIONAL HISTORIC COMMISSION OF
THE PHILIPPINES (NHCP)
• Through the efforts of the NHCP, Filipinos may have
awareness and appreciation of the noble deeds and
ideals of our heroes and other illustrious Filipinos, to
instill pride in the Filipino race and to rekindle the
Filipino spirit through the lessons of history, to have a
nation whose people value the past looking into the
future.
NATIONAL HISTORIC COMMISSION OF
THE PHILIPPINES (NHCP)
• Recently, the NHCP erected and dedicated a
monument in Parang, Maguindanao, in honor of
Salipada K. Pendatum, to honor his invaluable
contribution in Philippine history.
3. NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE
PHILIPPINES
4. NATIONAL LIBRARY OF THE
PHILIPPINES (NLP)
• Established in 1901, the NLP was then called the American Circulating Library
to serve as ‘memorial to American servicemen who died in Philippine soil”.
• Today, the NLP has the mandate of serving as a “repository of printed and
recorded cultural heritage of the country and other intellectual literary and
information sources” and providing “access to these resources for our people’s
intellectual growth, citizenship building, lifelong learning and enlightenment.”
• The NLP is home to rare books and documents such as Acta de la
Proclamation de la Independencia del Pueblo Filipino and the manuscript of the
trial of Andres Bonifacio.
5. THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES
OF THE PHILIPPINES
• The history of the National Archives goes back to the
Treaty of Paris in 1898 “which stipulated the
relinquishment or cession of documents from Spanish to
American authorities and provided for the preservation of
documents”.
• Today, the National Archives of the Philippines is guardian
to over 400 documents from the Spanish era dating 1552-
1900 and various records from the American period to
the Republic.
• To be seen at the National Archives of the Philippines is a
map and plan dating 1883 for the Archbishop’s Palace of
Nueva Segovia as approved by the Governor General of
the Philippines.
6. KOMISYON SA WIKANG
FILIPINO (KWF)
• The KWF or the Commission on the Filipino Language was created
via Republic Act No. 7104 . “Congress shall establish a national
language commission composed of representatives of various
regions and disciplines which shall undertake, coordinate and
promote researches for the development, propagation, and
preservation of Filipino and other Philippine languages.”
• To promote and develop our national language, the KWF has
annually given the Talaang Ginto: Makata ng Taon for Filipino poetry,
Aklat ng Bayan. And other grants or programs on fundings, awards
and projects.