Compromising the National Artist Awards

By Behn Cervantes
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 21:43:00 08/14/2009

Filed Under: Awards and Prizes, Conflicts (general)

MANILA, Philippines—The highest honor given to our deserving artists is the National Artist award, conceived over two decades ago by then First Lady Imelda Marcos.

The award was prestigious and highly respected because the artists cited were undoubtedly deserving of the accolade. It’s the ultimate honor this nation can bestow upon an artist for his/her body of work.

Hardly was there a hint of politics at play as Mrs. Marcos was properly advised. To prevent politics from having an undue hand in this particular award, a selection process and research committees were set up. In the beginning, it was Mrs. Marcos and her advisers who selected artists who were obvious cultural icons.

Selection process

With time, it became vital that an unbiased selection process be set up. The responsibility was given to the Cultural Center of Philippines’ Board of Trustees. However, in due time, the National Commission of Culture and the Arts was included.

As a member of the CCP board, I saw inherent problems. To begin with, the NCCA has more voting members than the CCP Board of Trustees. Furthermore, the National Artist Award Law allows the President to add names other than those cited by the Selection Committee, so we persuaded those close to the Palace to advise the President not to include names that did not pass the selection process, since past “dagdag National Artists” were received negatively by the artistic community.

Prerogative

Not too long ago, I pleaded with a Palace official to convince the President not to include a name unworthy of the National Artist Award. I recommended that the President could bestow a Presidential Award upon that person, instead, since that was her prerogative.

I would have expected Cecile Guidote-Alvarez to do as much as the cultural adviser of President Arroyo. So, imagine the shock when Ms Alvarez was declared the National Artist for Theater when she had not even been nominated, and did not go through the selection process she was a significant part of (as the head of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts).

Topping it all was the inclusion of Carlo J. Caparas, a film director best known for gory massacre films. Is he in the same class as Gerry de Leon, Lamberto Avellana, Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal or Eddie Romero?

To our shock, Dr. Ramon Santos, whom we chose as National Artist for Music, was taken off the list. He had been highly recommended by his peers for his talent, body of work and creative integrity.

The dagdag-bawas insults all Filipino artists. It’s an audacious act that turns the National Artist Award into a political achievement rather than an artistic accomplishment.

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