21st Century Artists, National Artists

National Artists
Music
Levi Celerio

Born April 30, 1910 in Tondo, Manila, Philippines

Died April 2, 2002 in Quezon City, Philippines (emphysema)

Levi Celerio, had his left hand injured when he was just a child due to climbing up a tree. the reason why
he did because he was following his father, the day his father abandoned him and his mother. That's also
the reason why in every show he couldn't play for a long period of time. "Celerio" is the surname of his
mother. His mother prefered to let her son use her surname because she was not married to Levi's father.
Levi Celerio now have a successor of his talents, not only through his son's and daughter but through his
Biological grandchildren, Louis Brando Celerio and Joan Levinia Celerio.

 Composer and lyricist.

 Wrote lyrics for more than 4,000 Filipino folk and love songs.
 Made the Guinness Book of Records for playing music using leaves.
 Wrote lyrics for more than 4,000 Filipino folk, Christmas and love songs, including many that
became movie titles.
 He was awarded the title of national artist for music and literature in 1997 by Philippines
President Fidel Ramos, who cited the prolific lyricist and composer for writing music "that was
a perfect embodiment of the heartfelt sentiments and valued traditions of the Filipino."

LUCRECIA R. KASILAG

Lucrecia Roces Kasilag was born on August 31, in San Fernando, La Union. Music was introduced to her
at an early age by her mother, Asuncion Roces, a music teacher. She learned to play the bandurria and
guitar at an early age. Every weekend, she and all five of her siblings performed as the “Kasilag Rondalla”
before their mother.

She excelled in academics as well, graduating valedictorian at Paco Elementary School and the
Philippine Women’s University (PWU) High School. She obtained Bachelor of Arts degree in English, at
the PWU, cum laude.

Even with her academic achievements, she never turned her back on music. Aside from taking piano
lessons under Concha Cuervo and Pura Lacson-Villanueva, the young Lucrecia also took a diploma
course in music teaching at St. Scholastica’s College. Shortly thereafter she enrolled for bachelor’s
degree in music at PWU, and pursued graduate studies in music at the Eastman School of Music,
University of Rochester in New York.

She taught at St. Scholastica’s College, Assumption College, the University of the Philippines
Conservatory of Music, and PWU, where she became dean of the College of Music and Fine Arts from
1953 to 1977. She was president of the Cultural Center of the Philippines during the Marcos years and
special consultant during the Aquino administration. She also held key positions in both national and
international music organizations, including the League of Filipino Composers, National Music Council of
the Philippines, Regional Music Commission of Southeast Asia, Philippine Society for Music Education,
Asian Composers League, and the National Music Competition for Young Artists Foundation. She also
reaped international recognition as musical director of the Bayanihan Dance Company.

Kasilag wrote more than 200 compositions which include folksongs, opera, and orchestral works. Her
orchestral body of work includes “Love Songs,” “Legend of the Sarimanok,” “Ang Pamana,” “Philippine
Scenes,” “Her Son,” “Jose,” “Sisa,” “Awit ng mga Awit Psalms,” “Fantaisie on a 4-Note Theme,” and “East
Meets Jazz Ethnika.”

As educator, composer, and performer, Kasilag was known for incorporating indigenous Filipino music
with Western influences, thus paving the way for more experimentation among Filipino musicians. She
also did pioneering research on Filipino ethnic dances and culture. In 1989, she was the lone addition to
the roster of National Artists. She was conferred honorary doctorate degrees by the Centro Escolar
University, PWU, and New York’s St. John’s University. Fondly called “Tita King,” Kasilag died on August
16, 2008.

Jose Maceda

Maceda, José (b. January 31, 1917, Manila – d. May 5, 2004, Quezon City). Philippine composer of
interdisciplinary works that have been performed throughout the world; he is also active as an
ethnomusicologist.

Prof. Maceda studied piano with Victorina Lobregat at the Academy of Music in Manila, where he
graduated in 1935, and with Alfred Cortot at the École Normale de Musique de Paris from 1937–41. Later
he studied in the USA, including private piano studies with E. Robert Schmitz in San Francisco from
1946–49 and musicology studies at Queens College and Columbia University from 1950–52. He then
studied anthropology at the University of Chicago and ethnomusicology at Indiana University in 1957–58
and the University of California at Los Angeles from 1961–63, where he earned his PhD. He also worked
with the Groupe de Recherches Musicales in Paris in 1958.

Achievements

Among his many honors are grants from the Guggenheim (1957–58, for study in the USA) and
Rockefeller (1968, for research in Africa and Brazil) foundations, the honor l'Ordre des Palmes
Académiques in France (1978) and the University of The Philippines Outstanding Research Award
(1985). He has also received the John D. Rockefeller Award from the Asian Cultural Council in New York
(1987), the Philippine National Science Society Achievement Award (1988), the award Tanglaw ng Lahi
from Ateneo University (1988), and the award Gawad ng Lahi from the Cultural Center of The Philippines
(1989).Furthermore, he has received the Fumio Koizumi Award for Ethnomusicology in Japan (1992), the
National Research Council Award (1993), the award Araw ng Maynila (1996), the Nikkei Award in Tokyo
(1997), the award of the Fondazione Civitella Ranieri in Italy (1997), and the title of National Artist for
Music (1998). He also holds the titles of Officier dans l'Ordre National du Mérite (1997) and Chevalier de
la Légion d'Honneur (2001) from the government of France.

Career

Initially active as a pianist, he appeared in France, The Philippines and the USA from 1935–57, during
which time he introduced many new works, mainly by French composers, and pioneered a French style of
piano playing in The Philippines. He also appeared as a conductor of avant-garde music that he arranged
for various Philippine organizations and UNESCO from 1964–68 and introduced music by Edgard
Varèse, Iannis Xenakis and other composers alongside Chinese and Philippine music.

He taught as Professor of Piano and Ethnomusicology at the University of The Philippines from 1952–90,
where he was named a University Professor in 1988 and as professor emeritus until 2004. He served as
Executive Director of its Center for Ethnomusicology from 1997–2004. He has also given lectures
throughout the world, including the Charles Seeger Lecture at the meeting of the Society for
Ethnomusicology in Los Angeles in 1984 and a lecture as the International Arts Symposium Speaker at
the National Academy of Arts in Seoul in 1994. Most recently, he spoke at the Arts Summit in Indonesia in
1995, was the Rayson Huang Visiting Lecturer at the University of Hong Kong in 1999 and served as the
Jean-MacDuff Vaux composer-in-residence at Mills College in 2000.

Legacy

Prof. Maceda has devoted much of his time to ethnomusicological studies of the music of The Philippines
and Southeast Asia since 1953. He has done field music research throughout The Philippines and in
eastern and western Africa, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam and has
written extensively about this research for publications in Canada, Germany, Malaysia, The Philippines,
the UK, and the USA.

He wrote the book Gongs and Bamboos: A Panorama of Philippine Music Instruments (1998, University
of The Philippines Press) and the composer-pianist Yuji Takahashi translated many of his articles into
Japanese in the book Drone and Melody (1989, Shinjuku Shobo Company). In addition, the University of
The Philippines in Quezon City contains an archive of more than 2,500 hours of his field recordings in 51
language groups, complete with musical instruments, photographs, text transcriptions, and translations.

Antonio Molina

Antonio Molina (26 December 1894 – 29 January 1980) was a Filipino composer, conductor and music
administrator. He was named a National Artist of the Philippines for his services to music. He was also
known as the Claude Debussy of the Philippines due to his use of impressionist themes in his music.
Antonio J. Molina

Born:December 26, 1894

Quiapo, Manila, Captaincy General of the Philippines

Died January 29, 1980 (aged 85) Molina was born in Quiapo, Manila, the son of Juan Molina, a
government official, who founded the Molina Orchestra.[1]:147 He attended the Escuela Catolica de
Nuestro Padre Jesus Nazareno in Quiapo, Manila, and college at San Juan De Letran where he was
awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1909.

Musical career

Molina made his first composition in 1912 titled Matinal, which is preserved in an unpublished volume
called Miniaturas, Vol. 1. He was appointed to teach harmony, composition, music history, and violincello
at the UP Conservatory of Music, pursuing a career in music education until being appointed dean of the
Centro Escolar Conservatory of Music. He founded the CEU String Quartet which was professionally
organized and financed by its music school.

As a composer Molina is credited with over 500 compositions.

Ryan Cayabyab

Ryan Cayabyab (born Raymundo Cipriano Pujante Cayabyab on May 4, 1954 in Manila, Philippines),
also known as Mr. C, is a Filipino musician, composer and conductor. He was the Executive and Artistic
Director for several years for the defunct San Miguel Foundation for the Performing Arts. He was named a
National Artist of the Philippines in 2018.
His works range from commissioned full-length ballets, theater musicals, choral pieces, a Mass set to
unaccompanied chorus, and orchestral pieces, to commercial recordings of popular music, film scores
and television specials.

Cayabyab's current project includes the Ryan Cayabyab Singers (RCS), a group of seven young adult
singers comparable to his group Smokey Mountain in the early 1990s. After FreemantleMedia decided
not to renew the Philippine Idol franchise, Cayabyab transferred to rival show Pinoy Dream Academy
(season 2), replacing Jim Paredes as the show's headmaster. PDA 2 started on June 14, 2008. He also
became the chairman of the board of judges for GMA Network's musical-reality show To The Top.

He is the executive director of the Philpop MusicFest Foundation Inc., the organization behind the
Philippine Popular Music Festival. This songwriting competition for amateurs and professionals puts the
spotlight on songwriters and encourages Filipinos to preserve their unique musical identity.

Dance

Francisca Reyes-Aquino

Francisca Reyes-Aquino (March 9, 1899 - November 21, 1983) was a Filipino folk dancer and academic
noted for her research on Philippine folk dance. She is a recipient of the Republic Award of Merit and the
Ramon Magsaysay Award and is a designated National Artist of the Philippines for Dance. Among Reyes-
Aquino's most noted works is her research on folk dances and songs as a student assistant at the
University of the Philippines (UP). Pursuing her graduate studies, she started her work in the 1921
traveling to remote barrios in Central and Northern Luzon.

She published a thesis in 1926 entitled Philippine Folk Dances and Games where she noted on
previously unrecorded forms of local celebration, ritual and sports. Her thesis was made with teachers
and playground instructors from both public and private institutions in mind.[4] This work was expanded
with the official support of UP President Jorge Bocobo in 1927. She then served at the university as part
of the faculty for 18 years.

She served as supervisor of physical education at the Bureau of Education in the 1940s. The education
body distributed her work and adapted the teaching of folk dancing in an effort to promote awareness
among the Filipino youth regarding their cultural heritage. Then President Ramon Magsaysay conferred
her the Republic Award of Merit in 1954 for her “outstanding contribution toward the advancement of
Filipino culture”.

Reyes-Aquino also had other books published including: Philippine National Dances (1946), Gymnastics
for Girls (1947), Fundamental Dance Steps and Music (1948), Foreign Folk Dances (1949), Dances for all
Occasion (1950), Playground Demonstration (1951), and Philippine Folk Dances, Volumes I to VI.

Reyes-Aquino also received recognition for her works such as the Ramon Magsaysay Award for
Government Service in 1962 and her designation as National Artist of the Philippines for Dance in 1973.

Leonor Orosa-Goquingco

Leonor Orosa-Goquingco (July 24, 1917 – July 15, 2005) was a Filipino national artist in creative
dance.[1] She played the piano, drew art, designed scenery and costumes, sculpted, acted, directed,
danced and choreographed. Her pen name was Cristina Luna and she was known as Trailblazer, Mother
of Philippine Theater Dance and Dean of Filipino Performing Arts Critics. She died on July 15, 2005 of
cardiac arrest following a cerebro-vascular accident at the age of 87. In 1939,
Leonor Orosa-Goquingco was the only dancer sent on the first cultural mission to Japan, at the age of 19.
She produced Circling the Globe (1939) and Dance Panorama in the same year. She created The
Elements in 1940, the first ballet choreographed by a Filipino to commissioned music. She also created
Sports during the same year, featuring cheerleaders, a tennis match and a basketball game. The first
Philippine folkloric ballet, Trend: Return to the Native, was choreographed by Goquingco in 1941. After
the Second World War, she organized the Philippine Ballet and brought the famous Filipino novel, Noli
Me Tángere, to life. The Noli Dance Suite consisted of several dances. Maria Clara and the Leper,
Salome and Elias, Sisa, Asalto for Maria Clara and The Gossips are some of the dances found in the Noli
Dance Suite.

Leonor Orosa-Goquingco also danced during her early years. She danced at the American Museum of
Natural History, Theresa Kaufmann Auditorium, The International House and Rockefeller Plaza, just to
name a few. She appeared in War Dance and Planting Rice. Other works she choreographed were
"Circling the Globe", "Dance Panorama", "Current events", "Vinta!", "Morolandia", "Festival in
Maguindanao", "Eons Ago: The Creation", "Filipinescas: Philippine Life, Legend, and Lore in Dance",
"Miner's Song", "The Bird and the Planters", "Tribal", "Ang Antipos" (The Flagellant), "Salubong",
"Pabasa" (Reading of the Pasyon) and "Easter Sunday Fiesta".

She founded the Filipinescas Dance Company in 1958, and took it on a world tour in 1961, 1962, 1964,
1966, 1968 and 1970.

She was also a writer, and her articles were published in Dance Magazine (New York City), Enciclopedia
Della Spettacolo (Rome), Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians (London), Arts of Asia (Hong Kong)
and the Philippine Cultural Foundation. She wrote Dances of the Emerald Isles and Filipinescas:
Philippine Life, Legend and Lore in Dance.

Leonor Orosa-Goquingco also wrote a poem on the Japanese occupation, Lifted the Smoke of Battle.
She is famous for her one-act play, Her Son, Jose Rizal which is set during the time Rizal was imprisoned
and awaiting his execution. It reveals the emotions going through Rizal's mother at that time and the
similarities between Rizal's life and that of Jesus Christ.

Goquinco was also a critic who wrote reviews. She critiqued works like Tony Perez' Oktubre, Ligaya
Amilbangsa's Stillness and Tanghalang Pilipino's Aguinaldo: 1898.

Amelia Lapeña Bonifacio

Amelia Lapeña Bonifacio (born April 4, 1930) is a Filipino playwright, puppeteer, and educator known as
the "Grande Dame of Southeast Asian Children’s Theatre."She was recognized in 2018 as a National
Artist of the Philippines for Theater - a conferment which represents the Philippine state's highest
recognition for artists. As a young faculty member, she helped establish the Speech and Drama
Department of the University of the Philippines - Diliman in 1959 and taught subjects like History of the
Theatre and Fundamentals of Speech in the early 1960s until she moved back to the Department of
English and Comparative Literature. She contributed significant efforts to the advancement and
refinement of the study and practice of theater arts in the Philippines.
In 1976, Lapeña-Bonifacio published Anim na Dulang Pilipino Para Sa Mga Bata, with six-year-old
daughter supplying illustrations and also influenced by traditional Asian theater techniques. Originally a
playwright for adult audiences, she has since then written and directed many other plays for children,
most of them based on Asian folktales.
In 1977, Lapeña-Bonifacio was invited by the University of the Philippines Department of Speech and
Drama to present one of her plays. She wrote and directed Abadeja: Ang Ating Sinderela, a puppet play
based on a Visayan folktale about the Cinderella-like Abadeja. With December shows at the Wilfrido Ma.
Guerrero Theater, Abadeja was performed in cooperation with Dulaang UP and UP Repertory Company.
Ramon Obusan
Ramon Arevalo Obusan (June 16, 1938 – December 21, 2006) was a Filipino dancer, choreographer,
stage designer and artistic director. Obusan is credited for his work in promoting Philippine traditional
dance and cultural work. He is also an acclaimed archivist, researcher and documentary filmmaker who
focused on Philippine culture. He also founded Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group in 1971. Among the
awards Obusan received was the Patnubay ng Kalinangan award by the City of Manila in 1992, the
Gawad CCP Para sa Sining award in 1993 and the prestigious National Artist of the Philippines for dance
in May 2006.
Among Obusan's notable works 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
 MJ (Ramon Obusan Folkloric Group): Philippines Costumes in Dance
Obusan died on December 21, 2006 due to cardio-pulmonary arrest at the Makati Medical Center. Up to
the time of his death, the annual Christmas program Vamos A Blen at the Cultural Center of the
Philippines was at his oversight. Obusan was also preparing for the cultural presentation to be made
during the state dinner for the 2007 ASEAN Summit to be hosted by then President Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo.

Theater

Atang de la Rama

Honorata de la Rama-Hernandez (January 11, 1902 – July 11, 1991), commonly known as Atang de la
Rama, was a singer and bodabil performer who became the first Filipina film actress.

Atang de la Rama was born in Pandacan, Manila on January 11, 1902. By the age of 7, she was already
starring in Spanish zarzuelas such as Mascota, Sueño de un Vals, and Marina. At the age of 15, she
starred in the sarsuela Dalagang Bukid, where she became known for singing the song, Nabasag na
Banga.

During the American occupation of the Philippines, Atang de la Rama fought for the dominance of the
kundiman, an important Philippine folk song, and the sarsuela, which is a musical play that focused on
contemporary Filipino issues such as usury, cockfighting, and colonial mentality.

Generations of Filipino artists and audiences consider Atang de la Rama's vocal and acting talents as
responsible for much of the success of original Filipino sarsuelas like Dalagang Bukid, and dramas like
Veronidia.She has also been a theatrical producer, writer and talent manager. She was the producer and
the writer of plays such as Anak ni Eva and Bulaklak ng Kabundukan. For her achievements and
contributions to the art form, she was hailed Queen of the Kundiman and of the Sarsuela in 1979, at the
age of 74.

Atang believed that art should be for everyone; not only did she perform in major Manila theaters such as
the Teatro Libertad and the Teatro Zorilla, but also in cockpits and open plazas in Luzon, the Visayas,
and Mindanao. She also made an effort to bring the kundiman and sarsuela to the indigenous peoples of
the Philippine such as the Igorots, the Aetas, and the Mangyans. She was also at the forefront of
introducing Filipino culture to foreign audiences. At the height of her career, she sang kundimans and
other Filipino songs in concerts in such cities as Hawaii, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City,
Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo.

On May 8, 1987, "for her sincere devotion to original Filipino theater and music, her outstanding artistry
as singer, and as sarsuela actress-playwright-producer, her tireless efforts to bring her art to all sectors of
Filipino society and to the world," President Corazon C. Aquino proclaimed Atang de la Rama a National
Artist of the Philippines for Theater and Music.

Atang de la Rama died on July 11, 1991. She was married to National Artist for Literature, Amado V.
Hernandez.

Lamberto V. Avellana

Born in Bontoc, Mountain Province, Avellana was educated at the Ateneo de Manila AB '37, where he
developed what turned out to be a lifelong interest in the theater. He taught at the Ateneo after graduation
and married his teen-age sweetheart Daisy Hontiveros, an actress who eventually also became a
National Artist in 1999.

Lamberto Vera Avellana (February 12, 1915 – April 25, 1991) was a prominent Filipino film and stage
director. Despite considerable budgetary limitations that hampered the post-war Filipino film industry,
Avellana's films such as Anak Dalita and Badjao attained international acclaim. In 1976, Avellana was
named by President Ferdinand Marcos as the very first National Artist of the Philippines for Film. While
Avellana remains an important figure in Filipino cinema, his reputation as a film director has since been
eclipsed by the next wave of Filipino film directors who emerged in the 1970s, such as Lino Brocka and
Ishmael Bernal.

Avellana made his film debut with Sakay in 1939, a biopic on the early 20th century Filipino revolutionary
Macario Sakay. The film was an immediate sensation, particularly distinguished for its realism which was
a typical of Filipino cinema at the time. The treatment is the subject of some controversy today. Avellana's
Sakay toed the line with the American-fostered perception of Sakay as a mere bandit, different from the
current-day appreciation of Sakay as a fighter for Filipino independence. Raymond Red's 1993 film,
Sakay hews closer to this modern view of Sakay.

Leopoldo Salcedo, who played Sakay in the 1939 Avellana version, portrayed Sakay's father in the 1993
version in his final film role.

Avellana directed more than 70 films in a career that spanned six decades. Anak Dalita (1956) and
Badjao (1957) perhaps stand as the most prominent works from his oeuvre. Anak Dalita, which was
named Best Film at the 1956 Asia-Pacific Film Festival, was a realistic portrayal of poverty-stricken
Filipinos coping with the aftermath of World War II. Badjao was a love-story among the sea-dwelling
Badjaos, an indigenous Filipino people hailing from Mindanao. Rolf Bayer was the screenwriter for both
films.

Severino Montano

Severino Montano (3 January 1915 in Laoag, Ilocos Norte – 12 December 1980) is considered as one of
the Titans of Philippine Theater.[by whom?] He was a playwright, director, actor and theater organizer
with an output of one novel, 150 poems and 50 plays in his 65-year lifetime. Through the foundation of
the Arena Theater, Montano institutionalized “legitimate theater” in the Philippines. He also have lifetime
achievement award as part of National Artist of the Philippines. When he returned to the Philippines, he
already had 16 major plays to his credit. As Dean of Instruction of the Philippine Normal College,
Montano organized the Arena Theater “to bring drama to the masses”. He used his own money, about a
thousand pesos, to start the Arena Theater, a theater-in-the-round. Due to the PNC being unable to fund
the theater, Montano volunteered his services “to plan for a self-financing national drama program that
would serve the grass-roots, the barrios of the Philippines”.

In 1953, the theater opened with three one-act plays and broke all records of all performances in
Philippine theater history.[citation needed] The roving troupe took theater to near and far-flung barrios in
47 provinces across the country. Four of his plays became tour staples: the full-length The Love of
Leonor Rivera and three one-act plays, Parting at Calamba, The Ladies and the Senador and Sabina.
The Arena Theater also began a graduate program for the training of playwrights, directors, technicians,
actors and designers. The program was also extended to include a four-year undergraduate curriculum.

He traned and directed a new generation of dramatist including Rolando S. Tinio and Behn Cervantes.
The Arena Theater Playwriting Contest also led to the discovery of Wilfrido Nolledo, Jesus T. Peralta and
Estrella Alfon.

His awards include the Kalinangan Award from the city of Manila (1968), the Presidential Award for Merit
in Drama and Theater (1961), the Citizen’s Committee for Mass Media Award (1967 and 1968), the
Pamulinawen Award (1981), and the National Artist Award (2001). The last two awards were given
posthumously.

His published works include The Love of Leonor Rivera (poetic tragedy in two-parts), My Morning Star
(poetic historical tragedy in three-parts), But Not My Sons Any Longer (poetic tragedy in two-parts),
Gabriela Silang (poetic historical tragedy in three-parts), The Merry Wives of Manila (comedy of manners
in three-parts), Sabina (tragedy), The Ladies and the Senador (satirical comedy) and Parting at Calamba
(historical drama).

He died on December 12, 1980, at the age of 65.

Visual Arts

Guillermo Tolentino (Sculpture)

Guillermo Estrella Tolentino (July 24, 1890 – July 12, 1976) was a Filipino sculptor and professor of the
University of the Philippines. He was designated as a National Artist of the Philippines for Sculpture in
1973, three years before his death. Tolentino, upon returning from Europe in 1925, was appointed as a
professor at the University of the Philippines' School of Fine Arts and opened his studio in Manila on
January 24.

Along with thirteen artists, Tolentino joined a contest in 1930 to design the Bonifacio Monument. Instead
of basing the statues on printed materials, he interviewed people who participated in the Philippine
Revolution. Bonifacio's figure was based on the bone structure of Espiridiona Bonifacio, the Supremo's
surviving sister.[6] Down to seven entries, the committee had its winners by July 29. Tolentino's entry won
first place and was given a cash prize of 3,000 pesos.

In 1935, Rafael Palma, president of the University of the Philippines, commissioned Tolentino to sculpt
the Oblation, a statue based on the second stanza of Jose Rizal's Mi ultimo adios. Tolentino used
concrete to create the statue but it was painted to look like bronze.[8] The statue's model was Anastacio
Caedo, his assistant, whose physique was combined with the proportion of Virgilio Raymundo, his
brother-in-law.
The University of the Philippines Alumni Association requested Tolentino on October 25, 1935 to
construct an arch commemorating the inauguration of the Commonwealth of the Philippines but it was
never built, because of the war.

In the absence of Fernando Amorsolo, Tolentino was appointed acting director of the School of Fine Arts
and eventually became its director two years later, on August 4, 1953.

Besides monuments, Tolentino made smaller sculptures, which are now located in the National Museum
of Fine Arts and busts of heroes at the Malacañang Palace.[6] He also designed the medals of the
Ramon Magsaysay Award and the seal of the Republic of the Philippines.

Fernando Amorsolo (Painting)

Fernando Amorsolo y Cueto (May 30, 1892 – April 24, 1972) was one of the most important artists in the
history of painting in the Philippines.Amorsolo was a portraitist and painter of rural Philippine landscapes.
He is popularly known for his craftsmanship and mastery in the use of light.

Amorsolo is best known for his illuminated landscapes, which often portrayed traditional Filipino customs,
culture, fiestas and occupations. His pastoral works presented "an imagined sense of nationhood in
counterpoint to American colonial rule" and were important to the formation of Filipino national identity. He
was educated in the classical tradition and aimed "to achieve his Philippine version of the Greek ideal for
the human form."In his paintings of Filipina women, Amorsolo rejected Western ideals of beauty in favor
of Filipino ideals and was fond of basing the faces of his subjects on members of his family. Amorsolo
also painted a series of historical paintings on pre-Colonial and Spanish Colonization events. Amorsolo's
Making of the Philippine Flag, in particular, was widely reproduced. His The First Baptism in the
Philippines required numerous detailed sketches and colored studies of its elements. These diverse
elements were meticulously and carefully set by the artist before being transferred to the final canvas. For
his pre-colonial and 16th-century depiction of the Philippines, Amorsolo referred to the written accounts of
Antonio Pigafetta, other available reading materials, and visual sources He consulted with the Philippine
scholars of the time, H. Pardo de Tavera and Epifanio de los Santos.

Amorsolo also painted oil portraits of Presidents like General Emilio Aguinaldo, and other prominent
individuals such as Don Alfredo Jacób and Doña Pura Garchitorena Toral of Camarines Sur. He also
painted the wedding picture of Don Mariano Garchitorena and Doña Caridad Pamintuan of Pampanga.

He also did a portrait of American Senator Warren Grant Magnuson (1905–1989), of the Democratic
Party from Washington, whom the Warren G. Magnuson Health Sciences Building at the University of
Washington, and the Warren G. Magnuson Clinical Center at the National Institutes of Health in
Bethesda, Maryland are named after.

Larry Alcala (Comics)

Lauro "Larry" Zarate Alcala (August 18, 1926 – June 24, 2002) was a well-known editorial cartoonist and
illustrator in the Philippines.

His most popular cartoon series was Slice of Life, which is a reflection of the many unique aspects of
everyday life in the Philippines. He captured the interest of his weekend patrons by giving them the task
of looking for his image cleverly concealed within the weekend cartoon. He did the same with his other
comic strip Kalabog and Bosyo. His cartoons had been tapped in advertising campaigns, such as
corporate calendars, print ads, promotional T-shirts and in San Miguel Beer cans.In 1988, his Slice of Life
received the Best in Humor award and was also cited for helping to keep alive the Filipino's ability to
laugh at himself, through the lively marriage of art and humor, and through commentaries that are at once
critical and compassionate, evoking laughter and reflection.

Slice of Life appeared on the pages of the Weekend Magazine.

Literature

Francisco Arcellana

Francisco "Franz" Arcellana (September 6, 1916 – August 1, 2002) was a Filipino writer, poet, essayist,
critic, journalist and teacher. He was born on September 6, 1916. Arcellana already had ambitions of
becoming a writer early in his childhood. His actual writing, however, started when he became a member
of The Torres Torch Organization during his high school years. Arcellana continued writing in various
school papers at the University of the Philippines Diliman. Later on he received a Rockefeller Grant and
became a fellow in Creative Writing at the University of Iowa and at the Breadloaf Writers' Conference
from 1956– 1957.

He is considered an important progenitor of the modern Filipino short story in English. Arcellana
pioneered the development of the short story as a lyrical prose-poetic form within Filipino literature. His
works are now often taught in tertiary-level syllabi in the Philippines. Many of his works were translated
into Tagalog, Malaysian, Russian, Italian, and German. Arcellana won 2nd place in the 1951 Don Carlos
Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature, with his short story, The Flowers of May. Fourteen of his short
stories were also included in Jose Garcia Villa's Honor Roll from 1928 to 1939. His major achievements
included the first award in art criticism from the Art Association of the Philippines in 1954, the Patnubay
ng Sining at Kalinangan award from the city government of Manila in 1981, and the Gawad Pambansang
Alagad ni Balagtas for English fiction from the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipino (UMPIL) in 1988.

The University of the Philippines conferred upon Arcellana a doctorate in humane letters, honoris causa
in 1989. Francisco Arcellana was proclaimed National Artist of the Philippines in Literature on June 23,
1990 by then Philippine President Corazon C. Aquino.

In 2009, or seven years after his death, his family came out with a book to pay tribute to National Artist for
Literature Arcellana. The book entitled Franz is a collection of essays gathered by the Arcellana family
from colleagues, friends, students and family members, including fellow National Artist Nick Joaquin,
Butch Dalisay, Recah Trinidad, Jing Hidalgo, Gemino Abad, Romina Gonzalez, Edwin Cordevilla, Divina
Aromin, Doreen Yu, Danton Remoto, Jose Esteban Arcellana and others.

Arcellana is buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

Bayani.

His grandson Liam Hertzsprung performed a piano concert in 2005 dedicated to him.

Arcellana's published books include:

Selected Stories (1963)

Poetry and Politics: The State of Original Writing in English in the Philippines Today (1979)

The Francisco Arcellana Sampler (1991).

Virgilio S. Almario

Virgilio Senadrin Almario (born March 9, 1944), better known by his pen name Rio Alma, is a Filipino
artist, author, poet, critic, translator, editor, teacher, and cultural manager. He is a National Artist of the
Philippines and currently serves as the chairman of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF), the
government agency mandated to promote and standardize the use of the Filipino language. On January
5, 2017, Almario was also elected as the chairman of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts
(NCCA).

A prolific writer, he spearheaded the second successful modernist movement in Filipino poetry together
with Mangahas and Antonio. His earliest pieces of literary criticism were collected in Ang Makata sa
Panahon ng Makina (1972), now considered the first book of literary criticism in Filipino. Later, in the
years of martial law, he set aside modernism and formalism and took interest in nationalism, politics and
activist movement. As a critic, his critical works deal with the issue of national language.

Aside from being a critic, Almario engaged in translating and editing. He has translated the best
contemporary poets of the world. He has also translated for theater production the plays of Nick Joaquin,
Bertolt Brecht, Euripides and Maxim Gorki. Other important translations include the famous works of the
Philippines' national hero, José Rizal, namely Noli Me Tangere and El filibusterismo. For these two, he
was awarded the 1999 award for translation by the Manila Critics Circle.

Almario has been a recipient of numerous awards such as several Palanca Awards, two grand prizes
from the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the Makata ng Taon of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, the
TOYM for literature, and the Southeast Asia Write Award of Bangkok.

He was an instructor at the Lagao Central Elementary School from 1969-1972. In 2003, he was appointed
Dean of the College of Arts and Letters at the University of the Philippines DIliman. On June 25 of the
same year, he was proclaimed National Artist for Literature.

Almario is also the founder and workshop director of the Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, at Anyo (LIRA),
an organization of poets who write in Filipino.[7] Award-winning writers and poets such as Roberto and
Rebecca Añonuevo, Romulo Baquiran Jr., Michael Coroza, Jerry Gracio, and Vim Nadera are but some
of the products of the LIRA workshop.

He was a founding member of the Gallan sa Arte at Tula (GAT), along with fellow poets Teo Antonio nd
Mike Bigornia.

Works

 Poetry Collections
 Palipad-Hangin. (1985)
 Katon Para sa Limang Pandama. (1987)
 Sentimental. (2004)
 Estremelenggoles. (2004)
 Memo Mulang Gimokudan. (2005)
 Dust Devils. (2005)
 Sonetos Postumos, book of poems with translation by Marne Kilates and paintings by National
Artist Ang Kiukok. (2006)
 Tatlong Pasyon sa Ating Panahon, poems for children with illustrations by Mark Justiniani, Neil
Doloricon, Ferdinand Doctolero. (2006)
 Buwan, Buwang, Bulawan. (2009)
 UP Diksyunaryong Filipino
 Kulo at Kolorum
Alejandro Roces

Alejandro Reyes Roces (13 July 1924 – 23 May 2011) was a Filipino author, essayist, dramatist and a
National Artist of the Philippines for literature. He served as Secretary of Education from 1961 to 1965,
during the term of Philippine President Diosdado Macapagal.

Noted for his short stories, the Manila-born Roces was married to Irene Yorston Viola (granddaughter of
Maximo Viola), with whom he had a daughter, Elizabeth Roces-Pedrosa. Anding attended elementary
and high school at the Ateneo de Manila University, before moving to the University of Arizona and then
Arizona State University for his tertiary education. He graduated with a B.A. in Fine Arts and, not long
after, attained his M.A. from Far Eastern University back in the Philippines.[1] He has since received
honorary doctorates from Tokyo University, Baguio's St. Louis University, Polytechnic University of the
Philippines, and the Ateneo de Manila University. Roces was a captain in the Marking’s Guerilla during
World War II and a columnist in Philippine dailies such as the Manila Chronicle and the Manila Times. He
was previously President of the Manila Bulletin and of the CAP College Foundation.

In 2001, Roces was appointed as Chairman of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board
(MTRCB). Roces also became a member of the Board of Trustees of GSIS (Government Service
Insurance System) and maintained a column in the Philippine Star called Roses and Thorns.

During his freshman year in the University of Arizona, Roces won Best Short Story for We Filipinos are
Mild Drinkers. Another of his stories, My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken, was listed as Martha Foley’s Best
American Stories among the most distinctive for years 1948 and 1951. Roces did not only focus on short
stories alone, as he also published books such as Of Cocks and Kites (1959), Fiesta (1980), and
Something to Crow About (2005). Of Cocks and Kites earned him the reputation as the country's best
writer of humorous stories. It also contained the widely anthologized piece “My Brother’s Peculiar
Chicken”. Fiesta, is a book of essays, featuring folk festivals such as Ermita's Bota Flores, Aklan's Ati-
atihan, and Naga's Peñafrancia.

Something to Crow About, on the other hand, is a collection of Roces’ short stories. The book has been
recently brought to life by a critically acclaimed play of the same title; the staged version of Something to
Crow About is the first Filipino zarzuela in English. This modern zarzuela tells the story of a poor
cockfighter named Kiko who, to his wife's chagrin, pays more attention to the roosters than to her. Later in
the story, a conflict ensues between Kiko’s brother Leandro and Golem, the son of a wealthy and
powerful man, over the affections of a beautiful woman named Luningning. The resolution? A cockfight, of
course. Something to Crow About won the Aliw Award for Best Musical and Best Director for a Musical
Production. It also had a run off-Broadway at the La Mama Theater in New York.

Through the years, Roces has won numerous awards, including the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan
Award, the Diwa ng Lahi Award, the Tanging Parangal of the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining, and the Rizal
Pro Patria Award. He was finally bestowed the honor as National Artist of Literature on 25 June 2003.

When once asked for a piece of advice on becoming a famous literary figure Roces said, "You cannot be
a great writer; first, you have to be a good person".
 Film and Broadcast Arts

Eddie Romero

Edgar Sinco Romero (July 7, 1924 – May 28, 2013) was a Filipino film director, film producer and
screenwriter.

Romero was named National Artist of the Philippines in 2003, and his body of work delved into the history
and politics of his country. His 1976 film Ganito Kami Noon…Paano Kayo Ngayon?, set at the turn of the
20th century during the revolution against the Spaniards and, later, the American colonizers, follows a
naive peasant through his leap of faith to become a member of an imagined community. Aguila situated a
family’s story against the backdrop of Filipino history, while Kamakalawa explored the folklore of
prehistoric Philippines. Banta ng Kahapon, his "small" political film, was set against the turmoil of the late
1960s, tracing the connection of the underworld to the corrupt halls of politics. His 13-part series Noli Me
Tangere brought Philippine national hero José Rizal's novel to a new generation of viewers.

Romero co-produced one of the earliest Filipino horror films, the 1959 Terror Is a Man, which was
directed by his friend and fellow director Gerardo de Leon, with whom he would later co-direct other films.
Romero directed some critically acclaimed war films in the early 1960s, such as Lost Battalion (1960),
The Raiders of Leyte Gulf (1963) and The Walls of Hell (1964). Along with Filipino-language (Tagalog
language) films, he made English-language films that became cult classics, like Black Mama, White
Mama,Beast of the Yellow Night, The Woman Hunt, Beyond Atlantis and The Twilight People and worked
with American actors like John Ashley and Pam Grier.

Romero's films, the National Artist citation stated, "are delivered in an utterly simple style – minimalist, but
never empty, always calculated, precise and functional, but never predictable."Quentin Tarantino drew on
Twilight People as an inspiration for his "grindhouse" homages.

Romero is especially known to horror film fans for his three "Blood Island" films from the late 1960s -
Brides of Blood (1968), Mad Doctor of Blood Island (1969) and Beast of Blood (1970), which he directed,
co-produced by "Hemisphere Pictures" (which was composed of Romero, Kane W. Lynn and Irwin Pizor).
Romero later called his American-financed “cult” films – including the “Blood Island” series – “the worst
things I ever did”.[15] When the kung fu craze started in the 1970s, Romero turned his back on the
international market for Filipino films which he had virtually created. After 1976, he made smaller, more
personal "art" films in Tagalog.

Manuel Conde

Manuel Conde (born Manuel Urbano; October 9, 1915 in Daet, Camarines Norte – August 11, 1985) was
a Filipino actor, director and producer. As an actor, he also used the screen name Juan Urbano during
the 1930s aside from his more popular screen name.

His first film was Mahiwagang Biyolin in 1935. He made almost three dozen films under LVN Pictures as a
contract star. He later put up his own movie company, Manuel Conde Pictures, in 1947 which produced
classic films, notably the Juan Tamad series (Si Juan Tamad (1947), Si Juan Daldal (Anak ni Juan
Tamad) (1948), Juan Tamad Goes to Congress (1959), Juan Tamad Goes to Society (1960), and Si Juan
Tamad At Juan Masipag sa Pulitikang Walang Hanggan (1963)). Other movies Conde produced, directed
and/or starred were Vende Cristo (1948), Prinsipe Paris (1949), Krus Na Kawayan (1956), Siete Infantes
de Lara (1950) and its re-make in 1973, Molave (1961) and the internationally acclaimed Genghis Khan
(1950).
Genghis Khan was the first Filipino film to be acclaimed at an international film festival in Venice in 1952.
His Juan Tamad Goes to Congress is considered the best Filipino satire ever filmed. Some films intended
for international release were planned by Conde but these were not pushed through because of some
financial and production problems such as Saranggani, a film about the Ifugao rice terraces, a
collaboration between James Agee as scriptwriter and Conde as the actor-director with United Artists as
the distributor, the Rickshaw Boy and The Brown Rajah.

Manuel Conde died in 1985. He was honored posthumously in 2006 the Presidential Medal of Merit (for
Films) by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for his contribution to culture and the arts. He was one of
the recipients of that award together with visual artists Federico Alcuas, Oscar Zalameda and Mauro
Malang Santos. From the words of Cecile Guidote Alvarez, Executive Director of the National
Commission on Culture and the Arts, “This is the President’s gesture of giving rightful honor to various
artists who showcased Filipino excellence in the arts and cultural traditions in the international scene,
underscoring the wealth of talent and heritage in our country”. In 2007, he was awarded posthumously
the Lamberto Avellana Memorial Award by the Film Academy of the Philippines.

Conde’s eldest son, Jun Urbano (a.k.a. Manuel Conde, Jr.), became himself a film director, actor,
producer and writer. He is better known as Mr. Shooli in a television comedy series Mongolian Barbecue.

On December 26, 2007, the Film Academy of the Philippines (FAP) announced the winners of the 25th
anniversary presentation of the Luna Award before the actual awards night at the Club Filipino, San Juan
City on December 27. The Lamberto Avellana Memorial Award will be awarded posthumously to Manuel
Conde and Vic Silayan.

Architecture, Design and Allied Arts

Pablo Antonio

Pablo Sebero Antonio, Sr. (January 25, 1901 – June 14, 1975) was a Filipino architect. A pioneer of
modern Philippine architecture, he was recognized in some quarters as the foremost Filipino modernist
architect of his time. The rank and title of National Artist of the Philippines was conferred on him by
President Ferdinand Marcos in 1976.

Antonio first came into prominence in 1933 with the construction of the Ideal Theater along Avenida Rizal
in Manila. His work caught the eye of the founder of the Far Eastern University in Manila, Dr. Nicanor B.
Reyes, Sr., who was looking to build a school campus that was modern in style. Between 1938 and 1950,
he designed several buildings on the university campus in the Art Deco style. The FEU campus is
considered as the largest ensemble of surviving Art Deco architecture in Manila, and in 2005, it received
an Honorable Mention citation from the UNESCO for the body's 2005 Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for
Culture Heritage Conservation.

Antonio also designed the White Cross Orphanage (1938) along Santolan Road in San Juan City, and the
Manila Polo Club (1950) in Makati City. He likewise designed the Ramon Roces Publications Building
(now Guzman Institute of Electronics) in Soler Street in Manila, the Capitan Luis Gonzaga Building
(1953), and the Boulevard-Alhambra (now called Bel-Air) Apartments Building in Roxas Boulevard &
where Manila Bay Hostel is located on the 4th floor. The art deco apartment is near T. M. Kalaw Avenue
& beside Miramar Hotel. It was built in 1937.Apart from the Ideal Theater, Antonio also designed several
other theaters in Manila, including the Dalisay, Forum, Galaxy, Life (1941), Lyric and Scala Theaters. As
of 2014, only the Forum, Life and Scala Theaters remain standing; though the Forum and Scala Theaters
have been gutted.
Juan Nakpil

Juan Felipe de Jesus Nakpil (born Juan Felipe Nakpil y de Jesus; May 26, 1899 – May 7, 1986), known
as Juan F. Nakpil, was a Filipino architect, teacher and a community leader. In 1973, he was named one
of the National Artists for architecture.He was regarded as the Dean of Filipino Architects.

Nakpil worked at Andres Luna de San Pedro's architectural firm (1928) and at Don Gonzalo Puyat &
Sons, opening his own architectural firm in 1930. Among Nakpil's works are San Carlos Seminary,
Geronimo de los Reyes Building, Iglesia ni Cristo Riverside Locale (Now F. Manalo, San Juan),
Magsaysay Building, Rizal Theater, Capitol Theater, Captain Pepe Building, Manila Jockey Club, Rufino
Building, Philippine Village Hotel, University of the Philippines Administration and University Library, and
the Rizal Shrine in Calamba, Laguna. He also designed the International Eucharistic Congress altar and
improved the Quiapo Church in 1930 by erecting a dome and a second belfry. The church burned down
in 1929 prior to Nakpil's redesign of the building.In the 1930s to the 1940s, Nakpil and his fellow
architects Andres Luna de San Pedro, Fernando Ocampo and Pablo Antonio started the period of
modern architecture in the Philippines. Nakpil and others also established the Philippine College of
Design in 1941 but the institution did not survive the Second World War.[9] He was hailed as a National
Artist for Architecture in 1973.

Ildefonso P. Santos Jr.

ldefonso Paez Santos Jr. (September 5, 1929 – January 29, 2014), popularly known simply as "IP
Santos", was a Filipino architect who was known for being the "Father of Philippine Landscape
Architecture." He was recognized as a National Artist of the Philippines in the field of Architecture in 2006.

He was the son of Filipino poet Ildefonso Santos and Asuncion Paez.

Santos pioneered the profession of landscape architecture in the Philippines. He was bestowed with the
title of "national artist" for his outstanding achievement in architecture and allied arts on June 9, 2006.

Among the locations that comprise IP Santos' body of work are the landscaping of:

 Cultural Center of the Philippines complex

 Bantayog ng mga Bayani
 Manila Hotel
 San Miguel Corporation Building
 Nayong Pilipino
 Paco Park
 Rizal Park
 Loyola Memorial Park
 Tagaytay Highlands Golf and Country Club
 The Orchard Golf and Country Club
 Magallanes Church
 Asian Institute of Management