LESSON 5: NATIONAL ARTISTS OF THE PHILIPPINES
1. National Artist Award- the national artist award is the
highest distinction/MERIT bestowed upon Filipino
Artists whose body of work is recognized by their peers
and more importantly by their countrymen as sublime
expression of Philippine music, dance, theatre, visual
arts, literature, film and media, arts, architecture and
design.
2. These are artists who have promoted Filipino cultural
identity and dignity through their art. President
Ferdinand E. Marcos through proclamation no.1001
dated April 2, 1972, confers the award to deserving
individuals as recommended by the Cultural Center of
the Philippines (CCP) and the National Commission for
Culture and the Arts (NCCA).
3. Criteria: • Living artists who have been Filipino
citizens for the last ten years prior to nomination as
well as those who have died after the establishment of
the award in 1972 but were Filipino citizens at the time
of their death;
• Artists who have helped build a Filipino sense of
nationhood through the content and form of their
works; • Artists who have distinguished themselves by
pioneering in a mode of creative expression or style,
making an impact on succeeding generations of artists;
• Artists who have created a significant body of works
and/or have consistently displayed excellence in the
practice of their art form, enriching artistic expression
or style; and • Artists who enjoy broad acceptance
through prestigious national and/or international
recognition, awards in prestigious national and/or
international events, critical acclaim and/or reviews of
their works, and/or respect and esteem from peers
within an artistic discipline.
4. Fernando Amorsolo Antipolo, depicting Filipinos
celebrating a town fiesta.  The country had its first
National Artist & the official title “Grand Old Man of
Philippine Art”  He developed the backlighting
technique that became his trademark where figures, a
cluster of leaves, spill of hair, the swell of breast, are
seen aglow on canvas.  This light, Nick Joaquin
opines/LECTURES, 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”.
5. Carlos “Botong” Francisco  National Artist for
Painting (1973)  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, he 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”.
6. Victorio C. Edades  National Artist for Painting
(1976)  Painting distorted human figures in rough,
bold impasto strokes, and standing tall and singular in
his advocacy and practice of what he believes is
creative art  Emerged as the “Father of Modern
Philippine Painting”.  Unlike, Amorsolo’s bright,
sunny, cheerful hues, he colors were dark and
somber/DARK with subject matter or themes depicting
laborers, factory workers or the simple folk in all their
dirt, sweat and grime.
7. Vicente Silva Manansala National Artist for Painting
(1981) His paintings are described as… …visions of
reality teetering/SHAKING 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.
He 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
8. Jerry Navarro Elizalde  National Artist for Painting
(1999)  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).
9. Jose Joya  National Artist for Visual Arts (2003)  A
painter and multimedia artist who distinguished himself
by creating an authentic Filipino abstract idiom that
transcended foreign influences.  Most of his paintings
of harmonious colors were inspired by Philippine
landscapes, such as green rice paddies and golden
fields of harvest.  He use of rice paper in collages
placed value on transparency, a common
characteristic of folk art.
10. Cesar Legaspi National Artist for Visual Arts (1990)
A pioneer “Neo-Realist” of the country. Remembered
for his singular achievement of refining cubism in the
Philippine context. He belonged to the so-called
“Thirteen Moderns” and later, the “Neo-realists”.
Combancheros, 1954 WORKERS
11. Hernando R. Ocampo  National Artist for Visual Arts
(1991)  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.
12. Arturo Luz  National Artist for Visual Arts (1997)  A
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 Gallery that
 professionalized the art gallery as an institution and set
a prestigious influence over generations of Filipino
artists, he inspired and developed a Filipino artistic
community that nurtures impeccable/PERFECT
designs.
13. Ang Kiukok (Ang Hwa Shing) National Artist for
Visual Arts (2001) Born to immigrant Chinese parents
Vicente Ang and Chin Lim, he 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, he blazed a formal and
iconographic path of his own through expressionistic
works of high visual impact and compelling meaning.
14. Benedicto R. Cabrera (BenCab)  National Artist for
Visual Arts (2006)  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/CHANGES, and the
vast inequities of Philippine society.
15. Abdulmari Asia Imao  National Artist for Visual Arts
(2006)  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.  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.
16. Federico Aguilar Alcuaz  National Artist for Visual
Arts (2009)  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.
17. Francisco V. Coching  National Artist for Visual Arts
(2014)  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.  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.
18. Guillermo E. Tolentino  National Artist for Sculpture
(1973)  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.
19. 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.
20. Francisca R. Aquino  National Artist for Dance
(1973)  Acknowledged as the Folk Dance Pioneer. 
This Bulakeña began her research on folk dances in
the 1920’s 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 1940’s, 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.
21. Leonor O. Goquingco  National Artist for Dance
Dubbed the “Trailblazer”, “Mother of Philippine Theater
Dance” and “Dean of Filipino Performing Arts Critics”,
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.
22. Lucrecia R. Urtula  National Artist for Dance (1988) 
A 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.
23. Ramon A. Obusan  National Artist for Dance (2006)
 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.
24. Alice Reyes  National Artist for Dance (2014)  The
name Alice Reyes has become a significant part of
Philippine dance parlance/DIALECT.  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.
25. Amado V. Hernandez  National Artist for Literature
(1973)  A 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.
26. Jose Garcia Villa  National Artist for Literature (1973)
“Art is a miraculous flirtation with Nothing! Aiming for
nothing, and landing on the Sun.” ― Doveglion:
Collected Poems  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 penname, 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.
27. Nick M. Joaquin  National Artist for Literature (1976)
“Before 1521 we could have been anything and
everything not Filipino; after 1565 we can be nothing
but Filipino.” ― Culture and History, 1988  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.  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”.
28. Carlos P. Romulo  National Artist for Literature
(1982)  Carlos P. Romulo‘s multifaceted career
spanned 50 years of public service as 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).
29. Francisco Arcellana  National Artist for Literature
(1990)  A 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).
30. Nestor Vicente Madali Gonzalez  National Artist for
Literature (1997)  A 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.
31. Carlos Quirino  National Artist for Historical
Literature (1997)  A biographer, has the distinction of
having written one of the earliest biographies of Jose
Rizal titled The Great Malayan.  His 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.
32. Francisco Arcellana  National Artist for Literature
(1990)  A 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).
33. Nestor Vicente Madali Gonzalez  National Artist for
Literature (1997)  A 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.
34. Carlos Quirino  National Artist for Historical
Literature (1997)  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.
35. Edith L. Tiempo  National Artist for Literature (1999)
 A poet, fictionist, teacher and literary critic is one of
the finest Filipino writers in English whose 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.
36. F. Sionil Jose National Artist for Literature (2001) 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.
37. Virgilio S. Almario National Artist for Literature
(2003) 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.
38. Alejandro R. Roces National Artist for Literature
(2003) (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 has received national and international
awards.
39. Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera Literature (2006)
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.
40. Lazaro Francisco National Artist for Literature
(2009) (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.”
41. Cirilo F. Bautista National Artist for Literature (2014)
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 spans more than four
decades, he has 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.
42. Antonio J. Molina National Artist for Music (1973)
(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 for 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.
43. Jovita Fuentes National Artist for Music (1976)
(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 Turnadot,
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.
44. Antonino R. 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”.
45. Lucresia R. Kasilag National Artist for Music (1989)
(August 31, 1918 – August 16, 2008) Lucrecia R.
Kasilag, as 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.
46. Lucio D. San Pedro National Artist for Music (1991)
(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.
47. Felipe P. De Leon National Artist for Music (1997)
(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.
48. Jose M. Maceda National Artist for Music (1997)
(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.
49. 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.
50. Prof. Andrea O. Veneracion National Artist for Music
(1999) (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 has served as
adjudicator in international music competitions.
51. Ernani J. Cuenco National Artist for Music (1999)
(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.
52. Francisco F. Feliciano National Artist for Music
(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.
53. Ramon P. Santos National Artist for Music (2014)
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.
54. Lamberto V. Avellana National Artist for Theater and
Film (1976) 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.
55. Manuel Conde National Artist for Cinema (2009)
(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.
56. Gerardo de Leon National Artist for Cinema (1982)
(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.
57. Lino O. Brocka National Artist for Cinema (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 —
slumdwellers, prostitute, 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.
58. 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.
59. Eddie S. Romero National Artist for Cinema (2003)
(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.
60. Fernando Poe Jr. National Artist for Cinema (2006)
(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.
61. Juan F. Nakpil National Artist for Architecture, 1973
(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.
62. Pablo S. Antonio National Artist for Architecture
(1976) 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”.
63. 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.
64. Archt. Ildefonso P. Santos National Artist for
Architecture, 2006 (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.
65. Jose Maria V. Zaragoza National Artist for
Architecture (2014) (1912-1994) 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.
66. Ramon O. 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 committment 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.
67. Salvador F. Bernal 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.
68. 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 has 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.
69. Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero National Artist for Theater
(1997) (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 ROMEL PIANO JR.
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.
70. 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.
71. 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.
72. Severino R. Montano National Artist for Theater
(2001) (January 3, 1915 – December 12, 1980)
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).

GROUP 5

RICO R. BARTOLOME JR.