Who are the 10 new National Artists of the Philippines?
MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has declared through Proclamation No. 1414 that 10 Filipinos be named as National Artists of the Philippines.
This order is the country's highest national recognition for Filipinos who've made distinct and significant contributions to the development of Philippine culture, conferred by the president upon the recommendation of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP_ and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).
The following will be newly given the rank and title of National Artist:
- Imelda Cajipe-Endaya (Visual Arts)
- Nunelucio "Nune" Alvarado (Visual Arts)
- Nicanor Tiongson (Literature)
- Gregorio "Greg" Brillantes (Literature), posthumously
- Gabriel "Gabby" Formoso (Architecture), posthumously
- Armando "Bing" Lao (Film and Broadcast Arts), posthumously
- Teodoro "Teddy" Hilado (Theater), posthumously
- Rafael "Nonoy" Froilan (Dance)
- Maria Beatriz "Patis" Tesoro (Design)
- Alfredo Buenaventura (Music)
Following this declaration, there are now 91 National Artists in the Philippines.
Imelda Cajipe-Endaya
Cajipe-Endaya is the first woman to be recognized as National Artist in the Visual Arts category.
Her works span prints, paintings, installations, and mixed media, also curating and writing pieces which highlight Philippine women's experiences and social concerns.
She also helped established the Kababaihan sa Sining at Bagong Sibol na Kamalayan (Kasibulan) for fellow Filipino feminist artists.
Nunelucio "Nune" Alvarado
The Negrense social realist artist is known for his paintings inspired by sakadas and sugarcane on Negros island, also drawing posters, cartoons and comics.
Many of the artist's works have made it to international museums, including Japan and Singapore.
Alvardo is a two-time Philippine Art Awards grand prize winner (1997, 1999) and received the CCP Thirteen Artists Award in 1992.
Nicanor Tiongson
Though he is recognized as National Artist for Literature likely for his work in cultural studies, Tiongson is also a well-respected figure in Philippine theater as he advocated for the komedya, sinakulo and sarsuwela forms of stage play.
Some of the works he's written across different media are "The Women of Malolos," "The Cinema of Manuel Conde," "Realizing Rama," "Pilipinas Circa 1907," "Noli at Fili Dekada 2000" and most recently, "Mabinining Mandirigma."
He also edited the 10-volume CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art, on top of being an artistic director and vice president of the CCP.
Tiongson is a founding member and former chair of the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino, former dean of the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication in Diliman, and professor emeritus of the UP Film Institute.
Gregorio "Greg" Brillantes
The author passed away just last year but during his time was famed for his English short stories like "The Distance to Andromeda," "Faith, Love, Time and Dr. Lazaro," "The Living and the Dead" and "A Wind over the Earth," penned within years of graduating college.
He also wrote "The Cries of Children on an April Afternoon in the Year 1957," "Janis Joplin, the Revolution, and the Melancholy Widow of Gabriela Silang Street" and "The Flood in Tarlac," all of them Palanca Award first prize winners.
Brillantes also worked as a journalist and editor, very closely associated with the Philippines Free Press.
Gabriel "Gabby" Formoso
Formoso was a pioneer in Philippine architecture after the Second World War, known for designing the Manila Peninsula Hotel, Asian Institute of Management, Bank of America-Lepanto Building, Pacific Star Building, the old Metropolitan Museum of Manila and main complex of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
The architect, who passed away in 1996, is kept alive by his firm, now known as GF and Partners Architects.
Armando "Bing" Lao
Many contemporary filmmakers look up to the late screenwriter and director, who passed away in 2024, as a father figure and mentor, particularly for developing the "Found Story" approach of filmmaking.
Some of the many works Lao penned include Brillante Mendoza's "Serbis" and "Kinatay," Chito S. Roño's "Itanong Mo Sa Buwan" and "La Vida Rosa," and Jeffrey Jeturian's "Pila Balde," "Kubrador" and "Minsan Pa."
He also directed "Biyaheng Lupa," "Ag Ignorantiam," and "Dukit" and dabbled in editing, acting, and producing. Lao is a 16-time Gawad Urian nominee, winning five — all for Best Screenplay.
Teodoro "Teddy" Hilado
The late Hilado, who passed away in 2015, was known for his work in lighting design, a first for the Theater category, which often recognizes performers, directors and playwrights.
Salvador Bernal, named a National Artist in 2003 before his death eight years later, was recognized for his incredible work in stage set design.
Rafael "Nonoy" Froilan
Dance and choreographer Froilan is just the second male National Artist in the Dance category, joining the late Ramon Obusan and the first male recognized for his ballet skills.
Froilan — noted by some as the "King of Dance" — was the principal male dancer of Ballet Philippines for around two decades, frequently joining productions by Alice Reyes, another National Artist for Dance.
These include "Rama Hari," "Itim Asu," "Carmen," "Carmina Burana," "Amada" and "Ang Sultan."
Maria Beatriz "Patis" Tesoro
The Grand Dame of Philippine Fashion is the third National Artist in the Fashion Design category after Ramon Valera and Salvacion Lim "Slim" Higgins, both of them honored in just the last two decades.
Tesoro stamped her signature design on Filipiniana works like the terno and barong Tagalog by using local and indigenous materials as well as traditional embroidery.
She is credited with preserving ethnic Filipino clothing and reviving the piña fabric industry.
Alfredo Buenaventura
The composer and conductor, who turns 97 years old next month, is credited with over a thousand compositions from operas, concertos and ballets to choir pieces.
Buenaventura received the Republic Cultural Heritage Award twice: the "Maria Makiling" opera in 1964 and the "Kayumanggi Symphony" in 1972.
He served as Dean of the Centro Escolar University Conservatory of Music for three decades and is a founder of the Pambansang Samahan ng mga Banda sa Pinas.
Benefits
A ceremony will be conducted for recipients or their heirs to receive a grand collar and citation befitting their rank, as well as a gold-plated medallion minted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.
The legal heirs of the posthumous recipients will receive a cash award of P75,000 net of taxes while the rest will receive a cash award of P200,000 net of taxes.
The living recipients will receive:
- a P50,000 lifetime monthly stipend
- medical and hospitalization benefits up to P750,000 per year
- life insurance coverage (if still insurable) through the Government Service Insurance System and/or private insurers
- a place of honor at national state functions
- recognition at cultural events
- a state funeral and burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani shouldered by the government
RELATED: Bing Lao, Nicanor Tiongson among 10 new National Artists
