Susan: No official notice yet on FPJ’s nat’l artist award

Actress Susan Roces said yesterday that her family has yet to receive an official notice from Malacañang on the reported National Artist award to be given her late husband Fernando Poe Jr.

"It will be presumptuous of me to say something about it as there is not yet an official notice sent to us about it," Roces said.

However, SHE acknowledged that such an award was considered the highest kind of recognition for artists in the movie and film industry.

Malacañang reportedly endorsed Poe’s nomination to the distinguished roster of National Artists for his significant achievement and contributions to Philippine cinema.

Poe ran against President Arroyo in the 2004 presidential race and lost. He filed an election protest over the results but died of a stroke before the petition could be resolved.

The Palace said Poe’s endorsement was unanimously agreed upon by President Arroyo and her Cabinet and said the man known as "The King of Philippine Movies" deserved the award this year to dispel speculations that the conferment was merely political strategy to appease the late actor’s supporters.

Poe, a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Merit in late 2004, was among dozens of nominees for National Artist for film.

The National Artist award is conferred upon artists who have consistently excelled in literature, music, dance, theater, architecture and the visual arts.

The Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences (FAMAS) and Movie Workers Welfare Foundation (Mowelfund) had previously nominated Poe for National Artist for film this year.

Poe was nominated for his accomplishments in local cinema. He is considered a Filipino movie icon with a notable reputation as an actor, director, writer and producer.

The National Artist Awards are conferred every three years to honor Filipinos for outstanding contributions to arts and letters. The award comes with lifetime honors, benefits and emoluments.

Previous recipients of the National Artist Award for film were directors Gerardo de Leon, Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal, Lamberto Avellana and Eddie Romero.

National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Executive Director Cecile Guidote-Alvarez said Poe’s name was never removed from the list of awardees, denying earlier reports that Poe’s nomination had been withdrawn. — With Sandy Araneta