National Book Awards

Thirty years ago, in a cafeteria across the street from the back gate of the University of Santo Tomas, Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta (+), Alfrredo Navarro Salanga (+), Alfred Yuson, and I met and talked about the public’s lack of appreciation for high quality Philippine books. Most Filipinos then preferred to read American books, and we wanted to tell them (and the world) that there were excellent books being published in the Philippines.

We decided to call ourselves the Manila Critics Circle and to grant annual National Book Awards. For the first three years, sculptor Eduardo Castrillo generously designed and donated trophies to the authors of the winning books. Later, other sculptors designed trophies for the awards – Agnes Arellano, Cesare and Jean Marie Syjuco, Edgar Doctor, Gino Gonzalez, National Artist Napoleon Abueva, Tito Sanchez, Glenn Cagandahan, Michael Allen R. Cacnio, and (for this year) Salvador Alonday.

Other critics eventually joined us: National Artist Virgilio S. Almario, Juaniyo Arcellana, Cirilo F. Bautista, Leonidas V. Benesa (+), Miguel A. Bernad S.J. (+), Ruel de Vera, Doreen G. Fernandez (+), Alice Guillermo, Shirley O. Lua, Resil B. Mojares, Danton R. Remoto, Soledad S. Reyes, Joel Salud, and Arlene Babst-Vokey. We also recruited Roger Bresnahan of Michigan State University as an honorary member.

For venues, we called on our friends who ran institutions that would not charge us anything for space and that would even serve refreshments. We were hosted by schools such as Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, Far Eastern University, the University of Santo Tomas, and the University of the Philippines, as well as galleries such as Artlab, Ayala Museum, Cultural Center of the Philippines, Ganesh Art Center, and Heritage Art Gallery.

We got financial help from a number of individual donors, as well as corporate donors such as Benguet Corporation, Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Equitable PCI Bank, Filipinas Foundation, Filipino Bookstore, Fortune Tobacco Corporation, Jollibee Foods Corporation, La Tondeña, Land Bank of the Philippines, Magnolia Corporation, Manila Electric Company, Mobil Philippines, Nestlé Philippines, Paper Industries Corporation of the Philippines, Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, San Miguel Corporation, and SGV & Company.

For many years, our main patrons were the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, the National Book Development Board (NBDB), Primetrade Asia, and the Manila International Book Fair.

Five years ago, we looked for a way to institutionalize the awards, so that they would not disappear when we became too old to read. Fortunately, the NBDB was receptive to the idea of having the government pay for the expenses of holding the awards. As a result, since 2008, the awards have been jointly administered by the NBDB and the Manila Critics Circle.

Last Saturday, at the National Museum, the Manila Critics Circle and NBDB gave the 30th National Book Awards. Yes, it has been 30 years, all of them glorious, all of them filled with all kinds of memories, such as backdrops falling on the stage, veteran authors dropping in to cheer young writers winning awards, being televised, and being written about in international magazines.

There was a lot to celebrate last Saturday, but what gave us the most joy was our announcing the National Book Awards for books published in 2010.

Here is the list. The winners received trophies, plus cash awards from NBDB and individual donors.

SOCIAL SCIENCES: Sanghiyang sa Mundo ng Internet (Rhoderick Nuncio, Vibal Foundation and DLSU).

POETRY: If I Write You This Poem, Will You Make It Fly (Simeon Dumdum Jr., Ateneo).

NON-FICTION PROSE: Sagad sa Buto (Romulo P. Baquiran Jr., UST).

LEISURE: Celebrations (Karla Prieto Delgado, Gianna Reyes Montinola, Cristina Roces-Garcia, Ginny Roces-de Guzman, Sylvia Roces-Montilla, and Vicky Veloso-Barrera, Anvil).

DESIGN: To Give and Not to Count the Cost (Felix Mago Miguel, Ateneo).

ALFONSO T. ONGPIN PRIZE FOR BEST BOOK ON ART: The Urian Anthology, 1990-1999 (Nicanor G. Tiongson, UP and Film Development Council of the Philippines).

BANGKO SENTRAL PRIZE FOR BEST BOOK IN ECONOMICS: Not awarded.

ISAGANI R. CRUZ PRIZE FOR BEST BOOK IN LITERARY CRITICISM: Banaag at Sikat: Metakritisismo at Antolohiya (Maria Luisa Torres Reyes, NCCA).

JUAN C. LAYA PRIZE FOR BEST NOVEL IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE: Blue Angel, White Shadow (Charlson Ong, UST).

JUAN C. LAYA PRIZE FOR BEST NOVEL IN A PHILIPPINE LANGUAGE: Lumbay ng Dila (Genevieve L. Asenjo, C&E and DLSU), citation.

CITATIONS: Watersheds (Grace Roxas, Wide Angle Media); The Great Men and Women of Asia (Ramon Magsaysay Foundation and Anvil).

PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR: University of Santo Tomas Publishing House.

Thank you to all that helped put up the awards, especially former NBDB Chair Dennis Gonzalez, current NBDB Chair Neni Sta. Romana Cruz, NBDB Executive Director Andrea Pasion-Flores, Sen. Edgardo Angara, Emerlinda Roman, Jeremy Barns, Andrei Ave, Marco Mañalac, emcee Joanna Abrera, the Manila Bulletin, the NCCA, the National Museum of the Philippines, the Philippine High School for the Arts, and the generous donors of cash awards (Jaime Laya, Eleanor de Gracia, Maria Isabel Ongpin, and Deanna Ongpin-Recto).

The judges were members of the Manila Critics Circle and several experts appointed by NBDB, namely, Emily A. Abrera, Robert A. Alejandro, Oscar V. Campomanes, Jose Wendell P. Capili, Marjorie Evasco, Brian Gozun, Grace G. Jamon, Angelo Lacuesta, Priscelina P. Legasto, Cynthia B. Loza, Merle Tan, Michael L. Tan, and Visconde Carlo Vergara.