Salonga, Abunda, Rosales lead 2012 NCCA awardees

MANILA, Philippines - The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) presented Lea Salonga, Boy Abunda, Jerico Rosales and 29 others with the Ani ng Dangal trophy recently at Malacañang, as the culminating activity of the month-long National Arts Month celebration held every February. 

Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. represented President Aquino.

“The NCCA has been awarding the Ani ng Dangal to Filipinos who have achieved excellence in the field of arts internationally. After five years, the NCCA continues to recognize Filipino artists who reap these international honors. They inspire other artists to achieve similarly for the elevation of the arts of our country,” NCCA chair Felipe de Leon Jr. said in a statement.

Salonga is an internationally acclaimed and awarded singer. Abunda’s talk show The Bottomline was recognized as the Best Talk Show for 2011 in the 16th Asian TV Awards. Rosales, on the other hand, starred in the international movie Subject: I Love You that had a world premiere at the Newport Beach Film Festival in California, where he won the best actor trophy.

Awards were also given in the fields of cinema, dance, music, and visual arts.

The Ani ng Dangal trophy is a stylized sarimanok sculpted by National Artist for Visual Arts Abdulmari Asia Imao.