National Artist of the Philippines


The Order of National Artists of the Philippines is an order bestowed by the Philippines on Filipinos who have made significant contributions to the development of Philippine art. Members of the Order are known as National Artists. Originally instituted as an award, it was elevated to the status of an order in 2003.
The Order is administered by the Cultural Center of the Philippines by virtue of President Ferdinand Marcos's Proclamation № 1001 of April 2, 1972 and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. The first award was posthumously conferred on Filipino painter Fernando Amorsolo.

Definition

The order of the highest state honor is conferred on individuals deemed as having done much for their artistic field. Deserving individuals must have been recommended by both the Cultural Center and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts prior to receiving the award. Such people are then titled, by virtue of a Presidential Proclamation, as National Artist, and are inducted into the Order.

Categories

Categories under which National Artists can be recognized originally included:
However, National Artists have since been honored under new categories. The NCCA created the category of National Artist for Fashion Design when it nominated Ramon Valera, but subsumed that category under "Architecture, Design and Allied Arts". President Fidel V. Ramos issued an executive order creating the category of National Artist for Historical Literature before conferring the honor to Carlos Quirino.

Criteria

The National Artist of the Philippines are based on a broad criteria, as set forth by the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the National Commission on Culture and the Arts:
  1. 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;
  2. Artists who have helped build a Filipino sense of nationhood through the content and form of their works;
  3. Artists who have distinguished themselves by pioneering in a mode of creative expression or style, making an impact on succeeding generations of artists;
  4. 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
  5. 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.
Nominations are then submitted to the National Artist Secretariat that is created by the National Artist Award Committee; experts from the different art fields then sit on a First Deliberation to prepare the short list of nominees. A Second Deliberation, which is a joint meeting of the Commissioners of the NCCA and the Board of Trustees of the CCP, decides on the final nominees. The list is then forwarded to the President of the Philippines, who, by Presidential Proclamation, proclaims the final nominees as members of the Order of National Artists.

Benefits

YearAwardeeCategoryNotes
1972Fernando C. AmorsoloVisual Arts – Paintingposthumous conferment
1973Francisca Reyes AquinoDance
1973Carlos "Botong" V. FranciscoVisual Arts – Paintingposthumous conferment
1973Amado V. HernándezLiteratureposthumous conferment
1973Antonio J. MolinaMusic
1973Juan NakpílArchitecture
1973Guillermo E. TolentinoVisual Arts – Sculpture
1973Jose Garcia VillaLiterature
1976Napoleón V. AbuevaVisual Arts – Sculpture
1976Leonor Orosa-GoquingcoDance
1976Lamberto V. AvellanaFilm and Theater
1976Nick JoaquínLiterature
1976Jovita FuentesMusic
1976Victorio C. EdadesVisual Arts – Painting
1976Pablo AntonioArchitectureposthumous conferment
1981Vicente S. ManansalaVisual Arts – Paintingposthumous conferment
1982Gerardo de LeónFilmposthumous conferment
1982Carlos P. RómuloLiterature
1987Honorata "Atang" de la RamaTheater and Music
1988Antonino BuenaventuraMusic
1988Lucrecia Reyes UrtulaDance
1989Lucrecia R. KasilagMusic
1990Francisco ArcellanaLiterature
1990César LegaspiVisual Arts – Painting
1990Leandro V. LocsinArchitecture
1991Hernándo R. OcampoVisual Arts – Painting
1991Lucio D. San PedroMusic
1997Lino BrockaFilmposthumous conferment
1997Felipe P. de LeónMusicposthumous conferment
1997Wilfrido Ma. GuerreroTheaterposthumous conferment
1997Rolando S. TínioTheater and Literatureposthumous conferment
1997N. V. M. GonzálezLiteratureposthumous conferment
1997Levi CelérioMusic & Literature
1997Arturo R. LuzVisual Arts – Painting
1997José MacedaMusic
1997Carlos QuirinoHistorical Literature
1999J. Navarro ElizaldeVisual Arts – Paintingposthumous conferment
1999Ernani Joson CuencoMusicposthumous conferment
1999Andrea O. VeneraciónMusic
1999Edith L. TiempoLiterature
1999Daisy AvellanaTheater
2001Ishmael BernálFilmposthumous conferment
2001Severino MontanoTheaterposthumous conferment
2001F. Sioníl JoséLiterature
2001Ang KiukokVisual Arts – Painting
2003José T. JoyaVisual Arts – Paintingposthumous conferment
2003Virgilio S. AlmarioLiterature
2003Alejándro R. RocesLiterature
2003Eddie S. RomeroFilm and Broadcast Arts
2003Salvador F. BernálTheater and Design
2006Benedicto Reyes CabreraVisual Arts – Painting
2006Abdulmari Asia ImaoVisual Arts – Sculpture
2006Bienvenido LumberaLiterature
2006Ramón ObusanDance
2006I.P. SantosArchitecture – Landscape
2006Fernando Poe Jr.Filmposthumous conferment
2006Ramón ValeraArchitecture, Design and Allied Arts – Fashion Designposthumous conferment
2009Manuel CondeFilm and Broadcast Artsposthumous conferment
2009Lázaro FranciscoLiteratureposthumous conferment
2009Federico Aguilar AlcuázVisual Arts – Painting, Sculpture and Mixed Mediaposthumous conferment
2014Alice ReyesDance
2014Francisco CochingVisual Artsposthumous conferment
2014Cirilo F. BautistaLiterature
2014Francisco FelicianoMusic
2014Ramón SantosMusic
2014José María ZaragozaArchitectureposthumous conferment
2018Ryan CayabyabMusic
2018Francisco MañosaArchitecture and Allied Arts
2018Ramon MuzonesLiteratureposthumous conferment
2018Resil MojaresLiterature
2018Larry AlcalaVisual Artsposthumous conferment
2018Amelia Lapeña BonifacioTheater
2018Kidlat TahimikFilm and Broadcast Arts

Aguilar Alcuaz, Francisco, and Conde were all proclaimed in 2009 but the conferment of the order was delayed due to a controversy. The order was finally bestowed in a ceremony at Malacañang Palace in November 2013.
Over the years there have been several controversies involving the awarding of National Artist or involving awardees.

2009 National Artist of the Philippines controversy

In August 2009, the conferment of the Order of National Artists on seven individuals by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo became controversial when it was revealed that musician Ramon Santos had been dropped from the list of nominees short-listed in May that year by the selection committee, and that four other individuals had been nominated via "President’s prerogative": Cecilla Guidote-Alvarez, Carlo J. Caparas, Francisco Mañosa, and Pitoy Moreno.
Members of the Philippine art community–including a number of living members of the Order–protested that the proclamation politicised the title of National Artist, and made it "a way for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to accommodate her allies." Specific protests were raised regarding the nomination of Guidote-Alvarez, who was also Executive Director of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, because it was purportedly a breach of protocol and delicadeza, and of Caparas, on the grounds that he was unqualified for nomination under both the Visual Arts and the Film categories. On July 16, 2013, the controversy finally ended after the Supreme Court of the Philippines voted 12-1-2 that voided the four proclamations.
On June 20, 2014, five years after he was originally shortlisted in 2009, Ramon Santos was finally conferred National Artist for Music by President Benigno S. Aquino III.