RESPONDING to the clamor for Malacanang to explain why Nora Aunor was not given the honor of being recognized as Philippine national Artist, President Noynoy Aquino explained and let me quote him in full:
“Iyong first of all, for the record, iyong tatay ko isa sa mga fans ni Nora Aunor at pati ako humahanga sa naabot niya. Tandaan natin ang kwento niya, nagtitinda sa bus — ‘di ba mga bus stations noong araw, napunta doon sa “Tawag ng Tanghalan” at mula doon siya naging superstar and the singular superstar, okay.
Now, noong humarap sa akin itong mga nominations, isa lang naman ang tanong: Ano ba ang titulo? national artist.
At sa aking pananaw iyong National Artist iyong binibigyan natin ng honor na ito, puri na ganito, dahil gusto natin sabihin malaki ang inambag sa lahing Pilipino at dapat tularan.
Ngayon ang naging problema ko lang doon, alam naman natin lahat na iginagalang ko ulit si Binibining Nora Aunor, na-convict po siya sa drugs.
Na-convict at naparusahan at ang tanong ngayon dito, ‘pag ginawa ba nating national artist may mensahe ba akong maliwanag na sinasabi sa sambayanan?
Alam ninyo iyong drugs meron tayong local na problemang pagkatagal-tagal na.
Sinamahan pa ng nakita naman ninyo iyong mga reports na may West African syndicates, merong tila umano Mexican syndicates na pumapasok na sa Pilipinas at nagkakalat ng bawal na droga.
Ayokong magkaroon ng mensahe na kung minsan pwede iyong illegal na droga or acceptable.
Iyong dapat iyong mensahe it is always bad and illegal drugs do nobody any good; and I cannot emphasize that message enough, ano, and at the same time parang raise Ms. Nora Aunor to be a national — I repeat, ano, iyong the National Artist. Ngayon palagay ko naman kung ginagwa ko siyang national artist, may kabilang panig namang magsasabing: “Paano siya as a role model?”
So ganun talaga itong trabahong ito, maski anong desisyon ko, meron talagang papanig doon sa salungat sa anumang desisyon ko.
So ulitin ko lang, ano, iginagalang ko siya, kinikilala ko iyong kanyang trabaho at saka mga obra pero ang problema ko mukhang mas mataas iyong prayoridad na maliwanag na may mensahe iyong droga zero tolerance tayo dito — mali all the time.”
AUNOR’s lawyer in Los Angeles, Atty. Claire Espina, debunked Aquino’s statement about Nora’s drug conviction, and said the actress was not convicted, nor incarcerated, nor was she required to do community service. In a statement, her law firm further stated that Nora dad been made to undergo several drug tests and not once did any result reveal there were drugs/substance in Aunor’s system.
Espina lamented that Malacanang was so misinformed about the true status of the actress’ case, which costed her the National Artist honor. Espina clarified that Nora was arrested, but was never convicted. She added that her client’s case was dismissed.
Nevertheless, this reasoning of PNoy added fuel to the fiery debate on whether Nora Aunor’s reported drug use should be reason enough for the President to deny her the National Artist honor.
In the daily online poll of The Filipino Channel’s daily newscast Balitang America, 59 percent of the viewers who voted said Nora’s personal past should not have been eclipsed by her remarkable contribution to the arts.
The poll conducted by the Philippine Daily Inquirer revealed more kababayans support PNoy’s decision. Inquirer.net poll results showed that “from 20,933 votes gathered as of Tuesday afternoon, 52 percent or 10, 886 respondents said Aunor does not deserve the National Artist Award while 43. 19 percent, or 9, 042 of the respondents said the actress deserved it. Meanwhile, 4.8 percent said they do not care about the issue.”
PNoy’s decision has compelled many loyal Noranians, and those who simply believe Nora deserves the award no matter what her personal circumstances might have been in the past, to criticize what they think is a wrong judgement call of the President.
Many websites have been created to serve as information and opinion platform for Nora’s contribution to the arts. Several online petitions have been published to demand that Nora Aunor be honored as National Artist. Political, social, entertainment, economic columnists and bloggers have likewise shared their commentary about the issue.
But then, there are those who share PNoy’s conservative perspective, and affirm his stance that with the honor of being National Artist comes the big responsibility to live a life worthy to be emulated by Filipinos, especially by the youth.
Moreover, some contend that PNoy followed the rules and simply exercised his discretion given to him as President. Some argue that those who complain and contest PNoy’s decision must run for the highest office to be able to have this prerogative to have a final say on who should be recognized as National Artist.
Let me quote a few of the comments from our Asian Journal readers:
Ilang beses ng ipinaliliwanag nag NCCA at CCP na ndi kasama ang good moral character ng isang tao sa pagpili ng isang NA, [bagkos ay] kung ano ang naiambag niya sa larangan ng sining. At mali din na husgahan ng isang Presidente ang isang kababayan niya lalo na kung nakapagbigay ng malaking karangalan ito sa ating bansa. Saka napakalaking kahihiyan ang ginawa ynia dahil hinusgahan ya agad ang isang tao na naconvict at naparusahan sa ibang bansa pero ndi naman pala tutuo. Saka ang isang tao ba na naconvict dahil sa drug ay wala ng karapatan na magbago pa? Para sa kanya ba ay isang salot na ito sa lipunan at wala ng karapatan pang magbagong buhay? — Anna Marie de Leon
Based on Ms Aunor’s lawyer, it seems it’s OK to do/use drugs as long you’ve not been convicted…our TOLERANCE for wrongdoing/misconduct is really getting TWISTED–thanks to political correctness… Some will even say that Ms Aunor isn’t being canonized as a saint–TRUE–but, to be a national artist, either you liked it or not, YOU are considered a ROLE MODEL to be emulated…ergo, your morals must be above reproach…most notably, to the youth of today and tomorrow. – BNTZN
The President must review the decision he made if he was misinformed of Ms Aunor’s case. It’s the Lawyer who handled the case is saying that Ms. Aunor never convicted.Hope that as early as possible the proclamation of Ms Aunor as National Artis be done. If it is not Nora Aunor who else [would be more deserving to be honored as national Artist for cinema and television]? — Ed Nabus
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
