If there is a topic both sophisticated enough to be the talk over a hotel table or common enough to be heard along the hallways of a wet market, it would be: “Philippine’s Superstar, to be or not to be a National Artist?”
If ever the circumstances permit, Nora Cabaltera Villamayor, popularly known as Nora Aunor, will be an additional to the list of five Alagad ng Sining who contributed to the development of the Philippine Cinema.
Since 1972, only five were given the highest national recognition through there distinct achievements in terms of Cinematography. One of which is the late Fernando Poe, Jr. Add the remaining fifty-two awardees and the current list of Orden ng Gawad Pambansang Alagad ng Sining is complete.
The figure is quite small because, really, the process of determining whether an individual has made a significant impact on the Philippine arts, namely Music, Dance, Theater, Visual Arts, Literature, Film and Broadcast Arts, and Architecture and Allied Arts is painstaking.
Therefore, before putting your life on the line in the battle of clash of opinions, you might want to back up your arguments with facts to support your premises.
1. The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) act as the Order of the National Artists Award Secretariat. They are responsible for planning, organizing, and implementing the said award.
2. The list of nominees for the National Artists Award undergoes seven processes. First, the Secretariat pre-screens the nominations, followed by a verification of the nominee’s data by the Special Research. Another review of the Secretariat will be done before it is submitted to the first deliberation conducted by the Council of Experts, then a second deliberation by the Jury of Experts. After a presentation by highly-qualified experts, the NCCA and CCP joint boards will vote. Finally, the list of awardees will be forwarded to the President for confirmation and proclamation.
3. Members of the screening bodies also pass through scrutiny guided by certain criteria before they can be involved. The Special Research Group is a team composed of ten experts in one or more discipline. The Council of Experts is a panel of forty-nine members, seven from each of the seven Philippine Arts categories, plus the living National Artists. On the other hand, the Jury of Experts is composed of twenty-one members, three from each of the aforementioned categories.
4. To be a National Artist, one should be a natural-born Filipino citizen, a contributor of works that build a Filipino sense of nationhood, a pioneer in a mode of creative expression, a creator of a substantial and significant body of works and excellence, and a recipient of national or international recognition, critical acclaim, and esteem.
5. The achievements of the nominees are measured in terms of their vision, unusual insight, creativity and imagination, technical proficiency, history, way of life, and aspirations.
In the end, it is just right to undergo a painstaking process so that we will be sure of whom we are proud of. (Source: NCCA website)
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