Ang Caviteno Newsweekly November 12-18, 2018 Issue | Page 5

Nobyembre 12-18, 2018
OPINYON
World Teachers’ Day 2018, ipinagdiwang
sa Dasmarinas City
IPINAGDIWANG ng Lungsod
ng Dasmarinas ang taunang World
Teachers’ Day kabilang ang mga
kaguruan ng lahat ng paaralan sa
pribado at publiko, elementarya
at sekondarya, na ginanap sa
Dasmarinas Integrated High School,
ika-11 ng Oktubre.

Sa pangunguna ng local na
gobyerno, naglalayon ito na bigyan
parangal ang lahat ng kaguruan sa
kanilang serbisyo sa pagbibigay
kaalaman sa mga mag-aaral, at bigyan
pasasalamat ang mga ito sa positibo
at magandang impluwensya ng mga
guro sa mga kabataang Pilipino.

Nagbukas ang programa
bandang alas 4 ng hapon kung sa
umawit ang Dasmarinas Chorale
nakinabibilangan rin ng mga
kaguruan bilang panalangin sa
kasinundan ng pagkanta ng Lupang
Hinirang at ng Himno ng lungsod.
Pinangunahan
ni
G.Christopher Diaz, Dasmarinas
Superintendent, and pambungad
napananalita.

Matapos nito ay isa-isang
pinaakyat ang lahat ng opisyal
Get to know the new National
Artists
THE nation, led by President Rodrigo
Duterte, feted seven new National
Artists in an awarding ceremony held
on 24 October, which also revealed the
honorees of other awards of national
importance — the Presidential Medal
of Merit; the Philippine Heritage
Awards for tangible and intangible
heritage, given for the first time and
the Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan or
National Living Treasures Awards for
traditional and folk artists, craftsmen
and artisans.

The
newly
declared
National Artists are Larry Alcala for
visual arts; Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio
for theater and literature; Ryan
Cayabyab for music; Kidlat Tahimik
for film and broadcast arts; Francisco
T. Mañosa for architecture and allied
arts; Resil B. Mojares for literature
and Ramon Muzones for literature.
Two of them — Alcala and Muzones
— were honored posthumously.

“Itong hapong ito ay
puno ng kahulugan. Ito ay isang
pagdiriwang, isang pasasalamat,
isang pagpapahalaga at isang paraan
sa pagbubuo at pagtataguyod ng
kulturang Filipino at pagka-Filipino
(This afternoon is full of meanings.
It is a celebration, a thanksgiving, a
recognition and a way of shaping and
upholding Filipino culture and being
Filipino),” said National Commission
for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and
Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF)
chairman Virgilio S. Almario, himself
a National Artist, during the awarding
ceremony the Rizal Ceremonial Hall
of Malacañan Palace.

“Bagama’t iba’t-iba ang
larangan, lahat ito ay konektado,
sumasalamin at kumakatawan sa
kung ano ang pinakamainam at
pinakamagaling sa Filipino at sa
kulturang Filipino (Though the
disciplines are different, they are all
connected, reflecting and embodying
what is the best and excellent in the
Filipino and in Filipino culture),” he
continued.

“Hindi lamang simpleng
pagkilala ito kundi ito ay isa ring
paglulok sa mga sagisag ng ating
bansa na may mahabang kasaysayan
ng haraya, pagkamalikhain at
kagalingan para sa lahat (This is not a
simple recognition but the enshrining
of the icons of our country, which
has a long history of imagination,
creativity and excellence for all),”
Almario added.
Conferred by the President of the
Philippines upon recommendation
by the NCCA and the Cultural Center
of the Philippines (CCP), the Order
of National Artists or Orden ng
Pambansang Alagad ng Sining is the
highest recognition bestowed by the
nation to Filipino artists who have
made significant contributions to the
development of Philippine arts and
culture.

The NCCA and the CCP,
which jointly administer the Order
of National Artists, called for
nominations on June 2017, after
which the nominees and their bodies
of work were evaluated in a rigorous
process that involved panels of
artists, cultural workers, scholars and
experts.

The year-long selection
process follows a multi-layer
procedure. It begins with an initial
deliberation and shortlisting by a
council of experts made up of artist
peers. This is then followed by a
second deliberation by the jury
of experts who in turn submits its
recommendations to the boards of
the NCCA and the CCP. The NCCA
and the CCP board members are
joined by current National Artists
to vote on the final nominees to be
recommended to the President. The
list is reviewed by the Office of the
President’s Honors Committee before
it is transmitted to the President. The
President may affirm all or some of
the recommended names but is not
allowed to add to what has been
submitted by the NCCA and the

The new National Artists
are icons in their respective fields
and disciplines, which have grown
richer with their bodies of work and
the grounds they broke, and have
inspired and influenced generations
of artists as well as the Filipino
people.

Here are short summaries
of their lives and achievements:

Lauro “Larry” Alcala
(18 August 1926-24 June 2002) is
famous for his cartoons. His comic
strips spiced up the slices of Filipino
lives with witty illustrations executed
throughout his 56 years of cartooning.
He created over 500 characters and
20 comic strips in widely circulated
publications. Alcala’s most iconic
work, Slice of Life, not only made
for decades long of widely circulated
images of Filipino everyday life,
it also symbolically became an
experiential way for his followers
to find a sense of self in the midst
of an often cacophonic, raucous and
at odds environment that Filipinos
found themselves amidst.

Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio
is known as the Grand Dame of
Southeast Asian children’s theatre.

She is the founder and
playwright-director of the Teatrong
Mulat ng Pilipinas, which has placed
IN photo are (from left) literary scholar Cecilia Locsin-Nava (on behalf of Ramon Muzones); Kidlat Tahimik; Amelia
Lapeña-Bonifacio; President Rodrigo Duterte; Francisco Mañosa; Resil Mojares; Guadalupe Alcala, wife of Larry
Alcala and Ryan Caybyab. Faith Yangyang
5
ng Dasmarinas at sinundan ito
ng maikling mensahe mula kay
Cong. Jennifer Barzaga, Mayor
ElpidioBarzaga at ng kanilang
anak na si Kiko Barzaga kung saan
nagbigay pasasalamat sila sa lahat
ng guro sa kanilang walang kapantay
na serbisyo sa pagtuturo sa mga
kabataan.

Kasunod nito ay ang
pagsisimula na ng paligsahan ng
bawat cluster salarong, “Your
Face Sounds Familiar” kung saan
walong guro ang naglaban-laban at
nagpamalas ng kanilang galing at
talent sa pagkanta.

Samantala,
nagkaroon
ng pagkakataon ang mga kaguruan
na maharana ng kanilang special
guests na sina Hajji Alejandro at
ang kanyang asawa na si Alynna
Alejandro naumawit ng kanyang
orihinal na mga awitin kabilang
na ang kantang, “Kayganda ng atingMusika.”

Sa
kalagitnaan
ng
programa ay hinandaan ng iba’tibang
masasarap na pagkain ang mga guro.
Matapos busugin ang mga ito ay
agad nadumako sa awarding para sa
mananalo ng nasabing paligsahan
kung saan tinanghal na kampyon si
Gng. Paula Cariaga na ginaya ang
sikat na si Lea Salonga sa awiting On
My Own, at tumanggap ito ng 15 000
php at isang trophy.

Matapos ang awarding ay
nagkaroon ng raffle ang nasabing
selebrasyon kung saan namigay
ng iba’tibang appliances gaya ng
Washing Machine, Electric fan,
flatscreen LED TV, gas stove at
gadgets gaya ng cellphone. Namigay
rin ng cash price sa mga guro.

Umabot naman sa mahigit
100 na guro ang nabunot sa raffle.
the Philippines on the artistic map
of world theater. She has written
most of the plays performed by the
group based on materials culled from
careful researches. She has also been
involved in the production and design
of puppets. What she has achieved
is an innovative fusion of puppetry,
children’s literature, folklore and
theater.

Ryan Cayabyab is the
most
accomplished
composer,
arranger and musical director in
the Philippine music industry since
it bloomed beginning 1970s. His
skillful and versatile musical style
spans a wide range of genres—from
conservatory or art compositions
such as concert religious music,
symphonic work, art song, opera,
and concerto to mainstream popular
idioms in the music industry and in
live contemporary shows. Being
very visible in mainstream media,
Cayabyab is a household name. His
compositions reflect a perspective
of music that extols the exuberance
of life and human happiness, thus
capturing an essence of the Filipino
soul.

Kidlat Tahimik (Eric de
Guia) has continually invented
himself through his cinema, and
so his cinema is as singular as the
man. His debut film, Mababangong
Bangungot (1977), was praised by
critics and filmmakers from Europe,
North America, Asia, and Africa
and is still considered by many as a
pioneering postcolonial essay film.
Tahimik’s intense independence as
an artist and, at the same time, the
film itself called for Filipinos to
actively live out their independence
and not allow their culture to be
imperialized by the west. Kidlat’s
“imperfect” film is an exemplar of
what is worldwide known as “Third
Cinema,” a cinema that is critical of
neocolonial exploitation and state
oppression. But, unlike other Third
Cinema films, Kidlat’s work does
not glory in ugliness. His films,
even those that lament injustice and
violence, are premised on the hope
of possible, though yet unrealized,
triumph. His constant claim is that
whatever “progress” has relegated
to the realm of sadness and poverty
should never remain self-referentially
sad or poor.

Francisco T. Mañosa,
for all of his more than 60 years of
architecture life, designed Filipino.

From the 1960s, with
his landmark design of the Sulo
Hotel until his retirement in 2015,
he passionately created original
Filipino forms, spaces with intricate
and refined details. But what is
most valuable is that Mañosa was
in the heart and soul of a Philippine
architectural movement. He has
developed a legacy of Philippine
architecture, which is essential to our
Filipino identity and at the same time,
deeply appreciated and shared in our
world today.
Resil B. Mojares is a teacher
and scholar, essayist and fictionist,
and cultural and literary historian.
He is acknowledged as a leading
figure in the promotion of regional
literature and history. As founding
director of the Cebuano Studies
Center—an
important
research
institution which placed Cebu in the
research and documentation map—
he pioneered Cebuano and national
identity formation. As a leading
figure in cultural and literary history,
he networked actively in many
organizations. For over 50 years,
Mojares has published in diverse
forms (fiction, essay, journalism,
scholarly articles, and books) across
a wide range of discipline (literature,
history, biography, cultural studies,
and others). To date, he has 17
published books and edited, co-
edited, or co-authored 11 books, and
written numerous articles for popular
and scholarly publications.

Ramon
Muzones
(20
March 1913 to 17 August 1992) was
a Hiligaynon poet, essayist, short
story writer, critic, grammarian,
editor, lexicographer and novelist
who authored an unprecedented 61
completed novels. A number of these
represent groundbreaking “firsts’
in Hiligaynon literature such as the
feminist Ang Bag-ong Maria Clara,
the roman a clef Maambong Nga Sapat
(Magnificent Brute, 1940), the comic
Si Tamblot (1946), the politically
satirical Si Tamblot Kandidato
Man (Tamblot is Also a Candidate,
1949), the longest serialized novel,
Dama de Noche (1982 to 1984, 125
installments), etc. Hailed by his
peers as the longest reigning (1938-
1972) among “the three kings of the
Hiligaynon novel,” Muzones brought
about its most radical changes while
ushering in modernism. His literary
career spanned 53 years (1938-1990).
“Mula sa hapong ito, sila ay ating
ituturing mga bayani ng bayan,
bayani hindi dahil sa pakikipagdigma
lamang kundi bayani sa pangangalaga
ng pamana, paglikha at pagtataguyod
ng kagalingan para sa lahat (From
this afternoon on, we regard them as
heroes of the country, heroes not only
because of going to war but heroes
in caring for heritage, creating and
upholding of excellence for all of
us),” Almario said.

“Inaalay nila ang kanilang
panahon, lakas at buhay sa kanilang
bisyon, sa pagpapakadalubhasa,
sa haraya. At dahil sa kanilang
pagpupunyagi, lahat tayo ay lalong
yumaman (They dedicated their time,
energy and life to their visions, to
honing their expertise, to imagination.
Because of their perseverance, we all
became richer).”

“Tayo ay nagpapasalamat
sa kanila. Obligasyon na natin ang
pangangalaga, pagpapalaganap at
pagpapahalaga ng kanilang pamana
(We thank them. It is now our
obligation to care, promote and value
their legacies),” he concluded.
KATHRYN ARLAN