NCCA dangles P75M for works on culture, arts

CEBU, Philippines - The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) is accepting proposal for arts and culture projects that would be fully implemented in 2018.

The NCCA welcomes participants from artistic individuals, civil society organization, indigenous peoples' group, local government unit, government agencies, schools and universities and school publications.

For individuals, it could be an exhibit, newsletters, research paper, dance, dramatic and literary arts, visual arts, film and cinema, etcetera.

While for groups or organizations, proposals could include conducting summit or offer programs that are related to arts and culture.

The program grant aims to encourage the preservation of culture and to unleash new artistic creation by allowing artistically-inclined individuals and groups to come up with their own unique and quality projects.

Project Development and Cultural Heritage Head Gina Barcelona said that the proposed project proposals will undergo thorough review and evaluation before it will be approved for implementation next year.

“It is being held throughout the country. Aside from the press conferences, we will conduct technical assistance as orientation to the different categories,” said Barcelona.

She added that different committees are preparing and working for the generation of entries from different regions and areas nationwide.

Barcelona said that interested participants should submit a letter of intent to NCAA with the proposal that will be submitted to the Planning Policy Formulation and Programming Division (PPFPD).

Meanwhile, NCCA Arts Section Project Development Officer Nino Selibio said that the commission is seeing this in a very competitive level.

“We really advised those interested to compete on specific category in a very competitive level,” Selibio said.

Once the proposal is approved, the recognized projects will be funded depending on which categories they belong to.

Selibio said that the NCCA created different sub-commissions that will prioritize specific categories in order to easily identify the different and various projects being proposed.

These sub-commissions include arts, heritage, cultural dissemination, and cultural communities and traditional arts.

About P75 million is allocated for the program grant nationwide.

The deadline for submission will be on August 31. (FREEMAN)