NHCP head Escalante elected NCCA chair

MANILA, Philippines – The current chair of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines Rene Escalante has been elected as the new chairman of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

Escalante was named the new chair of the NCCA during the Board of Commissioners meeting held today, July 7, at the Metropolitan Theatre.

He will replace Cultural Center of the Philippines president and concurrent NCCA chairman Arsenio "Nick" Lizaso who tendered his resignation.

Escalante will lead the NCCA for six months.

In a Facebook post, the NCCA welcomed the election of Escalante to the commission.

"Welcome, Chairman Rene Escalante!" the Facebook post peppered with congratulatory remarks read.

Aside from heading the two cultural agencies, Escalante, who received his doctorate degree in History from the University of the Philippines in 2001, is a professor of history and a former chair of the Department of History of De La Salle University Manila.

A well-published academic with experience in history and culture agencies, this is not the first time he will be serving the NCCA.

From 2004 to 2005, Escalante was the secretary of NCCA National Committee on Historical Research (NCHR) from 2004 to 2007 and was head of the NCHR from 2008 to 2010.

He was appointed as a member of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Technical Panel on history, from 2015 to 2016.

Escalante was appointed commissioner of the NHCP in 2010 and was also elected chair of NHCP in 2017.

In 2010, he was appointed Commissioner of the NHCP, and in 2017, Dr. Escalante was elected as chairman of NHCP.

Aside from his role in NHCP and NCCA, Escalante serves as the Executive Director of the National Quincentennial Committee.

As NHCP chairman, he also will concurrently serve EDSA People Power Commission.