Living heroes on spotlight

I share the pride and elation over the recent awarding of the prestigious National Artist Award by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to seven people, namely Federico Alcuaz and Jose Carlo Caparas for the Visual Arts, Cecilia Guidote-Alvarez for Theater Arts, Lazaro Francisco for Literature (posthumous), Francisco Manosa for Architecture, Jose “Pitoy” Moreno for Fashion Design and Manuel Urbano for Film.

One of them has been a top-of-the-list nominee for many years, the award bestowed on others instead due to her position as Executive Director of the National Commission for the Culture and the Arts (NCCA) since 2004, the same agency which handles the selection of national artists. Orden ng Gawad Pambansang Alagad ng Sining (Order of National Artists) is the highest national recognition given to Filipinos who have made significant contributions to the development of Philippine Arts, with categories in Music, Dance, Theater, Visual Arts, Literature, Film and Broadcast Arts, Architecture and Allied Arts. The selection and awarding is jointly administered by the NCCA and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) through a Special Committee constituted for that purpose. This year, I am no less than ecstatic that finally, Cecile Alvarez made it as one of our National Artists.

 Alvarez’ lifelong dedication for the development of Theater Arts in the country is unparalleled. She started at the very young age of 13, when the missionary Jesuit Fr. James B. Reuter, 1998 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts, recognizing at once her potential, introduced her to me, among others. Fr. Reuter is known to have discovered many talents and launched successful careers in broadcasting, stage, TV and film and Cecile is one of the stars he discovered. Fr. Reuter described her as “electricity on stage”, when he offered her a scholarship in the Ateneo Graduate School as a college freshman at St. Paul’s College QC in 1960. Since then, I have known Cecile to be one hardworking, results-driven, indefatigable lady. She brings with her no less than 50 solid years of Public Service through the Arts. Cecile is also an artist, a teacher, a TV-radio producer-director-host, writer, actress, cultural organizer, founder of national and international cultural movements for human rights education, a staunch advocate of environment preservation, peace and other United Nations development concerns for children, women, indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities and others. Armed with two degrees, a summa cum laude award and fellowships all over the world, Cecile has become no less than a cultural luminary given all these outstanding achievements and continuing work in her chosen field. 

In the words of her colleagues in the arts and culture community, Cecile is best known as the spirit and driving force behind the establishment of a truly original Filipino theater in the country through the Philippine Educational Theater Association or PETA which she founded in 1967. As contained in her 300-page master’s thesis, “A Prospectus for National Theater in the Philippines”, her unparalleled vision for the theater arts is that it will come to life from Philippine culture and experience, lived and interpreted by trained Philippine artists. Her vision was realized when she organized the PETA, a production arm that implemented her concepts of theater training and dramaturgy and trained and developed outstanding talents like Lino Brocka, Robert Arevalo, Frank Rivera, Nick Lizaso, Isagani Cruz, Alfred Yuson, Mario de los Reyes, Lutgardo Labad, Anton Juan, Marilou Jacob, Mario O’Hara, Joey Gosiengfiao, Elwood Perez, Joy Soler, Lily O’Boyle and many other great talents. 

In 1972, her extraordinary and pioneering work on stage and television earned for her the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award. She was the youngest recipient distinguished with the Asian award. She is also a recipient of the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Day Award for Cultural Innovation in 1985 and cited as one of the Ten Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service (TOWNS) in 1989. In 1990, for reviving Radyo Balintataw, the daily midmorning program in DZRH, which continues to popularize classic literary works, she was recognized by Gawad CCP, PMPC Star Awards and the Catholic Mass Media Awards (CMMA) Hall of Fame Award for Drama. 

Her achievements are recognized not only in our country but in the international arena. In 2007, she was chosen as one of the four panelists in the UNESCO Roundtable Discussion in Theater and Development. As the Presidential Adviser on Culture, she organized the First Creativity Summit on KALAHI Cultural Caregiving in line with the UN Millennium Development Goals and headed the Philippine Delegation to the 32nd International Theater Institute (ITI) Congress in Madrid where she undertook a successful KALAHI Cultural Caregiving for Filipino-Americans there.

Thanks to her, my short story “Something to Crow About” is now a Filipino zarzuela, the first such work to be shown and given outstanding ovation at the prestigious La Mama Theater in Broadway, New York City, the Alex Theater in Glendale, California and the Mayer Theater in Sta. Clara University, California in June and July 2007. That same play also won the 2006 Aliw Award (the local version of the Tony Awards) as the Best Musical Play (zarzuela), with Cecile given that same award for Best Musical Direction. This lady is a human force, who knows no bounds or limits, who must bring renewal into the world and its people through the arts. 

We should find it a great opportunity to recognize outstanding achievement especially if the nation and its people are uplifted. They have not only brought the excellence of art in all its intensity; they also bring great honor and pride to our country. Congratulations to our new National Artists.