House probe looms over National Artist awards mess

Two party-list lawmakers are pushing for a congressional inquiry into the controversy hounding the selection for this year’s national artists. The lawmakers – Akbayan Representatives Ana Theresia Hontiveros and Walden Bello – on Thursday said the probe would determine whether the President’s prerogative to choose the recipients of the prestigious award should be abolished. Hontiveros and Bello filed House Resolution 1305 seeking a House investigation into the controversy to ensure that the choice for national artists would not be subjected to the “whims" of ranking government officials. "Choosing national artists should fundamentally be about contribution in the arts and culture, not patronage or closeness to Malacañang. Choosing eminent symbols of Filipino arts and culture should be left in the hands of the arts community," Hontiveros said. She also said Presidential Proclamation 1001, which created the National Artist Awards, should be amended to abolish presidential prerogative. The resolution was filed following President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s decision to include Cecille Guidote-Alvarez and movie director Carlo J. Caparas in this year’s list of national artist awardees for theater and visual arts and film, respectively. Some prominent artists, including Concerned Artists of the Philippines chairman and national artist for literature Bienvenido Lumbrera, protested the inclusion of the two in the list. Lumbrera noted that Alvarez is the executive director of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) which, along with the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), administers the award, while Caparas had been rejected twice by two NCCA panels before. Hontiveros said the conferment of the honors to Alvarez and Caparas is "meaningless" if the decision is not accepted by the arts community. “It becomes a joke if it cannot evoke pride and unity among artists and the public." Aside from Caparas and Alvarez, this year's national artist awardees include Manuel Urbano a.k.a Manuel Conde (Film and Broadcast), Lazaro Francisco (Literature), Federico Aguilar Alcuaz (Visual Arts, Painting, Sculpture and Mixed Media), Francisco Manosa (Architecture), and Jose "Pitoy" Moreno (Fashion Design). - GMANews.TV