THE Order of the National Artists Award (Orden ng Gawad Pambansang Alagad ng Sining) is the most noteworthy national distinction given to Filipino individuals who have made huge contributions to the advancement of Philippine expression and the arts—to be specific, in music, dance, theater, visual arts, literature, film and broadcast arts, and architecture and allied arts.
Mutually controlled and administered by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CPP), and bestowed by the president of the Philippines upon the suggestion by both institutions, the order aims to recognize Filipino artists who have made significant contributions to the cultural heritage of the country, and to give due honor to Filipino artistic accomplishment at its highest level and creative expression as significant to the development of a national cultural identity, and also to individuals who have dedicated their lives to their works to forge new paths and directions for future generations of Filipino artists.
National Artists are given a Grand Collar symbolizing their status, usually during a conferment ceremony at Malacañan Palace. Likened to the US National Medal for the Arts, and the Order of Culture of Japan, the honor is given to recipients who exemplify the highest ideals of humanities and aesthetics and ideal expression of Filipinos as exemplified by their outstanding works and contributions. Thus, the award is one of the highest distinctions presented by the Republic of the Philippines that encapsulates the country’s goals in the humanities.
These accomplishments are measured according to their artistic vision, understanding, imagination, creative ability and technical mastery.
The award was established under Proclamation 1001, dated April 27, 1972, to give suitable distinction to Filipinos who have made extraordinary commitments to Philippine arts and letters. The first award was given to Fernando Amorsolo. Proclamation 1144, dated May 15, 1973, named the CCP Board of Trustees as the National Artist Awards Committee, and Presidential Decree 208 issued on June 7, 1973, repeated the mandate of the CCP to give the award, as well as outline the benefits and honors of National Artists.
However, Republic Act 356, dated April 2, 1992, gave the NCCA wide responsibility over the advancement of Filipino culture and the arts, including the giving of awards. Executive Order 236, dated September 19, 2003, generally known the Honors Code of the Philippines, raised the award to the level of a cultural order, fourth in precedence among the orders and distinctions that comprise the honors of the Philippines, and equivalent in rank to the Order of National Scientists, renaming the National Artist Award to the Order of National Artists.
Here are the privileges provided to those conferred with the Order of National Artists: First, the rank and title of National Artist, as proclaimed by the President of the Philippines; the National Artist gold-plated medallion minted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and citation; lifetime material and physical benefits comparable in value to those received by the highest officers of the land, such as a minimum cash award of P200,000, net of taxes for living awardees, and a minimum cash award of P150,000, net of taxes for posthumous awardees, payable to legal heirs; a minimum lifetime personal monthly stipend of P30,000; life-insurance coverage for those who are still insurable; a state-funeral benefit not exceeding P500,000; and a place of honor, in line with protocol, in state functions, national commemoration ceremonies and all other cultural presentations.
Anyone who meets the criteria for the order may be nominated by the government and non-governmental cultural organizations and educational institutions, as well as private foundations and councils, except agencies attached to the NCCA and CCP. Likewise, NCCA and CCP board members and consultants and NCCA and CCP officers and staff, and NCCA committee members are automatically disqualified from being nominated.
However, the criteria is broad and includes living artists who have been Filipino citizens for the last 10 years prior to nomination, as well as those who have died after the establishment of the award in 1972 but were Filipino citizens at the time of their death; artists who have helped build a Filipino sense of nationhood through the content and form of their works; artists who have distinguished themselves by pioneering in a mode of creative expression or style, making an impact on succeeding generations of artists; artists who have created a significant body of work or have consistently displayed excellence in the practice of their art form, enriching artistic expression or style; and artists who enjoy broad acceptance through prestigious national or international recognition, awards in prestigious national or international events, critical acclaim or reviews of their works, and respect and esteem from peers within an artistic discipline.
Such nominations are made in writing and are submitted to the National Artist Secretariat that is created by the National Artist Award Committee. A First Deliberation composed experts from different art fields prepares a short list of nominees. A Second Deliberation of a joint meeting of the commissioners of the NCCA and the board of trustees of the CCP decides on the final list. This is then forwarded to the president of the Philippines, who confers the honors.
For our purposes, we shall only list the National Artists for visual arts, sculpture and painting. They are Napoleon V. Abueva, Federico Aguilar y Alcuaz, Francisco Coching, Ang Kiukok, Victorio C. Edades, Cesar Legaspi, Vicente S. Manansala, Hernando R. Ocampo, Benedicto R. Cabrera, Abdulmari A. Imao, Amorsolo, Carlos “Botong” V. Francisco, Arturo R. Luz, J. Elizalde Navarro, Guillermo E. Tolentino and Jose T. Joya.