Led by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the two-day meet, dubbed "Cultural Summit on the Power of Arts and Media in Breaking the Cycle of Corruption and Poverty," will be held from May 23 to 24 at the Clamshell 2 in Intramuros and at the Manila Pavilion on UN Avenue, Manila.
NCCA Executive Director and PA on Culture Cecile Guidote Alvarez said the summit is pursuant to President Arroyo’s program for "social transformation through culture and the arts" and is a direct response of the NCCA on the country’s international pledge to implement the UN Millennium Development Goals.
Alvarez said the NCCA board headed by Chairman Ambeth R. Ocampo supports the summit in accordance with President Arroyo’s Proclamation No. 828 and No. 591.
Proclamation 828 declares 2005-2015 as the "Decade of Good Governance and Good Citizenship to Fight Corruption and to Eradicate Poverty" and Proclamation 591 declares the month of May every year as "Anti-Graft and Corruption Awareness Month."
The summit is in cooperation with the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) headed by Constancia P. de Guzman, the Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture under Sen. Juan M. Flavier, and the Cabinet Cluster on anti-poverty and values education composed of National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) lead convenor Secretary Imelda Nicolas, Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Juliano Soliman, and the Government Mass Media Office headed by Secretary Cerge Remonde.
Day one will tackle arts and culture as a catalyst for change social and as an anti-corruption tool, utilizing radio, TV, cinema, print, comics, and information technology.
Day two, discussions will center on forging partnerships with TV executives, cinema producers, publishers, advertisers, the business sector, civic and church related groups "to collectively deconstruct the cancer of corruption ailing our society and recharge our memories to proclaim our ancestral culture of honesty, perseverance, and peace.
"The resulting resolutions will be our country’s contribution to the UNESCO observance of Culture and Development Week from May 23 to 29 while the summit itself will serve as a re-orientation of the NCCA thrust and re-tooling of its personnel, pursuant to its mandate to review and develop cultural policies and legislative agenda," Alvarez added.
The NCCA said the summit’s output may also serve as a valuable aid to legislators in the passage of the Magna Carta for Artists Law—protecting the intellectual and artistic rights and properties of Filipino artists, cultural workers and other matters concerning culture and arts—now pending in Congress sponsored by Rep. Edmundo Reyes.
At the Summit’s end, the prestigious Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan (GAMABA) will be awarded to three outstanding indigenous artists: Eduardo Mutic (metal smith in Apalit); Darhata Sawabi (best weaver of pisyabit in Barangay Lagasan, Sulu – posthumous); Haja Amina Api (best mat weaver in Kakoong, Tawi-Tawi).
The Presidential Medal of Merit Award will be given to outstanding Muslim sculptor Abdul Mari Imao.
