School officials fight tooth and nail to have them become part of their faculty. Campus buildings are named after them. Their works are required readings in literature and history. We cannot graduate without having to write a paper about their achievements. We study their lives and find inspiration in their deeds.

They are National Artists and they represent the cumulative achievement of a proud people that have time and again laid claim to the title “A Nation of Artists.”

Established in 1972 by former President Ferdinand Marcos through Proclamation No. 1001, the award was created in recognition of the achievements of Filipino artists who embody "the nation’s highest ideals in humanism and aesthetic expression.” Back then, it was solely the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) that was tasked with the responsibility of selecting which artists are deemed deserving. The list is forwarded to Malacañang and the award is dutifully conferred by the president.

THE PROCESS

Upon the creation of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the National Artist Awards Committee came to be composed by the joint boards of the CCP and the NCCA. Together, they set the guidelines that govern the conferment of the award. No changes can be made without the approval of both bodies.

After the secretariat has checked if the forms are completely filled and documentary requirements have been submitted, the nomination books are forwarded to undergo the first round of deliberations.

Composed of the country’s foremost experts in the field, they scrutinize every nomination and make a list of artists whose nominations they find acceptable to move on to the final round of deliberations.

Jointly, the CCP and the NCCA, together with other National Artists, convene to deliberate and create the final list which will be forwarded to Malacañang.

The President then confers the medal at the ceremonial hall of the Palace and is followed by a Gabi Ng Parangal at the CCP to honor the achievements and contributions of the awardees.

With the recent controversy on the naming of seven National Artists, not all of whom are deemed by the artistic community as deserving, many supposed rules have been claimed to serve as basis to justify the appointments.

Contrary to the many stories that are being floated on how the National Artists are being chosen, this is the one and only process that has been in place since the award has been jointly handled by the CCP and the NCCA. The only other amendment made was the inclusion of Fashion Design as a category.

In the time-honored tradition of the National Artist Awards, there has never been an external Honors Committee or any advisory body or individual given the power and responsibility to recommend
an awardee to the president. That duty belongs solely to the National Artist Awards Committee which is composed jointly by the board of the CCP and the NCCA, and living National Artists.

NOT THE FIRST TIME

But in a vast field of convoluted stories, there lies a single grain of truth that very few are aware of. President Arroyo is not the first president to appoint a National Artist. The dubious honor belongs to former President Fidel V. Ramos.

In 1997, he created the category “Historical Literature” and named Carlos Quirino a National Artist. It came as a surprise because not only was the awards committee not consulted but the new category was unnecessary.

Literature recognizes both fiction and non-fiction. And this was affirmed when former President Marcos conferred the award to Carlos P. Romulo in 1982.

Furthermore, it was the first time that the president named a National Artist who was not part of the list forwarded by the committee. As proof of the joint nature of the National Artist Awards Committee, neither the CCP nor the NCCA signed the citation of Quirino as a form of protest.

Back then, the NCCA was still adhering to the guidelines governing the awards.

Former President Joseph Estrada was the next offender.

In 1999, while the first deliberation was far from complete, he simply announced that composer Ernani Cuenco is a National Artist for Music.

With due respect for the family of Cuenco, they did not lobby for the award. With no true political clout to speak of save for a personal friendship with the President, they were just as surprised to receive it in behalf of the late composer.

Again, neither the CCP nor the NCCA signed the citation.

But a precedent had been set. And with no legal move on the part of the awards committee, a ruling on this Presidential prerogative was never made. Neither have there been moves to remedy that loophole.

Like the typical artist, the CCP and the NCCA seemed to have trusted that delicadeza would still prevail. It was not to be.

A FRIGHTENING LEGACY TO THE YOUTH

In 2003, President Arroyo inserted the name of Alejandro Roces in the list of National Artists. In 2006, Abdulmari Asia Imao’s name was also added. And in 2009, she added the names of Francisco Manosa, Jose Moreno, Cecile Guidote-Alvarez and Carlo Caparas.

Unfortunately, the NCCA’s leadership has been filled with the President’s appointees.

In fact, the appointment of the current chairman Vilma Labrador caused artists to hold a protest as her credentials did not fit the position she was being appointed to.

But all calls fell on deaf ears. With Guidote-Alvarez as her executive director, the crack between the CCP and the NCCA widened and eventually caused a complete severance of ties over this latest issue.

If this has been happening for a long time, why, one would ask, is it only now that protests are taking place?

The answer is simple. There have been protests in the past. But because it involved non-showbiz personalities, it did not merit much time and space in media.

This year is different because the entertainment industry was lobbying for the Comedy King to become a National Artist. Not only was Dolphy’s nomination denied but showbiz was given the Massacre King instead.

Since the fateful announcements, countless stories have been printed and aired discussing the merits of the awardees.

The experts would be in the best position to discuss those matters. But the appointment of National Artists is leavinga frightening legacy to the youth. The message is clear. A medal is far more important than what it stands for. Even an empty honor is acceptable as along as it looks good on the resume. Worse, honor can be given or bought rather than achieved.

Thirty years from now, as school kids stare at the brass letterings of a school building’s name, confusion will reflect in their eyes. Is the person to whom this name belongs to truly worth emulating? Are his achievements truly his or simply sponged off from the toils of others? Were they truly honored or did they sell their integrity to earn the right to have a building named after them?

But the far more frightening scenario would be the lack of confusion in the children’s eyes. Instead, they simply accept it as fact and not bother to know the truth behind the name. Then, we will know that National Artists have become extinct. In their place? National Pretenders To The Throne.

(The writer has been covering arts and culture since 1997. She is currently a freelance journalist and an art curator. She is the grandniece of former CCP president and National Artist for Music Lucrecia Kasilag.)