Soon after she became First Lady, Imelda Romualdez Marcos pointed towards the sea and said to a skeptical visitor, “On the first year, the land will rise; on the second, the building will rise; and on the third year, Mr. Rockefeller, the curtain will rise.”

And so it did.  On September 8, 1969, H.R. Ocampo’s curtain rose on “Dularawan,” the spectacular that inaugurated the Cultural Center of the Philippines.  Last Friday, as part of the CCP’s Ruby Anniversary celebration, the curtain rose on “Seven Arts: One Imelda.”  As only fitting, the evening’s main number, “Imelda: Muse and Madness,” was imeldific.

Getting to curtain time was rough sailing.  The original idea was a theater (“like Carnegie Hall”), museum, art gallery, and an amphitheater.  Critics, led by Sen. Benigno Aquino, questioned “ostentation and high living” when “the impoverished masses groan in want.”  On opening night, demonstrators noisily elbowed their way into the main theater to make their point.

The past four decades have shown that the vision was spot on.  CCP artistic director Raul Sunico points out that the CCP has identified, nurtured and encouraged Filipino talent; commissioned important works; and has brought the arts to a nationwide audience.  At CCP happenings all over the country, young people and the masa far outnumber the perfumed set.

The seven arts—music, dance, drama, painting and sculpture, architecture, literature, and cinema—are outlets of Filipino artistry and are enjoyed by multitudes.  Often overlooked is how the arts provide income and employment to performers, painters and sculptors, poets and writers, architects, the thousands who make their living in the cultural industries.

Gifted artists like pianists Cecile Licad, Raul Sunico and Rowena Arrieta; violinists Coke Bolipata and Joseph Esmilla; sopranos Aileen Cura and Rachel Gerodias; choral specialist Jonathan Velasco; composer Chino Toledo; conductor Julian Quirit; flutist Antonio Maigue; help make all Filipinos feel taller, prouder of their homeland.  It is only fair to acknowledge the role of Mrs. Marcos and the CCP for making this possible.

The same is true for the visual arts.  In the 1960s, painters and art collectors were few.  First Ladies are style setters.  Mrs. Marcos knew this and gave art and artists high importance.  Her friends (the “Blue Ladies”) and eventually Manila’s smart set followed suit, propelling Philippine art to greater activity.

Her “edifice complex” accounted for some of National Artist Leandro Locsin’s major works.  The CCP building and the international convention center continue to enhance the Manila skyline while being used for their intended purposes.

Creativity needs inspiration and encouragement and for the past four decades, the CCP has been “Sanctuary of the Filipino soul and a monument to the Filipino spirit,” as Mrs. Marcos put it.  In thanking its founder, the CCP describes the evening’s main number, “It is not so much a tribute, as it is a tapestry, a montage of impressions.  An artistic vision of a young girl, who once danced by the beach, and who wonders, to this day, if she can ever go home again.”

Comments are cordially invited, addressed to walalang@mb.com.ph.