CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga (PIA) -- Writers from all over the country will converge in Pampanga in February as they aim to highlight the importance of history and culture in Philippine literature.

Dubbed “Taboan: Philippine Writers Festival,” the event will be held on February 9-11, 2012 where the coun-try’s poets, playwrights, essayists, and fictionists will altogether merge to share their expertise.

The Taoban conference, according to Festival director Dr. Juliet Mallari of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and National Committee on Literary Arts (NCLA) head Dr. Priscilla Macansan-tos, will feature panel discussions, lectures, literary readings, performances, and a book fair.

This year’s Taboan is inspired by the National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal’s 150th birth anniversary celebration.

Delegates will come from Bicol, Central Luzon, the Cordilleras, Ilocos, NCR, Central Visayas, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Southern Mindanao, and Western Mindanao.

Last year, Taboan focused on Mindanao-based writers and the island group’s literature.

The festival is one of the seven flagship projects of Philippine Arts Festival (PAF).

PAF is held every February in celebration of the National Arts Month in accordance with Presidential Procla-mation No. 683 signed in 1991.

The month-long festival is spearheaded by the NCCA, led by its Chairman Felipe de Leon Jr. and OIC-executive director Adelina Suemith, with Marichu Tellano as head of the Planning, Policy Formulation, and Programming Division.

Meanwhile, the month of February this year will not only be just a season of hearts in the country but also a season of Philippine arts.

This is because the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) will, for the fourth year, hold the Cinema Rehiyon which aims to give budding regional filmmakers the opportunity to showcase their unique culture through films set in their respective regions and shot in local dialects.

The festival bring local communities from all over the country to start their own fledging film movements and local production groups including Pampanga, Baguio, the Calabarzon region, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Samar, Western Mindanao.

This is also a fresh take on everyday and mundane happenings that the average man on the street take for granted like the grimy streets and dilapidated buildings in the metropolis and infuses an insight on poverty and sex.

For this year, the Cinema Rehiyon will be hosted by Bacolod City, Negros Occidental from February 8-12, 2012.

Cinema Rehiyon is one of the seven flagship projects of Philippine Arts Festival 2012 (PAF) as it holds the theme “Tradisyon at Inobasyon” (Tradition and Innovation) that aims to further advance local creativity in the arts.

According to the head of Cinema Rehiyon Dr. Miguel Rapatan, the NCCA will screen standout short and full-length films from participating regions, and those selected films will be featured in the culminating film festival. Also, forums and panel discussions will be organized prior to the film festival.