Ani ng Dangal: Filipino artists urged to continue creating, innovating

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino artists can rest assured that the government will create a “nurturing environment” that would see their talent “fully and finally bloom,” President Marcos said during the 16th Ani ng Dangal Awards.

“We know that art can only flourish under an atmosphere of freedom, and under Bagong Pilipinas (New Philippines), this is something that we will guarantee,” Marcos said yesterday.

“As we honor our awardees today, I extend a heartfelt invitation to every artist across our nation: continue to create, to innovate, to excel. What you create are essential works that add to our gross national happiness. So please act on your dreams, believe in your talent, dare to break ground, tear down the walls that cage your creativity, hone your craft,” he added.

The awarding ceremony was held at the Metropolitan Theater in Manila.

In an interview on the sidelines of the ceremony, Marcos asserted that the government must take the lead in supporting the country’s artists.

“The culture of a country is the definition of its people,” he said.

The National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the President honored 26 Filipino talents during the 16th Ani ng Dangal Awards, which capped the celebration of the National Arts Month.

The state recognition celebrates Filipino talents who won international awards in architecture and allied arts, cinema, dance, literary art, music and visual arts.

The awardee from architecture and allied arts is the LPPA Design Group/L.P. Pariñas & Associates.

Seven awardees were recognized for cinema.

They are Sam Manacsa, best director for “Cross My Heart and Hope to Die” at the 34th Singapore International Film Festival in 2023 and six films that won top awards in different film festivals, namely,“The River That Never Ends” directed by JT Trinidad, best Asian short film at the 34th Singapore International Film Festival in 2023; “HIT” directed by Stephen Lopez, Blencong Award at the 18th Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival in Yogyakarta, Indonesia in 2023 and best film at the 20th Vienna Shorts-International Short Film Festival in Vienna, Australia in June 2023;

“Bold Eagle” directed by Whammy Alcazaren, best short film prize at the 27th Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, Canada in July 2023; “When You Left Me On That Boulevard” directed by Kayla Abuda Galang, short film grand jury prize at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival in Utah; “Did it Hurt?” directed by Nathan Carreon Lim, best fiction short film at the 53rd Tampere Film Festival in Finland in March 2023 and “Blue Room” directed by Ma-an Asuncion-Dagñalan, best foreign film at the 19th edition of LA Femme International Film Festival in Los Angeles, California in October 2023.

Nine awardees were recognized for dance, namely, the La Salle Filipiniana Dance Company, which won first place in different categories at the International Dance Organization World Dance Festival 2023 in South Korea in August 2023; Legit Status, MegaCrewDivision Gold Medalist and World Champion at the 2023 World Hip Hop Dance Championship in US in August 2023; HQ Dance Collective, gold medalist in the adult division at the World Hip Hop Dance Championship 2023 in Phoenix, Arizona in August 2023; Rhea Marquez, gold medalist in the adults combi class 2 Latin and combi freestyle class showdance Latin at the 2023 World Para Dance Sport Championships in Genova, Italy inNovember 2023: Julius Jun Obero, gold medalist in single men’s adults conventional class 2 St+Lat, adults freestyle class 2 showdance, adults duo class 2 Latin, adults combi class 2 Latin and combi freestyle class showdance Latin at the 2023 World Para Dance Sport Championships in Genova, Italy in November 2023 and Edelyn de Asis, gold medalist in women’s adults freestyle class 2 show dance, solo women’s junior class 1+2 St+Lat, adults duo freestyle class 2 showdance, adults duo class 2 Latin at the Genoa 2023 World Para Dance Sport Championships in Italy in November 2023; Folk Jumpers,the champions in the monster crew division at the 2023 World Supremacy Battlegrounds in Australia in August 2023 and Kristel de Catalina, the professional pole champion and overall champion at the Viva Circus Awards 2023 in Malaysia on July 23, 2023.

The Halili-Cruz School of Ballet dancers won various awards in different ballet categories, namely Princess Arvinah Caballero, 1st place in teen (15 under) hip hop solo category; Paula Mariel Evangelio, 1st place in senior (17 under) hip hop solo category; Katherine Marie Furugganan, Alexa Denise Vicencio, and Gia Simone Garin, 1st place in senior (17 under) jazz trio category; and Phoemela Angela Esluzar and Angela Marie Lopez, 1st place in open lyrical duo category at the Nuvo Dance Convention 2023 in Utah, US and 2023 Asia Pacific Dance Competition.

The awardee for literary arts is Jesus Insilada, screenwriter of the best film “Sa Paglupad ka Banog” (The Flight of Banog) at the 13h Kota Kinabalu International Film Festival in

Malaysia in September 2023.

The awardees from music are choral groups and their conductors including De La Salle University Chorale, Grand Prix at the Busan Chorale Festival and Competition in South Korea in October 2023 with their conductor, Jose Emmanuel Aquino, who won best conductor in the same competition; and Kammerchor Manila, which won the Pavarotti Trophy at the Choir of the World competition at Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod in United Kingdom in July 2023 and Absolute Winner at the 69th International Choral Contest Habaneras and Polyphony Torrevieja 2023 in Spain in July 2023 with their conductor Anthony Villanueva, who won best conductor at the 69th International Choral Contest Habaneras and Polyphony Torrevieja in 2023 in Spain in July 2023.

Also honored were the choral group Young Voices of the Philippines, champion at the 12th Golden Gate International Choral Festival in San Francisco and Jannina Eliana Peña, who won first prize at the Big Arts Classical Music Scholarship in the US in April 2022.

The two awardees from visual arts are Albert Emir Reyes, first prize winner in the 18 to 15 category at the 30th Edition of the International Fine Arts Competition 2023 in France and Domcar Calinawan Lagto, grand winner at the Huawei XMAGE Awards in China.