The National Artist Award: A presidential award

The Cultural Center of the Philippines and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts are now accepting nominations for the National Artist Award.

Sometime ago, I was discussing with former German ambassador to the Philippines, Klaus Zeller, how military leaders laid down the permanent foundation of nations – was it Bismarck who created Germany? Klaus said, no. The foundation of Germany was laid down by Goethe, Beethoven, Schiller…

It is in the context of such remarks which emphasize how important Rizal, the novelist and writer, is to us Filipinos. The utter shame of it all is that our greatest writers cannot earn enough from their writing to make a living while a third-rate movie maker is earning millions.

How do we honor our artists? How do we reward them so that they will be able to live in comfort after years of sacrificial creativity?

In answering my own questions, let me consider the National Artist Award, which is the country’s most munificent award honoring our cultural writers. Being an awardee myself, the succeeding comments are self-serving. I apologize for this, but the intrinsic value of these suggestions will be more meaningful for the awardees themselves. If implemented, they will also clarify and strengthen the procedure of selection without the process being tainted by political and personal biases. And the President, who is the final arbiter, will have a clearly defined function which will not diminish his authority as the highest elected official of the country. Cultural workers, whatever their status, are not elected by the people. Criteria for the National Artist Award are as follows: in a formidable body of work, characterized by its Filipino identity, and critically acclaimed, the candidate must be Filipino.

At any given time, there should only be seven National Artists from the seven categories. Upon the death of a National Artist, only then should the deceased be replaced through the established selection process. The selection should be made immediately after the National Artist dies, so that within a month after the necrology, the President will decide on it. The artist’s privileges will begin upon the Award’s announcement.

Several artists are functionaries of government, of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). They should not be excluded, but they should submit themselves to the selection process, and should not be allowed to vote.

The new National Artist will be selected by the President from a list of three finalists determined by the selection committee. This will be similar to the appointment of the new Supreme Court justice from a list submitted to the President by the Judicial Bar Council. The Chief Executive cannot add or detract from the submitted list. If the President has a candidate, his/her name should be submitted to the selection committee.

The emoluments for the National Artist will consist of the following:

1) A monthly allowance equal to that of the current pay of an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. In terms of protocol, the National Artist will receive similar courtesies

2) Complete medical assistance, hospitalization including cost of medicines. All these must be in the Philippines

3) The initial award should be a million pesos. It may be increased, depending on the President’s wishes

4) A million pesos annually for a project to be undertaken by the National Artist as approved by the NCCA.

5) The other honors, emoluments as already specified.

To prevent the proliferation of categories, the Award should be given only to the most important artists in the seven Arts.

The selection of the National Artist should be strictly limited to the following categories:

MUSIC: composer, singer/musician, conductor

LITERATURE: poet, fictionist

VISUAL ARTS: painter, sculptor

ARCHITECTURE: architect

THEATER: director, actor/actress, playwright

DANCE: choreographer, performer, dancer

FILM: director, actor/actress

Many important changes are encoded in these suggestions. If there are only seven National Artists at any given time, the title invites more value. The country’s cultural institutions, the National Library, the National Museum, etc., should be led by the National Artists in honorary status. Since the selection of a new National Artist depends on the longevity of any of the seven National Artists, the selection process will also be less tedious and subject to so much lobbying. And the government will also be able to incur savings for there will only be seven recipients at any given time.

Almost all the National Artists are gerontologists, in their twilight years, and they deserve a measure of financial security in their old age. This privilege includes no limit in their medical and hospitalization needs.

It must also be noted that the President of the Philippines is given the choice of actually electing who the new National Artist will be, and he can select him/her from a list of three which the CCP and the NCCA will give.

If the President approves this method of selection, his office will also be relieved of the intense lobbying.

In the past, some of the awardees were undeserving. Such errors demean the award. How can such errors be avoided? The members of the selection committee need to be appointed on the basis of their professional expertise and allowed only limited terms.

Our leaders – particularly the politicians, the academics, industrialists, the generals, all the decision makers who impact on this nation – can contribute to the development of culture by supporting the arts and their creators.

For us, Rizal the novelist is one such outstanding pillar of this nation. To honor him every year on the 30th of December, the President will confer the National Artist Award in Malacañang and deliver his annual Rizal address. To the best of my knowledge, in all these years, no president has ever failed to honor our cultural workers in this manner.