By Nickky Faustine P. de Guzman
Words of Wisdom
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“SA BUHAY, marami na po akong nagawang desisyon, karamihan tama,mangilan-ngilan mali,” (In life, I’ve made many decisions, majority were right, a few were wrong), said Nora Villamayor -- better known as the “Superstar” Nora Aunor -- when she accepted her award at the latest Gawad Cultural Center for the Philippines (CCP) Para sa Sining for Film and Broadcast Arts.
Gawad Sining is the highest award given by the CCP and can be considered the second highest recognition to being named a National Artist. It could be remembered that Ms. Aunor was at one point rejected in the National Artist list because she was allegedly convicted of drug abuse.
The actress, looking regal in a white terno, said the best decision she ever made was to pursue her craft.
“Ang pinakatamang desisyon ko ay umarte at maglingkod sa bayan bilang artista. Ang propesyon na ito ang nagbigay sa akin ng sakit, dusa, at paghihirap pero ang pag-arte ang nagbigay din sa akin ng katuwaan. (The best decision I made was to act and serve the country as an artist. This profession gave me pain, heartache, and trouble but acting also gave me joy).”
Ms. Aunor is a multi-awarded Filipina actress, singer, and producer who started her career in the late 1960s. She stood out from the bevy of mestiza beauties who were popular at the time thanks to her distinct Filipina features. She had a series of hit songs, topbilled TV shows and films, stage plays, and concerts.
When asked how she wanted to be remembered she said, “Maalala nila bilang ako. Isang mang-aawit from the province, nakipagsapalaran para sa pamilya. (To be remembered as who I am, a simple singer from the province who gambled for my family).”
One of the night’s other awardees who worked with Ms. Aunor was Ricardo “Ricky” Lee. He was conferred the award for Literature. Mr. Lee was the screenwriter of the 1982 Ishmael Bernal movie Himala, which stared Ms. Aunor. Among many of his other works are books like Para Kay B, Amapola, Batang Lansangan, and Trip to Quiapo; and screenplays forJaguar, Salome, Moral, Macho Dancer, Andrea, Paano Ba Ang Maging Isang Ina?, Muro-Ami, and Bagong Buwan, among many others. He also wrote the popular plays Pitik-Bulag sa Buwan ng Pebrero and DH (Domestic Helper).
Both Aunor and Lee said they came from poor families, but they fought long and hard to get to where they are now. Mr. Lee mentioned he worked in all kinds of jobs -- including being a waiter -- but at the end of the day, he said he would always find time to do what he loves, and that was to write.
“Whether I am sick or not, inspired or not, happy or sad, kapag sulat ka nang sulat natututo ka. (When you keep on writing, you eventually learn). It’s very exhilarating na kapag nakapagsulat ka, dinugo ka sa pagsusulat and then nabuo mo ang sinusulat mo, you’re one with the world, may feeling ka na nasa langit. Nakahalo ka sa lahat ng bagay sa mundo, shapeless, formless ka. (It’s very exhilarating when you write, you bleed as you write, then complete a story; you are one with the world, feel like you are in heaven. You are one with everything in the world, you are shapeless, formless).”
Another Gawad CCP Para sa Sining Literature awardee was Leoncio P. Deriada, who like, Mr. Lee, championed the use of the Filipino and other Philippine languages in his writings.
A Palanca Hall of Fame recipient for his works in Filipino, English, and Hiligaynon, his advice to young writers is to find their own voice. He said the best language to write in is your mother tongue, because it spares you the burden of committing grammatical errors. Mr. Deriada is considered the Father of Contemporary Literature in Western Visayas. His major contributions led to a rebirth of the then-dying art of writing and reading in the vernacular in the 1980s. He urged the use of Kinaray-a, Aklanon, and Hiligaynon languages.
PASSION
It all boils down to passion and pursuit of excellence all the awardees have shown through the years.
In a wheelchair and barely able to speak, Armida Siguion-Reyna received the award for Pagtataguyod sa Kultura (Promotion of Culture).
In a taped video interview shown at the award ceremony, she said it’s not about the money. “Or fame. It’s all about doing what makes you happy, which allows you to endure the hardships of the profession.”
A host, actress, producer, and champion against TV and film censorship, she is perhaps best known for her television show Aawitan Kita which focused on local musical forms like the kundiman. The show, which started in the 1970s, aired for three decades. “It was considered bakya (cheap) in the ’70s until 1981, back when Filipino singers where singing foreign songs,” her son Carlitos Siguion-Reyna said on her behalf. But the show prevailed because it was one of the pioneers in the promotion of Philippine culture on television.
The feisty singer was the chairwoman of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board during former President Joseph “Erap” E. Estrada’s short term.
DANCE, MUSIC, DESIGN
Ms. Aunor, Mr. Lee, Mr. Deriada and Ms. Siguion-Reyna were just four of the many artists who were honored on the afternoon of Sept. 17 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).
Denisa Reyes received the Gawad CCP for Dance. The younger sister of Ballet Philippines’ founder Alice Reyes, she has made her own contributions to Philippine dance by giving profound meaning and endless possibilities to contemporary dance, infusing and presenting current local issues into her dances.
Honored for her contributions in the field of Music was Fides Cuyugan-Asensio, who, in a career spanning six decades, is an icon in the development of opera and musical theater in the country. Through the nonprofit organization Music Theater Foundation of the Philippines which she established, Ms. Asencio helps young classical singers hone their talents.
Antonio Mabesa was honored for his prolific work in Theater -- his latest production,Haring Lear, is his 170th, unsurprising considering that he has been working in theater for 70 years. Among his major contributions is the establishment of the theater group Dulaang Unibersidad ng Pilipinas, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary.
Roberto Chabet, the CCP’s first curator and credited for introducing conceptual art into the Philippine art scene, was honored posthumously for his work in the Visual Arts. He also founded the 13 Artists Exhibit/Awards.
Paulo Alcazaren -- the brains behind Iloilo’s Promenade, Metro Manila’s Rajah Sulayman park, Ortigas Park, and Rizal Park, and many others -- was honored for Architecture. He highlights Filipino aesthetics and calls for the support for it, or else “we’ll face a future without genuine Filipino architecture, just second-rate trying hard copycat buildings.”
Couturier Ben Farrales received the Gawad CCP for Design. He highlighted and opened new doors for the Muslim culture to be appreciated here and abroad when he decided to infuse its aesthetic into his fashion designs. “When you have talent, you’ll never lose, ” he said.
Credited for founding and sustaining the 34-year-old program at the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Music and UP Dance Company, Basilio Esteban Villarus received the Gawad CCP for Research. “You have to go out, and think out of the box, to see what is happening in the world,” he said when asked where he gets his inspiration.
Two organizations were also honored that day. The Talaandig School of Living Tradition received the Gawad CCP for Cultural Work. The preschool has been preserving and teaching the dying culture of the Talaandig tribe through chanting, storytelling, and instrument playing. The Missionary Society of St. Columban received the Tanging Parangal, a special citation for its effort to revive, refurbish, and preserve Malate Church, which is one of the oldest churches in the country and was home to the first Filipino parish priest.
The Gawad CCP Para sa Sining is given every three years to exceptional artists who have made a significant contribution to their respective art form. Organizations and cultural workers who help in enriching the Philippine art are also recognized.
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