President Aquino considered criteria for choice for national artists – Palace

President Benigno S. Aquino III delivers his message during the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Reception at the ADB Headquarters in ADB Avenue, Mandaluyong City on Wednesday night (March 12). (Photo by Gil Nartea / Robert Viñas / Malacañang Photo Bureau)

MANILA – President Benigno S. Aquino III considered the criteria for choice when he signed the proclamation orders declaring the latest batch of the National Artists of the Philippines last Friday, according to a Malacanang official.

Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said it is the duty of the President to decide on who among the shortlisted nominees deserve to be conferred the Order of the National Artist.

”In making the decision, the President considered how each of the nominees measured up to the criteria for choice,” Coloma said in a press briefing aired live over dzRB Radyo ng Bayan on Sunday.

”We are certain that his decision was based on what will best serve the national interest because the Order of the National Artist gives recognition to those who excelled in the arts and letters and embodied the goodness and nobility of the Filipino people,” Coloma said.

The latest batch of national artists include Francisco F. Feliciano and Ramon Santos for Music; Alice Reyes for Dance; Francisco V. Coching (posthumous) for Visual Arts; Cirilo Bautista for Literature; and Jose Maria V. Zaragoza (posthumous) for Architecture.

Actress Nora Aunor was reportedly nominated as National Artist for Film by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCAA) and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), but she was not included in the proclamation orders.