Malacañan Palace
14 April 2016

President Benigno S. Aquino III bestowed the Order of National Artists (ONA) award to nine Filipinos who have made significant contributions to Philippine culture and arts at Malacañan Palace.

“Sa pagbabahagi ng inyong obra at talento, nagsisilbi kayong tulay at inspirasyon sa pag-usbong ng marami pang mahuhusay na Pilipino. Sa pagbubukas-palad at pag-aalay ninyo ng sarili, napapanatili at lalo nating napapayabong ang ating kultura at pagkakilanlan,” the President said in his speech.

This year’s ONA celebration conferred the most number of awards in a single ONA awarding ceremony as three of the nine awardees were nominated back in 2009 but were delayed to this year due to issues with the selection of awardees. These awardees of 2009 are:

• Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, Visual Arts (posthumous)
• Manuel Conde, Cinema (posthumous)
• Lazaro Francisco, Literature (posthumous)

President Aquino also granted the ONA to six more awardees nominated in 2014. They are:

• Cirilo Bautista, Literature
• Francisco Coching, Visual Arts (posthumous)
• Francisco Feliciano, Music (posthumous)
• Alice Reyes, Dance
• Ramon Santos, Music
• Jose Maria Zaragoza, Architecture (posthumous)

The ONA is governed by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). Upon their recommendation, the President of the Philippines confers the Order of National Artists award on Filipinos.

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