MANILA, Philippines?Officials of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) have paid tribute to the late former President Corazon C. Aquino for ?maintaining the integrity of the process? in the selection of the National Artist awards, and shielding it from politics and lobbying.

They also criticized President Gloria Macaparal-Arroyo and Malacañang officials, including the presidential adviser on culture and the arts, Cecile Guidote-Alvarez, for the proclamation of National Artists who did not pass the selection.

Alvarez herself got proclaimed as National Artist despite being disqualified from the nomination because she?s a government official.

Outgoing CCP president Nestor Jardin said that Aquino respected the selection process for the awards and did not add or subtract from the list endorsed by the ?rigorous? selection process.

Disregard of process

?While we respect the President?s prerogative to name her choices, we deplore the disregard for the established process whereby our National Artists are chosen,? said Emily Abrera, CCP board of trustees chair, reading from a prepared statement in a press conference.

Abrera said that contrary to the statement of Malacañang official Gabriel Custodio, the CCP was never consulted before Ms Arroyo proclaimed as National Artists ?komiks? writer and ?massacre movie? director Carlo J. Caparas as National Artist for film and visual arts and her own adviser for culture and the arts, Cecile Guidote-Alvarez, National Artist for theater.

The two did not pass screening for the awards by the CCP and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the two agencies tasked by law to screen and elect nominees to the awards.

Alvarez herself, aside from being presidential adviser, is executive director of NCCA, and is not eligible for the awards, Abrera said.

But she and Caparas, along with fashion designer Pitoy Moreno and architect Francisco Manosa, were nonetheless proclaimed National Artists by the President.

The joint boards of the CCP and NCCA had earlier elected composer Ramon Santos, painter Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, the late Tagalog novelist Lazaro Franscisco, and the late filmmaker Manuel Conde, as National Artists.

Dropped from list

But the President dropped Santos from the list and invoked presidential privilege to make Caparas, Alvarez, Moreno and Manosa National Artists.

It was the first time in history that the President did not confirm somebody who had been elected by the CCP and NCCA. It was also the first time a president had proclaimed four artists who did not pass through the process. Previous presidents had named only one by presidential fiat to add to the CCP-NCCA list.

?We are saddened by this turn of events, and regret the furor this has caused,? said Abrera. ?We continue to stand by the integrity of the process of selection of our National Artists.?

The proclamation has riled the artistic community.

Previously proclaimed National Artists such as visual artists Arturo Luz and Benjaming Cabrera and writers F. Sionil Jose and Bienvenido Cabrera have announced they will lead a rally today (Aug. 7) from the CCP in Pasay City to the NCCA in Intramuros, Manila, where they will offer a symbolic wreath and hold ?necrological services for the death of the National Artist Awards.?

?I am appalled at the brazenness of Malacañang instigated perhaps by the presidential adviser on arts and culture (Alvarez),? said Lumbera. ?What the basis of Santos being dropped from the roster one does not know. Scandal has been definitely created by this announcement.?

Jose fumed at the selection of Caparas as National Artist. ?I walked out of his films,? he said.

National Artist for theater design Salvador Bernal said he was ?aghast? at the proclamation of artists who did not pass the selection, which he said was like ?passing through the eye of the needle.?

Cory?s achievement

Jardin said that while Aquino had said early on in her administration (1986-1992) that arts and culture was not her ?priority,? perhaps to set herself apart from the flamboyant first lady Imelda Marcos who had styled herself as patroness of the arts and gave state largesse to artists and art infrastructure and events, ?her (Aquino?s) achievement in arts and culture have been long-lasting.?

?One of her achievements is the systematizing of the National Artist awards,? Jardin said, noting that it was Aquino who left it to the CCP and the Presidential Committee on Culture and the Arts, the forerunner of today?s NCCA, to come up with an objective and fair selection process for the awards.

As a result of the selection process, Aquino declared as National Artists even those who were perceived to have closeness with the Marcos regime, such as Lucrecia Kasilag (who became National Artist in music in 1989), Leandro Locsin (for architecture) in 1990, and Hernando Ocampo (for visual arts) in 1991.

?I really admire President Aquino for respecting the rules and standards of the awards,? Jardin said. ?She did not add, she did not subtract.?

Referring to the current situation, the CCP official added, ?Unfortunately, the President has not only added three but also subtracted one.?

Jardin also said that under Aquino, arts and culture became less elitist and was ?democratized? through outreach programs of the CCP.