Did you know that the late Sen. Benigno ?Ninoy? Aquino Jr. was among those who strongly opposed in the mid-1960s the construction of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) which he called the ?Pantheon for Imelda??
?And that the $67 million (about P134 million in 1966) used for the construction of the CCP was drawn from the war veterans? educational fund? This was the heart of the protest of Senator Aquino who delivered a privilege speech in the Senate to protest the move,? Cecile Guidote-Alvarez, executive director of the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and presidential adviser on culture said Sunday.
Alvarez, herself one of the victims of the Marcos dictatorship along with her husband Heherson, now the presidential adviser on climate change, stressed the need to ?prevent amnesia about the history of our nation during the dark days of our dictatorship.?
She cited the Inquirer ?stories on protest moves against the CCP tribute? to former first lady Imelda Marcos, saying that they had ?recharged memories almost four decades ago to burst the bubble of the mirage or delusion of arts patronage.?
?Today, it is reasonable for the victims of martial law to be shocked and saddened that under our restored democracy, the CCP is now perceived to be used for the restoration of a discredited conjugal dictatorship when contrition has not been forthcoming and restitution has not yet been given to the victims of the dictatorship,? Alvarez said.
Don?t blame Arroyo
But she said that it was ?unfair to lay the blame for the CCP tribute to Imelda on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. This is the call of the CCP board of trustees,? chaired by Emily Abrera.
Alvarez recalled that ?a law signed in 1964 by then President Diosdado Macapagal (father of Ms Arroyo) creating a national cultural commission and providing essential government support for the arts was practically killed to give way to Executive Order No. 30,? issued by then President Ferdinand Marcos.
?A Senate hearing was held where we appealed for the implementation of the Macapagal law creating the cultural commission instead. We had long objected to the use of $67 million in US war damage educational funds for the construction of the CCP. We stressed that the $67 million should have been spent for arts development and training and the integration of a relevant arts education curriculum from kindergarten to high school,? she said.
She noted that during the martial law years, ?Marcos-style arts patronage was manipulated as a political system of reward and punishment for cooperating or dissenting artists.?
Last week, the militant Alliance of Concerned Teachers said ?the CCP?s decision to pay tribute to Imelda Marcos as part of its 40th anniversary celebration shows utter disrespect for Filipinos who were victims of martial law, particularly the tens of thousands of victims of human rights violations, including those who died fighting the dictatorship and for whom justice remains denied to this day.?
Period of patronage
According to the CCP, the tribute to Marcos, dubbed ?Seven Arts, One Imelda,? was meant to ?extol the seven arts through signature pieces created during the period of Imelda?s patronage.?
Featured artists in the gala included pianist Cecile Licad, ballet dancers Lisa Macuja, Candice Adea and Carissa Adea, flautist Antonio Maigue, tenor Jonathan Velasco, violinists Coke Bolipata and Joseph Esmilla, sopranos Rachelle Gerodias, Camille Lopez, Aileen Espinosa Cura and Clarissa Ocampo and concert pianist Dean Raul Sunico. Also there were Ballet Philippines, Bayanihan Philippine Folk Dance Company, Philippine Madrigal Singers and the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra.
Alvarez herself was embroiled in controversy recently when her nomination as National Artist was questioned by art circles because it bypassed the normal process and she is the head of the NCCA, who is barred from receiving the award.
