Order of National Artists of the Philippines Orden ng mga Pambansang Alagad ng Sining ng Pilipinas
Emblem of the Order of National Artists, which appears on the collar bestowed on members.
Awarded by  Philippines
Type	Order
Awarded for	having made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts
Status	Currently constituted
Sovereign	President of the Philippines
Statistics
First induction	1972
Precedence
Next (higher)	Order of Gabriela Silang
Next (lower)	Gawad Mabini
Equivalent	Order of National Scientists, Gawad sa Manlilikha ng Bayan, Order of Lakandula – Special Class of Champion for Life
Ribbon bar of the Order

The Order of National Artists of the Philippines (Tagalog: Orden ng mga Pambansang Alagad ng Sining ng Pilipinas) is an order bestowed by the President of the Philippines on Philippine nationals who have made significant contributions to the development of Philippine art. Members of the Order are known as National Artists. Originally instituted as an Award, it was elevated to the status of an order in 2003.^[1]

The Order is administered by the Cultural Center of the Philippines by virtue of President Ferdinand Marcos's Proclamation № 1001 of April 2, 1972, and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. The first Award was posthumously conferred on Filipino painter Fernando Amorsolo.

Definition

The order of the highest state honor is conferred on individuals deemed as having done much for their artistic field. Deserving individuals must have been recommended by both the Cultural Center and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts prior to receiving the Award. Such people are then titled, by virtue of a Presidential Proclamation, as National Artist (Filipino: Gawad Pambansang Alagad ng Sining), and are inducted into the Order.

Categories

Categories under which National Artists can be recognized originally included:^[2]

• Music – singing, composition, direction, and/or performance;
• Dance – choreography, direction and/or performance;
• Theater – direction, performance and/or production design;
• Contemporary Arts – painting, sculpture, printmaking, photography, installation art, mixed media works, illustration, graphic arts, performance art and/or imaging;
• Literature – poetry, fiction, essay, playwriting, journalism and/or literary criticism;
• Film and Broadcasting/Broadcast Arts – direction, writing, production design, cinematography, editing, camera work, and/or performance; and
• Architecture, Design and Allied Arts – architecture design, interior design, industrial arts design, landscape architecture and fashion design.

However, National Artists have since been honored under new categories. The NCCA created the category of National Artist for Fashion Design when it nominated Ramon Valera, but subsumed that category under "Architecture, Design and Allied Arts". President Fidel V. Ramos issued an executive order creating the category of National Artist for Historical Literature before conferring the honor to Carlos Quirino.

Criteria

The National Artists of the Philippines is based on broad criteria, as set forth by the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the National Commission on Culture and the Arts:^[2]

1. Living artists who have been Filipino citizens for the last ten years prior to nomination as well as those who have died after the establishment of the Award in 1972 but were Filipino citizens at the time of their death;
2. Artists who have helped build a Filipino sense of nationhood through the content and form of their works;
3. Artists who have distinguished themselves by pioneering in a mode of creative expression or style, making an impact on succeeding generations of artists;
4. Artists who have created a significant body of works and/or have consistently displayed excellence in the practice of their art form, enriching artistic expression or style; and
5. Artists who enjoy broad acceptance through prestigious national and/or international recognition, Award in prestigious national and/or international events, critical acclaim and/or reviews of their works, and/or respect and esteem from peers within an artistic discipline.

Nominations are then submitted to the National Artist Secretariat which is created by the National Artist Award Committee; experts from different art fields then sit on a First Deliberation to prepare the short list of nominees. A Second Deliberation, which is a joint meeting of the Commissioners of the NCCA and the Board of Trustees of the CCP, decides on the final nominees. The list is then forwarded to the President of the Philippines, who, by Presidential Proclamation, proclaims the final nominees as members of the Order of National Artists.^[3]

Benefits

• The rank and title of National Artist, as proclaimed by the President of the Philippines;^[4]
• A grand collar of the Order of National Artist and a citation;
• A lifetime emolument and material and physical benefits comparable in value to those received by the highest officers of the land such as:

1. a cash Award of one hundred thousand pesos (₱100,000.00) net of taxes, for living awardees;
2. a cash Award of seventy-five thousand pesos (₱75,000.00) net of taxes, for posthumous awardees, payable to legal heir/s;
3. a monthly life pension, medical and hospitalization benefits;
4. life insurance coverage for Awardees who are still insurable;
5. a state funeral and burial at the Libingan ng mga Bayani;
6. a place of honor, in line with protocolar precedence, at national state functions, and recognition at cultural events.

The Roster of National Artists

President	Year	Picture	Awardee	Province	Category	Notes
Ferdinand Marcos	1972		Fernando Cueto Amorsolo (1892–1972)	Manila	Visual Arts – Painting	posthumous conferment
	1973		Francisca Santos Reyes-Aquino (1899–1983)	Bulacan	Dance
			Carlos Modesto "Botong" Villaluz Francisco (1912–1969)	Rizal	Visual Arts – Painting	posthumous conferment
			Amado Vera Hernández (1903–1970)	Manila	Literature
			Antonio Jesus Naguiat Molina (1894–1980)	Manila	Music
			Juan Felipe de Jesus Nakpil (1899–1986)	Manila	Architecture
			Guillermo Estrella Tolentino (1890–1976)	Bulacan	Visual Arts – Sculpture
			José García Villa (1908–1997)	Manila	Literature
	1976		Napoleón "Billy" Veloso Abueva (1930–2018)	Bohol	Visual Arts – Sculpture
			Leonor Luna Orosa-Goquingco (1917–2005)	Batangas	Dance
			Lamberto Vera Avellana (1915–1991)	Mountain Province	Film and Theater
			Nicomedes "Nick" Márquez Joaquín (1917–2004)	Manila	Literature
			Jovita Flores Fuentes (1895–1978)	Capiz	Music
			Victorio Cándido Edades (1895–1985)	Pangasinan	Visual Arts – Painting
			Pablo Sebero Antonio Sr. (1901–1975)	Manila	Architecture	posthumous conferment
	1981		Vicente Silva Manansala (1910–1981)	Pampanga	Visual Arts – Painting
	1982		Gerardo "Gerry" Ilagan de Leon (1913–1981)	Manila	Film
			Carlos Peña Rómulo (1898–1985)	Tarlac	Literature
Corazon Aquino	1987		Honorata "Atang" Márquez de la Rama-Hernández (1902–1991)	Manila	Theater and Music
	1988		Antonino Ramírez Buenaventura (1904–1996)	Bulacan	Music
			Lucrecia Faustino Reyes-Urtula (1929–1999)	Iloilo	Dance
	1989		Lucrecia Roces Kasilag (1918–2008)	La Union	Music
	1990		Zacarias Francisco "Franz" Quino Arcellana (1916–2002)	Manila	Literature
			Cesar Torrente Legaspi (1917–1994)	Manila	Visual Arts – Painting
			Leandro Valencia Locsín (1928–1994)	Negros Occidental	Architecture
	1991		Hernando Ruiz Ocampo (1911–1978)	Manila	Visual Arts – Painting	posthumous conferment
			Lucio Diestro San Pedro Sr. (1913–2002)	Rizal	Music
Fidel V. Ramos	1997		Catalino "Lino" Ortiz Brocka (1939–1991)	Sorsogon	Film	posthumous conferment
			Felipe Padilla de León (1912–1992)	Nueva Ecija	Music
			Wilfrido María Barredo Guerrero (1911–1995)	Manila	Theater
			Rolando Santos Tinio (1937–1997)	Manila	Theater and Literature
			Néstor Vicente Madali González (1915–1999)	Romblon	Literature
			Levi Celerio Cruz (1910–2002)	Manila	Music & Literature
			Arturo Rogerio Luz (1926–2021)	Manila	Visual Arts – Painting
			José Montserrat Maceda (1917–2004)	Manila	Music
			Carlos Lozada Quirino (1910–1999)	Manila	Historical Literature
Joseph Estrada	1999		Jerry Navarro Elizalde (1924–1999)	Antique	Visual Arts – Painting	posthumous conferment
			Ernani Joson Cuenco (1936–1988)	Bulacan	Music
			Andrea Carriaga Ofilada-Veneracion (1928–2013)	Manila
			Edith Cutaran López-Tiempo (1919–2011)	Nueva Vizcaya and Negros Oriental	Literature
			Daisy Pardo Hontiveros-Avellana (1917–2013)	Capiz	Theater
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo	2001		Ishmael Bernal (1938–1996)	Manila	Film	posthumous conferment
			Severino Tabat Montano (1915–1980)	Ilocos Norte	Theater
			Francisco Sionil José (1924–2022)	Pangasinan	Literature
			Ang Kiukok (1931–2005)	Davao del Sur	Visual Arts – Painting
	2003		José Tanig Joya (1931–1995)	Manila		posthumous conferment
			Virgilio Senadrin Almario (b. 1944)	Bulacan	Literature
			Alejandro Reyes Roces (1924–2011)	Manila
			Edgar Sinco Romero (1924–2013)	Negros Oriental	Film and Broadcast Arts
			Salvador Floro Bernal (1945–2011)	Pangasinan	Theater and Design
	2006		Benedicto Reyes Cabrera (b. 1942)	Manila	Visual Arts – Painting
			Abdulmari Asia Imao (1936–2014)	Sulu	Visual Arts – Sculpture
			Bienvenido Lumbera (1932–2021)	Batangas	Literature
			Ramon Arevalo Obusan (1938–2006)	Albay	Dance
			Ildefonso Paez Santos Jr. (1929–2014)	Manila	Architecture – Landscape
			Ronald Allan "Fernando" Kelley Poe Jr.1 (1939–2004)	Manila	Film	posthumous conferment
			Ramón Oswald Valera (1912–1972)	Abra	Fashion Design
	20092[5]		Manuel Pabustan Urbano (Manuel Conde) (1915–1985)	Camarines Norte	Film and Broadcast Arts
			Lázaro Ángeles Francisco (1898–1980)	Bataan	Literature
			Federico Aguilar Alcuaz (1932–2011)	Manila	Visual Arts – Painting, Sculpture and Mixed Media
Benigno Aquino III	2014[6]		Alice García Reyes van Doorn (b. 1942)	Manila	Dance
			Francisco Vicente Coching (1919–1998)	Manila	Visual Arts	posthumous conferment
			Cirilo Francisco Bautista (1941–2018)	Manila	Literature
			Francisco Espíritu Feliciano (1941–2014)	Rizal	Music	posthumous conferment
			Ramón Pagayon Santos (b. 1941)	Manila	Music
			José María Vélez Zaragoza (1912–1994)	Manila	Architecture	posthumous conferment
Rodrigo Duterte	2018		Raymundo Cipriano "Ryan" Pujante Cayabyab (b. 1954)	Manila	Music
			Francisco "Bobby" Tronqued Mañosa (1931–2019)	Manila	Architecture and Allied Arts
			Ramón Larupay Muzones (1913–1992)	Iloilo	Literature	posthumous conferment
			Resil Buagas Mojares (b. 1943)	Zamboanga del Norte/Cebu	Literature
			Lauro "Larry" Zarate Alcala (1926–2002)	Albay	Visual Arts	posthumous conferment
			Amelia Ramolete Lapeña-Bonifacio (1930–2020)	Manila	Theater
			Eric Oteyza de Guia (Kidlat Tahimik) (b. 1942)	Benguet	Film and Broadcast Arts
	2022		Nora Cabaltera Villamayor "Aunor" (b. 1953)	Camarines Sur	Film and Broadcast Arts
			Salvacion Navera Lim-Higgins (1920–1990)	Albay	Fashion Design	posthumous conferment
			Agnes Dakudao Locsin (b. 1957)	Davao	Dance
			Fides Belza Cuyugan-Asensio (b. 1931)	Quezon	Music
			Ricardo "Ricky" Arreola Lee (b. 1948)	Camarines Norte	Film and Broadcast Arts
			Gémino Henson Abad (b. 1939)	Manila	Literature
			Antonio "Tony" Ocampo Mabesa (1935–2019)	Laguna	Theater	posthumous conferment
			Marilou Correa Diaz-Abaya (1955–2012)	Manila	Film and Broadcast Arts

^1 In May 2006, under the Arroyo administration, the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) already conferred the award to Poe but the late actor's wife, Susan Roces refused to acknowledge it. President Aquino has approved and signed Proclamation 435 affirming the previous proclamation of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declaring the late movie icon Fernando Poe Jr. a National Artist, posthumously. The Poe family finally accepted the conferment on 16 August 2012. .^[7]

^2 Aguilar Alcuaz, Francisco, and Conde were all proclaimed in 2009 but the conferment of the order was delayed due to a controversy. The order was finally bestowed in a ceremony at Malacañang Palace in November 2013.^[5]

2009 National Artist of the Philippines controversy

In August 2009, the conferment of the Order of National Artists on seven individuals by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo^[8] became controversial when it was revealed that musician Ramon Santos had been dropped from the list of nominees short-listed in May that year by the selection committee, and that four other individuals had been nominated via "President’s prerogative": Cecilla Guidote-Alvarez (Theater), Carlo J. Caparas (Visual Arts and Film), Francisco Mañosa (Architecture), and Pitoy Moreno (Fashion Design).^[4][9]

Members of the Philippine art community–including a number of living members of the Order–protested that the proclamation politicised the title of National Artist, and made it "a way for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to accommodate her allies." Specific protests were raised regarding the nomination of Guidote-Alvarez, who was also Executive Director of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, because it was purportedly a breach of protocol and delicadeza (propriety), and of Caparas, on the grounds that he was unqualified for nomination under both the Visual Arts and the Film categories.^[9][10] On July 16, 2013, the controversy finally ended after the Supreme Court of the Philippines voted 12-1-2 that voided the four proclamations.^[11]

On June 20, 2014, five years after he was originally shortlisted in 2009, Ramon Santos was finally conferred National Artist for Music by President Benigno S. Aquino III.^[6]