Get to know the next 10 national artists

MANILA, Philippines — Ten Filipino cultural luminaries are entering the esteemed circle of national artists, making up the largest single batch of awardees since the honors were established in 1972.

Through Proclamation No. 1414, series of 2026, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has conferred the Order of national artists on the following:

• Nicanor Tiongson (for Literature)

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• Gregorio Brillantes (Literature)

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• Imelda Cajipe-Endaya (Visual Arts)

• Nunelucio Alvarado (Visual Arts)

• Gabriel “Gabby” Formoso (Architecture)

• Rafael “Nonoy” Froilan (Dance)

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• Maria Beatriz “Patis” Tesoro (Design)

• Armando “Bing” Lao (Film and Broadcast Arts)

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• Teodoro Hilado (Theater)

• Alfredo Buenaventura (Music)

Formoso, Lao, Brillantes, and Hilado received the recognition posthumously, while Cajipe-Endaya became the first female national artist for visual arts.

READ: Palace names National Artists for 2025, 1st woman in visual arts

The proclamation was signed by Marcos on Sept. 1, according to the chief of the Presidential Communications Office, Secretary Dave Gomez. The date of the conferment ceremony is yet to be announced.

The new batch raises the number of total awardees to 91 since the recognition started during the first Marcos administration. The award is the highest national recognition given to Filipinos who have made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts and letters.

The selection is based on the recommendations of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). Aside from a gold-plated medallion minted by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the honorees will receive a cash award, a lifetime monthly stipend, life insurance, state funeral benefits, and a place of honor in state functions and cultural presentations.

The following notes offer a glimpse of the latest awardees’ work and legacy:

Gabriel Formoso

Formoso was born in Manila on April 9, 1915. He finished high school at Ateneo de Manila in 1933, then enrolled at the University of Santo Tomas School of Architecture where he graduated in 1937. He would go on to start his practice in architecture two years later in 1939, becoming one of the first 100 licensed architects in the Philippines. Formoso’s technical mastery was seen in his over 200 works, composed of residential, industrial, and commercial edifices.

Among his most renowned designs are the Asian Institute of Management Building, Doña Narcisa Building, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Complex, Philippine National Bank Financial Center, Bank of America-Lepanto Building, United Coconut Planters Bank, Dusit Thani (then Hotel Nikko/Manila Garden Hotel), Pacific Star Building, Peninsula Manila, Heritage Hotel, and PLDT Sampaloc complex.

His awards include the Likha Award from the United Architects of the Philippines in 1990; the 1979 Outstanding Architect of the Year Award from the Professional Regulation Commission; and the 1977 Patnubay ng Kalinangan Award from the Commission on Arts and Culture.

Formoso passed away on Dec. 23, 1996.

Rafael ‘Nonoy’ Froilan

Froilan was born on Oct. 24, 1950 in Calbiga, Samar. He received his degree in Business Administration from the University of the East (UE), Manila, in 1971, and a degree in Education at the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1977. Having begun his career as a folk dancer in UE Dance Troupe in 1968, he later joined the CCP Dance School in 1972.

From 1973, he was a principal dancer in Ballet Philippines, and acted as a teacher for modern dance from 1975 to 1980. He later received the cultural award in dance from the Metro Manila Commission on Culture in 1981. That same year, he became an instructor of jazz at Shoe Mart Dance Arts in Quezon City.

Froilan is known for his roles in landmark productions, including “Songs of a Wayfarer,” “Song of Adarna,” “Roi David,” and productions of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Amada,” “Itim Asu,” and Misang Pilipino, among many others. As a choreographer, he also contributed to Filipino dance through original works, such as “Danzas” (1986), “One Afternoon” (1987), “Iba’t Ibang Salita” (1988), and “Amparo (1990).”

Patis Tesoro

Known as the “grand dame of Philippine fashion,” Maria Beatriz “Patis” Tesoro got her start in fashion learning from her dressmaker mother while growing up in Iloilo. Born on Dec. 29, 1950, she learned how to embroider in high school, and later learned the business of making sustainable indigenous and traditional art from her mother-in-law. After attending Maryknoll (now Miriam College) from 1959 to 1968, she began studying art education at Marygrove College in Detroit, Michigan. She also began designing ready-to-wear clothing in the early 1970s. By 1982, she launched her own label, “Patis,” followed by her first fashion show in 1984.

READ: Patis Tesoro preserves Filipino couture with every stitch

In 1992, Tesoro became the organizer of the Katutubong Filipino Foundation, an organization devoted to providing tribal and rural-based Filipinos with livelihood opportunities while preserving their traditional arts and crafts.

Having devoted over 30 years of her life to preserving the use of traditional Filipino fabrics, Tesoro has also helped revive the piña fabric industry to ensure its longevity, bringing it to the world stage. She has also sought to modernize and revive other traditional Filipino fabrics, such as abaca, jusi, and silk. She received the Gawad Tanglaw ng Lahi Award from Ateneo de Manila University in 2016 for her commitment to the revival of Philippine traditional textiles.

Armando ‘Bing’ Lao

Armando “Bing” Lao was born in Davao City on Sept. 6, 1948. He began his career in film in the 1980s. Respected for his “substantial body of work in Philippine cinema,” Lao was the recipient of several Gawad Urian awards, including the best screenplay honors for “Takaw-Tukso” in 1987, “Itanong Mo sa Buwan” in 1989, “Oras-Oras, Araw-Araw” in 1990 and “Tuhog” and “La Vida Rosa” in 2001. In April 2024, he was among the “Parangal ng Sining” awardees of the Film Development Council of the Philppines (FDCP), a recognition given to exemplary Filipino artists or organizations who had significant impact to the Philippine cinema.

He was also the screenwriter behind the films “Serbis” (2008) and “Kinatay” (2009) which competed at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Aside from his work as a screenwriter, Lao also directed “Biyaheng Lupa” (2009), “Ad Ignorantiam” (2012) and “Dukit,” and served as the creative consultant of numerous films.

He also established the “Found Story” School of Filmmaking where he conducted workshops that “[guided] aspiring and professional storytellers in creating films that resonate deeply with audiences.”

Lao passed away in June 2024 at the age of 75.

Gregorio Brillantes

Gregorio Brillantes was born on Dec. 18, 1932, in Camiling, Tarlac, which also served as the setting for a number of his stories. He attended the Ateneo de Manila University from 1948 to 1952, where he completed a bachelor of letters degree, major in journalism. He would later go on to teach English at Ateneo High School as well as literature and creative writing at the Far Eastern University, all while contributing short stories to national magazines.

READ: Gregorio C. Brillantes, 92: Master of the ‘fine story’

He won the Philippines Free Press’ annual short story contest several times, receiving the top prize in 1953 (for “The Living and the Dead”), 1954 (for “A Wind over the Earth”), and 1956 (for “The Distance to Andromeda”). “Faith, Love, Time, and Dr Lazaro” received the second prize at both the Free Press contest and the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards in 1960.

Brillantes received the Catholic Mass Media Award of Merit for Best Book for “The Apollo Centennial” in 1981; the South East Asian Writers or SEA Write Award in 1982; and the Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan award from the city government of Manila in 1983.

He died in September 2025.

Nicanor Tiongson

Nicanor Tiongson was born in Malolos, Bulacan, on Jan. 10, 1946. He is an essayist, playwright, and cultural administrator. He authored “The Cinema of Manuel Conde,” “The Urian Anthology,” and “The Women of Malolos,” and edited the 10-volume “CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art.” His plays include “Pilipinas Circa 1907,” “Basilia ng Malolos,” “Noli at Fili Dekada 2000,” and “Mabining Mandirigma.”

Tiongson received several awards over the years for his significant works. One of his recent awards include the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2024, given to him by the FDCP through its Parangal ng Sining.

Alfredo Buenaventura

Alfredo Santos Buenaventura was born in Santa Maria, Bulacan, on Oct. 14, 1929. He is a composer, conductor, and teacher. He composed a number of operas, symphonic poems, vocal works and chamber music.

Among his notable pieces are “Bayan Kong Mahal,” and “Mabuhay March,” as well as the 1961 musical composition and orchestra “Maria Makiling” which earned him the Republic Cultural Heritage Award in 1964. The artist received the same award in 1972 for his “Kayumanggi Symphony.”

Teodoro Hilado

Teodoro “Teddy” Hilado was born in Silay City, Negros Occidental, on May 15, 1938. He was a lighting designer and technical director. He was recognized by many as the father of lighting design in Philippine theater.

Hilado was the technical director of the CCP from 1969 to 1973 and designed most of its important theatrical events. He was also a theater director of the Folk Arts Theater from 1973 to 1986. He was bestowed the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining in 1997.

Hilado died of brain cancer at the age of 77 on Dec. 23, 2015.

Imelda Cajipe-Endaya

Imelda Cajipe-Endaya, 76, was born in Manila on Sept. 16, 1949. One of the pioneers of feminist art in the Philippines, she is a printmaker and a painter, consistently exploring the themes of national identity and people empowerment, gender, race, migration, displacement and globalization in her artworks.

READ: Imelda Cajipe-Endaya: Woman and artist for all seasons

Some of her major works are in the following collections: “Bintana ni Momoy” (Momoy’s Window), 1983, Ateneo University Art Gallery; “Pasyong Bayan” (A Nation’s Passion), 1983, Metropolitan Museum of Manila; “Sa Lupang Golgota,” 1984, Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan; “Mansanas sa Almusal” (Apple for Breakfast), 1988, CCP; and “Solidarity Sisters,” 1999, Central Bank of the Philippines.

She also earned local and international recognition, such as the gold medal in printmaking from the Art Association of the Philippines in 1979, Mayi Critics’ Choice in 1980, CCP Thirteen Artists Award in 1990, Cheju Pre-Biennale Special Award in 1995, Patnubay ng Sining at Kalinangan Award from the City of Manila in 1998, RP Centennial Honors for the Arts in 1999, artist in residency at Ecole Cantonale d’Art du Valais, Switzerland, in 1999 and awards from the American Society of Contemporary Artists in 2009.

Nunelucio Alvarado

Nunelucio “Nune” Alvarado was born in Fabrika, Sagay City, Negros Occidental, on May 5, 1950. He is celebrated for his progressive artworks depicting the plight and struggles of the Negros-based “sakada” (seasonal cane workers), or laborers hired from outside the region. He developed a distinctive style marked marked by bold colors, emotion, and strength.

He has had many solo exhibitions of works of strong social impact, including his first show “Hampang-Hampang Lang ’Ni Pero Tuod Tuod” (Playful But True), 1979, Sining Kamalig, Manila. He has also taken part in major group exhibitions in the country, such as “Piglas: Art at the Crossroads” (To Be Free: Art at the Crossroads), 1986, and “Terra non Terra” (Earth Ground), 1992, both at CCP.

Alvarado was among the Thirteen Artists awardees of the CCP in 1992. He also received the Grand Prize in the Philip Morris Philippine Art Awards in 1997 and 1999. INQ /das

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Sources: Inquirer archives, gfparchitects.com, ust.edu.ph, dev.aide.edu.ph, hs-projets.com, arthouseph.com, facebook.com/filipinoscreenwritersguild, abu.org.my, ateneo.edu, epa.culturalcenter.gov.ph, up.edu.ph, UP College of Media and Communication Facebook Page, naxos.com