Where’s delicadeza in conferring the most prestigious cultural award on the same person who advises the President on the matter?

Malacañang on Wednesday announced the names of 7 individuals to be conferred the Pambansang Alagad ng Sining awards this year. And the list confirmed the worst fears that many artists had entertained these past weeks—that Cecille Guidote-Alvarez would be among the awardees.

Actually, they also feared that President Arroyo would do dagdag-bawas on the list of awardees that the Council of Experts submitted. That, Gng. Gloria also did. She inserted not just 1 name but 4.

But back to Alvarez.  About two weeks ago, concerned artists gave Newsbreak the info that Alvarez “got [President] GMA to name her National Artist” for theater. Our sources have a common reaction to Alvarez's "selection" (and the insertion of 2 more names): "Shameless."

Why shameless?

So far, nobody has questioned Alvarez’s credentials (although I’m very sure somebody will in the next few days or weeks). The immediate issue obviously is of delicadeza.

The National Artist Award is the most prestigious in the arts and culture sector. It is conferred by no less than the President on individuals who are chosen in a rigorous, 2-phase selection process where their peers—prominent and accomplished artists themselves—vote.

The award is jointly administered by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Cultural Center of the Philippines. The two agencies oversee the selection process and transmit the shortlist to the President. The President then issues an executive order conferring the award on each of the artists on the short list.

Alvarez is the executive director of the NCCA. She is also the presidential adviser on culture. That places her in a position of conflict of interest—she runs the awards secretariat, and she advises the Lady in Malacañang on matters that concern the sector for which the award is intended.

Last May, Newsbreak wrote an Inside Track revealing the names of 4 artists that made it to the short list of this year’s awards. (Read the story here.) The insiders gave us the list hoping that its publication would deter President Arroyo from inserting names not chosen by the Council of Experts.

From that list in May, 3 names were announced by the Palace on Wednesday:  Manuel Conde for cinema, Federico Aguilar Alcuaz for visual arts, and Lazaro Franciso for literature.

Why was Ramon Santos (for music), the choice of his peers, dropped from the list?

The 4 others that Malacañang named were Francisco “Bobby” Mañoza for architecture, Jose “Pitoy” Moreno for fashion design, Magno Jose Carlo Caparas for visual arts and film (which makes us wonder how it is different from the “cinema” category where Conde is being recognized), and Alvarez.

President Arroyo has exercised her “prerogative” to alter the list of National Artists thrice before to accommodate political allies like Alejandro Roces, Francisco “Soc” Rodrigo, and Abdulmari Imao—despite protests from the artists who would have wanted the credibility and relevance of the awards preserved. Did these well-meaning artists actually expect her to heed their calls now?

The Inside Track is Newsbreak's intelligencer section. It features the latest buzz on juicy political and business goings on.  

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