The Death of Delicadeza and Dagdag-Bawas at the Philippine Cultural scene

Hindi lamang sa eleksyon nagpakita ang demonyong dagdag-bawas. Pati na ang larangan ng sining, ang dapat sanang nalalabing may linis sa ating lipunan, ay nabahiran na rin ng duming dulot ng dagdag-bawas.

Kaya naman, Filipino artists will conduct a necrological service today at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). Dr. Butch Dalisay and Emily Cabrera will lead hundreds of artists in expressing their sadness over the death of delicadeza in our country today.

If you remember, a few days back, Gloria approved a list of people to be awarded the National Artist awards. The government body responsible for recommending the lists of awardees, NCCA or the National Commission on the Culture and the Arts, gave the President their own lists. Apparently, what Mrs. Arroyo did was prune the list by dropping one name and inserting four additional names who were never even considered by the arts body.

And you know what? Mrs. Arroyo just expressed her preference for man snakes and massacre movies by granting Director Carlo J. Caparas the National artist awards. She even included NCCA executive director Cecille Guidote-Alvarez as a national artist---a direct violation of the law. Good that she included Pito Moreno and architect Bobby Manoza, but their names were not included in the original list submitted by the NCCA.

And because Mrs. Arroyo gave honor to Caparas, one visual artist lost his, which infuriated the Philippine cultural scene. What these artists militate is the fact that Mrs. Arroyo violated the due process of selection involved in this.

Kumbaga, nawalan ng delicadeza pati ba naman sa pagpili ng paparangalang tagapagsulong ng sining ng taumbayan.