A FAMOUS opera singer who hails from the City of San Fernando has received the prestigious Order of National Artist for Music.

Soprano Fides Cuyugan-Asensio, who is also an teacher, stage and film actor and librettist, and translator, is among the recipients of the National Artist award which is the highest national recognition conferred upon Filipinos who have made distinct contributions to the development of the Philippine arts and culture.

Although born in Lucena City, Asensio’s father Dr. Gervasio Santos-Cuyugan is a notable Fernandino physician who once served as personal doctor of former President Manuel Quezon.

Asensio is the first Filipino voice scholar to be accepted at Curtis Institute in Philadelphia which is the most exclusive school in the world at the time in 1950’s.

Prior to the Order of the National Artist, Asensio also has multiple prestigious awards on her belt such as 2015 Gawad CCP Para sa Sining Award and PAMA-AS Gintong Award for the Musical Arts by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), among others.

The Order of National Artist, established under Proclamation no. 1001 signed in 1972, is jointly administered by the National Commission on Culture and the Arts and the Cultural Center of the Philippines and conferred by the President upon the recommendation of both institutions.