MALACANANG will consult the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) on the recent ruling by the Supreme Court (SC) invalidating the National Artist title given by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to four awardees in 2009.
In a press briefing on Wednesday, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the Palace was awaiting the NCCA to conduct its processes and the submission of its final deliberations on the issue.
“The reason why there is an issue on that particular award is because of the action taken by the former President. So there is a process. There is a way of bringing it up to the Palace but I am not privy or we will ask the body concerned, I think it’s the NCCA. The NCCA are the ones who will recommend the National Artist nominees,” he said.
Voting 12-1-2, with Associate Justice Arturo Brion on medical leave and Associate Justices Mariano del Castillo and Marvic Leonen abstaining, the SC ruled that Arroyo had committed grave abuse of discretion when she ordered the granting of the prestigious National Artist Award to Cecile Guidote-Alvarez for Theater, Carlo J. Caparas for Visual Arts and Film, Francisco Mañosa for Architecture, and Jose “Pitoy” Moreno for Fashion Design.
The High Court, in its ruling, said Arroyo gave "preferential treatment" to the four and disregarded rules of the NCCA and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) in selecting the awardees. This prompted the SC to void Proclamation numbers 1826, 1827, 1828, and 1829 the President issued in 2009.
Asked if the benefits being given to the supposed awardees would also be scrapped, with the SC ruling, Lacierda said: "As confirmed with the Office of the Secretariat for the Order of National Artists, which is under the NCCA, as the four were not officially conferred they did not receive a stipend." (SDR/Sunnex)