National Artists in the

Philippines

P R E S E N TAT I O N B Y G R O U P 2
for
Drama category
Theater | Film | Cinema
Gerardo de
Leon
| 1982 | Cinema
Gerardo de Leon was born on September 12, 1913 in Manila, Philippines as Gerardo de Leon
Ilagan. He was a director and actor, known for Noli me tángere (1961), Huwag Mo Akong Limutin
 (1960) and El filibusterismo (1962).

His first directorial job was “Ama’t Anak” in which he directed himself and his brother, Tito

Arevalo. The movie got good reviews. De Leon’s biggest pre-war hit was “ Ang Maestra”

In the 50s and 60s, he produced many films that are now considered classics including “Daigdig ng
Mga Api,” “Noli Me Tangere,” “El Filibusterismo,” 

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 Ang Maestra
The film “Ang Maestra” was directed by Gerry de
Leon. The cast is Rosa del Rosario as a city-bred
school teacher who had to adjust to the rural way of
life after having been assigned to the province. It also
starred Rogelio de la Rosa as del Rosario’s leading
man. It was a blockbuster hit that was released in
1941 and was the inaugural feature of Life Theater in
Quiapo.
4
Honorata “Atang”
Dela Rama
| 1987 | Theater and Music
Honorata “Atang” Dela Rama was born on January 11, 1902 in Pandacan Manila and died in
1991.

She was raised in Gagalangin, Tondo by sister Pastora Matias and his husband Leon Ignacio, a
composer. Maestro Ignacio will eventually create ”Dalagang Bukid”, the one that will launch
Atang's career in the sarsuwela.

She was an actress, known for Mahiwagang binibini: Ang Kiri (1939), Dalagang Bukid (1919) and
Oriental Blood (1930). Atang was formally honored as the Queen of Zarzuela, she starred in more
than 50 zarzuelas.

Atang became the very first actress in the very first Tagalog film when she essayed the same role in
the sarsuela's film version.

Year 1979 (age 74), Atang was formally honored as the Queen of Kundiman. Atang firmly believes
that the sarswela and the kundiman expresses best the Filipino soul. She brought Kundiman with
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her everywhere, around the Philippines and even the world.
 Dalagang Bukid
“Dalagang Bukid” is the first Filipino feature-length
film made by a Filipino director regarded as "Father
of Filipino Movies" and is now lost forever. Dalagang
Bukid is a story about a young flower vendor named
Angelita, who is forced by her parents to marry a
wealthy old man, Don Silvestre, despite her love for
Cipriano, a law student.

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Wilfrido Ma.
Guerrero

| 1997 | Theater
Wilfrido María Guerrero (January 22, 1911 – April 28, 1995) was a Filipino playwright,
director, teacher and theater artist. He wrote over 100 plays, 41 of which have been published. His
unpublished plays have either been broadcast over the radio or staged in various parts of the
Philippines

After his aunt's death, Guerrero wrote some of his most popular comedies, "Movie Artists,"
"Basketball Fight," and "Wanted: A Chaperone."

His plays include Half an Hour in a Convent, Forever, Condemned, Perhaps, In Unity, Deep in My
Heart, Three Rats, Our Strange Ways, The Forsaken House, Frustrations.

Guerrero received three national awards: the Rizal Pro-Patria Award in 1961, the Araw ng
Maynila Award in 1969, and the Republic Cultural Heritage Award in 1972.

In 1997, Guerrero was posthumously distinguished as a National Artist for Philippine Theatre.
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 Rolando S.
Tinio
| 1997 | Theater & Literature
Rolando S. Tinio was born on March 5, 1937-July 7, 2997 in Tondo Manila.

He is a thespian, poet, playwright, teacher, critic, actor and translator marking his career
with many productions that brought notable visual impact and intellectual cogency. He
earned his bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of Santo Tomas in 1955.

After staging productions for Ateneo Experimental Theater, he took on Teatro Pilipino. It
was there that he left a considerable amount work reviving traditional Filipino drama by
staging old theater forms; like sarswela and opening a treasure house of opening a treasure-
house of contemporary Western drama.
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 Ang Larawan
The film “Ang Larawan” showcases and represents the
best of the Philippines’ literature, theatre, music, and
film. And, ironically, one of the things it talks about is
how artists are much too often made to choose to suffer
for their passion or abandon their passion for loftier
economic and social gains.

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 Daisy H.
Avellana
| 1999 | Theater
Daisy Hontiveros Avellana, is an actor, director, and writer. Born in Roxas City, Capiz on
January 26, 1917, and died at the age of 96.

Together with her husband, National Artist Lamberto Avellana and other artists, she co-
founded the Barangay Theatre Guild in 1939 which paved the way for the popularization of
theatre and dramatic arts in the country, utilizing radio and television. The Avellanas were
the first power couple of Philippine theater, and Daisy was known as the “First Lady,”
perhaps in recognition of her role as the bedrock of support for the solid timber that
Lamberto was.

Her directorial credits include Diego Silang (1968), and Walang Sugat (1971). Among her
screenplays were Sakay (1939) and Portrait of the Artist as Filipino (1955). 14
 A Portrait of the Artist as
Filipino
She is known for her work on “A Portrait of the Artist as
Filipino” (1965), it is a literary play written in English by
Filipino National Artist for Literature Nick Joaquin, the play
explores the many aspects of Philippine high society by telling
the story of the Marasigan sisters, Candida and Paula, and
their father, the painter Don Lorenzo Marasigan. The theme
focuses on family conflict and the amalgamation of old
Filipino identity and cultural character with the arrival of
contemporary and Western ideals. 15
Fernando Poe Jr.

| 2006 | Cinema
Ronald Allan Kelley Poe aka “Fernando Poe Jr.” He also called as “Da King Ronnie
FPJ”. Born on August 20, 1939 in Manila Philippines and died at December 14, 2004.

Fernando Poe Jr was a film director, producer, screenwriter and politician and a Filipino
actor. As his long and successful career as an action star in Filipino Television he earned his
nickname “Da King” meaning the “The King of Philippine Movies”. He has around 300
films since 1955 to 2003. The films that made by Fernando Poe Productions are “Anak ni
Palaris (1955) directed by Mario Barri, Batang Maynila (1962) by Efren Reyes, Intramuros
(1964) by Gerardo de Leon and Eddie Romero, Pagbabalik ng Panday (1981) by Ronwaldo
Reyes, Agila ng Maynila (1988) by Pablo Santiago and many films in the list.
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 Ang Panday
Ang Panday (1980), a film directed by Fernando Poe Jr.
and also the main character of the story this film was
based on fictional comics created by Carlo J. Caparas and
illustrated by Steve Gan. It has 4 films that was shown at
the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) in the year of
1981, 1982, and 1984.

It is about a dagger forged possessed from a meteorite

Wilfrido Ma. Rolando S.

P R E S E N TAT I O N B Y G R O U P 2
GROUP 2
Anenias, Ken Rien P.
Borgonia, Aldrine Jaypee Cyrus M.
Gonzales, Keith Kilian P.
Moises, Jeson Steven B.
Austria, Jean Aubrey P.
Carandang, Francine Sophia E.
De Luna, Nicole A.
Endrenal, Dannielle Anne V.
Gesmundo, Vanessa Mae F.
Padua, Sheena Carmelyn K. 20
 REFERENCES:
Gerardo de Leon https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6099554/plotsummary
https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2003/06/07/209126/my http://www.riajose.com/2017/12/ang-larawan/
-brush-greatness https://ncca.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/NAAW-Rolan
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0502479/bio do-S-768x384.jpg
https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/nation https://vagabondpress.net/products/poems-of-rolando-s-tinio-jo
al-artists-of-the-philippines/gerardo-gerry-de-leon/ se-f-lacaba-rio-alma

Daisy H. Avellana
Honorata “Atang” dela Rama https://ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/nation
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1876452/bio al-artists-of-the-philippines/daisy-h-avellana/
https://philippineculturaleducation.com.ph/de-la-rama-honorata https://www.britannica.com/topic/A-Portrait-of-the-Artist-as-Fil
/ ipino
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0451692/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov
_pl Fernando Poe Jr.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ang_Panday_(1980_film)
Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilfrido_Ma._Guerrero

Rolando S. Tinio
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