Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — The National Commission for Culture and Arts (NCCA) announced on Thursday that National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario has been elected as its new chairperson.
Almario’s term of office will last from 2017 to 2019, and he will lead the NCCA Board of Commissioners composed of representatives from the legislative, executive and the private sectors. Almario succeeds Felipe de Leon Jr.
The NCCA is the overall policy making body, coordinating, and grants giving agency for the preservation, development, and promotion of Philippine arts and culture. It also executes the policies it formulates and administers the National Endowment Fund for Culture and the Arts.
According to the University of the Philippines website, Almario finished his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science at the university in 1963. Almario released “Makinasyon at Ilang Tula” – his first collection of poems – in 1967.
The university said Almario was an activist during the martial law years of former President Ferdinand Marcos, and was “blacklisted” by the military. It was then when he devoted his time studying the history and tradition of Philippine literature, as well as the Filipino language.
Apart from his poems, Almario’s works include the children’s story “Ibong Adarna,” and Filipino translations of Jose Rizal’s “Noli Me Tangere” and “El filibusterismo.”
A much-respected poet, literary critic, and writer of stories for children, Almario was conferred the rank of national artist in 2003 by then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He is also known by his pen name, “Rio Alma.”
