Nora Aunor is now a National Artist.
She is one of the eight new national artists declared by Malacañang, which was announced by National Commission for Culture and the Arts chairman Nick Lizaso today, June 10, 2022.
TV Patrol reported this evening that Nora has been declared a National Artist for Film, along with the late director Marilou Diaz-Abaya.
Screenwriter Ricardo "Ricky" Lee and literary critic Gemino Abad were declared National Artists for Literature.
Soprano Fides Cuyugan-Asensio was honored as a National Artist for Music. Contemporary choreographer Agnes Locsin was named National Artist for Dance.
Aside from Abaya, two National Artists were also honored posthumously: the late fashion designer Salvacion Lim “Slim” Higgins for Fashion and Tony Mabesa for Theater.
Since the 2010s, there was already a clamor for Nora to become a National Artist.
This became controversial in 2014 when NCCA questioned the decision of Malacañang to exclude Nora from the list of National Artist nominees.
Even celebrities such as Robin Padilla, Piolo Pascual, Maricel Soriano, and director Joyce Bernal were vocal about their disappointment with Nora’s exclusion from the list.
The late former president Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III said that Nora was excluded from the list because of issues linked to her drug issue.
Aquino said in an interview, “Ginagalang ko siya, kinikilala ko yung kanyang trabaho at ‘yang mga obra. Pero ang problema ko, mukhang mas mataas yung prayoridad na maliwanag na may mensahe na yung droga zero tolerance tayo dito, mali all the time.”
Even then, her fans continued fighting for Nora to become a National Artist, and was even called “People’s National Artist.”
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