The Office of Publication & Information (OPI) Director Dr. Christine Godinez Ortega is the newly elected Head and Coordinator for Central & Northern Mindanao during the election of members of the National Commission for Culture and Arts-National Committee on Literary Arts (NCCA-NCLA) held at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Cebu City on November 13, 2013.
Prior to the elections, Ortega presented to the country’s regional representatives her cultural agenda — a strong pitch to promote the literatures of the regions particularly that of Mindanao, and strengthening the making, the translation, publication, and the teaching of Philippine Literature in schools, colleges and universities, and to other sectors of the country and to the rest of the world.
TheNCCAis the overall policy making body, coordinating, and grants giving agency for the preservation, development and promotion of Philippine arts and culture; an executing agency of its policies, and administers the National Endowment Fund for Culture and the Arts (NEFCA) fund exclusively for the implementation of culture and arts programs and projects.
The National Committee on Literary Arts is one of seven committees of the Sub-Commission on the Arts of the NCCA.
It evaluates project proposals and funds various projects, among them: 16 regional and national writers workshops in the country, the PEN Annual Conference, the National Book Awards, the National Book Development Board Literary Arts Festival and its own flagship project, the Philippine Writers Festival during the Philippine Arts Festival in February (the Arts Month) of each year.
In 1987, according to the NCCA website, then President Corazon C. Aquino created the Presidential Commission on Culture and Arts through EO 118. In 1992, this presidential directive was enacted into law– Republic Act 7356, creating the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) jointly authored by Senators Edgardo Angara, Heherson Alvarez, Leticia Ramos Shahani, and Congressman Carlos Padilla.
The other three Sub-Commissions are: Subcommission on Cultural Heritage (SCH) with six committees; Subcommission on Cultural Dissemination (SCD) with three committees; and the Subcommission on Cultural Communities and Traditional Arts (SCCTA) with three committees.
These committees are composed of volunteer artists and cultural workers from the public and private sectors, representing different cultural and non-government organizations.
The other newly-elected NCLA officers are: Vice- Head –Dr. Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo (NCR), former UP Vice President for Public Affairs and UP Press Director, now the Director of the UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies; Secretary – Dr. Isidoro M. Cruz (Western Visayas) Press Director and Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, University of San Agustin; Assistant Secretary – Prof. Jhoanna Lyn Cruz (Eastern & Southern Mindanao), faculty of UP Mindanao; and members: Dr. Elizabeth Raquel of DEP Ed Supervisor (Northern Luzon); Francis Macansantos of the Baguio Arts Foundation (Cordillera); Dr. Hope Sabanpan Yu, Director ofthe University of San Carlos Cebuano Studies Center (Central Visayas); and, Fr. Dr. Albert Alejo, SJ of the Research & Extension Office, Ateneo de Zamboanga University (Western Mindanao).
Due to unforeseen circumstances and the calamity that hit Leyte and Samar, the NCLA will decide on who will be the next Coordinators from Eastern Visayas, Bicol and Central Luzon. –OC-OPI
Newly-elected Head of the NCCA NCLA- Dr. Christine Godinez Ortega at the Radisson Blu Hotel
The incumbent and newly-elected officers of the NCCA National Committee on Literary Arts at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Cebu City
Standing from left: Dr. Juliet C. Mallari (incumbent Central Luzon coordinator); Ms. Menchu Aquino Sarmiento (incumbent NCR coordinator); Dr. Ma. Luisa T. Reyes (incumbent NCR coordinator); Dr. Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo (incoming Vice Head and NCR coordinator); Dr. Priscilla S. Macansantos (incumbent Head and Cordillera coordinator); Dr. Christine Godinez Ortega (incumbent Vice Head and Central & Northern Mindanao coordinator); Dr. Jose ‘Butch’ Dalisay (incumbent NCR coordinator); Dr. Elsa Victoria Martinez Coscolluela (incumbent Western Visayas coordinator); Prof. Jhoanna Lynn Cruz (incumbent Eastern and Southern Mindanao coordinator), Francis Macansantos (incoming Cordillera coordinator); Dr. Isidoro M. Cruz (incoming Western Visayas coordinator); Seated: Dr. Elizabeth Raquel (incumbent Northern Luzon coordinator); Fr. Albert Alejo, SJ, PhD (incumbent Western Mindanao coordinator); Dr. Hope Sabanpan Yu (incoming Central Visayas coordinator); and Carlo Arejola (incumbent Bicol coordinator). Contributed photos
Topics : ncca