THE NATIONAL ARTIST AWARDS: AN ALTERNATIVE LIST PART 2
Last month we suggested a list of names of who should be proclaimed National Artists. That June 23 post was surprising for several reasons. One, the number of comments made me realize that this blog actually has more than three readers. Two, that people really love Ma Mon Luk and Yoyoy Villame. Three, that most people have no sense of humor, and will nominate names like Freddie Aguilar, whose classic "Anak" may have already taken on a rather scary dimension for Marc Abaya. We continue the honor roll
Xerex Xaviera of Abante- National Artist for Literature
No other body of work in the history of Philippine letters matches the erotic intensity of Xerex. The fact that Xerex is not an actual person but a pool of hard-drinking, prize-winning poets and fictionists does not in any way diminish the significance of his creative stamina: day in and day out, for decades on, this columnist's scorching prose is a moist fingertip exploring the erogenous zones of our collective psyche.
German Moreno- National Artist for Broadcast and the Sartorial Arts
He may be presently languishing in television limbo as Master Showman at a timeslot only ideal for meth addicts and insomniac geriatrics. But this space would be criminally insufficient to explain the impact of That's Entertainment on Philippine culture. Massively influential figures like Manilyn Reynes, Jojo Alejar, Billy Joe Crawford, et al were all little whelps who once suckled at the teats of this modern-day amalgam of Pygmalion, Henry Higgins, P.T. Barnum, and Liberace. The day will come when the most iconic show of the '80s will be discussed in reverential tones instead of ironic yet misty-eyed reminiscence. It will be praised by academics, and anthropologists shall tear up at the mere mention of its name. But that's all self-explanatory. Even without That's Entertainment, Moreno's place in Philippine culture is secure, if only for his daring fashion sensibility—“one that defies conventions and burns retinas at the same time.
