Cultural policy in the Philippines; Studies and documents on cultural ...

Cultural policv in the

Philippines, A study prepared under the auspices of the Unesco National Commission of the Philippines

Unesco Paris 1973

Studies and documents on cultural policies

In this series:

Cultural policy: a preliminary study Cultural policy in the United States, by Charles C. Mark Cultural rights as human rights Cultural policy in Japan, by Nobuya Shikaumi Some aspects of French cultural policy, by the Studies and Research Department of the French

Cultural policy in Tunisia, by Rañk Said Cultural policy in Great Britain, by Michael Green and Michael Wilding, in consultation with

Cultural policy in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, by A. A. Zvorykin with the assistance of

Cultural policy in Czechoslovakia, by Miroslav Marek, Milan Hromádka and Josef Chroust Culturalpolicy in Italy, a survey prepared under the auspices of the Italian National Commission

Cultural policy in Yugoslavia, by Stevan MajstoroviC. Cultural policy in Bulgaria, by Kostadine Popov Some aspects of cultural policies in India, by Kapila Malik Vatsyayan Cultural policy in Cuba, by Lisandro Otero with the assistance of Francisco Martínez Hinojosa Culturalpolicy in Egypt, by Magdi Wahba Cultural policy in Finland, a study prepared under the auspices of the Finnish National

Cultural policy in Sri Lanka, by H. H. Bandara Culturalpolicy in Nigeria, by T. A. Fasuyi Cultural policy in Iran, by Djamchid Behnam Cultural policy in Poland, by Stanislaw Witold Balicki, Jerey Kossak and Miroslaw h a w s k i The role of culture in leisure time in New Zealand, by Bernard W. Smyth Cultural policy in Israel, by Jozeph Michman Cultural policy in Senegal, by Mamadou Seyni M’Bengue Cultural policy in the Federal Republic of Germany, a study prepared under the auspices of the

Culturalpolicy in Indonesia, a study prepared by the staff of the Directorate-General of Culture,

Cultural policy in the Philippines, a study prepared under the auspices of the Unesco National

Ministry of Culture

Richard Hoggart

N. I. Golubtsova and E. I. Rabinovitch

for Unesco

Commission for Unesco

German Commission for Unesco

Ministry of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia

Commission of the Philippines

The serial numbering of titles in this series, the presentation of which has been modified, was discontinued with the volume Culturalpolicy in Italy

Published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 7 Place de Fontenoy, 75700 Paria Printed by Presses Universitaires de France, Vendôme

ISBN 92-3-101133-2 French edition: 92-3-201133-6

'0 Unesco 1973 Printed in France

Preface

The purpose of this series is to show h o w cultural policies are planned and implemented in various Member States.

As cultures differ, so does the approach to them; it is for each Member State to determine its cultural policy and methods according to its o w n conception of culture, its socio-economic system, political ideology and technical development. However, the methods of cultural policy (like those of general development policy) have certain common problems; these are largely institutional, administrative and financial in nature, and the need has increasingly been stressed for exchanging experiences and information about them. This series, each issue of which follows as far as possible a similar pattern so as to make comparison easier, is mainly concerned with these technical aspects of cultural policy.

In general, the studies deal with the principles and methods of cultural policy, the evaluation of cultural needs, administrative structures and management, planning and financing, the organization of resources, legislation, budgeting, public and private institutions, cultural content in education, cultural autonomy and decentralization, the training of personnel, institutional infrastructures for meeting specific cultural needs, the safeguarding of the cultural heritage, institutions for the dissemination of the arts, international cultural co-operation and other related subjects.

The studies, which cover countries belonging to differing social and economic systems, geographical areas and levels of development, present therefore a wide variety of approaches and methods in cultural policy. Taken as a whole, they can provide guidelines to countries which have yet to establish cultural policies, while all countries, especially those seeking new formulations of such policies, can profit by the experience already gained.

This study was prepared under the auspices of the Unesco National Commission of the Philippines.

The opinions expressed are the authors’ and do not necessarily reflect

I

i the views of Unesco.

Contents

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11

13

16

20

22

25

30

32

35

39

Introduction

Aims and principles

Administrative and financial structures

Architecture

Dance

Literature

Music

Painting

Sculpture, arts and crafts

Theatre

Conclusion: reflections on cultural policy

Introduction

The Republic of the Philippines is in a period of dynamic growth, inhabited by a developing society which won its independence in 1946, a young nation of approximately 40 million people with a unique background: four centuries of Spanish colonial rule and almost half a century of American tutelage superimposed on the race’s beginnings under the influence of Indian and Chinese civilizations. These Eastern influences may be less readily apparent today, but nevertheless, in their own mysterious ways, are at work in the collective sensibility of modern-day Filipinos.

The Philippines have a cultural policy. It is explicitly embodied in the New Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, which commits the State to the support of arts and letters; the Constitution likewise provides for the preservation and development of Filipino culture as a means of reinforcing national identity.

This general constitutional provision ensures a secure place for the arts in national life. It reminds people of the need to nurture and develop their own cultural values.

The Cultural Centre of the Philippines affords a practical example of the State’s support for arts and letters. It was established largely through the efforts of the wife of the President, Madame Romualdez Marcos. The centre is autonomous but has a quasi-government status under the terms of the Executive Order of 25 June 1966 under which it was established. It has

given Filipino artists access to progressive and enriching ideas and set the highest standards of excellence in performance. An art museum will eventually be added to the centre.

In the final analysis, the State’s commitment to the free development of culture and the arts is a social, legal and moral imperative; citizens are entitled to intellectual and aesthetic pleasure-in fact, to the fullness of life itself.

A high degree of cultural sophistication enters into the extensive

I attracted many of the world’s best performing artists and, in the process,

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9

Introduction

relationships that n o w exist between men, societies and nations. The government is concerned both with building up the economy and developing the national culture; with forming a N e w Society for men of talents imbued with a fresh outlook and vigour, devoted to the ideal of a liberal but disciplined national community. If this new nation is to take its due place in history and its people are to realize their destiny as a people, it must have a deep sense of culture; its citizens must not only be aware of their common heritage but be determined to ensure its preservation and purposive inte- gration into their common national life which, in turn, opens out on the greater human community that is mankind.

Contemporary Filipino artists know that they too can help to shape society. There are two types of committed Filipino artist: those who labour quietly to attain a perfection that even the untrained or uninitiated can appreciate, and thus add a new dimension to their experience; and those who, until recently, were primarily concerned with using their talents in propaganda for particular ideologies. Contemporary artists will undoubtedly play a more vigorous role than ever before because the magnitude and repercussions of recent events, internal and external, are not readily compre- hensible to the average Filipino.

It is the responsibility of the artist to interpret these momentous hap- penings to the individuals and segments that make up a new social order which is being formed with vigour and energy. If he understands this properly, the individual Filipino artist can n o w adjust and respond better to ever-increasing cultural needs.

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Aims and principles

The contribution creative artists can make in establishing a Filipino identity in the world of the arts is tremendous. Masterpieces reflect the life, the soul, the ideals, the aspiration, and the distinct identity of a people. An earnest attempt is therefore being made in the Philippines to give a new impetus to the cultivation and development of the arts.

The State will aid artists pursuant to Article XV, 9 (2) and (3) of the new Constitution.

Filipino culture shall be preserved and developed for national identity. Arts and letters shall be under the patronage of the State.

The exclusive right to inventions, writings and artistic creations shall be secured to inventors, authors and artists for a limited period. Scholarships, grants-in-aid, or other forms of incentives shall be provided for specially gifted citizens.

This policy is founded on the firm belief that the core and substance of the national culture would disintegrate, and interest only the collecting aesthete in search of the exotic, unless that culture constitutes an identifiable whole. An important place must be allocated to the customs, traditions, beliefs and interests of ethnic communities. These are not an intrusive element in what is referred to as the lowland Christian culture, but rather constitute an essential part of the Filipino make-up and a genuine source of the basic cultural personality. They represent a constant invitation to dis- cover and experience the underlying cultural identity, the original fabric of the Filipino soul.

Culture must not be treated as a bookish or museum commodity, for intellectual contemplation only, but as a living entity. It must not be confined to an élite but be accessible to every Filipino. In this sense, the State and all the schools and universities must be its propagation agents, fostering love of country, civic spirit, moral character and personal discipline.

A culture that unchangingly remains what it is or has always been is for

11

Aims and principles

all intents and purposes dead; hence the State’s sustained interest in the promotion of arts and letters through various forms of incentive and induce- ment which range from securing the rights of authors and artists, to establishing a climate in which art and literature can flourish.

If a culture is to endure and remain viable, it must have an outlook that gives it meaning, cohesion and force. It must be geared to the present and be able to adapt itself to the future of the society that produces it. Society cannot remain in the doldrums, stable but unmoving. It must come to terms with science and the challenge of change. Culture must therefore be the affair of every Filipino, as an inalienable right and obligation of citizenship. No culture can live on mystical air only-even monasteries need the support of working people to survive. A saintly, mediaeval-type culture is not very practicable in an age of competitive economics and super-power relations.

The scientific spirit, however, admirable as it m a y be, must be tempered by humanity. Secular or otherwise, the spirit of humanism implies not only that m a n is the first study of man, but that we must all keep open minds and the desire to understand other m e n and other cultures. Cultural identity must not be confused with national or ethnic self-glorification, but seen rather as the only proper basis for seeking to understand other cultural identities, for accepting and taking with gratitude what other nations have discovered and produced, ready to share one’s o w n culture in return for others to appreciate and enjoy.

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The cultural objectives of national development demand co-operation. A s the President of the republic has pointed out, undertakings for the benefit and welfare of the entire people cannot succeed without broad popular support; government agencies alone will not succeed unless they are assisted unconditionally by the people.

Further to the general provisions in the Constitution already referred to, three laws to aid art and artists have been enacted. 1. Republic Act No. 1370 (18 June 1955): An Act Creating a Public Cor-

poration for the Promotion of Music and Appropriating the Sum of One Hundred Thousand Pesos for its Initial Expenses and Other Purposes.

2. Republic Act No. 3042 (17 June 1961): An Act Appropriating Annually the Sum of Four Hundred Thousand Pesos as Aid to the Music Foun- dation and to Cultural Groups Engaged in the Study and in the Dissemi- nation Abroad of Filipino Folk Arts, Music, and Dances.

3. Republic Act No. 4165 (4 August 1964): An Act Creating the National Commission on Culture and Providing Funds therefore.

It is stipulated that 200,000 pesos appropriated under Republic Act No. 3042 as: . . . aid to any Filipino cultural group engaged in the study and in the dissemination of Filipino folk arts, music and dances, which has gained national or international recognition and which may be designated by the President of the Philippines as official cultural representative of the Philippines abroad: ‘shall now be appropriated to include music, drama, painting, sculpture, dance, and literature’, provided that such aid shaU be ‘limited only to the necessary transportation expenses of the members thereof from and to the Philippines, and overseas transportation expenses from one continent to another as may be necessary to fulfil contracts’.

Republic Act No. 4165 stipulated that: In order to implement and carry out effectively the constitutional provision that arts and letters shall be under the patronage of the State, a National Commission

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on Culture is hereby created, hereinafter referred to as the Commission, to be composed of a Commissioner, and fourteen (14) members, who shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines with the consent of the Commission on Appointments.

In the appointment of the members of the Commission, every form of Philippine arts and letters, namely: music, drama, painting, sculpture, literature, and the dance, shall have two representatives each and the remaining two from those known for their love and devotion to arts and letters.

The commission was accorded the following powers and responsibilities:

1. To establish an integrated and coordinated national policy on culture; 2. To coordinate the activities of all the cultural groups; 3. To formulate and implement a national cultural development and promotion

programme; 4. To promote and encourage foreign cultural exchanges to enhance the inter-

national prestige of the Philippines; 5. To provide scholarships and travel grants to deserving talents in arts and

letters; 6. To receive and accept donations and other conveyance by gratuitous title of

funds, materials, or services for its general use in the furtherance of its programmes, or for administration purposes;

7. To regulate, to manage, or to provide for the sending abroad of local artists, whether as individual or performing groups, for the purpose of exhibitions and performances;

8. To regulate, to manage or to promote, the entry into the country of artists of accepted integrity for exhibitions and performances;

9. To extend recognition to and accredit art and cultural groups that are or may hereinafter be organized;

10. To extend short-term loans to legitimate cultural groups undertaking prep- arations for cultural activities in consonance with the purpose of this Act, under such terms and conditions that may be provided by the Commission;

11. To develop in our people an intensified awareness of our own culture and its historical and contemporary implications, with accent on what we have naturally assimilated, and what we can creatively express;

12. To awaken a new consciousness of, and define a new approach towards our own culture, by emphasizing the search for knowledge of, and the growth of appreciation for, the genuinely creative rather than the merely imitative, as well as the native and indigenous, rather than, but not exclusively of, the imported or foreign elements and components of our material and artistic culture;

13. To stimulate interest in cultural pursuits and activities among our people; to cultivate and enhance public appreciation of distinctive Philippine arts in their various manifestations; to encourage original literary and artistic production along higher standards and towards loftier goals; to create wider opportunities for individual and national cultural self-expression; and to fill popular cultural needs in various forms and in a manner to satisfy the varying requirements of the young and the old alike and of the different levels of our society;

Y

14

Cultiirui (:riiter a~f tlic Philirqiinrs

ilsian musical instruments on dihplay at the Cultiiral Center ui tlic Philippines

A Moro orcliestra~~--southerri part of the island of Mindanao [Photo: 7JnescolP. .~ílnias,y]

Scene from Wulang Sugat zarzuela revival, 1971


14. To arrange for or encourage the organization or staging of periodic compe- titions, exhibitions and performance in different parts of the country, both for the public benefit and for the discovery, development and display of individual talents, group initiative and accomplishments, and activities conducive to making literary and artistic pursuits richly rewarding;

15. To organize a programme of research and training and help establish workshops with a view to the revival of traditional or distinctively Philippine arts and crafts and to make use of and extend assistance to such institutions as may now be engaged in pioneering work or as may be qualified to participate in such programmes in order to provide training and laboratory facilities for both amateurs and professionals engaged in creative literary and artistic endeavours;

16. To call upon different agencies of the Government for such assistance and services as it may require in the discharge of its responsibility;

17. To promulgate the necessary rules and regulations to carry out the desired objectives of this Act.

Under the Act, 5 per cent of all amusement taxes were to be appropriated for distribution through a group of commissioners representing the seven arts and other existing cultural or quasi-cultural government agencies. However, this Act remained ineffective during the years 1964-72.

The declaration of martial law on 22 September 1972 did not suspend or reverse this policy. In fact, in the new reorganization, the Commission on Culture n o w becomes the Institute of Arts and Letters. Except for minor changes, as in the number of commissioners representing the seven arts (it will n o w be one from each group instead of two), the Act remains basically unchanged.

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Architecture

Architecture, by dictionary definition, is the art and science of building. However, in the present and in the foreseeable future, in view of an expanding world population and developments in science and technology, architecture becomes more and more the art, science and technology of shaping the human environment by organizing the space in which human beings can live.

Architecture involves large responsibilities because of its sociological impact. Architects can change society. Traditionally, however, they have contented themselves with satisfying requirements without attempting to transform anything, so that architecture has been described as the mirror of society.

The description is in any case true of Philippine architecture, which mirrors culture and history since pre-Spanish times. The imprint of the colonial past is evident, moreover, not only on buildings but in Philippine culture and mentality. A colony of Spain for over three centuries, of the United States for half a century, briefly occupied by the British and Japanese, people acquired the protective mechanism of seeming conformity by accepting the outward forms but rejecting the substance of the civilizations of their rulers.

Imitation produced some forms that remained incongruous by reason of their unsuitability in Philippine conditions. Various streams of culture brought in via colonization, trade, travel, conferences or publications are reflected in different kinds of buildings: the churches built by Spanish priests, in public edifices built by the Americans and the Bureau of Public Works, in pre-war and post-war homes and ofices.

The Filipino having no precise image of himself, his architects are likewise hard put to evolve a specifically Filipino architecture. Pre-historic and pre-Spanish buildings were seldom in stone and so have bequeathed no models; favourable geographic and climatic conditions allowed light structures of bamboo and nipa, which were abundant, resilient, resistant

16

Architecture

to typhoons and easily replaceable when repairs become necessary. Such near-Utopian conditions made the early Filipinos less dependent on others outside the immediate family, and did not encourage the growth of a civic spirit. This accounts for their lack of community centres. Plazas or town ccntres date from the Spanish occupation and the insistence of the priests who required the natives to build their homes around the church.

Filipino architects must n o w cater for the needs of this society which, after centuries of foreign domination, is in search of its own identity. The problem is not only one of aesthetics but that of a developing country with limited resources and a present population of almost 40 million which is expected to double within the next few years. A resort to mass production and standardization is not enough-as experience shows, the Filipino is individualistic, even in the design of his house. The architect’s problem therefore, is, with very limited resources, to find a suitable idiom, making use, in the process, of the latest advances in science, technology and political thinking.

With a growing population and dwindling land space and resources, Filipinos must, like the shipwrecked, learn to co-operate with each other, accept the constraints of their situation, and make the best possible use of everything they possess.

The National Building Code, worked out in co-operation between Par- liament and the professions, augurs well for the future of architecture and the allied professions; it should intensify the architect’s participation in the designing and planning of towns, urban centres and buildings.

Some years ago, when the bill for the creation of the Philippine Com- mission on Culture was being discussed, all the major arts were considered except architecture. Architecture is n o w included, but the commission, unfortunately, has yet to be formed.

Architecture is often said to be the mother of the arts, because it creates and provides the space and setting for the other arts: sculpture, painting, music, theatre, dance, literature. Any encouragement for architecture indirectly encourages the other arts.

Architects have been contributing notably to the development of Philippine culture by buildings and homes throughout the country, and especially in some show-window areas in Makati, Rizal, Manila and its suburbs. Much of their work is influenced by forms derived from the former colonizing countries. In attempting to produce a distinct style, they have utilized the nipa hut, the Malayan roof, the Ifugao hut, the Maranao house, the Spanish house and various native motifs (the latter used particularly by interior decorators).

Interesting as these attempts m a y be, however, there is a certain danger in keeping to forms which m a y not be rational enough for modern conditions. A distinctly identifiable style of architecture can be achieved, without resorting to clichés, by taking advantage of geography, climate, and local materials (timber, adobe, local woods and stones). The unconscious

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I 17

Architecture

incorporating of national attitudes and idiosyncrasies can make a building distinctively Filipino. Inspired by Le Corbusier, contemporary Brazilian architects, for example, such as Oscar Niemeyer, have produced an architecture which is specifically Brazilian, without in any way copying from older forms.

This is the challenge to Filipino architects in search of a more rational way of meeting the environmental problems of a growing and developing society. They must learn to balance the advantages and drawbacks of technological advance-the use of steel, concrete, glass, plastics and new materials, and the use of mechanical equipment (escalators, moving side- walks, air-conditioning, elevators, electrical and electronic devices) which are tending to produce an ‘international style’ of architecture that is characterized more by uniformity than suitability or imagination. The Filipino architect must learn to choose-to apply what is suitable and make his own innovations to fit particular Philippine requirements.

Through their schools and organizations, Filipino architects can achieve much by consciously developing an architecture that is relevant to their society and its culture; they m a y even lead society to initiate changes that will help to bring the resources of the country into greater harmony with its environmental needs.

The work of the architects would be easier if Filipino society changed some of its o w n attitudes. First, the Filipino should assert his own identity, and have reliance and pride in the use of local talents and materials. Second, he should be prudent in his use of borrowed ideas or forms, which m a y have to be altered and adapted to local conditions. Third, his use of limited space, materials and resources should take proper account of environmental requirements. And fourth, he should learn how to co-operate with a social unit and conform to its self-imposed rules.

Architects cannot produce architecture without financial support. The government could assume the role of patron and financier, but there are few major architectural and environmental projects because of the country’s lack of resources. Of 3,000 registered architects, only a few get the commissions for major projects, most of which are in any case concentrated in Manila and its suburbs.

The government could encourage Filipino architecture by adopting and implementing a coherent programme of environmental planning, development and rehabilitation for communities and urban centres; the appointment of architects to policy-making positions; private commissions; and by increasing the participation and representation of architects in the Cultural Commission, the National Commission for Unesco, and similar government or international agencies.

Existing architectural associations leave much to be desired, although they do ventilate architectural problems and provoke or initiate moves to solve them. However, there is much duplication and dissipation of effort and overlapping which (as in other cases in the Philippines) could be elim-

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I Architecture

inated by forming a common organization which could more effectively help to improve architecture and environmental planning and development.

The Council of Filipino Architects (CFA) has recommended that cur- ricula in architectural schools should be overhauled and give a broader background on environmental and other modern problems.

It also recommended that the government encourage building through liberal housing and construction loan policies; the creation of a national environmental planning and development authority and regional planning and development boards in all regions; decentralization of political and administrative structures; the adoption of a State policy of encouraging urban growth in the different regions. It also requested the President to declare a National Architectural Week in the month of December.

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Dance

Dances of the Philippines are remarkable for their wide diversity and range. T o mention only a few: the Bontocs have their dances during rain-calling ceremonies; the Badjaos and the Tausugs have fish dances; The Maranaws have princess and slave dances; the Negritoes have a torture dance, a comic honey-gathering dance, and a potato-thief dance; the Tagbanua have a spider-game dance; the T’bolis have a monkey dance; the Christians have their occupational dances, courtship dances, ballroom dances, mock-duel dances, and bird dances such as the itik or duck dance and the pabo or turkey dance.

Diversity there always had been; development somehow hardly kept pace until the late 1930s, when choreographers started to mount original works that maintained continuity but introduced imagination, to express what Filipino poet, novelist and playwright Nick Joaquin called ‘the drama of our lives’.

Indigenous dances assumed a new popularity from their use in this way as basic material by choreographers.

The Filipino as a rule is a gifted dancer. According to Nick Joaquin: ‘Of all our arts, the dance has gone fastest and closest to achieving a native identity; our music, painting, and literature still have a hybrid look. . . .’

The latter phenomenon is easily explained by Spanish and American domination for over four centuries, and the consequent adoption of Western art and Western ways of life.

Philippine dance groups have won friends and admirers throughout the world by their projections in dance of the country’s life, traditions, music, and customs. Their success is partly due to the greatly improved facilities n o w available to the producer-choreographer who has a choice of two theatres to work in at the cultural centre.

Philippine dances date from long before the Spanish invasion, and have always enjoyed wide popular appeal. However, State subsidies are necessary for many purposes: research, the systematic development of talent, and

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Dance

the provision of facilities for representations in the Philippines and abroad. The choreographer has particularly heavy charges to meet if his work is to be seen in public, for it involves an often disproportionately high expen- diture on music, scenery, costumes and so on.

The Music Promotion Foundation is at least partially responsible for a marked improvement in musical performance (especially of Western music), but it is now suggested that, instead of subsidizing the musical studies of individuals abroad, it might be more profitable to use the funds to invite foreign professors, tutors and lecturers to give courses in the Philippines.

It is hoped that special encouragement will be given to dance groups employing Philippine themes; these are likely to be more original and have a more immediate appeal than work in classic or modern dance styles.

Financial aid from the government, or from external sources such as Unesco and various foundations would be of the greatest help in developing the dance talent and potential in which the Philippines are so extraordi- narily rich.

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Literature

The early Filipinos, before the Spaniards came in 1521, produced epics, songs and poems, myths, legends, tales, possibly even, according to our literary historians, plays which might have been borrowed or imitated from the Indian Ramayana or Mahabharata. Obviously our early people were no different from the early peoples of other countries: they tried to explain existence by creating stories about themselves and the nature surrounding them; they wanted to feel reassured of the worth of this existence by making up images of heroes who were brave, endowed with supernatural powers, able to defend their rights and their country’s against forces which would destroy them. They sang of love, birth, death, of planting and harvesting, of building and fishing.

Such inspiration seems to spring naturally from the hearts of primitive peoples everywhere, those who must live with sorrow, yet seek joy, and willingly accept life and death. Some Philippine literature was built on superstition, which was and is still considered to be man’s way of bridging the gap between what is knowable and what is unknowable: as one writer puts it, between the finite and the infinite. Later, when faith took some of the place occupied by superstition, it was not easy to establish a clear line of demarcation between the two.

Some literature was built on a realistic view of life; its origins could often be traced to proverbs and aphorisms (and riddles) which composed much of the wisdom and entertainment of our predecessors. There was a legacy of word-of-mouth tradition. In the enthusiasm to give our ancestors as much credit as possible for creativity, some of what w e attribute to them alone m a y already have profited from the influence of our early Western conquerors.

At all events, much literary creativity was stilled while the Spaniard was trying to make a good Christian of the Filipino. When, during the second half of the nineteenth century, the latter expressed himself again (for he could not be stilled forever), he wrote both in poetry and in prose,

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Literature

and wrote well. H e brought his own readings in the borrowed tongue to bear and produced Florante at Laura, which will always be considered a masterpiece of Tagalog poetry. But the Filipinos were also writing in Spanish and, in fairness to the Spanish authorities responsible for education in the philippines, it must be stated that they encouraged creative writing and rewarded it with prizes; Filipino writers were even elected to the Real Academia Española.

Having many languages in addition to Tagalog and Spanish, the Filipino expressed his literature in many voices. These voices were heard and what they expressed was honoured. W h e n the Americans came, another voice was added, a compelling voice, for it was one of power and authority. The first Filipino to write in English wrote after some two decades of instruction in the new tongue. H e was heartened by the encouragement of the excellent professors who came to teach at the University of the Philippines.

English and literature acquired tremendous importance in schools as a result of certain rulings. For example, a student failing in English or literature, or both, failed in his particular grade or year, whereas if he failed in any other subject or subjects he could pass on to the next grade, but had simply to repeat, in addition, the subject or subjects in which he had failed.

Writers in English began to appear in greater numbers, but were very poorly paid. A big boost was given when writers were offered prizes under the Commonwealth Literary Contest. Other awards followed, e.g. the Palanca, Free Press, Solidaridad, Zobel, and Cultural Heritage Awards (the ‘Heritage’ is for literature and other facets of culture).

Schools, colleges and universities continued to regard English, Spanish and, later, Filipino literature as required subjects. With the growing attention to technology, literature and the humanities have suffered in some educational institutions, but Filipino writers continued to write and foreign writers’ works continued to be read by Filipinos.

The writer needs au the encouragement he can get from everywhere-not that, without it, he will not write, because he will. Luckily for him his readers are an increasing group whose demands spur him on. Natural beauty m a y be an escape from much of the torment of living; to make the torment bearable, readers look to books for the beauty that he, as his country’s interpreter, can reveal to them.

The government has not been altogether generous nor altogether indif- ferent to literature. Certain countries provide more incentives to writers. But the government is not totally neglectful. Literature reproduced in textbooks, for example, entitles the author to some remuneration even if this might sometimes be less than they feel entitled to.

The reproach of tight-fistedness on the part of the government comes not only from writers but from other artists as well. In times of economic difficulty, more attention is often given to material rather than to spiritual or aesthetic needs; but the government does protect letters and the arts in its own way.

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Literature

Scholarships have been awarded to young writers of promise who went to different countries and came back with an experience enriched by what they have learned of writing in new places. These contacts also lead to exchanges between the Philippines and groups in these other countries. No amount of diplomatic persuasion has quite succeeded in arranging permanent literary exchanges as satisfactory as these contacts. More such scholarships could with advantage be offered by the government.

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Music

The Philippines, although fundamentally Asian, belong as much to the West as to the East. A blending of Spanish and Anglo-American cultures produced what we now call Filipino. Westernization accounts largely for its unique place among other Asian cultures, and it would be an exercise in futility to attempt to assess its dynamics by purely Asian standards.

Any national policy for music must always keep this background in mind. The synthesis it is called upon to make represents a formidable task. The Western mode of life has been there for so long and its influence has gone so deep that native customs and traditions have been greatly altered.

Of the two major branches of music, one, stemming from a very old South-East Asian tradition, is most familiar to about one-tenth of the population who live in rural and remote areas, and are relatively untouched by Western civilization; the other derives from nineteenth-century European tradition as adapted by the majority of the population, living mostly in towns and cities in the principal islands.

The two kinds are far apart as regards sound, aesthetics and social participation.

The first is popular, without any distinction of classes; men, women, rich and poor, participate in feasts and rituals, and everyone is familiar with the sound of the gongs, bamboo zithers and two-stringed lutes. The music is not cerebral or highbrow. Instruments made from plants and the products of a tropical environment produce sounds that are reminiscent of this environment and are used to accompany rural activities, harvest thanksgivings, communication with spirits, wine-drinking, and the laying out of new rice fields.

Music in the Western tradition is favoured mainly by people in the upper- and middle-income groups. It is foreign in a number of ways. For example, trumpets, bass fiddles and other musical instruments have to be imported, and music must be played in enclosed places or air-conditioned halls rather than in a natural, open-air setting.

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Music

It has two main subdivisions. One is a folksong style that evolved from Western song style during the nineteenth century. It developed among the town aristocracy, and was practised mostly in connexion with festivals, school programmes, house parties and events related to the Christian cal- endar. People from the rural areas were dot invited to these gala events (which continue to be unknown to many non-Christian Filipinos today). The kundiman (love song) recalls the romanticism of nineteenth-century Europe, and dwells on love, faithfulness and renunciation. The influence of the Italian Renaissance, the ideals of nobility and honour brought to the Philippines through Spain, also affected the town aristocracy. In Luzon, they lived in well-constructed houses in the town centre and were the first to cultivate the folksong and folk dances. This music was later copied by the poorer fishing and farming community, but the songs never answered their social needs in the way in which, for example, gongs and bamboo instruments did in the more primitive societies.

The other subdivision includes classical and popular music introduced at the beginning of this century. Some of the classical music is native-legends, song-cycles, operas based on Philippine languages, life and melodies, but most of it is by Western musicians. It is heard in concerts and evening performances. Very much unlike the relaxed atmosphere of a village fiesta, the audience dresses up for the occasion. Young people from these richer groups go in for jazz, rock and beat. They only can afford to buy long- playing records, combo instruments and the consumer items (cars, refriger- ators) which go with this music. This kind of relation between music and income does not, of course, exist in the case of the music of ethnic groups.

The kinds of classical and popular music just referred to are remote from life in rice and coconut plantations, or the housing, food, transport and other material and moral problems of an increasing population. The phenomena of classical music for the intelligentsia and rock for the middle- and upper-class young contradicts ancient traditions and the contemporary principle of guaranteeing cultural access to all.

Folk music is played occasionally in popular programmes, comedies and operettas, or is broadcast live from the studio. T o w n dwellers and people in lower-income groups are avid listeners.

T w o radio stations specialize in Western classical music and broadcast it from recordings.

Most radio stations (there were over forty on 21 September 1972) and all television stations play Western popular music only throughout the day. Its popularity seems to run parallel to a demand for manufactured goods. Neither are real necessities of Philippine life, but an artificial climate seems to englobe together this kind of music with the latest brand of toothpaste or other advertised consumer product.

As no radio or television stations broadcast aboriginal South-East Asian music, most listeners know nothing of this music, which is probably thousands of years old.

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Music

The formulation of a cultural policy for music presupposes a profound upderstanding of the relationship between music and society such as once existed among the peoples of the Philippines when music was intimately related to the environment, and to the everyday and spiritual life of each community. It implies a reappraisal of the material and spiritual values adopted under Western influences. It means working towards the achievement of a balance between Western and Eastern values in music.

Some of these ideas are being investigated, in research, and in performances. A fuller programme could follow if the mass media, and educational and cultural institutions support the initial efforts of artists and musicians.

Teaching, creation and familiarization are activities that must go together if East and West are to be reconciled in Philippine music. The present preponderance of Western music (especially American), has not totally eradicated the Asian roots, but could in the long run swamp everything that is Asian in our musical life, and even those parts of it that are products of East-West assimilation.

The conscious cultivation of a national culture cannot ignore the basic impulses and aspirations of a people. Operas, symphonies, and other forms of musical composition must explore the national heritage without ignoring the fact that they also have a place in the international mainstream. T o do otherwise would be to abdicate social responsibility. Facing up to the implications could, on the other hand, lead to greatness, and an undeniable musical identity in the plurality of nations.

The government, a ministry of culture, or some similar agency could do much towards achieving a satisfactory synthesis of the various Eastern and Western influences in Philippine music.

The first step would be to collect and assess existing materials, including what can be found in old and little-known manuscripts. Apart from the more recent works of Filipino composers and arrangers, music for cinema, and the songs and dances, popular or otherwise, of the various regions, sources include the volumes of works composed since 1800, and earlier zarzuela, symphony, band and rondalla music.

Extensive compilations of ethnic and folk music should be made, and studied from both a historical and a technical point of view. Whatever is left of the Asian heritage should be salvaged. This would be most helpful to scholars, students, teachers, composers and performers.

There is no question, of course, of banishing Western musical culture. The purpose is to reaffirm and strengthen the native tradition. While the great musical ideas and discoveries of Europe have undeniably been enriching, it would be catastrophic to allow the other musical legacy to languish or be swamped by the new.

Once a fairly sizable quantity of music has been salvaged, it could be reintroduced into everyday life, via the mass media, and especially through radio and television. Film directors could also be encouraged to utilize

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Music

Philippine music rather than canned foreign substitutes. Schools and conservatories could systematically inform and instruct students.

Primary schools at present give elementary instruction in Western music theory and teach folksongs from different countries to thousands of schoolchildren. However, little Western classical music is heard, and practically nothing is taught of the music of South-East Asia.

Part of the heritage of Asian music is represented in the kundiman, or love songs. The Bayanihan Dance Company always presents Moslem singkil and Igorot dances, together with dances in Western-influenced styles. The Halina, Halina M g a Kaliyag song, inviting everybody to participate, reflects the country’s multi-national culture. A gradual transformation could take place if young children are taught and exposed to Asian music, and older people learn to absorb and understand it.

The music played on Asian musical instruments (sticks, gongs, flutes, zithers, mouth harps) could be adapted or played in such a way as to sound less exotic to mass populations in cities and towns. In rural areas, to people harvesting, marketing or working in household industries, the sound of instruments made from tropical materials belongs more naturally to a Philippine environment and people will relate better to them than to Westernized sounds of rock and beat music.

An increased demand for bamboo instruments and gongs from ordinary and music schools would stimulate their manufacture and provide a lucra- tive industry for Filipino craftsmen.

Festivals of Philippine music should be held once or twice a year not only in Manila but also in different parts of the archipelago. The proposal to hold a festival of Asian music in the Philippines is a step in the right direction. Continuous exposure to this type of music will, in the long run, develop interest and a love for it.

The movement to play more Philippine music and cultivate its growth could be much helped if greater funds were available to the Music Promotion Foundation (Department of Education and Culture) and the National Music Council of the National Commission for Unesco.

Without stifling their artistic freedom, or restricting their right to explore new sonorities and abstruse techniques, composers might be encouraged nevertheless to have regard to certain established social and psycho- logical Filipino values.

Genius or talent m a y sometimes be born to blush unseen; this is all the more reason for seeking out prospective composers and performers (even among schoolchildren), and providing them, free, with the best musical training available, together with books, allowances and opportunities. The allowances should be reasonably adequate, i.e. it should not be necessary to eke out a livelihood otherwise at the same time.

Composers who are given commissions should be paid separately for the work so done, and on the basis of its nature and extent. Transcription and publication of the score, and public performance, should be obligatory on

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Music

the part of the commissioning body; this would both promote contemporary composition and provide an audience.

The necessity of attracting an audience sufficiently large to cover costs is always a problem. A certain élitist atmosphere surrounding concert performances often places barriers between good music and the ordinary citizen; this m a y result from several factors, including high admission costs, the scarcity of concert halls, and of good music on radio and television.

High admission charges could be cut down by State subsidies-specially in such cases as performances by the National Symphony Orchestra, national opera company or possibly a national Zarzuela company, when they are eventually established.

Regional chamber music ensembles could be progressively established to bring good music to the people. Brass bands and rondallas are popular and common, and have a tradition of bringing classical music to the rural areas. Unfortunately, the cost of band instruments is prohibitive and they are still classified as luxury items and non-essentials in the tax laws.

The Department of Education and Culture could do much for music education by allowing longer periods for music in schools and providing, at all levels, a uniform syllabus which would cover both Philippine and Asian music, and the world’s classics and contemporary works.

Music education, provided by competent teachers from the lowest levels of schooling onwards, will produce generation after generation of enlightened music lovers, capable of the critical appreciation of good music.

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Painting

Painting is one way of giving expression to human hopes, aspirations, ideals, frustrations and frailties. Painters can visualize and represent their feelings or ideas in a highly personal and subjective form.

A style in painting m a y be the result of years of dedicated work, born out of some inherent inner necessity. The artist is traditionally tempera- mental. Many a painter will question any type of patronage that filters down to him through a political bureaucracy. Some individualists m a y even reject the very principle of patronage, whether from the State or from any other source, considering patronage inimical to the creative spirit. Inspiration is not subject to orders. It can be said, in any case, that there is no specifically Philippine tradition in painting.

Painters have dealt mostly with country scenes, customs and traditions.

The Republic Cultural Heritage Awards are among the honours awarded to painters. The Presidential Award of Merit is made to outstanding writers and artists.

The National Commission for Unesco has substantially contributed to the promotion of painting through travel grants, and grants-in-aid for the publication of art books, documents and periodicals (including the Art Association’s ‘Art of the Philippines’).

The Department of Foreign Affairs’ Cultural Division works in close co-operation with the Art Association, a private organization of artists which officially arranges Philippine participation in the art biennials of Venice, São Paulo and Paris. From 1955 to 1965, the Cultural Foundation of the Philippines, a quasi-government body set up by the Cultural Division, was actively engaged in the promotion of cultural activities both in the Philippines and abroad.

State support for painting operates through the College of Fine Arts at the University of the Philippines, and through other State institutions of learning. The college intends to open a design centre which will encourage

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Prodiiction of the Tagalog opci-a í~'lorcinw (II i,uuru at tlic (:iiltural Ccriirr of the Philippines, 1972

The Dance Workshop Corripany's production of Kapinnngan, 1972

Painting

research on folk arts and make the results available with a view to upgrading export-oriented cottage crafts and other industries.

Tax exemptions on the purchase of art works represents another form of encouragement.

The twenty-five-year-old Art Association and kindred bodies have urged State support for the arts, and legislation for the establishment, e.g. of the National Commission on Culture, and the Institute of Arts and Letters. The legislation regarding the latter has, unfortunately, not yet been implemented. Painters and other artists look to it to sponsor a vigorous cultural renaissance.

The Art Association of the Philippines needs considerable funds-pref- erably on a continuing basis-if it is to be able to continue arranging for the participation of Philippine painters in international art meetings in addition to implementing local projects.

New copyright legislation protects the artist. However, the paper work involved is irksome both to the artist and the art maker; unless the pro- cedures are simplified, they could very well prove a hindrance. A painter has to register his work before he can collect on his copyright. It can be doubted whether there are any Filipino painters who will take the trouble to register paintings; the galleries might provide this service-if works are actually sold in a gallery.

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As historians and archaeologists attest, inherent artistry is clearly evident in the designs on stoneware and pottery, carvings and artefacts which our ancestors used daily as utilitarian objects.

Likewise, early explorers who set foot on these islands were impressed by the sophistication of the contemporary barangay society.

The same love of design is profusely evident in the ornamentation of baroque churches and in religious imagery.

The indigenous artefacts, later ecclesiastical models and the highly dec- orative ornamentation of Moslem brassware provide rich sources of inspiration for contemporary artists, designers and craftsmen.

However, when a particular material and scale is being used by a craftsman, other aspects of design may have to be revised, and unforeseen problems often arise. Filipino artist-designers show their versatility in designs that, employing contemporary idioms, are incised, carved, woven or painted for the wide range of crafts practised by cultural minorities. These designs are available for reference at the National Museum, the Cultural Centre and in some private collections.

Many cottage industries are now thriving in rural areas, and sales of their products are one of the major sources of foreign exchange. Admin- istered by the National Cottage Industry Development Authority, they give employment to thousands. But to remain competitive in the world market, they need new designs and products from time to time.

This need was already felt in 1950 when the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) sent a team of experts in crafts, design and marketing. The results were far-reaching: some of the craft work on display in stores these days are modifications and adaptations of the designs produced more than two decades ago. However, the need for new designs from some private manufacturers and the newly established craft design centre at the Philippine College of Arts and Trades in Manila will meet this challenge.

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Although the Philippines have cultural, economic and political ties with other countries, cultural exchanges in the past have been modest.

In recognition of the need to support outstanding artists, the government awards the title of ‘National Artist’, its highest award. The Cultural Heritage Awards offer further encouragement and are supported both by the government and the private sector.

Exposure to good art is educational and desirable: the sharing and enjoyment of the finer things in life has a profoundly humanizing effect.

There are barriers to overcome before a truly effective cultural policy for sculpture and the arts and crafts becomes possible: problems of administrative structuring, planning, finance, organization, legislation, budgeting, cultural autonomy, decentralization and other ramifications. But artist- designer Jan de Swart has told the Filipino artists: ‘Man has an instinctive knowledge that there is an answer, which drives him constantly to search. This faith is so insistent that it lifts him over insurmountable barriers.’

Enough facilities and funds should be available to museums and galleries to acquire sculpture and display it to advantage in buildings designed for the purpose.

Manila and the Greater Manila area have undoubtedly too great a monopoly of art colleges and other facilities. Since it is not feasible to transfer existing colleges, the Department of Education and Culture and the Commission on Culture should encourage universities elsewhere in the Philippines to provide full courses in the fine arts, with adequate workshop facilities, and help them with funds to do so.

Arts and crafts centres need good research and design departments, properly equipped, workshops and artists and designers competent in both design and execution.

The Philippines need a museum for arts and crafts and folk art. Some folk art forms and items have wholly disappeared, and documentation should be undertaken before more is lost for ever.

No matter how sincere and well-intentioned, no group or society should be encouraged to embark on projects for the preservation and restoration of cultural property and historical sites without the benefit of ample prior research, expert advice, and funds. Expert help is essential, both in the actual work of preserving and restoring, and in making arrangements for classification, documentation and research.

Some cultural property and sites should be scheduled as part of the national patrimony and cultural heritage, with incentives to encourage the support of the private sector, including tax deductions applied to expen- diture on preservation and restoration work.

A really effective policy demands a cultural inventory-as Unesco recommended some ten years ago. In many countries, areas are scheduled that cannot be touched even by the owners.

A more active and practical programme of cultural exchange would be desirable but nearly always runs foul of the problem of funds. Membership

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of international associations involves fees and obligations which associations and societies find it difficult to meet.

Selections for such international exhibitions as the Venice, São Paulo and Paris biennials, and other prestigious exhibitions (e.g. the German Documenta) should be made as early as possible so as to enable the artists to prepare well in advance. The usual problem involved is funds to defray the cost of shipment, transhipment and insurance. The selection committee should itself be selected with the utmost care, on a rotation or changing basis.

Prospective students in museum administration in the Philippines are almost always advised to study at the Fogg Museum of Harvard University; they might with advantage go also to European or Asian centres so as to obtain a different perspective. A truly Asian sensibility could obviously best be acquired within an Asian setting.

Awards and recognition should go not only to artists, but also to outstanding craftsmen. The best known are in most cases already fairly old. They should be given some financial support by either the national or the provincial government, and urged to hand on their skills to younger craftsmen and artisans.

Talent should be encouraged by reserving a percentage of the cost of construction of public buildings for sculpture, painting or other works. Other means of subsidy could also be found, including awards to be made at annual shows.

Some big department stores abroad have a substantial and constant supply of Philippine santos. At the rate at which this practice goes on unchecked, the Philippines will soon be a land without age-old and prized relics of its own past. The laws governing illegal exports of cultural property need to be enforced much more strictly.

The new copyright law (General Order No. 49), on Intellectual Property should be enforced strictly, judiciously, and in good faith as regards the interests of artists. Its purpose is to encourage scientific research and inven- tion, and it ensures virtual perpetual ownership of copyright.

Some cities and provincial capitals could build and maintain cultural centres, and obtain advice in operating them from the national cultural centres.

Among their various standing committees, city and municipal councils should now include a committee on culture. Here, the biggest problem is always financial. For some meritorious projects, however, assistance would have to be provided nationally.

The basic problem of young sculptors today is the increasing-and sometimes prohibitive-cost of tools and equipment used in the working of new materials and techniques.

Young sculptors may have to pool resources and establish a sort of common workshop. If this is provided by the local community, a nominal fee would have to be charged for maintenance, and perhaps a certain percentage on sales. Similar workshops might be provided for arts and crafts.

34

Theatre

Philippine theatre has actors, directors, designers, technicians and reviewers, but few serious authors. Playwrights are concerned chiefly with writing for special occasions, and for experimental laboratories or campus dra- matics. With rare exceptions, most plays produced in the Philippines are foreign, in English or English translations.

Philippine playwriting, whether in English or Filipino, has failed to develop from nineteenth-century melodrama or, at best, the so-called well- made play; it lacks realism, rigorous analysis, or a proper dialectical discussion of its themes. Sensational devices are more conspicuous than intellectual content. Even socially committed writers with presumably Marxist convictions fail to get beyond a melodramatic exposition of themes of poverty and social injustice.

The absence of a more analytical approach perhaps explains in part why so few full-time plays are written. The one-act form suffices for melodramatic effects; the dialectical development of ideas is necessary to sustain the longer form.

The term ‘professional’ is loosely used if plays have certain qualities, or actors are paid considerable salaries (either because they have received formal training or have become competent through years of experience). But most actors in the Philippines are not professional in the true sense of the word, and acting has not become a full-time profession.

This part-time character has had a number of serious consequences: 1. Artists are not impelled to explore their potential to its limits. It is diffi-

cult to discern any real development in their craft through long periods of time. F e w remain long enough to allow any growth in craftsmanship. But even those who stay from decade to decade do not go in for the continuous self-education necessary for success in any established profession.

2. Acting has never been properly disciplined. Many actors continue to muddle through the preparation of even the most expensive productions, and to rely on inspired improvisation. The few who have learned to be

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Theatre

methodical have to work with those who have not. Stage management, which is crucial to professionalism, has remained rudimentary and purely nominal.

3. Theatre administration and business management are likewise poor. Promotion and ticket sales depend all too often on amateurs whose enthusiasm is no adequate substitute for proper training in financing and marketing techniques.

4. Not surprisingly, few of the really serious minds of the country are drawn to the theatre. Its ranks swell with the artistically inclined but intellectually inadequate, the emotionally maladjusted, the frivolous and the self-indulgent.

Because of these essentially non-professional conditions, there is no constant audience upon which a theatre can rely. The former audience, faithful at least until the 1920s, has probably deserted the theatre for films and television. The experience of a live performance is gratifying in a way in which the electronic theatre can never be. If the audience has not remained faithfid, it m a y be for a number of reasons: 1. Plays are almost exclusively in English, so that the theatre has tended

to become the exclusive reserve of the tiny, truly English-speaking intelligentsia. School and college students who are periodically compelled to attend the theatre almost invariably turn to other means of entertainment once they have left school.

2. Theatre has become associated with a certain form of social snobbery both in the cities and in the rural towns, which tends to affect audience, organizers and even those who sell the tickets.

3. The repertory has been profoundly influenced by the artistic pretensions of the educated élite.

4. Performances are too sporadic to allow for the development of a genuine theatre-going habit. Perhaps it needs the regularity associated with the cinema, television, cockfights and horse racing if it is to establish itself again as firmly in the community.

Editors and publishers have done little to collate, annotate and anthologize traditional Philippine drama, which accordingly is practically inaccessible to actors, students and the general reading public; hence the impression among the educated classes that the cenaculo, the moro-moro, and the zarzuela are not of interest, except to antiquarians or tourists. Scholarship and criticism are limited to the efforts of graduate students and academ- icians who do not enjoy a very wide circulation and, in any case, are a world apart from artists and audience. W h e n they know the theatre at all, most people know only the foreign theatre.

There is no simple solution. The way for a real renaissance of the theatre would have to be prepared by a long and serious study of theatrical history in the Philippines and abroad, relentless self-criticism, and a constant reappraisal of existing ideas and practices.

It is difficult to say whether the absence of serious theatre scholarship

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Theatre

and criticism is due to the absence of serious theatre, or the other way round. This is rather like the riddle of the chicken and the egg. No reliable critical history of theatre in the Philippines has been written to date. Pro- fessional historians have avoided the subject, and such histories as exist are by writers who lacked the necessary knowledge or skill. Certainly, no attempt has been made to collate all the documents available in international libraries and museums which could be used to reconstruct theatrical history over the last four hundred years. The following are some of the consequences: 1. Lack of a sense of tradition linking present-day theatre with its roots in

the past. 2. Ignorance of the character of audiences in the past; of theatre architec-

ture of various periods and types; of the portrayal of illusion and reality through acting and stagecraft techniques; of socio-economic relations between audience and theatre.

3. Absence of a critical tradition which could appraise contemporary theatre within its proper historical context.

4. Absence of theorists who could guide and nurture authentic creativity. It might be added that the intense personal rivalries and enmities which plague theatre circles m a y be largely attributable to the subjectivism of a great deal of theatre criticism and reviewing.

Permanent full-time companies, governed by carefully thought-out policies, should be set up. They should perform regularly and thus establish a real theatrical tradition and profession. They should be organized as follows: 1. There should, as a beginning, be at least three permanent companies

which would perform in the three major divisions of the country; four or five would be still better.

2. A co-ordinating administrative council would be necessary to ensure a standardized pattern of administration.

3. The companies could be subsidized from public and private funds. A properly managed subscriptions system might help to make the companies at least partially self-supporting.

Following is a list of factors essential to the smooth running of the companies: 1. Each company should have a permanent nucleus, and pay its members

2. Each company should give performances at least six days a week for at least ten months of the year.

3. All members of the company should receive continuous training so as to expand its artistic and technical resources.

4. The repertory should include traditional drama, foreign plays translated into Philippine languages, and new works. Performances in English should be regarded as special and occasional exercises.

5. Each company should have at least one playwright-in-residence each year.

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Theatre

6. Since each company will presumably perform for at least ten months each year, the Co-ordinating Council could arrange for the publication of acting versions, thus expanding the library of traditional plays, new translations, and new plays.

The following considerations must also be borne in mind: 1. The companies would not require large or elaborately equipped audi-

toriums. The theatre relies for effect on human rather than on technical resources. Small auditoriums might in fact be preferable, with a seating capacity of perhaps no more than 100, as it is difficult to attract large audiences for continuous performances especially in the initial stages. Moreover, a more intimate theatre allows the most satisfactory relationship between actors and audience.

2. The development of a truly Filipino theatrical sensibility and, hence, of significant playwriting could result from the action upon one another and fusion of traditional drama and foreign drama in translation. The peculiarly realistic Filipino idiom could generate its o w n avant-garde.

3. Any attempt to solve the present impasse must be comprehensively conceived and be continued for a trial period of at least five years, since the interaction between artist and audience needs a considerable time before it can fructify.

4. With a permanent professional theatre on these lines, it should not be too optimistic to expect an outcrop of creative ideas without which there can be no real artistic advance.

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Philippine culture is reflected in its arts (architecture, dance, literature, music, painting, sculpture, arts and crafts). Cultural policy accordingly raises problems which bring into sharp focus the question of State support and patronage. As already indicated, views on the subject vary.

Discussion has helped to air and explore a variety of themes, e.g. élite versus popular in the arts, the use of a foreign language or style in creative writing, the search for racial and regional identity, possibly conflicting claims as between creative freedom and the artist’s responsibility to society, and so on.

In a developing country, artists have a difficult but vital role. Society has present-day needs and must think of the future. Can art be considered serious or valuable unless it makes a contribution within this context, and has an influence on the people’s way of life? It would seem essential for the artist to seek a kind of perfection which anyone, regardless of his place in society, can appreciate.

If given the necessary support, Filipino artists have the innate ability to hold their own with their peers abroad-many of whom, indeed, admire Filipino artistic versatility.

Criticism and the mass media have their particular roles to play in the propagation of culture, and this could be given due recognition.

In general, the artist likes to be free to think, and to wrestle with form and content on his own terms. One role of the critic is to help an existing and potential audience to accept, understand and appreciate what the artist is trying to do.

An effective cultural policy is the result of sober research and exper- iments that stand the test of experience. The points of view expressed here reflect the ideas of intellectual leaders and artists. They indicate that the ways and means that must be consistently and imaginatively sought and applied to ensure the growth of the arts are many if cultural policy is to serve as an effective instrument in forging a genuinely national identity, in deepening

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appreciation for the country’s cultural heritage and traditions, and in enriching it through contacts with contemporary thoughts, feelings and beliefs. It is the hope of Filipino leaders and artists that their efforts and energies will succeed in shaping a cultural policy and programme worthy of a revitalized country, as well as a richer and more rewarding life in this part of South-East Asia.

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