Cultural mapping: Charting path for PH arts and culture
Listening to National Artist for Literature Virgilio S. Almario and National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) chair Victorino Mapa Manalo talk about cultural treasures Francisco Balagtas and Carlos “Botong” Francisco rouses feelings of pride, regret, and optimism.
Almario and Manalo were lecturers at the “Cultural Thoughts and Trajectories” forum that was jointly organized by the NCCA and the Office of Sen. Loren Legarda on Feb. 26. Legarda, who chairs the Senate Committee on Culture and the Arts, gave the keynote message.
Almario stated in his lecture titled “Tinging Filipino sa Kulturang Pambansa” that Balagtas challenged the literary standards during the Spanish colonial era. The legendary poet, for instance, used a local setting for his works and tackled nonreligious themes such as his poem “Para Kay Selya.”
Manalo, on the other hand, zeroed in on Francisco in his talk, “Artists as Community Leaders” as the National Artist for Visual Arts was both inspired by and gave inspiration to his hometown, Angono. The NCCA chair also pointed out how community events like a fiesta can cultivate artistry and produce artists.
Many young Filipinos only know Balagtas, Francisco, and other important artists, as well as their works, from textbooks. Today’s youth, as discussed in the forum, are generally more interested in popular arts and often foreign artists.
‘Sapin-sapin’ culture
In what Almario described in his lecture as a culture much like the multicolored and layered rice cake, sapin-sapin, the katutubo (native) takes the bottom-most part. On top it are those from the Spanish and American colonial periods.
With this setup, he explained, Filipinos get to taste first examples of arts and culture that come from the United States and then those with Spanish influences before going for what is native to us.
Case in point: balagtasan, a traditional debate in poetry form named after Balagtas. Almario pointed out that the art form is very much alive. It’s just that not many people know about it.
In fact, he said, a national competition is held annually among high school students. He added that even spoken word and rap battles can be considered as contemporary iterations of balagtasan.
“We should continue to look for meaning in our ancient culture,” he said in Filipino. “That way, we will know who we really are. Now, we only know the Americanized part of ourselves. We haven’t found what is native to us.”
Legarda happily reported that “things have changed for the better” with the help of legislation such as the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009 (RA 10066) that she authored.
“So many strides and projects are now available for all kinds of artists, for all kinds of sectors in the creative industry,” she said.
There’s the platform created for indigenous weavers that enables more production of local fabrics like inabel and piña. For contemporary artists, the country triumphantly returned to the Venice Biennale in 2015 after a 51-year absence and then secured its role as guest of honor at the Frankfurter Buchmesse 2025.
“But there’s still so much to be done,” she pointed out, adding that the key is to continuously work with the grassroots, local government units (LGUS), media, private sector, and other partners. “We have to be persistent—the academe, intellectuals, artists, creative people, even those none of the above but interested.”
For the NCCA’s part, Manalo said the government agency steadfastly implements its programs and reaches out to the public through lectures and events. Private entities also do their part.
Cultural Mapping Law
Almario said that another way of strengthening appreciation and promotion of the arts and culture is through cultural mapping. Legarda then announced that the Heritage Act of 2019 was amended last year to include the Cultural Mapping Law.
“Cultural mapping is very important,” Legarda said in Filipino about the community-based process that identifies, records, and values local cultural assets. It encompasses both tangible (architecture, clothing) and intangible (languages, practices) treasures.
Legarda gestured to the piña blouse she was wearing as an example. It represents the indigenous group of Panay-Bukidnon living in Iloilo and the red Spanish pineapple found in the provinces of Aklan and Antique.
She then declared that culture mapping could be also be done from a community or barangay to an entire city or municipality. To help achieve this, she promised to give additional funding to LGUs that were represented at the forum. She also encouraged Sen. Robin Padilla, who was present, to do the same.
The surprise move was welcomed with cheers, and right away, representatives from different LGUs started sharing information and plans on how to jump-start their projects.
Taguig City’s representative, Lito Valderama, then stood up to share the good news that his team has just concluded their cultural mapping efforts. Their local cultural profile, he added, would be launched next month at the NCCA premises.
