The country’s first Filipina National Artist for Visual Arts, a designer who has long championed Filipiniana, an architect known for tropical modernism, a premier danseur whose ballet career spans decades, and more were among the names President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. declared as the 10 new National Artists of the Philippines under Proclamation No. 1414, dated Sept. 1, 2026. Four received the recognition posthumously, in a group that covered several areas of arts and letters.
The new National Artists are Gabriel “Gabby” Formoso for Architecture (posthumous), Rafael “Nonoy” Froilan for Dance, Maria Beatriz “Patis” Tesoro for Design/Fashion, Armando “Bing” Lao for Film and Broadcast Arts (posthumous), Gregorio C. Brillantes (posthumous) and Nicanor G. Tiongson for Literature, Alfredo S. Buenaventura for Music, Teodoro L. Hilado for Theater (posthumous), and Imelda Cajipe-Endaya and Nunelucio M. Alvarado for the Visual Arts.
Gabriel ‘Gabby’ Formoso
Gabriel “Gabby” Formoso, who passed away in 1996, was a prolific architect who helped shape Philippine architecture after World War II. Modern and brutalist lines were his trademark, along with revolutionary climate-appropriate elements, as seen in many residences and institutional and commercial landmarks in Manila, such as the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Pacific Star Building, the Manila Peninsula, and Benpres Building.
Rafael ‘Nonoy’ Froilan
Rafael “Nonoy” Froilan is one of the most renowned and familiar ballet dancers, male or female, in Philippine dance. He was the leading male dancer of Ballet Philippines, partnering with many ballerinas with dynamism and emotional depth, including the likes of Dame Margot Fonteyn and Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, and playing every leading role from Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake to Scrooge. He now choreographs and teaches new generations of Filipino dancers.
Maria Beatriz ‘Patis’ Tesoro
Maria Beatriz “Patis” Tesoro is called the “Grand Dame of Philippine Fashion” and is also an artist, social activist, heritage champion, and design visionary. Tesoro was pushing Filipiniana long before it became trendy, promoting the revival and mainstreaming of traditional textiles like piña (pineapple fiber), abaca, and indigenous weaves, and working with artisanal weaving communities.
Armando ‘Bing’ Lao
Armando “Bing” Lao, who died in 2024, was a renowned screenwriter and filmmaker who championed realistic filmmaking and experimental independent cinema. He worked with acclaimed filmmakers and wrote milestone works like Jeffrey Jeturian’s Kubrador, Brillante Mendoza’s Kinatay, and Chito Rono’s Suntok sa Buwan. He also shared his expertise regularly in scriptwriting workshops.
Gregorio ‘Greg’ C. Brillantes
Gregorio “Greg” C. Brillantes, who died in 2025, was a renowned writer who dominated the unique field of science fiction and magic realism in English. A Palanca Hall of Fame awardee and recipient of the Gawad CCP Para sa Sining, among many accolades, Brillantes wrote short stories and essays compiled in The Distance to Andromeda and Other Stories (1960) and his groundbreaking The Apollo Centennial in 1980.
Nicanor ‘Nic’ Tiongson
Nicanor G. Tiongson is recognized as a foremost critic, scholar, playwright, educator, and a leading light in Philippine cultural studies and theater history, in the country as well as the region. He was former artistic director of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), and has written several scholarly works, including Kasaysayan at Estetika ng Sinakulo, several curatorial dictionaries, and five volumes of Philippine Theater: A History and Anthology.
Alfredo S. Buenaventura
Alfredo S. Buenaventura is a renowned composer, conductor, and educator who was dean of the Centro Escolar University (CEU) Conservatory of Music for three decades (1970–2000). Buenaventura’s considerable body of work includes operas, cantatas, and symphonies, often incorporating folk melodies into more Western forms, among them Maria Makiling (1961) and Ang Ating Watawat (1965). He was also a recipient of the Republic Cultural Heritage Award.
Teodoro ‘Teddy’ L. Hilado
Teodoro “Teddy” L. Hilado, who died in 2015, was considered the Philippines’ “Father of Theater Lighting” who pioneered professional theatrical lighting design and stage production. He was director of theater operations at the CCP and the Folk Arts Theater, and for the Bayanihan Dance Company. He is credited for introducing lighting innovations that elevated the field in the country to global levels.
Imelda Cajipe-Endaya
Imelda Cajipe-Endaya is a renowned printmaker, painter, and installation artist, and makes history as the first female artist to be named National Artist for Visual Arts of the Philippines. An outspoken advocate of feminist art in the country, she is founder of the women artists collective Kasibulan, and works in multi-media to address topics like women’s struggles, motherhood, migrant workers, and indigenous rights. She explored colonial archives to create her first acclaimed series, Mga Ninuno, in 1976 to 1979.
Nuneluncio Alvarado
Nunelucio M. Alvarado is a vanguard of the social realist movement based in Negros Occidental. Over the years, he has dramatically documented the plight of the sakadas (sugar cane workers) of Negros province and other marginalized people of the Visayas region. He is also a community arts organizer, co-founding Black Artists in Asia in 1986, an organization of artists addressing social issues and cultural life in the Visayas. He has also been an educator or mentor for younger artists.
The last batch of National Artists of the Philippines before 2026 was named in 2022 by former President Rodrigo Duterte under Proclamation No. 1390. This group consisted of Agnes Locsin for Dance; Salvacion Lim-Higgins for Design/Fashion (posthumous); Nora Villamayor/Nora Aunor, Ricardo “Ricky” Lee, and Marilou Diaz-Abaya (posthumous) for Film and Broadcast Arts; F. Sionil José (posthumous), Merlie M. Alunan, and Gemino H. Abad for Literature; and Antonio “Tony” Mabesa for Theater (posthumous).
