JERRY OLEA
May special tribute kay National Artist Armando “Bing” Lao sa closing ceremony ng Philippine Film Industry Month (PFIM) 2026 sa Setyembre 30, Miyerkules, sa isang hotel sa Quezon City.
Si Armanda “Bing” Lao ay kabilang sa sampung bagong hirang na National Artist o Pambansang Alagad ng Sining.
Bale siyamnapu’t isa (91) na ang deklaradong National Artists ng bansa mula noong 1972.
Labing-isa sa mga ito ang mula sa larangan ng Film and Broadcast Arts, kung saan kabilang si Armando “Bing” Lao.
Ang sampung naunang National Artists for Film and Broadcast Arts ay sina Lino Brocka, Ishmael Bernal, Gerardo de Leon, Eddie Romero, Fernando Poe Jr., Manuel Conde, Kidlat Tahimik, Nora Aunor, Marilou Diaz-Abaya, at Ricky Lee.
PFIM LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARDEES
Punong-abala sa PFIM ang Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) sa ilalim ng Chairman at CEO na si Jose Javier Reyes o Direk Joey.
Ang pagkakalooban ng Lifetime Achievement Awards sa closing ceremony ng PFIM 2026 ay sina Vic del Rosario Jr., Hilda Koronel, Tito Genova Valiente, at ang Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (na 50 taon na this year).
Pararangalan sa Annual Achievement Awards sina Ryan Machado, Jorrybell Agoto, Ruby Ruiz, at The Women of Enjoy Your Stay na kinabibilangan nina Mercedes Cabral, Anna Luna, Irma Adlawan, Donna Cariaga, Madeleine Nicolas, at Hasmine Kilip.
Bahagi rin ng programa sa closing ceremony ang PFIM Short Film Awards, announcement ng Top 5 finalists ng IsaPelikula, at congratulatory segment dedicated sa Quezon City Screen Commission (QCSC) in recognition of Quezon City’s designation as a UNESCO Creative City of Film.
Ang hosts ng programa ay sina Michael Sager at Aya Fernandez.
Performers sina Sam Mangubat, Kai Montinola, Jarren Garcia, Esang, at AC Bonifacio.
Ang dress code ay Modern Filipiniana o. Barong Tagalog. By-invitation-only ang event na ito.
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NOEL FERRER
Bahagi ng Facebook post ng Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) ngayong Setyembre 10: “The late, great Bing Lao (1948-2024), the acclaimed screenwriter behind Itanong Mo sa Buwan (1988), Kinatay (2009), and Dukit (2013), has been posthumously conferred the Order of National Artists of the Philippines by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 1414 S. 2026.
“Lao joins nine other distinguished artists whose lives and work have profoundly shaped the Filipino creative and cultural landscape:
- Nicanor Tiongson (Literature)
- Gregorio Brillantes (Literature)
- Imelda Cajipe-Endaya (Visual Arts)
- Nunelucio Alvarado (Visual Arts)
- Gabriel Formoso (Architecture)
- Rafael “Nonoy” Froilan (Dance)
- Maria Beatriz “Patis” Tesoro (Design)
- Teodoro Hilado (Theater)
- Alfredo S. Buenaventura (Music)
“Legends, both living and departed, whose enduring contributions have helped shape our artistic heritage and our national creative identity.
“Congratulations and deepest appreciation to the new National Artists of the Philippines!”
TRIBUTES FOR ARMANDO "BING" LAO
FB post ni Direk Zig Dulay: “FOUND STORY — Tinuruan mo akong hanapin ang kuwento. Sa proseso, nahanap ko ang aking sarili. “Binago mo ang buhay ko, SerBing!
“Ikaw ang nagturo sa akin kung paano maging tao at magpakatao sa loob at labas ng produksyon.
“Abot-langit ang saya ko para sa pagkilala at parangal sa’yo.”
Kabilang sa mga pelikula ni Direk Zig ang Bambanti, Firefly, Green Bones, at ang MMFF 2026 entry na Amir.
FB post ng UP Film Institute: “The University of the Philippines Film Institute celebrates the conferment of the highest artistic recognition on Armando ‘Bing’ Lao.
“Armando ‘Bing’ Lao's multifaceted career as a screenwriter, director, creative consultant, and mentor is a testament to his versatility and profound influence.
“As a veteran filmmaker and scriptwriter, he successfully elevated conventional expectations in his genre screenplays, including komiks adaptations, comedies, thrillers, and dramas, contributing to a popular cinema that respects the writing of underclass characters and demands to be enjoyed and taken seriously at the same time.
“He created highly innovative and unforgettable works, such as his multicharacter narratives, pushing the craft of screenwriting into new territories.
“As a mentor, he taught at the UP Film Institute, Mowelfund Film Institute, and the Asia Pacific Film Institute, and conducted his own workshops.
“At the turn of the century, when the film industry was facing a sharp decline, he led a younger generation of artists through a more independent path.
“He put the mundane lives and spaces of the most socially marginalized at the center of his definition of the cinematic, codified his influential 'found story' narrative aesthetic that hewed close to documentary practice, and revitalized a moribund film realism, a formal tendency which has been important in the development of Philippine cinema.”
FB post ng Filipino Screenwriters Guild: “Today is a proud day for Filipino screenwriters.
“The Filipino Screenwriters Guild celebrates Armando ‘Bing’ Lao, newly named National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts.
“FSG had the privilege of advocating for this recognition, believing that Bing Lao’s body of work and his invaluable contribution to generations of Filipino writers and filmmakers deserved the nation’s highest honor for its artists.
“We only wish Sir Bing were here to see this day.
“His stories remain. His legacy lives on.”
Read: Armando “Bing” Lao named National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts
GORGY RULA
Limang beses nagwagi si Armando "Bing" Lao (1948-2024) ng best screenplay sa Gawad Urian.
Ito ay para sa mga pelikulang Takaw Tukso (1986), Itanong Mo sa Buwan (1988), Pila-Balde (1999), Tuhog (2000), at La Vida Rosa (2001).
Katabla ng La Vida Rosa ang Batang West Side (2001) ni Lav Diaz.
Dahil sa posthumous recognition kay Lao, ibinahagi ng Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino (MPP) sa kanilang Facebook page ang link ng sanaysay ni Manunuri Laurence Marvin Castillo tungkol sa filmic legacies ni Lao.
Siyangapala, may konek sa local movie industry si Nicanor Tiongson.
MANUNURI, UP FILM INSTITUTE CONGRATULATE DR. NICANOR TIONGSON
Facebook post ng MPP: “The Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino congratulates our very own Manunuri, Dr. Nicanor G. Tiongson, for being named National Artist for Literature.
“Dr. Tiongson is a founding member of the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino. He is the editor of the Urian Anthology series, and the CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art.
“He has authored landmark works on Philippine studies, including monographs on Filipino film directors and National Artists for Cinema Manuel Conde and Gerry de Leon.
“He has also written plays that have been staged in various cities, and has scribed critical studies on Philippine drama and theatre, receiving numerous National Book Awards for his books.
“A Professor Emeritus of the University of the Philippines, where he served as Dean of the College of Media and Communication (formerly College of Mass Communication), Dr. Tiongson has received lifetime achievement awards from the Film Development Council of the Philippines, Gawad Philstage Buhay and the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas.”
FB post ng UP Film Institute: “The University of the Philippines Film Institute celebrates the conferment of the highest artistic recognition on Dr. Nicanor Tiongson.
“Dr. Nicanor Tiongson's pioneering works of gravity and magnitude have earned him the honor of National Artist for Literature. His singularity of vision as a scholar-artist and cultural administrator is evident in the interrelationship of his many interests and efforts.
“His body of writing — playwriting, ethnography, criticism, polemics, pedagogy, historiography — is foundational to any understanding of Philippine theatre's traditions and evolution, and of its profound and enduring influence on literature, cinema, radio, and television.
“The same fastidiousness carried into his work on cinema and the other arts, where he authored, edited, or produced indispensable texts, monographs, and documentaries, including the two towering editions of the Cultural Center of the Philippines' Encyclopedia of Philippine Art.
“Every work is anchored on the rigor of research, a keen interest in reviving cultural practices appreciated by the common tao, and the drive to revitalize artistic forms responsive to the changing times.
“He steered institutions with the same exacting hand. He was professor and chair of the UP Departamento ng Filipino at Panitikan ng Pilipinas.
“At the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), he served as artistic director from 1986 to 1994. He gave the UP College of Media and Communication (CMC) both its journal, Plaridel, and its award for outstanding Filipino media practitioners, the U.P. Gawad Plaridel.
“He chaired the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino, which confers the Gawad Urian, and was among the founders of the Cinemalaya Independent Film Festival.
“He served as Dean of the UP CMC, has taught at the UP Film Institute for decades, and is currently its Professor Emeritus.
“He brought the principles he espoused as post-EDSA Vice President of the CCP to his life's work as an overarching vision — Filipinization rooted in historical formation and in the continuing need to foster national consciousness, democratization that respects human rights and resists any form of authoritarianism, and decentralization that recognizes the diversity and dignity of Filipino identities.
“They are principles the UP Film Institute continues to live by.”
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