PRESIDENT Arroyo has added four names in the list of four national artists recommended by the joint boards of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita yesterday said the new national artists are film maker Manuel Urbano aka Manuel Conde, film and broadcast arts (posthumous); novelist Lazaro Francisco, literature (posthumous); painter Federico Aguilar Alcuaz, visual arts, painting, sculpture and mixed media; presidential adviser on culture Cecilia Guidote Alvarez, theater; comics writer and film director Magno Jose "Carlo" Caparas, visual arts and film; architect Francisco "Bobby" Mañosa, architecture; and fashion designer Jose "Pitoy" Moreno, fashion design.

The orders containing their inclusion in the roster of national artists were contained in Proclamations 1823 and 1829, signed July 6 but were made public only yesterday.

The joint NCCA and CCP board had initially recommended Alcuaz, Ramon Santos, Urbano, and Francisco.

Arroyo added Alvarez, Caparas, Mañosa and Moreno to the list.

It was not explained how the name of Santos was dropped in the final listing.

The President cannot veto any name or subtract from the NCCA-CCP list but she could add to the list.

Among those she has added to the list of national artists were Mindanao visual artist Abdulmari Imao and writer Alejandro Roces.

The Order ng Gawad Pambansang Alagad ng Sining (Order of National Artists) is the highest national recognition given to Filipinos who have made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts.

A living National Artist receives a monthly stipend of P24,000 and annual medical and hospitalization support of P750,000. He or she is supported by the NCCA for his or her projects. The heir of a posthumous National Artist will receive P75,000 upon the proclamation.

The announcement of the new national artists drew mixed reactions from the artistic community.

Some questioned the propriety of including Alvarez, because she is executive director of the NCCA, and presidential adviser for culture.

Ermita, in an interview, defended Alvarez saying "hindi naman siya ang nag-deliberate sa sarili niya. Meron tayong honors committee, it does not disqualify her. Si Cecille Guidote, bago pa naging asawa ni (former senator and now presidential adviser on climate change Heherson) Alvarez (Jr.), nasa theater na. Estudyante siya ni Fr. (James) Reuter. She’s really good."

Roberto Añonuevo, a Palanca Hall of Famer, said in his Alimbukad blog (www.alimbukad.com) the insertion of Alvarez, Caparas and Moreno is "a big slap to the artistic community and lowers the credibility of national institutions...and the award." However, he said Mañosa is deserving of the award.

Añonuevo said Arroyo has made it a tradition to give awards or positions to persons within her circle.

He said Francisco, if he had been alive, might not accept the award because of the controversies surrounding it.