Press Release
February 28, 2008

ANGARA TO LEAD KOMEDYA FIESTA 2008

Senator Edgardo J. Angara will participate tomorrow at the Komedya Fiesta 2008, a cultural festival organized by the University of the Philippines College of Arts and Letters (CAL). Angara is the hermano mayor of this grand event that seeks to revive a theater form that has been performed for over three centuries.

"Amidst the great divisiveness gripping our nation, this festival is a way of affirming our identity and celebrating our country's rich heritage - one of our truest wealth as a people," said Angara.

Virgilio Almario, national artist for literature and dean of the UP CAL, led the conceptualization of Komedya Fiesta, which will feature performances, an exhibition, an international conference and colloquium aimed at "promoting Philippine cultural expressions that unite us as a people."

"We should not slide into cultural vacuity and mediocrity," said Angara.

The festival will recapture the spirit of the komedya not only through performances of komedya groups, but also through balagtasan and serenata ng bayan, which were popular up to the 60s. There will also be traditional peryas with walkers, jugglers, fire eaters, higantes and mime performances.

Angara's enthusiasm to take part in this cultural revival is a confluence of several factors: he was once president of UP; he has authored and sponsored several laws on the promotion of arts and culture including the laws creating the National Museum, the National Commission on Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Natatanging Manlilikha Award which bestows honor on the Filipino folk and traditional artists; and he currently chairs the UP Centennial Commission which raised P5 billion for the University.

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