ANGARA AND F. SIONIL JOSE CO-CHAIR CONFERENCE ON CULTURE

Vice President Jejomar Binay and Speaker of the House, Feliciano Belmonte, Jr. will address the 150th Anniversary Conference on Nation and Culture at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on December 3. This gathering of the country's leading philanthropists, art patrons, educators, cultural workers, artists and creative writers, will be moderated by Senator Edgardo J. Angara, the political leader best known for his support of culture.

The conference convened by Solidaridad Publishing House, which is owned by National Artist for Literature F. Sionil Jose, will tackle four major issues on how to strengthen the cultural foundation of the nation.

• The function of the artists in unifying a people and imparting to them patriotism, ethics and justice;

• The role of history, social attitudes, cultural values and how they can be developed;

• The problems of education, the social media, the new communication technologies--how they can elevate cultural and political sensibility; and

• How a state sponsored cultural agenda can hasten national development.

The discussions and the recommendations will be published in a book then distributed to government and private institutions.

The panelists include Gilbert C. Teodoro, Jr., Bernard Oca, Brilliante Mendoza, Joy Belmonte, Jose Arcilla, Jose Buenconsejo, Bai Salam Ibrahim, Tonette Martel, Charlson Ong, Ramon Sunico, Rody, Vera, Jaime Antonio, Jr., Lourd de Veyra, Antonio La Viña, Melba P. Maggay, Mario I. Miclat, Jose Wendell Capili, Queena Lee-Chua, Clodualdo del Mundo, Michael Tan, Hope Sabanpan-Yu, Howie Severino, Amelia Ylagan and Lito Zulueta.