PIA Press Release
Sunday, January 15, 2012

NCCA: Pampanga is rich in culture and arts

CLARK FREEPORT ZONE, Pampanga, Jan. 15 (PIA) -- “This province is rich in culture and arts.”

Referring to Pampanga, this was how Felipe de Leon Jr., chairman of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, described the province during a recent press conference for a writers’ festival in Clark on February.

De Leon cited the different cultural marks and arts in the province that include the giant lantern festival, which is an annual festival held during December; the dramatization of the crucifixion held at San Pedro, Cutud in San Fernando in observance of lent; the Kapampangan zarzuela which is the Spanish-language prototype of the Broadway musical and Pampanga as the culinary capital of the country.

“These things define Kapampangans and it is overwhelming that they are still preserving this culture until now with the help of the Center for Kapampangan Studies with its director Robby Tantingco, which aims to sustain interest in the study of Kapampangan language, culture and history,” de Leon explained.

With this, he is encouraging Kapampangans to write in the vernacular language to further promote and preserve the Pampango language.

In a related development, the 4th Taboan: Philippine Writers’ Festival will be held here on February 9 to 12 and will be participated in by 86 playwrights, essayists, poets and fictionists from all over the country.

The said event will promote the literature and arts of Central Luzon and will further boost the conservation of the region’s culture and arts.

It also seeks to serve as an avenue for the academic exchange of ideas among the country’s writers that will help hone their crafts and address issues currently affecting their field. (WLB/JGB- PIA 3)