ANGELES CITY- The city government here, under the leadership of Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan, has been named as “local government unit partner” by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).
The announcement was made during NCCA’s 30th Anniversary celebration held May 17 at Sofitel Philippines in Manila.
City College of Angeles (CCA) President and NCCA’s Secretary for Monuments and Sites, Dr. Richard Daenos, personally received the recognition in behalf of the city government.
Upon receiving the news, Mayor Pamintuan took to social media to express his elation over the recent achievement that the city attained.
“Getting this recognition is just a manifestation of how we are steering the city towards enriching our cultural heritage which is often forgotten or compromised,” Pamintuan wrote in his Facebook account.
Pamintuan also mentioned the participation and contribution of various sectors and cultural stakeholders in the city as a valuable component in bringing back the interest and appreciation of the Angeleños to culture and the arts.
Over the years, the city government has been consistent in its support to the programs initiated by NCCA and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).
In addition, the local government also achieved the status of “Kaisa sa Sining” Regional Arts Center from the CCP, and has signed an exclusive Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the current year in celebration of the country’s National Arts Month.
The MoU will cover training and apprenticeship, touring & move-over productions, sharing of relevant cultural resource materials, access to arts and cultural information, venues & facilities; and participation in major cultural events.
In 2015, the city government hosted the CCP’s Andrea O. Veneracion International Chorale Festival Outreach Concert which featured the Italian choir group, Gioventù in Cantata; the Salvador “Badong” Bernal Designs the Stage exhibit; NCCA’s “Dayaw”: The Indigenous People’s Festival, a gathering of more than 400 indigenous peoples from 60 cultural communities all over the nation; NCCA’s Sayaw Pinoy National Dance Conference and Competition, a three-day workshop cum competition which gathered culture enthusiasts educators, and the best dance groups from the different parts of the country.
This year, CCA hosted the Luzon leg of NCCA’s Sayaw Pinoy: The Touring Dance Concert which featured different dance companies showcasing the traditional and contemporary dances from north to south. The said event was also staged in the city back in 2011.
Local dance groups in the city also joined the “Yugyugan Para sa Kultura ng Bayan”, a simultaneous dance rally initiated by NCCA for the preservation of heritage structures held in 2015 and 2016.
The city was also chosen to host the NCCA’s Linggo ng Musikang Pilipino in 2016 which showcased the best OPM singers and choir groups of the region and of the country.
Meanwhile, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) inaugurated the historic Pamintuan Mansion as the Museum of Philippines Social History in 2015 which bolstered Angeles City’s claim as Central Luzon’s Center of Heritage Promotion and Preservation.
With the creation of the heritage district and the removal of ‘ghastly-looking’ spaghetti wires, the city government received a back-to-back win from the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines and Department of Tourism (ATOP-DOT) Pearl Award in 2015 and 2016.
The city also established the Culture and Arts Council of Angeles (CACA), which composed of cultural stakeholders and private individuals, which will safeguard the preservation and promotion of local artistry and tourism in the city.