Lawmaker wants Nora Aunor declared national artist

A resolution has been filed in the House of Representatives asking government officials to declare Nora Aunor a national artist.   Bacolod City Rep. Anthony Golez Jr. filed House Resolution 2317 last Wednesday urging President Benigno Aquino III, the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts to include Aunor in the roster of the country’s national artists.   Golez said Aunor has already satisfied all the requirements set forth by the government for a national artist.   He added that the actress “enjoys broad acceptance and recognition by her peers, by respected critics and by the entire Filipino nation.”   “The Filipino people is now entangled with so many public issues like the seemingly uncontrollable rise of prices of fuel and commodities but we should not lose hope. There are a lot of things going for our country and the enshrinement of Ms. Nora Aunor as a National Artist is a sure feel good thing that the Filipinos can hold on to,” he said in a statement Monday.   Golez also called Aunor, also known as “Ate Guy,” as a “national treasure” whose works “are already an important part of Philippine culture.”   “Her contributions to Philippine Art are more than enough to qualify her to be named as national artist,” the lawmaker said.   Aunor (Maria Leonora Teresa Cabaltera Aunor in real life) was a popular actress and recording artist during the late 1960s to the 1980s. Often referred to as Philippine cinema’s “Superstar,” she continues to make television shows up to the present.   The resolution has to undergo committee deliberations and will have to be adopted by the plenary for it to be passed by the House of Representatives. — Andreo C. Calonzo/KBK, GMA News