FPJ now a National Artist
PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino 3rd on Thursday formally conferred the title of National Artist on the late actordirector Fernando Poe Jr. ( FPJ), six years after he was chosen for the honor.
The conferment came after President Aquino signed Proclamation No. 435 on July 20, affirming the beloved movie icon’s status as a National Artist for Film.
Poe’s widow, actress Susan Roces, and daughter Mary Grace Poe- Llamanzares, chairman of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, accepted the award during rites held in Malacañang’s Rizal Hall.
Roces earlier refused to accept the award from thenPresident Gloria Arroyo, who selected Poe for induction into the Order of National Artists on May 23, 2006 via Proclamation No. 1069. Poe ran for the presidency but lost to the former leader in the 2004 elections, which Roces and his supporters claimed were rigged.
“Ilang taon man ang lumipas, mas matamis ang
tagumpay na ito dahil hinintay natin ang karapat- dapat na panahon,” Llamanzares told reporters.
“Pasasalamatan niya si Pangulong Aquino sa pagkumpirma sa kanya. Tulad ng sinabi ni Mary Grace, it’s worth waiting for na makumpirma ka ng tunay na halal na Pangulo,” Roces said.
President Aquino said that all Filipinos recognize FPJ as a hero and that his contribution to Philippine cinema as writer, actor, producer, and director was indisputable.
“Sino po bang Pilipino ang hindi nakakakilala kay FPJ?” Aquino said.
Born Ronald Allan Kelley Poe to actor Fernando Poe Sr. and Elizabeth Kelley on August 20, 1939, FPJ was famous for playing strong, quiet men who defend the poor and the oppressed in a number of profitable action films, earning him the title of “King of Philippine Movies”. Among his most memora- ble films are Lo Waist Gang ( 1956), Ang Panday ( 1978), and Aguila ( 1980).
The Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences honored him seven times: five as Best Actor for the films Mga Alabok ng Lupa (1967), Asedillo (1971), Durugin si Totoy Bato (1979), Umpisahan Mo, Tatapusin Ko (1983), and Muslim Magnum .357 (1986); and two as Best Director (under the pseudonym Ronwaldo Reyes) for the movies Ang Padrino (1984) and Kahit Butas ng Karayom, Papasukin Ko (1995).
Poe died of complications from a stroke at the Saint Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City on December 14, 2004. His nine- day wake and funeral drew hundreds of thousands of mourners, similar to those of President Aquino’s parents, former Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr. and former president Corazon “Cory” Aquino.