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Actor, athlete and Kapamilya heartthrob Enchong Dee lends his support to Philippine arts and culture as he becomes the National Commission for Culture and the Arts’ (NCCA) ambassador for heritage.
Dee is a swimmer of the Philippine national swimming team, who became a popular model and endorser, paving the way for him to be involved in showbiz. He appeared in many ABS-CBN dramas such Tanging Yaman, Magkaribal, Katorse, Maria La Del Barrio, Ina, Kapatid, Anak and Muling Buksan Ang Puso; and films such as Sa ‘Yo Lamang, I Do and The Reunion.
What many don’t know is that Enchong Dee is interested in heritage structures particularly around the country.
“I travel a lot,” says Dee, “and whenever I go around I make it a point to visit a place’s historical landmarks and heritage structures. I think these make a place unique and interesting. It is very important that these heritage structures are taken care of and preserved. I am very glad that I was chosen as NCCA’s ambassador for heritage. As such, I can encourage and inspire people to appreciate these treasures.”
This May, the NCCA, headed by led by its chairman Felipe M. de Leon Jr. and OIC-executive director Adelina Suemith, leads in the celebration of National Heritage Month. Awareness and preservation of heritage are vital in the construction and strengthening of our national identity, which will engender pride, enable to us to overcome crises, and guide us towards progress. Because of these, Proclamation No. 439 was signed on August 11, 2003, declaring the month of May of every year as National Heritage Month. This is “in recognition of the need to create among the people a consciousness, respect and pride for the legacies of Filipino cultural history and love of country.”
The NCCA’s Subcommission on Cultural Heritage (SCH), headed by Rev. Fr. Harold Ll. Rentoria, OSA, has lined up activities for the whole month as well as beyond collectively called the 2014 Taoid Heritage Program Celebration. With this year’s theme, “Pamanang Pinoy,” it will give us a glimpse of the legacies of the past and how it remains to shape the present and the future. It is a recognition and celebration of the different aspects of our national cultural heritage—our traditional art forms and practices, important cultural structures both movable and immovable and other objects of national importance whether tangible and intangible.
Enchong will join the Luzon leg of the 2014 Taoid Heritage Program Celebration. It will held in the provinces of Albay, Masbate and Sorsogon, collectively nicknamed AlMaSor, from May 1 to 4, 2014. He will grace the Run for Heritage in Albay on May 1. The run will start at the Cagsawa Ruins in Legazpi City and ends at the Daraga Church in Daraga. The celebration will proceed to Sorsogon on May 2, and in Masbate on May 4. The Visayas leg was held in Southern Leyte while the Midnanao leg will be held in Misamis Occidental. Aside from these main events, heritage school tours, clean-up drives and heritage clinics will be conducted in the focal venues as well as in other parts of the country.
Enchong Dee will also be a special guest at the “Taoid 2014: Pamanang Pinoy” Heritage Concert, which will be held on May 7, 2014, at the San Agustin Church in Intramuros, Manila, at 7 P.M. The concert aims to promote and raise awareness of the 2014 Taoid Heritage Program Celebration activities as well as to gather financial support for the rehabilitation of heritage sites devastated by recent disasters. The concert will feature Noel Cabangon, Joey Ayala, the Philippine Madrigal Singers, the UP Singing Ambassadors and the NCCA Rondalla.
The steering committee of the Taoid Heritage Program 2014 is composed of Rev. Fr. Harold Ll. Rentoria, OSA, head of SCH and the National Committee on Archives; Dr. Stephen S. Totanes, vice head of SCH and head of the National Committee on Historical Research; Lucille Karen E. Malilong-Isberto, SCH secretary and head of the National Committee on Monuments and Sites; Dr. Marilou P. Tadlip, assistant secretary and head of the National Committee on Libraries and Information Service; Robert Bjorn O. Santos, SCH member and head of the National Committee on Art Galleries; and Amado R. Alvarez, SCH member and head of the National Committee on Museums.
