Prof. Jun de Leon - NCCA's New Chairman

     I have had the distinct honor and pleasure of meeting and being under the tutelage of PROF. JUN DE LEON when I signed the commitment form to become a MABUHAY GUIDE. This was three years ago when I was jobless and had just arrived from the US. I became a Mabuhay Guide simply because it was either working for a BPO or remaining jobless until I found work that i felt was suitable enough.

     Prof. de Leon with Ms Medina in an animated conversation with the MGs

Out of the 250 applicants who took the qualifying examinations, 50 people were scheduled for a panel interview of Department of Tourism heads and industry leaders. 25 made it to the accreditation rites as Mabuhay Guides. Our training was considered a breakthrough of sorts. It was designed to upgrade the level of tour guides/guiding in the Philippines. We were exposed to a barrage of lectures on everything Filipino: the arts, theater, culture, music, history, architecture, geography, flora and fauna, heritage, literature. To top it all, there was a three-week intensive course on tour guiding techniques by no less than The LONDON BLUE BADGE. Needless to say, Professor Jun de Leon and his lectures were a huge part of our training and for that the Mabuhay Guides will always be grateful.

     Prof. Jun with Susan Calo-Medina at Cibo with the MGs

     So when I saw the announcement in the papers that Professor Jun de Leon was appointed Chairman of the NCCA the Mabuhay Guides were elated. No one else, to my mind, would have made a better chairman than him. 

One big, happy family: Prof. de Leon with the Mabuhay Guides and Ms Medina

     The man has a list of credentials and pedigree to boot. He is the son of National Artist for Music Felipe Padilla de Leon. I guess the genes in his family run strong, as he himself is a composer writing music for plays like Noli Me Tangere. He has also done numerous research on Philippine musicology. His use of  music to make Filipinos understand their culture is another distinct contribution. He was commissioner of UNESCO Philippines from 1992 to 2002 and Chairman of its Committee on Culture in 2002. Prior to that, he has had a long and productive stint with the NCCA as hairman of the Gawad Manlilikha ng Bayan from 1993-2007, commissioner for theSubcommission on Cultural Communities and Traditional Arts from 1992-1998 and head of NCM and SCA from 2004.He also teaches humanities, aesthetics, music history and Philippine Art and Culture at the University of the Philippines and is lecturer on social transformation courses at the Asia Social Institute.

Prof. de Leon  with amused MGs in the background

     With Professor de Leon's appointment, I am optimistic that the NCCA will help promote cultural awareness to strengthen the bonds of friendship and understanding not only among Filipinos but with other nations as well... after all, we Filipinos are everywhere... =)