How new chair intends to boost NCCA programs

Arsenio “Nick” Lizaso

Newly installed National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) chair Arsenio “Nick” Lizaso said he would want to see the works of great Filipino literary writers be the subject of programs on television. “I want to see the stories of Bienvenido Lumbera or F. Sionil Jose being acted out by popular actors on TV,” Lizaso told Inquirer Entertainment over lunch on Tuesday.

“At the moment, the NCCA has three or four existing TV programs. I want to help boost these shows by making more programs that the audience would find relatable. I think I can get a Congressional initiative or financial support to produce the kind of teleserye I hope Filipinos would be interested to see.”

As a form of collaboration, Lizaso said he hoped he could convince the different networks to give airtime while the NCCA provides content.“They’re all in libraries, merely gathering cobwebs. Sayang naman that the works of our national artists are not known to the people,” Lizaso pointed out. “I want them to be able to identify with the characters by using popular actors.”Lizaso said he has already set a meeting with different production outfits that could work with him on the content, like TBA Studios, which he said impressed him after watching its “well-polished” 2019 Metro Manila Film Festival entry, “Write About Love.”

Lizaso is also president of the Cultural Center of the Philippines. He replaced National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario as NCCA chair. The event on Tuesday was to formally introduce Lizaso as NCCA chair, as well as to launch February as the National Arts Month. —MARINEL CRUZ INQ