Making the CCP relevant to Filipinos
IT goes without saying that during the three decades or so of its existence, the state sponsored Cultural Center of the Philippines—that stark concrete celebration to all things connected with both high and low culture sitting imposingly on reclaimed land along Manila’s Bayside—has been carrying out its mandate to bring culture to the masses exceptionally well.But even while it has been focused on its mission—and struggling to finance itself in a country where, particularly in recent years, culture has more or less been given dismal short shrift by the National Treasury—the prime blocks of real estate that surround it as part of its mandated portfolio have been largely left abandoned and neglected.
In fact the only people who have cleverly and sneakily put this real estate to good use have been the squatter colonies who set up homes and shops on the perimeters of the CCP and for years have been running small businesses from which the CCP’s coffers have gained nothing.
But now comes dapper CCP President Nestor Jardin who is playing the role of a corporate chief executive and slowly but steadily trying to leverage these parcels of land to good effect to help boost the organization’s bottom line.
The squatters have been moved out (though not without anguish and pain on the part of the compassionate Jardin) and where their shanties once stood have arisen a restaurant and entertainment row that is fast rivaling Baywalk as a complete—and certainly far less sleazy—nocturnal experience.
And according to Jardin, more such family-orientated offerings are planned for other parts of the CCP so as to maximize the commercial value of the sprawling property. Explains Jardin: “The year 2007 will be a transformational year for the Cultural Center of the Philippines. It will be a year of changes directed toward making the arts and, indeed, the CCP more relevant to the lives of Filipinos.
“We felt that the CCP should be more attuned to what’s happening in our country and around the world. The arts can be a transformative tool for the Filipino human being, for the community and for the environment that we live in.”
But Jardin sees the CCP’s outreach going beyond that. He says: “The arts can help in values transformation, in developing community spirit to bind people together as a society and a nation. The arts can also help propel a people towards national progress through the creative industry.”
Spearheading this thrust will be the CCP Complex Development Business and Master plan aimed at making the CCP Complex a cultural, ecological and tourism landmark, incorporating public art, parks, gardens and pedestrian walkways.
In this context the Liwasang Kalikasan Nature Park was inaugurated last year as an environmental, cultural and educational project that will transform 1.6 hectares of wooded area in the CCP Complex into an ecological showcase and venue for cultural and educational activities in a tropical rainforest setting.
The CCP will be also be continuing its flagship program, “Arts for the People,” but with some fine-tuning. “It is a good program that ensures people have a greater awareness and appreciation of the arts. But, we need to be more responsive to the challenge of making the arts more relevant in addition to making them more accessible to the people. We need to elevate it one step higher and substantially redirect it towards transforming lives,” states Jardin.
Other initiatives in the CCP’s mission to reach out is the award-winning radio program Sugpuin ang Korupsiyon. The CCP radio talk show, which is aired on DZRH every Saturday at 2 to 3 p.m., focuses on the various aspects of corruption and challenges people to stand up against corruption.
The CCP has also been holding arts therapy workshops in places ravaged by disaster and calamity as well as areas where there is armed conflict. Held in cooperation with Unicef, the program seeks to help heal people who have been traumatized by the loss of loved ones, shelter and livelihood due to natural calamities and war.
So all in all good luck to Jardin who needs all the help and support he can muster to bring the CCP, albeit kicking and screaming, into the 21st century to play a relevant role.
