The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) successfully completed its 1st National Art Competition after judging more than 600 artwork entries from all over the country. The awarding was held at the Forum Hall of Airport Casino Filipino in Paranaque City last July 6, 2012.

The grand winners for the professional category are Bernardo Hermoso, a 69-year old painter from Cebu City; Manuel Yutuc, a 64-year old painter from Pampanga who was also awarded the Most Outstanding Kapampangan in 2000; and Rommer Fajardo, a 33-year old part-time Arts professor from the Technological University of the Philippines (TUP).

Meanwhile the grand winners for the amateur category are Oliver Marquez a 29-year old artist from Calumpit, Bulacan; 30-year old Eduardo Perreras from Pampanga who is a part-time teacher at the Academy of Performing Arts; Chrisanto N. Aquino, a 23-year old Fine Arts student from Tarlac State University; and Froilan Pastrana, a Fine Arts student from the TUP.

The grand winners for the professional category each received P200,000 plus a trophy, while each of the grand winners for the amateur category took home P75,000 plus trophy. All the artworks of the seven grand winners of the 1st PAGCOR National Art Contest will be featured in the 2013 PAGCOR Calendar.

PAGCOR Chairman Cristino Naguiat, Jr. congratulated the winners and thanked all those who participated in the agency’s first nationwide Art competition. “Our first-ever art contest became a resounding success because of the participation of hundreds of Pinoy visual artists.”

During the awarding ceremony, PAGCOR COO and President Jorge Sarmiento said the competition enabled many artists to show their talent and creativity in the field of visual arts. “Nagagalak ang PAGCOR sa ipinakitang galing at talent ng mga Filipino artist. At dahil dito, ang PAGCOR Board ay kumbinsido na dapat itu-tuloy tuloy po namin itong Art Competition bilang ambag ng PAGCOR sa promotion ng arts and culture at upang mabigyan ng pagkakataong mas makilala ang ating mga budding at professional artists,” he said.

PAGCOR conducted regional screenings in its Casino Filipino branches in Angeles, Cebu and Paranaque from June 19 to 25, 2012. The top 10 qualifiers (five each for the professional and amateur categories) for the region moved on to the grand finals. The grand winners were picked from the top 30 grand finalists nationwide during the June 29, 2012 final judging. Thereafter, all 30 grand finalists were exhibited until July 6, 2012 at the Airport Casino Filipino lobby.

Ben Cabrera, National Artist for the Visual Arts, who was one of the jurors during the final judging of the Top 30 entries, noted that PAGCOR’s 1st Art Competition helped a lot of artists show off their talent. He added that since the competition used the government’s tourism slogan “It’s More Fun in the Philippines” as its central theme, the event a good vehicle to promote local tourism. “I would like to congratulate PAGCOR for having a competition like this. It’s not easy to judge. I saw a lot of good entries. The Art Competition will encourage more artists to join, especially if the prize is good. I advise aspiring artists to join competitions such as this to showcase their work and to be challenged,” he said.

Cabrera added that the elements he particularly looked for in the winning artworks were the artists’ skill, composition, color harmony, adherence to the theme and the total impact of the entry.

Sylvia Amorsolo-Lazo, daughter and authenticator of the works of the country’s first National Artist Fernando Amorsolo was also one of the jurors. She cited that art competitions like the one staged by PAGCOR boosts the morale of Filipino visual artists. “If my father was the one who judged these entries, he’d be very happy to see these realistic masterpieces. It’s hard to judge. It’s just unfortunate that we cannot make all of them win,” Lazo said.

Aside from Cabrera and Lazo, PAGCOR also invited National Museum Director Jeremy Barns and multi-awarded art critic and abstract artist Cid Reyes to judge the Top 30 finalists from Metro Manila, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

For the regional screenings, the state-gaming firm sought the expertise of Claude Tayag -- an accomplished painter, sculptor, furniture designer, chef, food and travel columnist for the Philippine Star; Ronnie Tayag, a visual artist and owner of the Bahay Salilungan museum in Pampanga; Jocelyn Gerra, Art Director of Ramon Aboitiz Foundation and Executive Director of Casa Gordo Museum in Cebu City; Fr. Jason Dy, a well-known artist from Cebu City who also maintains an art gallery; Victoria Herrera, the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Division Head for the Visual Arts, and Ms. Silvana Diaz, an art collector and Art Director of the Duemilla Gallery in Pasay.

Grand Winners (Professional Category)
Bernardo C. Hermoso	Manuel P. Yutuc	Rommer A. Fajardo
Grand Winners (Amateur Category)
Oliver P. Marquez	Eduardo P. Perreras	Chrisanto N. Aquino	Froilan P. Pastrana

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