carlo sat beside me today...

Bicol writer wins seat in NCCA-NCLA
BICOL literary arts advocate and writer Carlos Arejola was elected Southern Luzon Coordinator of the National Committee on Literary Arts (NCLA) in an election held December 10, this year at the Cebu Midtown Hotel in Cebu City.


The NCLA is one of the 22 national committees of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), the government’s cultural arm, and is mandated to promote the appreciation and development of Philippine literature.


In the past, two coordinators, one from the Tagalog Region and another from Bicol, sat in the NCLA executive council. Arejola is the first to sit in the said policy-making body as representative of the two regions. He will be sworn into office in Manila in January 2008 along with the twelve other coordinators from the other regions and occupy the post for a term of three years.


Arejola was nominated to the NCLA by the Kabulig-Bikol, where he is an active member, and the Development Institute for Bicol Artists Foundation, Inc. chaired by Mrs. Amelita Zaens.


A trainer of the Gov. L-Ray English Proficiency Program, Arejola has won two national awards for poetry and a Palanca award for screenplay. The literary projects he spearheads, the annual Juliana Arejola-Fajardo Workshop sa Pagsurat-Bikol and the Bicol-wide Premio Tomas Arejola para sa Literarturang Bikolnon, was awarded the 2007 Mayoral Recognition Award by the City Government of Naga. His forthcoming book of plays in Bikol and Filipino entitled Tuwiran Kong Sasabihin is due for release next year.


Also elected to the NCLA executive council were Jose Dalisay, Jr., Marjorie Evasco and Maria Luisa Reyes, coordinators for the National Capital Region; Priscilla Macansantos, coordinator for the Cordillera Autonomous Region; Juliet Mallari, coordinator for Central Luzon; Baldovino Valdez, coordinator for Northern Luzon; Hope Yu, coordinator for Central Visayas; Victorio Sugbo, coordinator for Eastern Visayas; Ricky de Ungria, coordinator for South Mindanao; Steven Patrick Fernandez, coordinator for Central and Northern Mindanao; and Servando Halili, Jr. coordinator for Western Mindanao. A coordinator for Western Visayas is yet to be elected. The election was facilitated by the Project Management Division of the NCCA.

---from Bicol Mail