ANGONO, Rizal – Just in time for this year’s much awaited Higantes Festival, the local government called on the 19th Congress to formalize the title for which Angono has become a byword.
While the mere mention of Angono is in itself synonymous to artistry, Vice Mayor Gerardo Calderon cited the need for a congressional legislation that would formalize its moniker – Art Capital of the Philippines.
In an interview, Calderon said that earning the official title would further boost their tourism potential even as he claimed that the lakeshore town 20 minutes away from eastern Metro Manila has every reason to become the country’s official art capital – “We’re doing good insofar as tourism is concerned, but adding an icing on the cake would make as stall taller.”
“For one, Angono is the home of two national artists – Maestro Lucio San Pedro for music and Carlos ‘Botong’ Francisco for visual arts. After them are thousands of local folks who were inspired by these two great men and have become artists too.”
“We have also preserved the natural beauty of our town. Social media has always been flooded with uploaded photos of our place, from the upland to the lakeshore areas,” noted Calderon.
When asked as to how the moniker came about, the Vice Mayor said that it was in 2004 when then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was mesmerized by the abundant talents we have here – “It was then that she uttered that Angono deserves the title of being the Art Capital of the Philippines.”
Interestingly, 1st district Rep. Jack Duavit and other Rizal congressmen have repeatedly filed in Congress bills seeking to officially make the first class lakeshore municipality as the Art Capital of the Philippines.
“For the record, wala pa rin official declaration coming from both the Philippine Congress or the Office of the President that Angono is the Art Capital. But we would gladly prove our worth once meron na,” Calderon quipped.
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