Born on March 9, 1944, in Camias, San Miguel, Bulacan, Virgilio S. Almario—who now sits as the current chairman of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF)—is an esteemed educator, cultural manager, and poet, who goes by the moniker Rio Alma, recognized for reviving and reinventing traditional Philippine poetic forms while championing modernist poetics. His poetry ranges from the lyrical to the satirical to the epic, from the dramatic to the incantatory, often offering acute examinations of the self and the society.
He published his first collection of poetry in 1967, Makinasyon at Ilang Tula, which was followed by more collections including Peregrinasyon at Iba Pang Tula (1970), Doktrinang Anakpawis (1979), Palipad-Hangin (1985), Katon Para sa Limang Pandama (1987), Muli, Sa Kandungan ng Lupa (1994), Sentimental (2004), Estremelenggoles (2004), Memo Mulang Gimokudan (2005), Sonetos Postumos (2006), andBuwan, Buwang, Bulawan (2009). Most of his poems were collected into the two-volume Una Kong Milenyum in 1998.
Almario is also a well-respected scholar and critic, redefining how the Filipino poetry is viewed and paving the way for its discussion. He has published numerous books of criticism, literary history and anthologies, among them are Taludtod at Talinghaga (1965; 1991), Balagtasismo Versus Modernismo (1984), Kung Sino ang Kumatha Kina Bagongbanta, Ossorio, Herrera, atbp. (1992), Panitikan ng Rebolusyon(g 1896) (1993), Pag-unawa sa Ating Pagtula (2006), Walong Dekada ng Makabagong Tulang Pilipino (1981), and Mahigit Sansiglo ng Makabagong Tula sa Filipinas (2006).
His intense interest in the Filipino language resulted in the books Filipino ng mga Filipino (1993; 2009), Tradisyon at Wikang Filipino (1998), Patnubay sa Masinop na Pagsulat (1981), and UP Diksiyonaryong Filipino (2001; 2010), which is considered as the most comprehensive monolingual dictionary on Filipino.
Almario is a leading academician, guiding innumerable students. In 2003, he was appointed Dean of the College of Arts and Letters of the University of the Philippines. He also became the director of the UP Institute of Creative Writing.
Many Filipino writers have come under his wing when he founded Galian sa Arte at Tula (GAT) and the Linangan sa Imahen, Retorika, at Anyo (LIRA).
He has also long been involved with children’s literature through the “Aklat Adarna” series.
He has been a constant presence as well in national writing workshops and galvanizes member writers as chairman emeritus of the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (UMPIL).
Almario’s involvement with NCCA started in November 1998, when he became its executive director, serving until August 2001. During his term, he and then NCCA chairman Jaime Laya have been instrumental in strengthening and enhancing the structure of the agency. He also initiated groundbreaking projects and programs, many of which are now distinctive features of the NCCA.
For his many achievements, Almario is recipient of numerous awards including several Palanca awards, Ten Outstanding Young Men (1983), Southeast Asia Write Award of Bangkok (1989), Dangal ng Lipi Award of Bulacan (1993; 2008), Gawad Patnubay ng Sining of Manila (1992), Gantimpalang Quezon of Quezon City (1993), and Gawad Diwa ng Lahi ng Lungsod Maynila (2010). On June 25, 2013, Almario was proclaimed National Artist for literature.
As the NCCA chairman, Almario expressed his desire for the establishment of a Department of Culture. He also highlighted the need to focus on the safeguarding, dissemination, appreciation and promotion of the intangible cultural heritage of the country.
While he believes that efforts on tangible heritage must continue and intensify, he wants stronger direction and efforts in the preservation of our intangible heritage. This stems from the fact that the Philippines is very rich in intangible heritage, which can be harnessed, but at the same time, if not taken care of, could be eventually lost as well.
“Culture is a way of remembering and memorializing the past,” Almario said. “The more distant the past that we know, the richer we are as a people, and the more profound we will be in our creative and social endeavors.”
“Languages, songs, and chants, and literatures are storehouses of knowledge from our ancestors, which we can unlock and mine if we study them,” Almario believes. And it is in this light—in addition to the concurrent cultural challenges that the country is facing such as lack of regional foothold, lack of legislative powers in protecting heritage (see Tore De Manila as case study), and lack of government funding for culture and arts—that Almario sees it fit along with other decision makers to push for a Department of Culture.
“Such a body would require a seat in the Cabinet, as is provided in the Bill. It means that the Department will have a head that will be treated as an equal by the heads of other government departments and bureaus… and that the concern of culture would be mainstreamed in institutional development,” Almario interjected.
In other words, “the NCCA, now transformed into the Department of Culture, will directly participate in governance and national development, and culture and the arts could become at last a true and functioning component of ground-up nation-building,” Almario said finally.