National Youth Commission Chair Cariza ‘Aiza’ Seguerra is the new ambassador for the Buwan ng Panitikan ng Filipinas or the National Literature Month.
National Literature Month is celebrated every April in accordance to Presidential Proclamation No. 968 signed in 2015. For 2017, the Literature Month celebration takes on the theme “Banyuhay Panitikan the Filipino word for “Metamorphosis,” emphasizes that literature, a creative endeavor, is also a political and social institution as well as a force that shapes life and everyday living. It is a vital instrument that helps us evaluate and implement right and necessary changes.
The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), led by its chairman, National Artist Virgilio Almario and executive director Rico Pableo Jr., the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF), and the National Book Development Board (NBDB), headed by chairperson Flor Marie Sta. Romana Cruz, are spearheading the celebration of the Buwan ng Panitikan ng Filipinas or National Literature Month.
This is the third year that the nation is celebrating National Literature Month and exciting literary and cultural events are lined up for the whole month of April to stimulate the mind and enrich the soul.
National Literature Month will kick off with the celebration of Francisco “Balagtas” Baltazar Day or Araw ni Francisco “Balagtas” Baltazar on April 2. On the 229th birth anniversary of Baltazar, KWF is monumentalizing the way that he paved for national freedom with the theme “Balagtas: Bayani” (Balagtas: Hero). The celebration will kick-off with the Pambansang Kampong Balagtas 2017, a literary conference that will gather 100 student-writers from all over the Philippines. It will be held from March 31 to April 2, 2017, at the Orion Elementary School in Orion, Bataan. NLM Ambassador Seguerra would be closing the camp addressing the youth participants of the Pambansang Kampo Balagtas.
Other events such as writing workshops, book store tours, literary caravans, the celebration of the World Book Day on April 23 and the Philippine Internaitonal Literary Festival are also under the banner of the Banyuhay Panitikan celebration.
