Poet Almario named new NCCA chair

POET, literary historian and National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario was elected Thursday the new chairman of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

The San Miguel, Bulacan-born Almario, also known by his pen name Rio Alma, is at present the chairman of the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, the government agency mandated to promote and standardize the use of the Filipino language.

Almario’s election will go to Malacañang for confirmation and formal appoointment by President Rodrigo Duterte. 

NCCA is the overall policy making body, coordinating, and grants giving agency for the preservation, development and promotion of Philippine arts and culture; an executing agency for the policies it formulates.