Carlo Magno Jose Caparas (born December 15, 1958) is a Filipino comic strip creator and writer-turned film director and producer. He is best known for creating such Filipino superheroes and comic book characters as Panday, Bakekang, Totoy Bato, Joaquin Bordado, Kamagong, Kamandag, Elias Paniki, Tasya Fantasya, Gagambino, Pieta and Ang Babaeng Hinugot sa Aking Tadyang, among others. He is also known as a director of numerous massacre films such as Kuratong Baleleng and The Cory Quirino Kidnap: NBI Files.
Caparas was awarded the 2008 Sagisag Balagtas Award.
Career
In early January 1989, Caparas began producing a film about the Camp Cawa-Cawa siege at the same time as it was occurring, eventually finishing the film within two months and releasing it under the title Arrest: Pat. Rizal Alih – Zamboanga Massacre on March 8.
In February 2001, Caparas began plans to produce a film about EDSA II; it eventually became the 2003 biographical film Chavit, about politician Chavit Singson. In May 2003, he offered to produce a biographical film for then-chairman of Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Bayani Fernando, though on July 31, Fernando revealed to reporters that he declined any offer for a film adaptation of his life due to election laws preventing any campaigns from being held before the campaign period begins in December 2003.
Proclamation as National Artist of the Philippines and controversy
National Artist of the Philippines
In July 2009, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo named Caparas as one of seven National Artist of the Philippines proclaimed for that year, under the new category of "Visual Arts and Film."
The title National Artist of the Philippines is given to a Filipino who has been given the highest recognition for having made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts. Such Filipinos are pronounced by virtue of a Presidential Proclamation to be National Artists, having been conferred membership in the Order of National Artists. Aside from the prestige associated with the proclamation, benefits they enjoy from then on include a monthly pension, medical and life insurance, arrangements for a state funeral, a place of honor at national state functions, and recognition at cultural events.
Controversy
This led to controversy, however, when the nominating committee for the award, composed of representatives from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), revealed that Caparas and three other individuals that year had not originally been recommended by the committee for proclamation to the Order of National Artist, and had instead been proclaimed when Macapagal-Arroyo exercised her "presidential prerogative." A number of artists, including a number of previously proclaimed National Artists, protested. Protests specifically raised about the declaration of Caparas, and of NCCA executive director Cecilla Guidote-Alvarez, who heads the NCAA secretariat that receives nominations for national artists, was that he was supposed to be disqualified from being considered for the honor as per the National Artist guidelines.
Complaints regarding Caparas' proclamation centered on the complaints that he did not illustrate the comic books he wrote and was therefore not qualified for the honor under visual arts, and the assertion of protesting artists that his work in the category of Film is supposedly "sub-par", consisting largely of exploitation films such as "massacre films" whose focus was sensational crimes, and so-called "pito-pito" (literally, "seven-seven") films which are rush-produced in just seven days.
National Artist for literature Bienvenido Lumbera who is chairman of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines and a member of the combined "final selection committee" of the NCAA and CCP, remarked that Caparas’ nomination was twice rejected by two NCAA panels. "[Caparas] was first proposed as a nominee for literature, but the committee rejected him. He was again proposed as nominee for visual artist but the panel again turned him down." Film Academy of the Philippines director general Leo Martinez noted that "He was obviously added by Malacañang." Caparas is known as a vocal supporter of then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Petitions and blog posts online have also proliferated against Caparas in light of his controversial National Artist Recognition.