Congratulations to Dr Nicanor G Tiongson (Memo U2324-112)

 Dr Tiongson received an AB in Humanities from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1965. He was an instructor at the college in 1968-72, during which time he received a Faura Research Grant to develop a textbook for the teaching of Philippine Literature at the School of Arts and Sciences, and edited the first issues of Katipunan, the first Filipino-language scholarly journal, for the Philippine Studies Department, now the Kagawaran ng Filipino, in 1971.

His early and abiding scholarship is in Philippine theater, pioneering in the study and revitalization of traditional forms, particularly, the sinakulo and the komedya. From the mid-1970s onward, however, he branched into Philippine cinema. He co-founded the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino, becoming its chair in 1982-83. In the 2000s, he co-founded the Cinemalaya Independent Film Congress, serving as its director from 2005 to 2012. He was also briefly a member and chair of the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board, but he was removed for his "liberal" views. Beginning in 1998, he taught at the UP Film Institute, becoming Professor Emeritus in 2012.

His publications in Philippine film include the Urian Anthology series, a collection of film criticism by the members of the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino, covering the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and the 2000s; and The Cinema of Manuel Conde, apart from numerous reviews, interviews, and essays in academic and popular outlets. As dean of the College of Mass Communication at the University of the Philippines and editor of the journal Plaridel, he developed generations of film creatives, enthusiasts, and critics in the country, and provided an avenue for the documentation of the progress of Philippine cinema. For his work in this field, he was the subject of the Festschrift A Reader in Philippine Film History and Criticism, edited by Jonathan Chua, Rosario Cruz-Lucero, and Rolando B Tolentino.   

In 2009, during the sesquicentennial of the Ateneo de Manila, he was given the Tanglaw ng Lahi award. In 2012, he delivered a lecture series, "The Third Golden Age?: The New Wave Filipino Indie Film, 1999-2012," organized by the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of the School of Humanities. Before the lockdowns of 2020, he was teaching film-related electives with the Department.

Dr Tiongson will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the FDCP on April 19, 2024, at Seda Vertis North.