Better late than later must have been how President Aquino justified his act of conferring on the late King of Philippine Movies Fernando Poe Jr.  “a posthumous National Artist award,” the same citation seen coming the way of another “King” named Rodolfo Vera Quizon or fondly referred to as Dolphy.
In issuing Proclamation No. 435, Aquino simply confirmed an earlier declaration of Poe as National Artist in 2006.
“Pursuant to the authority vested in me by law, I Benigno S. Aquino III, President of the Philippines, do hereby confirm the declaration of Ronald Allan K. Poe aka Fernando Poe Jr. (Posthumous) as National Artist as conferred in Proclamation No. 1069, dated May 23, 2006,” the statement read.
The proclamation, signed by Aquino and Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa last July 20, ended a six-year debate on whether or not Poe, who died on Dec. 11, 2004 due to thrombosis with multiple organ failure, deserves the recognition seeing him as the choice artist under the category of “Film.”
Then 64-year-old FPJ was a heavy favorite to get the plum. Known for his gory and morbid cinema flicks, film director Carlo J. Caparas pulled an upset over Poe, raising a howl that compelled the National Commission on Culture and the Arts to void the plum under the film category.
In 2006 though, FPJ was honored as National Artist but his wife, actress Susan Roces and daughter Grace Poe Llamanzares declined to receive it from a President they “displease most.”
Poe’s family accused former President Arroyo of cheating the late action movie king-turned politician during the 2004 presidential election. It was for that incident that Poe’s wife Susan Roces popularized the phrase “not once but twice,” apparently referring to Arroyo’s alleged manipulation that made her acting President in 2001 and elected President in 2004.