AFP: Philippine school creates arts ambassadors

AFP: Philippine school creates arts ambassadors: "Our dream and goal is to ennoble the Filipino spirit -- that we are good, that we can excel,' the school's executive director and Jesuit priest, Carmelo Caluag, told AFP.
'We are doing this because art and culture are the windows to the soul of the people, they nurture our spirit.'
The school began as a more informal haven for young artists in the 1970s.
It was established by the then first lady Imelda Marcos, who lavished much time and money on the arts during her dictator husband's 20-year rule of the country.
Marcos chose the slopes of 1,090-metre (3,600-foot) Mount Makiling as the site, which was named after the enchanting daughter of two deities who protected nature in local folklore.
It was however only in 1989 that then-president Corazon Aquino signed an executive order establishing it as an official public high school for gifted children, a third-world replica of New York's famous Juilliard.
The students at Makiling are now carefully chosen from thousands of applicants who audition for just over 30 slots a year."