00:00 Let's talk about the NCCA's General Tuna Series, where Filipino culture and values are discussed.
00:07 So, please welcome Sir Arvin Villalon, the Commissioner of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
00:13 Good morning, Sir Arvin. This is Prof. P together with Chi.
00:16 Hi! Good morning to all of you and thank you for inviting us, Chi and Phi. Good morning.
00:28 Hi Sir! First of all, what is the General Tuna Series and what is the inspiration of the NCCA in its creation?
00:37 Well, actually it's really funny because when I was reading earlier, I thought there was a typo.
00:41 General Tuna, right?
00:43 That's right. We played the word "General Tuna" from our history.
00:52 But General Tuna is an animation series and now it's a children's book. We converted it.
00:59 We are showing the Filipino values.
01:03 It's a platform through animation that we can reach, especially to our younger audience.
01:11 Our values or the values of Filipinos.
01:16 Sir Arvin, who is behind the concept of this General Tuna Series and how did you come up with this idea?
01:24 This is the result of the mandate of the government where several presidencies saw the values that are important to us, especially in this time.
01:39 So, they said, "How can we present this?"
01:42 So, this animation was created by the NCCA, the Godhold of Rocket Ship Studio.
01:51 This was also created by various people, consultants like me, Sir Butche Banez, Sir Ryan Ateledo,
02:02 where we created this concept of how to express values through the story of General Tuna.
02:11 I'm so happy because I have an 8-year-old son and I want to watch this.
02:16 Can you give us more details about this series and what are some of the episodes?
02:22 How many episodes are there? And of course, where can our children and our young audience watch this?
02:28 That's a good question. Especially for the kids.
02:33 So, the mothers and fathers, this is about a alien named General Tuna who went to the Philippines to--
02:44 Spoiler alert! --to meet us.
02:47 But he went to the Philippines and he went to each episode to focus on different values.
02:55 These are the episodes we created. And the values highlighted here are love for the family,
03:02 mutual understanding, faith, importance to culture, singing, health and wellness, and life and purpose, and resilience.
03:13 So, this will be watched on Facebook and YouTube.
03:19 So, you will see the story of General Tuna from the moment he wanted to meet us in the Philippines.
03:25 He realized the beauty of the Filipino values and he's changing little by little.
03:29 Sir, is this in Tagalog or English?
03:32 Yes, it's in Filipino. So, our audience will understand it better.
03:40 So, that's what we're doing in NCCA.
03:43 Alright, sir. Do you have any plans to continue the General Tuna series and use it to teach other cultures aside from values?
03:53 Yeah, we made some modules.
04:00 First, the one about values and teachers can use it.
04:05 You can use it for art appreciation or for higher grades, especially in film and cinema.
04:16 Aside from General Tuna, we have other collaterals in NCCA about values.
04:22 So, teachers and communities can use this to teach and reach more audiences.
04:31 That's great, sir. Aside from the General Tuna series, NCCA also held a General Tuna poster making contest.
04:40 Can you tell us more about this? What is the main theme and goal of this project?
04:46 That's right. Our General Tuna digital poster making contest is an activity during the values month.
04:56 For everyone, the Filipino values month is held every November.
05:01 So, in November of 2023, we held a competition.
05:06 And you know what? 220 entries from all over the country.
05:11 And for this, they made a poster making featuring values.
05:17 And of course, because our flagship or our title is General Tuna, it should be included.
05:23 We have judges from our community of visual arts.
05:27 And we have three winners.
05:30 First is from Bohol, second is from Baguio City, and third is from Antipono City.
05:38 Sir R.V., this is the last question. What are the next projects of NCCA?
05:44 And how can this help in spreading Filipino values to more people?
05:51 So, be careful because we already made a General Tuna children's book.
05:56 It is written in Filipino and even Cebuano.
05:59 So, the one that I mentioned earlier because language is very important.
06:03 We will still do more of this.
06:07 And aside from General Tuna, we also have value series, lecture series, also going to schools.
06:14 And aside from that, different programs of NCCA through heritage and arts to spread Filipino values.
06:24 This is a very good initiative to introduce to our children the values that we as Filipinos have.
06:31 And what's more, of course, NCCA made this engaging so that the children can watch this.
06:38 Well, thank you so much Sir R.V. for sharing details about this project of National Commission for Culture and the Arts.
06:46 Long live and take care.
06:47 Thank you, sir.
06:48 Thank you. Thank you so much.
