LEGEND. Dionisio ‘Diony’ Cañete talks about his nomination for National Artist at his headquarters in Sto. Niño Village in Banilad Cebu City. CDN PHOTO/BRIAN J. OCHOA
The Department of Tourism (DOT) in Central Visayas is pushing for the nomination of Supreme Grand Master (SGM) Dionisio “Diony” Cañete of the world famous Doce Pares as one of the National Artists of the Philippines.
The 79-year-old Cañete, a 12th grade black belter and one of the originators of eskrima or arnis in the Philippines, has made the genuine Cebuano martial arts highly recognized worldwide.
In fact, Doce Pares has 30 member countries around the world.
“I learned about this last year. I think there are other people out there who are also qualified. I told them to prioritize the others because we had a lot of things to do in eskrima,” SGM Cañete said. “It is an honor to be bestowed as one of the national artists of the country. That is a very great recognition not just for me but the arnis itself, considering that the government has very little support. There’s no product from the Philippines that can penetrate and influence like what we did with eskrima.”
Cañete, the son of one of the arnis founders, GM Eulogio “Ylong” Cañete, the principal organiser of Doce Pares, who headed the organisation since its founding in 1932, and also the nephew of GM Ciriaco “Cacoy” Cañete, was the one who innovated eskrima and promoted it not only here in the Philippines but also around the world.