The late Antonio “Tony” Ocampo Mabesa, UP Diliman (UPD) College of Arts and Letters (CAL) professor emeritus and actor, was among the 63 recipients of the 2021 Ani ng Dangal from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA).

The Ani ng Dangal (“Harvest of Honors”) is given to Filipino artists (individual or groups) who earned top honors in international events. This year’s ceremony was streamed live on the NCCA Facebook page on August 15.

Honored posthumously for his performance in “Rainbow’s Sunset,” Mabesa was recognized for co-winning the best actor award of the 52nd Worldfest –Houston International Film Festival (HIFF) in April 2019. Also posthumously awarded the Ani ng Dangal 2021 was the late, veteran actor Eddie Garcia, who starred with Mabesa in “Rainbow’s Sunset,” and was his co-winner of the HIFF Best Actor award.

“Rainbow’s Sunset,” a film by Joel Lamangan and produced by Harlene Bautista, is about Ramon (Garcia), who outs himself to his children in his senior years to take care of his ailing lover, Fredo (Mabesa).

Mabesa taught in UP from the 1970s, in the then Department of Speech and Drama (now the Department of Speech Communication and Theatre Arts), until his retirement in 2002. He was conferred the honorific title, professor emeritus, by the UP Board of Regents at its 1160th meeting on May 23, 2002.

He spearheaded the development of the theatre arts curriculum at UPD, and established the Dulaang UP in 1976, and the UP Playwrights Theatre in 1986. In 2005, he founded the Angeles University Foundation Repertory Theatre.

Mabesa earned his master’s degree in theater arts from the University of California (1965), his graduate studies in dramatic literature from the University of Minnesota (1968), and his second degree, specializing in special education, from the University of Delaware (1969). He earned his BS agriculture degree from UP Los Baños in 1956.

In 2018, Mabesa was honored as ““PinakaPASADOng Katuwang na Aktor” by the Pampelikulang Samahan ng mga Dalubguro (PASADO), and best actor in a supporting role at the Metro Manila Film Festival Gabi ng Parangal, for his portrayal of Fredo in “Rainbow’s Sunset.”

He passed away on October 4, 2019, aged 84.