My Encounter with First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos at “LIKHA 5: Likha Ko, Lahi Ko”

Ni Oggie Medina

I remember when Ms. Yayot Garcia was the executive producer for Balikbayan Magazine and Asian Journal, we created materials for the cultural projects of First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos from Bahay Pangulo, Baguio Mansion Museum to Centro Turismo de Intramuros and Foro de Intramuros.

First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos later saw Ms. Yayot Garcia and me at the “LIKHA 5: Likha Ko, Lahi Ko” opening ceremony at Likha Tent of the Likhang Filipino Exhibition Halls. She humbly and sincerely walked toward Yayot and me to greet us and we had a photo with her.

The “LIKHA 5: Likha Ko, Lahi Ko”, celebrating the traditional crafts with over 100 artisans from all over the country, is open to the public for free until October 4, Sunday, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m..

First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos has truly established herself as a prominent champion of Filipino arts, culture, and heritage through several high-profile preservation and promotional initiatives.

Utilizing her platform, she has actively worked to institutionalize support for local artisans and revitalize historic landmarks across the country.

LIKHA is the center of her cultural advocacy and a major recurring expo spearheaded by the Office of the First Lady. It empowers artisans in which the program provides free public platforms for traditional weavers, designers, and indigenous craftsmen to showcase and sell heritage-rich products.

It indeed preserves craftsmanship. Iterations like LIKHA connect master artisans with the modern market, ensuring that generational skills—such as traditional textile weaving—are passed down and celebrated.

Her other contribution is the heritage restoration and infrastructure. She has led extensive efforts to restore, rehabilitate, and reopen critical historical government properties, turning them back into active cultural hubs: the Malacañang Complex Mansions, spearheading the revitalization of historic estates including the Laperal, Teus, and Goldenberg Mansions, as well as the Bahay Pangulo.

She also oversaw the structural restoration of the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) and the reopening of the iconic Coconut Palace after meticulous multi-month preservation work.

First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos background as a lawyer and educator heavily influences her approach to cultural preservation. Her early work in cultural mapping in Ilocos Norte laid foundational research that eventually informed the mandates of Republic Act 10066 (the National Cultural Heritage Act), establishing a legal blueprint for documenting local heritage across the Philippines.

Of course, I admire her sense of urban and tourism renaissance. Beyond single exhibits, she partners with the private sector to breathe life into historic districts. For instance, she spearheaded a major private-sector cultural and tourism illumination initiative in Manila’s Binondo Chinatown, bridging centuries of Chinese-Filipino heritage with modern global tourism.

There are so many things that indefatigable First Lady Liza Araneta-Marcos has altruistically done to cultural projects that have elevated our identity as a people.