Pilar Manalo Danao

Pilar Manalo Danao
Religion	Iglesia ni Cristo
Other names	Ka Pilár, Manang, PMD
Personal
Nationality	Filipino
Born	Pilár de Guzmán Manalo (1914-03-10)March 10, 1914[1] Punta, Santa Ana, Manila, Philippine Islands[1]
Died	November 26, 1987(1987-11-26) (aged 73)
Spouse	Artemio Montes Danao
Parents	Felix Y. Manalo Honorata de Guzman
Senior posting
Based in	San Juan, Philippines
Title	Head Choir Director[1]
Period in office	1942 - 1987[1]
Successor	Fausto T. Perez (as the Head Choir Director)[2] Liberty Manalo-Albert (as the Choir Coordinator)

Pilár Manalo Danáo (March 10, 1914 - November 26, 1987) also known as Ka Pilár^[3], Manang^[4] and PMD, was the eldest daughter of Felix Y. Manalo^[5] and the first Head Choir Director of the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) from 1942 until her death in 1987.^[1] She was instrumental in the creation of hymns for INC; she is the sole lyricist of the church’s Tagalog hymnal, Ang Himnario ng Iglesia ni Cristo. The hymnal originally contained 220 songs^[6], and its first publication in 1937 bears her name and initials imprinted on hymnals (in Tagalog and English) and musical scores (Tagalog) for the choir.^[1]

Upon her death, Fausto Perez succeeded her as the Head Choir Director^[2] while Liberty Manalo-Albert took charge as the Coordinator of the choir to Executive Minister Eraño G. Manalo. Ramon C. Reyes and Gemma Manalo-de Guzman, daughter of current Executive Minister Eduardo V. Manalo, are the most recent to posts vacated by Perez (after his death) and Albert.^[7]

Personal life

Pilár de Guzmán Manalo was born on March 10, 1914 in Punta Santa Ana, Manila, Rizal Province (now part of Metro Manila) to Honorata de Guzmán and Felix Manalo regarded by the members of Iglesia ni Cristo as the Last Messenger of God in These Last Days, months before the beginning of the First World War coinciding with the registration of the Church to the Philippine Government. Her name given by her father literally means "pillar." ^[1] Few months later, her father decided to move to Tipas, Taguig to teach his newfound doctrines to hometown neighbors where Pilar spent childhood with her younger sister.^[1]

Pilar had five siblings named Avelina, Dominador, Salvador, Eraño (1925-2009), and Bienvenido. Eraño assumed INC leadership after their father's death in 1963.^[8] She married Artemio Montes Danao, a dentist.^[9]

Religious career

Head Choir Director

In 1942, Felix Manalo consolidated all choir units under the post, Head Choir Director of the INC given to her daughter, Pilar Manalo Danao.^[1] The post functions as overall head of the INC Music Department assigned on hymn line-ups for regular worship services and leading choristers, organists and all choir units. In the span of her leadership, she organized several classes for organists and for the choir.

Among INC's primary choirs are the Tabernacle Choir, Sanctuary Choir, and Central Temple Choir. Other choir directors are disseminated in metro manila and provinces to oversee choirs from different local congregations. Some of the notable choir directors in Metro Manila are Michael Solitario, Ligaya Garcia-Quinitio, Rogel Flores, Ed Pontillas, Nemerson Mariano, and Ireneo Del Rosario Jr. while in provinces are Ariel Del Rosario, Roderick Hilario, Adrian Andres, Victor Aquino, Nenita Rosanes, Darwin Dela Cruz, Winnie Azarcon, Jimmy Cruz, Romeo Purificacion, Rendell Ronquillo, Gerardo Roldan and Clive Salavaria.

The Himnario

Ang Himnario ng Iglesia ni Cristo (The Hymnal of the Church of Christ) is the official hymnbook of INC, written in Tagalog by Danao and published in 1937. The latest edition of the Himnario, published in 2016 with copyright, states: "Hymns underwent several changes from recent publications, by choir directors of the church, all of which were written by Sister Pilar Manalo Danao".

Danao also composed a separate hymnal for Children's Worship Services (CWS) entitled Mga Awit sa Pagsamba ng Kabataan mula sa Himnario ng Iglesia ni Cristo ("Hymns for the Children's Worship Services from the Hymnal of the Church of Christ").

While Danao's hymns were all originally written in Tagalog, these have since been translated into other languages such as English, Spanish and Japanese, for use at worship services and other functions of the Church locally and abroad.

Commemoration

Pilar Manalo-Danao Multimedia Center

The infrastructure commemorating the late Pilar Manalo Danao was inaugurated on March 10, 2014 coinciding the latter's 100th birth anniversary, by the current Executive Minister of the Iglesia Ni Cristo, Brother Eduardo V. Manalo. It was part of Centennial projects of the Church, which includes Philippine Arena, Philippine Sports Stadium, Honorata de Guzman-Manalo Building, Eraño G. Manalo Medical Center, Philippine Sports Center and New Era University Bocaue Campus .^[12][13][14]

The building is located at the INC Central Complex, Quezon City Philippines comprising about 9500 square meters. Classically designed but with a modern approach, the sunny-yellow infrastructure has eight levels: consists of two basements, six upper floors and a roof deck. It has 200 rooms, serves as designated office for choir directors, songwriters and all those who part in the artistic works of the church.^[12]

In popular culture

In the epic and biographical film Felix Manalo, Pilar is portrayed by Filipino actresses Snooky Serna and Carla Humphries respectively.^[5][15][16]

Ancestry

References