MANILA - Catriona Gray is back two weeks after the unexpected end of her Sunday noontime show.

This time, the former Miss Universe will lead the unveiling of multi-sectoral events celebrating National Arts Month (NAM) this February at the newly refurbished Metropolitan Theater.

Gray is supporting, gratis or without remuneration, the campaign as ambassador of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA), which is spearheading the events with the theme “Alab-sining, Alay-sigla.”

“We thank her for helping us. Actually we cannot afford her talent fee. It’s just that she genuinely loves the arts and believes in what we’re doing because she’s also an artist," NCCA chairman Nick Lizaso told ABS-CBN News Monday.

“I’m really impressed with her, maka-Pilipino talaga, truthful, mababa ang loob and she loves people. I’ve met a lot of beauty queens pero pambihira si Catriona,” he added.

Lizaso said Gray will be an asset in NAM’s aims to conserve, promote and popularize Filipino artistic creations; integrate the arts in the community life; and harness the arts for values education.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Catriona Gray (@catriona_gray)

The celebration is mainly composed of the flagship projects of NCCA’s national committees—Architecture and Allied Arts, Cinema, Dance, Literary Arts, Music, Dramatic Arts , and Visual Arts.

One of NCCA’s much anticipated new programs is Gray’s new online show “Kultura 101” which will premier on February 20 at 2 p.m. on NCCA's and Gray's Facebook pages.

"It's a very lighthearted [and] fun learning experience where the audience will learn with me about certain topics or certain aspects to be admired and beheld in our culture," Gray said in a previous ABS-CBN News interview.

"I really look forward to everyone being able to see it and to take part, and hopefully learn to love even more our culture through 'Kultura 101.'"

NCCA Public Affairs and Information Office head Rene Napeñas said Gray and their team, under the guidance of creative consultant Floy Quintos, already have worked on five episodes.

“We are targeting 10 more episodes this year," he said. “Catriona is very hands on in production meetings with us and chairman Lizaso. She really pours her creative energies on the storyline, the look and the treatment of episodes.”

Even more amazing is how she has embraced her role as arts ambassador.

“Whenever we tell her, wala kaming budget sa make-up and styling. She says she’ll do it herself,” Napeñas related.

Gray previously said her role as NCCA ambassador is a huge honor, citing how her efforts to showcase the Filipino life and culture helped her win the Miss Universe crown.

"I really consider my appreciation and love for our Filipino culture through arts quite a new one. I wasn't raised with that appreciation,” she said.

“In fact, it was almost a journey of discovery for me which allowed me to incorporate sa journey ko going into Miss Universe," she continued.

"So that's why I feel like my role as NCCA ambassador is really to allow people to also learn to love our culture. That's what I would really love to do, to showcase how people can fall in love with it just as I did!”

Only a few days ago, Gray was tapped by songwriter Jungee Marcelo as one of the singing voices for “Bagani,” the theme song of the National Quincentennial Celebration to celebrate Spain’s “discovery” of the Philippines this March 2021 in Cebu.

The project is supported by Philpop, the National Historical Commission and NCCA.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Watch more in iWantv or TFC.tv