MANILA, Philippines - In the popular imagination, the komedya and the moro-moro are one and the same. The Komedya, before this traditional form of theater was supplanted by zarzuela at the turn of the century, usually consists of battles between Christians and Muslims, as encouraged then by the Spanish friars, with the Christians, of course, winning. Right?

So the komedya is politically incorrect in this day and age, declare its critics.

It ain?t necessarily so (with apologies to George Gershwin).

At a recent press conference at the University of the Philippines Theater in Diliman, Quezon City, National Artist for Literature Virgilio Almario rose to the defense of the komedya. The latter, he said, is ?national theater as we know it, it?s what the Kabuki and the Noh are to Japan.?

Speaking in Filipino, Almario pointed out that the ?moro-moro is just one facet of the komedya. In Balagtas? ?Florante at Laura,? for example, the conflict is not about religion but about power. In ?Orosman at Zafira? [another work by Balagtas], there are no Christians.?

In other words, the conflict here is between opposing points of view (??ang kanilang pagkasira sa pag-iisip?).

The poet-critic added that there are many komedya that tackle different themes, like the lives of saints (?buhay ni Santa Barbara galing sa Bohol at komedya ni San Miguel?), along with komedya about modern deeds and issues.

The press conference was called to announce the First National Komedya Festival, to be held Feb. 1-29 at the UP Diliman Amphitheater. This is part of the centennial celebration of the State University, and will be participated in by all the other UPs in the System: UP Manila, UP Los Baños, UP Baguio, UP Open University and UP Mindanao.

At UP Diliman, the festivities kick off with a grand parade on Feb. 1, 2 p.m., to be participated in by all the invited groups all over the country, and to be capped by fireworks in the evening. The whole month will be filled with activities on the campus, and the various colleges will be holding their own celebrations.

The festival itself will be held every Friday of the month, and there will be lectures, seminars, balagtasan (poetic jousts), games, exhibits, puppet shows, traditional games, storytelling, perya (carnival), and myriad other activities.

Classical music will be provided by the UP Symphony Orchestra; choral music by the Philippine Madrigal Singers and the UP Concert Chorus; and pop music by Area I Boys.

Participating bands are from the cities of Taguig, Antipolo, Quezon and Parañaque, along with the UP Symphonic Band.

Every Friday at 6-8 p.m., there will be performances by the Komedya ng San Dionisio (Parañaque); Hiraya Theater Company (San José, Antique); Komedya ng Don Galo (Parañaque); Dulaang UP (UP Diliman); and Comedia de Baler (Aurora).

As composer Ramon Santos put it in the press con, ?Dito nagmula ang ating tradisyon (our theater tradition began with the Komedya).?

E-mail komedyafiesta@yahoo.com. Visit http://kol.upd. ph/komedya/