REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7356 - AN ACT
CREATING THE NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR CULTURE AND THE ARTS, ESTABLISHING
A NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FUND FOR CULTURE AND THE ARTS, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES
Section 1. Title. — This Act shall be known at the "Law
Creating the National Commission for Culture and the Arts".
TITLE I
DECLARATION OF PRINCIPLES
Sec. 2. Culture as a Human Right. — Culture is a
manifestation of the freedom of belief and of expression and is a human
right to be accorded due respect and allowed to flourish.
Sec. 3. National Identity. — Culture reflects and
shapes values, beliefs, aspirations, thereby defining a people's
national identity. A Filipino national culture that mirrors and shapes
Philippine economic, social and political life shall be evolved,
promoted and conserved.
Sec. 4. Culture of the People. — The Filipino
national culture shall be: a) independent, free of political and
economic structures which inhibit cultural sovereignty; b) equitable,
effectively creating and distributing cultural opportunities and
correcting the imbalance that has long prejudiced the poor and other
marginalized sector who have the least opportunities for cultural
development and educational growth; c) dynamic, continuously developing
in pace with scientific, technological, social, economic and political
changes both in national and international levels; d) progressive,
developing the vast potential of all Filipinos as responsible change
agents of society; and (e) humanistic, ensuring the freedom and
creativity of the human spirit.
Sec. 5. Culture by the People. — The Filipino
national culture shall be evolved and developed by the people
themselves in a climate of freedom and responsibility.
National cultural policies and programs shall be formulated which shall
be: a) pluralistic, fostering deep respect for the cultural identity of
each locality, region of ethno-linguistic locality, as well as elements
assimilated from other cultures through the natural process of
acculturation; b) democratic, encouraging and supporting the
participation of the vast masses of our people in its programs and
projects; c) non-partisan, open to all people and institution,
regardless of creed, affiliation, ideology, ethnic origin, age, gender
or class, with no organized group or sector having monopoly of its
services, and d) liberative, having concern for the decolonization and
emancipation of the Filipino psyche in order to ensure the full
flowering of Filipino culture.
Sec. 6. Culture for the People. — The creation of
artistic and cultural products shall be promoted and disseminated to
the greatest number of our people. The level of consciousness of our
people about our own cultural values in order to strengthen our culture
and to instill nationhood and cultural unity, shall be raised formally
through the educational system and informally through extra-scholastic
means, including the use of traditional as well as modern media of
communication.
Sec. 7. Preservation of the Filipino Heritage. —
It is the duty of every citizen to preserve and conserve the Filipino
historical and cultural heritage and resources. The retrieval and
conservation of artifacts of Filipino culture and history shall be
vigorously pursued.
TITLE II
ORGANIZATION OF THE NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR CULTURE AND ARTS AND
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FUND
Sec. 8. The Commission. — A National Commission
for Culture and Arts is hereby created to formulate policies for the
development of culture and arts, implement these policies in
coordination with affiliated cultural agencies; administer the National
Endowment Fund for Culture and Arts (NEFCA); encourage artistic
creation within a climate of artistic freedom; develop and promote the
Filipino national culture and arts; and preserve Filipino cultural
heritage. The Commission shall be an independent agency. It shall
render an annual report of its activities and achievements to the
President and to Congress.
Sec. 9. Composition. — The Commission shall be
composed of the following members;
a) the Undersecretary of the Department of Education,
Culture and Sports;
b) the Undersecretary of the Department of Tourism;
c) the Chairman of the House Committee on Culture;
d) the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Culture;
e) the President of the Cultural Center of the
Philippines;
f) the Executive Director of the National Historical
Institute;
g) the Director of the National Museum;
h) the Director of the National Library;
i) the Director of the Institute of Philippine
Languages;
j) the Director of the Records Management and
Archives Office;
k) the Executive Director of the Commission;
l) the Head of the Subcommission on Cultural
Communities and Traditional Arts;
m) three (3) representatives from the private sector
who shall be the elected heads of the three (3) Subcommission
identified hereunder, namely: the Subcommission on Cultural Heritage,
the Subcommission on the Arts and the Subcommission on Cultural
Dissemination. They shall be elected by the chairpersons of the
national committees under their respective Subcommissions.
The Chairman of the Commission shall be elected by the members from
among themselves.
SECTION 10. Term of Office and Compensation. — The
non-ex-officio members of the Commission shall serve for a term of
three (3) years, and shall not serve for more than two (2) successive
terms. Non-ex-officio members shall each receive a per diem of One
thousand pesos (P1,000.00) for actual attendance in the meetings of the
Commission, but not to exceed Five thousand pesos (P5,000.00) a month,
and shall be reimbursed travel expenses incurred for actual attendance
of meetings.
Ex officio members of the Commission shall receive representation and
travel allowances (RATA) in accordance with rates recommended by the
Department of Budget and Management.
SECTION 11. Memberships Restrictions. — During
his/her term as member of the Commission, a Commissioner shall not be
eligible for any grant or such other financial aid from the Commission
as an individual; Provided, however, that he/she may compete for grants
and awards on the same level as other artists one (1) year after
his/her shall have expired.
SECTION 12. Mandate. — The Commission is hereby
mandated to formulate and implement policies and plans in accordance
with the principles stated in Title 1 of this Act.
a) To encourage the continuing and balanced
development of a pluralistic culture by the people themselves, it
shall;
1) encourage and ensure the exercise of the freedom
of expression by eliminating all forms of censorships inimical to
cultural and artistic growth and development without prejudice to the
rights of other people to develop their own culture, or to the
enhancement of a genuinely Filipino culture;
2) extend financial and economic assistance such as
subsidies, artist funds and social security to promote cultural
development and protect artists and cultural workers;
3) ensure the decentralization of opportunities for
creative expression through the establishment of local culture and art
centers in various regions, with resources needed for artistic cultural
activities;
4) extend recognition of artistic achievement through
awards, grants and services to artists and cultural groups which
contribute significantly in the Filipino's cultural legacy;
5) promote the interests and welfare of artists and
cultural workers by protecting their rights to intellectual and
artistic properties as well as by associations which shall promote and
protect the economic and moral rights of artists over the country;
6) encourage and support research into Philippine
artistic traditions which may be adopted for the creation of
contemporary forms;
7) adopt measures and recommend legislations to
protect the intellectual and artistic rights and properties of Filipino
artists, cultural workers and other matters concerning culture and
arts;
8) explore and adopt the best possible structure of
relationship between the public and private sector at the local level,
taking into account varying socio-cultural situations.
b) To conserve and promote the nation's historical
and cultural heritage, it shall;
1) support, monitor and systematize the retrieval and
conservation of artifacts of Filipino culture and history and all
Filipino cultural treasures from all over the archipelago and other
countries;
2) encourage and support the study, recognition and
preservation of endangered human cultural resources such as weavers,
chanters, dancers, and other craftsmen as well as the conservation and
development of such artistic, linguistic and occupational skills as are
threatened with extinction;
3) support and promote the establishment and
preservation of cultural and historical monuments, markers, names and
sites;
4) encourage and support the establishment and/or
maintenance all over the country of museums, libraries, archives,
private or public, as repositories, respectively of all
cultural/historical artifacts and artistic creation, printed works,
archival records and all other materials indispensable to the study and
evaluation of Filipino culture and history;
5) encourage the private sector to establish and
maintain private museums and libraries;
6) encourage and support scholarly research into and
documentation of Philippine cultural traditions, arts and crafts, as
well as significant cultural movements, achievements and personalities
especially in the literary, visual and performing arts; and in mass
media, as well as the various aspects of Filipino culture;
7) encourage and support the writing of Philippine
history from the Filipino perspective;
8) encourage, support and systematize the
audio-visual documentation of Filipino cultural expressions in the
contemporary period.
c) To ensure the wildest dissemination of artistic
and cultural products among the greatest number across the country and
overseas for their appreciation and enjoyment, it shall, with the
cooperation of the Departments of Education, Culture and Sports,
Tourism, Interior and Local Government, Foreign Affairs and all other
concerned agencies, public and private:
1) cause to be established and developed an
intensified arts education program at all levels of the educational
system, public and private, to ensure meaningful arts integration
across the school curriculum;
2) encourage and support programs through
publication, exhibition, production, performance, staging, and
reproduction of original Filipino creations;
3) coordinate and provide technical and/or financial
assistance for cultural events and related activities such as cultural
festivals, competitions, lecturers, seminars, from and symposia;
4) encourage and monitor a comprehensive translation
program which shall make works by Filipinos and selected foreign
classics equally accessible to Filipino as well as international
readers;
5) promote the popularization of information about
artistic and cultural achievements and programs, in coordination with
government agencies and non-government organizations and institutions;
6) reorient tourism programs to become an instrument
for popular education of our people and other about the best of our
heritage and creativity;
7) undertake a systematic collection of statistical
and other data which reflects the state of cultural conditions in the
country, to serve as essential quantitative and qualitative basis for
formulating cultural policies;
8) create and support a sustained program of
international cultural exchange, scholarships, travel grants and other
forms of assistance;
9) promulgate standards and guidelines for the
protection and promotion of Filipino artists, cultural workers and
creative works in other countries;
10) encourage and support the continuous training of
cultural workers and administrators by qualified trainors.
d) To preserve and integrate traditional culture and
its various creative expressions as a dynamic part of the national
cultural mainstream, it shall;
1) help set up or encourage, monitor and subsidize
companion systems at the regional, provincial and local levels,
intended to develop traditional cultures such as arts/crafts centers,
preferably in community settings apart from the usual museum settings,
where exponents of living and crafts can practice and teach their art
an enrich contemporary designs;
2) encourage and subsidize cultural research and the
retrieval of cultural research information (e.g. folklore, dance,
music, crafts) through the training of students, teachers, and cultural
researchers, and their revitalization by practice and performance;
3) ensure that the ultimate beneficiaries of all
research efforts, tourism programs and other activities affecting
cultural communities are the people and cultural communities that are
the subject of research, and that their cultures are nurtured rather
than violated, damaged, or exploited;
4) ensure that relevant information is made available
to legislators who introduce laws with cultural
implication;
5) encourage and support the continuous training of
cultural workers and administrators by qualified trainors.
e) To ensure that standards of excellence are pursued
in programs and activities implementing policies herein stated, it
shall encourage and support continuing discussion and debate, through
symposia, workshops, publications, etc., on the highest norms available
in the matrix of Philippine culture.
SECTION 13. Powers and Functions. — To carry out its
mandate, the Commission shall exercise the following powers and
functions:
a) encourage and facilitate the organization of a
network of regional and local councils for culture and the arts,
hereunder described, to ensure a broad nationwide, people-based
participation in the formulation of plans, the enforcement of
culture-related laws and regulations, the implementation of
programs/projects and the review of funding requirements.
b) establish a secretariat under an Executive
Director for the administrative and day-to day operations of the
Commission;
c) set up a system of networking and coordination
with and among all existing government cultural agencies for the
effective implementation of programs and activities;
d) create committees and other mechanisms to help
expedite the implementation of plans and strategies;
e) call upon and coordinate with other government and
non-government art and cultural institutions and agencies for
assistance in any form;
f) generate resources, both from the Government and
private sectors, local, national and international, for its operation,
as well as for the National Endowment Fund for Culture and Arts;
g) receive and accept donations and other conveyances
including funds, materials, and services, by gratuitous title;
h) administer the National Endowment Fund for Culture
and Arts and give grants for the development, protection, preservation
and dissemination of Philippine culture and arts, and designate a
comptroller;
i) prepare an annual budget of the Commission and
submit the same to the President for inclusion in the annual General
Appropriations Act;
j) advise the President on matters pertaining to
culture and the arts, including the creation of a special decoration or
award, for persons who have significantly contributed to the
development and promotion of Philippine culture and arts;
k) promulgate rules, regulations and undertake any
and all measures as may be necessary to implement this Act;
i) regulate activities inimical to
preservation/conservation of national cultural heritage/properties.
SECTION 14. The Secretariat. — The Commission shall
organize a secretariat headed by an Executive Director. The Commission
shall fix its staffing pattern, determine the duties, qualifications,
responsibilities and functions as well as the compensation scheme for
the positions to be created upon the recommendation of the Executive
Director. The staffing pattern shall be approved and prescribed by the
Commission within one hundred twenty (120) days from the approval of
this Act.
SECTION 15. The Subcommissions. — The Commission
shall oversee the operation and maintenance of National Committees
under the following Subcommissions:
a) Subcommission on Cultural Heritage, which shall
cover but will not be limited to the following areas: libraries and
information services, archives, museums, galleries, monuments, and
sites, and historical research;
b) Subcommission on the Arts, which shall cover but
he will not be limited to the following areas; literary arts, visual
arts, architecture, dramatic arts, broadcast arts, musical arts, dance,
and film;
c) Subcommission on Cultural Dissemination, which
shall cover but will not be limited to the following areas: language
and translation, cultural events, cultural education and information;
d) Subcommission on Cultural Communities and
Traditional Arts, which shall cover but will not be limited to the
following areas; Agta culture and arts, cultures and arts of Northern
cultural communities, Southern cultural communities, Muslim cultural
communities, and lowland cultural communities.
SECTION 16. Local, Provincial or Regional Councils. —
The Commission may establish or coordinate with local, provincial, or
regional government or non-government councils/groups to promote,
develop and implement programs and plans of the Commission.
SECTION 17. The National Advisory Board. — The
chairpersons of the National Committees shall form the National
Advisory Board.
SECTION 18. The National Cultural Agencies. — The
Commission shall coordinate with the national cultural agencies
including but not limited to the Cultural Center of the Philippines,
the Institute of Philippine Languages, the National Historical
Institute, the National Library, the National Museum, the Records
Management and Archives Office, However, they shall continue operating
under their respective charters or as provided by law where provisions
therein are not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act. They
shall serve as the national repository and/or showcase, as the case may
be of the best of Philippine culture and arts. For this purpose, these
agencies shall submit periodic reports, including recommendations to
the Commission.
SECTION 19. Program Plans. — The Commission shall
within three (3) months after having been officially constituted and
finally staffed, adopt and immediately cause to be implemented in
coordination with cultural agencies, a short-range program in support
of relevant existing projects and activities; and within six (6)
months, a long range three-year development program. This development
program shall be developed and subjected to annual review and revision
by the Commission in coordination with the councils as well as public
and private cultural agencies and organizations.
Sec. 20. The National Endowment Fund for Culture
and Arts. — A National Endowment Fund for Culture and Arts (the Fund)
is hereby established exclusively for Philippine art and cultural
programs, projects and activities all over the country.
a) The contribution of the Fund shall be the
following:
1) the amount of One hundred million pesos
(P100,000,000.00) as seed capital shall be taken from the Philippine
Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) fund at Five million pesos
(P5,000,000.00) per month for twenty (20) months: provided, that no
grant shall be awarded by the Commission except from the interest drawn
from the funds; Provided, further, that no grant shall be awarded until
after one (1) year from the organization of the Fund.
2) ten percent (10%) of the travel tax collection,
the share to be taken from the annual allotment of the travel tax given
to the Philippine Tourism Authority.
b) Government corporations are hereby authorized to
give grants to the Fund at their discretion, but not to exceed fifteen
percent (15%) of their unimpaired surplus;
c) The private portion of the Fund shall be raised
from donations and other conveyances including funds, materials,
property and services, by gratuitous title;
d) Contributions to the Fund shall be deductible for
income tax purposes in accordance with the provisions of Sec. 29(h)(2)(A) of the National Internal Revenue Code;
e) For the sound and judicious management of the
Fund, the Commission shall appoint a reputable government-accredited
investment institution as Fund Manager, subject to guidelines
promulgated by the Commission;
f) The Commission shall be the administrator of the
Fund, and as such, shall prepare implementing guidelines and
decision-making mechanisms, subject to the following:
1) unless otherwise stipulated by the private donor,
only earnings of private contributions shall be used;
2) no part of the seed capital of the Fund, including
earnings, thereof, shall be used to underwrite overhead expenses for
administration;
3) not more than twenty percent (20%) of the
Government's annual contribution to the Fund shall be devoted to
administrative functions of the Commission; at least ten percent (10%)
shall be earmarked as part of the fund's capital, and the balance shall
be used for its programs and projects;
4) The Commission shall organize a separate staff,
administratively independent of the secretariat to be headed by a
comptroller appointed by and directly responsible and accountable to
the Commission;
5) There shall be an external auditor to perform an
annual audit of its performance;
6) The Fund shall be exempt from pre-audit by the
Commission on Audit.
Sec. 21. Tax Exemption. — The Commission shall be
exempt on all its income and duty obligations.
All materials that are reasonably necessary and are not manufactured or
produced locally for the use of the Filipino artists shall be tax of
duty free.
Sec. 22. Revolving Fund. — The income of the
Commission not exceeding the amount of Five hundred thousand pesos
(P500,000.00) derived from the proceeds of sales of cultural items or
publications shall be constituted as a revolving fund for the
fabrication of such items or printing of such publications. Sales
proceeds in excess of the aforementioned amount shall be remitted to
the National Treasury and shall accrue to the General Fund.
TITLE III
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Sec. 23. Transitory Provisions. — a) All the
personnel, properties, assets and liabilities of the Presidential
Commission on Culture and Arts (PCCA) created by Executive Order No.
188, are hereby transferred to the Commission as its
successor-in-interest.
b) within a period of one year after the first
meeting of the Commission, it shall harmonize the policies of the
cultural agencies referred to, but limited to those enumerated in
Section 18 of this Act, with those of the Commission as over-all
policy-making and coordinating body, as herein indicated.
Sec. 24. Notice or Consent Requirement. — If any
organizational change herein authorized is of such substance or
materiality as to prejudice third persons with rights recognized by law
or contract such that notice to or consent of said persons or creditors
is required to be made or obtained pursuant to any agreement entered
into with any of such creditors, such notice or consent requirement
shall be complied with prior to the implementation of such
organizational change.
Sec. 25. Separability Clause. — Any portion or
provision of this Act that may be declared unconstitutional shall not
have the effect of nullifying other portions or provisions thereof as
long as such remaining portions or provisions can still subsist and be
given effect in their entirety.
Sec. 26. Saving Clause. — All laws, rules,
regulations, other issuances or parts thereof which are inconsistent
with this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly. All
provisions of Executive Order No. 118 not inconsistent with this Act
shall however remain in full force and effect.
Sec. 27. This Act shall take effect immediately
upon its approval.
Approved: April 3, 1992
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