Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

TWENTIETH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No. 4176

Introduced by: REPRESENTATIVE ERIC L. OLIVAREZ

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Culture, which is the broad spectrum of people's beliefs, practices, customs
and traditions, and other forms of actual and symbolic expressions which are handed
from generation to generation, plays a big role in creating the country's national
identity, despite its diversity. It brings together Filipinos although separated by
different islands, beliefs and customs. It is what binds the Filipinos as one. Thus, in
order to further develop Philippine culture to reach greater heights in advancing the
Philippines’ national identity, the creation of a Department of Culture is hereby
proposed.

The Department of Culture shall, among others, focus on the protection,
preservation, regulation, development, management, dissemination and promotion
of the cultural, historical and artistic heritage and resources, tangible and intangible,
of the Philippines and the Filipino people.

As such, the passage of this Bill is earnestly sought.

ewe.
ERIC L. OLIVAREZ


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Constitution Hills, Quezon City

TWENTIETH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

House Bill No._ 4176

Introduced by: REPRESENTATIVE ERIC L. OLIVAREZ

AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE,
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Republic of the
Philippines in Congress assembled.

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Department of
Culture Act”.

SECTION 2. Definition of Policy. - It is hereby declared the policy of the
State to:

a. Foster the preservation, enrichment and dynamic evolution of a Filipino
national culture based on the principle of unity in diversity in a climate
of free artistic expression;

b. Conserve, promote, and popularize the nation's historical and cultural
heritage and resources, as well as artistic creations;

c. Recognize, respect and protect the rights of indigenous cultural
communities to preserve and develop their cultures, traditions and
institutions;

d. Create a national body, which will be responsible for the
implementation of policy, legislation and strategic direction for the
protection, regulation, development, management, dissemination and
promotion of the country’s culture;


e. Ensure equal access to cultural opportunities through the educational
system, public or private cultural entities, scholarships, grants and other
incentives, and community cultural centers, and other public venues;
and

f. Encourage and support research and studies on the arts and culture.
SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. —

a. “Art” shall refer to the expression or application of human creative skill
and imagination.

b. “Conservation” shall refer to all process and measures of maintaining
the cultural significance of a cultural property, including but not limited
to, preservation, restoration, reconstruction, protection, adaptive re-use
or any combination thereof.

c. “Cultural Education” shall refer to the teaching and learning of cultural
concepts and processes.

d. “Cultural Heritage” shall refer to the totality of cultural property
preserved and developed through time and passed on to posterity.

e. “Cultural Property” shall refer to all products of human creativity by
which people and nation reveal their identity, including architecture and
sites of human activity and natural history specimens and sites, whether
public or privately owned, movable or immovable, and tangible or
intangible.

f. “Culture” shall refer to the broad spectrum of people's beliefs, practices,
customs and traditions and other forms of actual and symbolic
expressions which are handed from generation to generation.

g. “Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples” shall refer to
a group of people or homogenous societies identified by self-ascription
and ascription by others, who have continuously lived as an organized
community on communally bounded and defined territory, and who
have, under claims of ownership since time immemorial, occupied,
possessed and utilized such territories, sharing common bonds of
language, customs, traditions and other distinctive cultural traits, or
who have, through resistance to political, social and cultural inroads of


colonization, non-indigenous religions and cultures, became
historically differentiated from the majority of Filipinos. It shall
likewise include peoples who are regarded as indigenous on account of
their descent from the populations which inhabited the country, at the
time of conquest or colonization, or at the time of inroads of non-
indigenous religions and cultures, or the establishment of present state
boundaries, who retain some or all of their own social, economic,
cultural and political institutions, but who may have been displaced
from their traditional domains, or who may have resettled outside their
ancestral domains.

h. “Intangible Cultural Heritage” shall refer to practices, representations,
expressions, knowledge, skills, as well as instrument, objects and
artifacts associated therewith, that communities, groups and individuals
recognize as part of their cultural heritage.

i. “Escuela Taller”- or non-formal schools catering to out of school youth
and under privileged yet talented artisans that teach students about the
Filipino artistry and craftsmanship of our forebears, and to enable them
to contribute towards proper conservation of important cultural assets,
such as but not limited to old houses, historic monuments and
landmarks, colonial churches and civic buildings, cemeteries and
similar cultural assts. They differ from traditional schools by
prioritizing experiential learning and often focus on developing specific
skills through practical activities and collaborative projects.

SECTION 4. Creation of the Department - There is hereby created the
Department of Culture (hereinafter referred to as the Department), which shall be
the primary policy-formulating, planning, coordinating, implementing, and
administrative entity of the executive branch of the National Government that will
implement the pertinent provisions of the Constitution regarding culture and arts.

The Department with its attached agencies shall be responsible for the
protection, preservation, regulation, development, management, dissemination and
promotion of the cultural historical and artistic heritage and resources, tangible and
intangible, of the Philippines and the Filipino people, all of which, with their
physical and social contexts and environments, are understood as together
constituting and pertaining to Philippine culture for purposes of this Act.

The Department shall continually review the state and needs of culture and
arts in the context of the country's developmental goals.


SECTION 5. Powers and Functions. - The Department shall exercise the
following powers and functions:

a. Formulate and implement national policies, plans, programs and
guidelines for the protection, preservation, regulation, development,
management, dissemination and promotion of culture, to ensure overall
consistency, effectiveness, efficiency, and conformity with policies of
the State articulated in the Constitution as well as in this Act and other

pertinent laws and issuances;

b. Assume and exercise all existing regulatory and quasi- judicial
functions established under Republic Act No. 4846, or “The Cultural
Properties Preservation and Protection Act”; Presidential Decree No.
374 or “Amending the Cultural Properties Preservation and Protection
Act”; Presidential Decree No. 1748, or “An Act Amending the Charter
of the Intramuros Administration”; Republic Act No. 8491, or the “Flag
and Heraldic Code of the Philippines”; Republic Act No. 9105, or “Art
Forgery Act of 2001”; Republic Act No. 10066, or “The National
Cultural Heritage Act of 2009”; and Republic Act No. 10086 or
“Strengthening Peoples’ Nationalism through Philippine History Act”;
as well as such other functions promulgated through executive
issuances pertaining to the agencies of the National Government
covered under this Act; which all hereby transferred in toto to the
Department from the said agencies;

c. Assume responsibility regarding disaster risk reduction and
management relative to culture and cultural property through creation
of programs and projects in coordination with the National Disaster
Risk Reduction and Management Council and Regional Disaster Risk
Reduction and Management Councils, on which it shall have full
membership, representation and participation;

d. Recommend to the President of the Philippines the designation, through
Presidential Proclamation, with appropriate published guidelines
pertaining thereto, of a cultural property, whether immovable or
movable, tangible or intangible, as a National Cultural Monument, a
category hereby established which incorporates the previously-
established legal definitions of, criteria pertaining to, and all cultural
property previously declared by authorized agencies as National
Cultural Treasure, National Historical Landmark, National Historical
Shrine, National Historical Monument, and National Historical Site;


. Designate, through Department Order, and with appropriate published
guidelines pertaining thereto, cultural property, whether immovable or
movable, tangible or intangible, as a National Cultural Monument, a
category hereby established which incorporates the previously
established legal definitions of, criteria pertaining to, and all cultural
property previously declared by authorized agencies as National
Cultural Treasure, National Historical Landmark, National Historical
Shrine, National Historical Monument and National Historical House;

. Administer the qualification and selection, with appropriate published
guidelines pertaining thereto, of the Award for National Living
Treasures, which is hereby renamed as the Order of National Living
Treasures (Order ng mga Pambansang Manlilikha ng Bayan), and the
Order of National Artists (Order ng mga Pambansang Alagad ng
Sining), and recommend those nominees to either Order who have been
qualified and selected by the President of the Philippines for
proclamation as such and conferral of the same;

. Undertake, through a National Institute of Culture and Arts
Management and the Institutes of Living Traditions, to be established
for the purpose, in an appropriate partnership with the academic sector,
the education, training and certification of cultural officers and
personnel as a necessary qualification for employment and promotion
in the National Government and in local governments where such might
be required by the Department in coordination with the Civil Service
Commission and the Career Executive Service Board, at the career sub-
professional, career professional, and career executive levels, to include
appropriate courses and programs towards certificates, diplomas, and
career executive levels, to include appropriate courses and programs
towards certificates, diplomas, and undergraduate and graduate
degrees;

. Administer the qualification, selection and conferral of such other
awards as it may establish in support of its mandate;

i. Support the development of the cultural, artistic and creative industries

of the country, in all particulars and at all levels;

|. Administer the endowment funds established separately under Section
20 of Republic Act No. 7356, the Law Creating the National
Commission for Culture and the Arts, and Section 50 of Republic Act
No. 10066, which are herein considered into a single National
Endowment Fund for Culture and Arts that shall continue to be sourced


and augmented as provided by the aforementioned provisions, and
provide financial support from this fund for various national programs
through a system of grants drawing from the proceeds, including both
principal and interest, of the same, subject to the approval of the
Department of Budget and Management;

k. Represent the Philippines in matters pertaining to culture in overseas
regional and international organizations and events; and

1. Other powers and functions as may be created, assigned or transferred
by the President of the Philippines in accordance with law.

SECTION 6. Composition - The Department proper shall include the Office
of the Secretary and the staff units directly under it, including the Services
established herein. The Office of the Secretary shall consist of the Secretary, at least
three (3) Undersecretaries, and at least five (5) Assistant Secretaries, together with
the personnel in their immediate offices

SECTION 7. Secretary of Culture - The authority and responsibility for the
exercise of the mandate of the Department and for the discharge of its powers and
functions shall be vested in the Secretary, who shall supervision and control of the
Department and shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines, subject to the
confirmation by the Commission on Appointments.

SECTION 8. Powers and Function the Secretary - The Secretary shall have
the following functions:

a. Provide executive direction and supervision over the entire operations
of the Department and exercise administrative supervision over its
attached agencies;

b. Establish policies and standards for the effective, efficient and
economical operation of the Department, in accordance with the
programs of the government;

c. Promulgate rules and regulations necessary to carry out department
mandates, objectives, policies, functions, plans, programs and projects;

d. Promulgate administrative issuances necessary for the efficient
administration of the offices under the Secretary and for proper
execution of the laws relative thereto. These issuances shall not
prescribe the imposition of penalties for their violation, exception when
expressly authorized by law;


m.

. Rationalize delivery systems necessary for the effective attainment of

the objectives of the Department, in accordance with the programs of
the Government;

. Appoint all officers and employees of the Department except those

whose appointments are vested in the President or in some other
appointing authority, and shall appoint employees to positions in the
second level in the regional offices as defined in this Act and in
accordance with the Civil Service laws, rules and regulations;

. Exercise disciplinary powers over officers and employees under the

Secretary in accordance with law, including their investigation and the
designation of a committee or officer to conduct such investigation;

.. Siton the governing boards of attached agencies as provided in this Act,

as well as any other agencies or organizations as may be appropriate or
designated;

Coordinate with local governments, other agencies and public and

private interests groups, including non-government organizations and
people's organizations on Department policies and initiatives;

. Advise the President of the Philippines and make recommendations on

the promulgation of executive and administrative orders and regulatory
and legislative proposals on matters pertaining to culture;

. Formulate and enforce a system of measuring and evaluating

periodically and objectively the performance of the Department and
submit the same annually to the President;

|. Prepare and submit to the President through the Department of Budget

and Management an estimate of the necessary expenditures of the
during the next fiscal year, on the basis of the reports and estimates
submitted by bureaus and officers under the Department;

Exercise jurisdiction over all bureaus, offices, agencies and
corporations under the Department as are provided by law; and,

. Performs such other functions as may be provided by law or assigned

by the President of the Republic of the Philippines.


SECTION 9. Undersecretaries — The Secretary shall be assisted by three
(3) Undersecretaries who shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines upon
the recommendation of the Secretary, at least two (2) of whom shall be career
officers. The powers of the undersecretaries are:

a. Advise and assist the Secretary in the formulation and oversee all the
operational activities of the bureau or units for which he shall be
responsible as assigned by the Secretary;

b. Coordinate the programs and projects of the same and be responsible
for its economical, efficient and effective administration;

c. Whenever necessary be designated to serve as deputy to the Secretary
in all matters relating to the operations of the department; the
designated Undersecretary will temporarily discharge the duties of the
Secretary in the latter's absence or inability to discharge his or her duties
for any cause or in case of vacancy of the said office, unless otherwise
provided by law, the President of the Philippines shall likewise make
the temporary designation of Acting Secretary to the same; and

d. Perform such other functions and duties as may be provided by law.

SECTION 10. Assistant Secretaries. — The Secretary shall be assisted by at
least give (5) Assistant Secretaries, all of whom shall be appointed by the President
of the Philippines upon the recommendation of the Secretary, at least three (3) of
whom shall be career officers. The Assistant Secretaries shall be in charge of specific
areas of responsibility as may be established by the Secretary.

SECTION 11. Qualifications. No person shall be appointed Secretary,
Undersecretary or Assistant Secretary of the Department unless he or she is a citizen
and resident of the Philippines, of good moral character, and of proven integrity, and
with at least seven (7) years of competence/expertise/experience as manager,
advocate, scholar or practitioner in fields of endeavor related to Philippine culture
and the mandate and functions of the Department.

SECTION 12. Department Services. - The Department of Culture shall
include the General Administrative Service, Financial Management Service, Policy
and Planning Service, Legal Affairs Service, Physical Facilities Management
Service, Human Resources Development Service, Strategic Communications and
Initiative Service, Knowledge and Information Systems, Project Evaluation and


Monitoring Service, Foreign Assisted and Special Projects Service, Internal Audit
Service, Endowment Management Service, Grants Management Service.

SECTION 13. The Bureaus of the Department - The Department shall
exercise supervision and control over the following Bureaus created under it:

a. Bureau of Cultural Communities and Traditional Arts Development.
- This Bureau shall formulate and implement plans, programs and
activities for the development of the different cultural communities all
over the country, ensure the preservation and dissemination of the
country's diverse cultures, establish schools for living traditions,
encourage the continued practice and development of traditional arts
and crafts, document the Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices,
and cause the recognition of outstanding traditional artists.

b. Bureau of Cultural Properties Protection and Regulation - This
bureau shall be in-charge of the registration and documentation of the
nation's historical and cultural properties, issue permits and licenses,
conduct inspection and assessment on cultural properties, implement
Disaster Risk Reduction program for the cultural assets, enforce laws
on cultural heritage conservation and intellectual property protection
for artists and cultural experts.

c. Bureau of Cultural Properties Preservation - This bureau shall be
responsible for formulating and implementing plans, programs and
activities for the preservation of tangible and intangible cultural
heritage, providing architectural, engineering, scientific and
conservation laboratory services, providing support to monuments and
sites, museums and galleries and libraries and archives all over the
country and in establishing a National Institute of Heritage
Conversation.

d. Bureau of Artistic Development - This bureau shall ensure the
continuing and balanced development of the nation's artistic heritage in
its various forms; performing arts, film and media arts, visual arts,
architecture and allied arts and literature, provide support to regional
and local culture and arts centers, performing arts and exhibition
venues, ensure the welfare of artists and cultural workers, undertake
human resource development programs for artists, and establish the
National Academy for Culture and Arts and National Institute for
Culture and Arts Management.


e. Bureau of Cultural Research, Education and Dissemination - This
bureau shall undertake cultural research for policy and program
development, publish cultural materials, especially on positive Filipino
values for dissemination, manage the cultural education program for the
country, ensure the development and promotion of Philippine
languages, implement national translation program, and implement
national promotion program in various forms of media.

f. Bureau of Cultural and Creative Industries - This bureau shall
formulate plans and programs to ignite the innovative and
entrepreneurial mindset of Filipino artists and establish industries in the
various genres of arts: performing arts, cinema, books and publications,
creative designs, culinary and lifestyle and architecture and allied arts,
and others.

SECTION 14. The Bureau Director - Each Bureau shall be headed by a
Bureau Director, who shall be assisted by one (1) Assistant Bureau Director. The
Bureau Director and Assistant Bureau Director shall be appointed by the President
of the Philippines upon the recommendation of the Secretary.

SECTION 15. Powers and Functions of the Bureau Director - The Bureau
Director shall be its chief executive officer. He shall exercise overall authority in
matters within the jurisdiction of the bureau, including those relating to its
operations, and enforce all laws and regulations pertaining to it. The Bureau Director
shall appoint personnel to all positions in his bureau or office, in accordance with the
law. In the case of the line bureau or office, the head shall also appoint the second
level personnel of the regional offices, unless such power has been delegated. He shall
have the authority to discipline employees in accordance with the Civil Service Law.

SECTION 16. Regional Offices the Department - The Department is hereby
authorized to establish, operate and maintain a Regional Office, whenever
appropriate, in each of the administrative regions of the country. Each regional office
shall be headed by a Regional Director, who may be assisted by one (1) Assistant
Regional Director who shall both be appointed by the President of the Philippines
upon the recommendation of the Secretary: Provided, That they shall be persons
recognized as an accomplished manager, advocate, scholar or practitioner in fields of
endeavor related to Philippine culture in a region, or any suitably qualified person in
accordance with Civil Service Commission (CSC) rules and regulations.


It may also establish satellite, extension or field offices when and wherever
necessary, particularly in locations where significant culture and heritage properties
and concerns are identified to exist, and to support the operations, programs and
projects of its attached and other concerned agencies and institutions. A regional office
shall have, within its administrative region, the following functions:

a. Implement laws, policies, plans, programs, rules and regulations of the
department or agency in the regional area;

b. Provide economical, efficient and efficient service to the people in the
area;

c. Undertake research arid gather data or local culture and arts trends and
other relevant culture and arts trends and other relevant cultural and
artistic information;

d. Cause to establish and oversee the regional and local culture and arts
council (as far as the city and municipal level) to engage participation
of local artists and cultural workers;

e. Coordinate with regional offices of other departments, bureaus and
agencies in the area;

f. Coordinate with local government units in the area;

g. Make recommendation to the Secretary on all matters relating to culture
and arts in the region; and,

h. Perform such other functions as may be provided by law.

SECTION 17. Duties of a Regional Director. — The Regional Director shall
perform duties and functions as may be provided by law or further delegated by the
head of agency or other proper authorities concerned.

SECTION 18. The Attached Agencies.—

a. The National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) is hereby
abolished and their powers and functions, applicable funds and
appropriations, records, equipment, property, and personnel transferred to
the Department.


b. The following agencies are hereby attached to the Department for
policy and program coordination, and shall continue to operate and
function in accordance with the charters, laws or orders creating them,
insofar as they are not inconsistent with this act:

i.

vi.

vii.

viii.

xi.

xii.

c. The

Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP)

National Museum of the Philippines (NMP)

National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP)
National Library of the Philippines (NLP)

National Archives of the Philippines (NAP)

Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino (KWF)

Intramuros Administration (1A)

National Parks Development Committee (NPDC)
Nayong Pilipino Foundation (NPF)

Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP)
National Book Development Board (NBDB)

Design Center of the Philippines

laws and rules on government reorganization as

provided for in Republic Act No. 6566, otherwise known as the
Reorganization law, shall govern the organization process of the
Department.

SECTION 19. National Institutes. The following National Institutes, with
their respective networks throughout the country, shall be established under the

Department:

a. The National Institute of Living Traditions, and through it, a network


of individual Schools of Living Traditions to be established, which,
with the support of appropriate partnerships, shall be responsible for
programs and projects related to the safeguarding, sustainability,
propagation arid intergenerational transmission of intangible cultural
heritage, particularly that which pertains to indigenous cultural
communities;

b. The National Institute of Cultural Heritage Preservation, and though it,
anetwork of individual Escuela Taller to be established, which with the
support of appropriate partnerships, shall be responsible for programs
and projects related to national capacity building in the area of
conservation arts, sciences and trades with respect to the preservation
of immovable and movable cultural property and with a particular focus
on vocational training for youth; and

c. The National Institute of Culture and Arts Management, and through it,
anetwork of individual Culture and Arts Management Training Centers
to be established, which, with the support of appropriate partnerships,
shall be responsible for programs and projects related to the education,
training and certification of cultural officers and personnel as a
necessary qualifications for employment and promotion in the National
Government and in local government where such might be required by
the Department in coordination with the Civil Service Commission and
the Career Executive Service Board, at the career sub-professional, and
career executive levels, to include appropriate courses and programs
towards certificates, diplomas, and undergraduate and graduate
degrees.

SECTION 20. National Academy of Culture and Arts. - There is hereby
established under the Department a National Academy of Culture and Arts, which
shall be an institutionalized association of the nation's foremost leaders and
exponents of culture and arts, the primary purpose of which is to support the mandate
of the Department as an independent body of eminent persons in culture and the arts.
The President of the Philippines shall be the Honorary Patron of the National
Academy of Cultural and Arts.

The structure and organization of the Academy, including the specification of
its functions, procedures as to its governance and the selection of its members, and
the composition of its secretariat, shall be contained in a charter to be formulated by
the Department and promulgated by the President of the Philippines through an


Executive Order within one (1) year of the effectivity of this Act.

SECTION 21. Cultural and Arts Advisory Councils. - The Department shall
facilitate the creation of a National Culture and Arts Advisory Council, a Regional
Culture and Arts Advisory Council, and a Local Culture and Arts Advisory Council,
to assist the Department in the implementation of culture and arts initiatives.

SECTION 22. Sectoral and Industry Task Forces. The Department may
create a sectoral and industry task forces, technical working groups, advisory bodies
or committees for the furtherance of its objectives. Additional private sector
representatives, such as from the academe, CSOs, and federation of private
industries directly involved in culture and the arts as well as representative of other
LGUs, and GOCCs may be appointed to these working groups.

SECTION 23. Rizal centers. — The Department shall, through a dedicated
organizational unit to be established for the purpose, establish and manage centers,
to be known as Rizal centers (Sentro Rizal), throughout the country and overseas,
the primary purpose of which shall be the promotion of, and the facilitation of access
by the constituency of each center to, Philippine culture generally as well as the
culture generally as well as the cultural resources managed by the Department and
its attached agencies in particular.

Domestically, the Department shall establish Sentro Rizal as regional cultural
center and hubs, to be supervised and operated appropriately through its regional
offices. Such regional centers shall include exhibition and performance venues, and
facilities enabling access to knowledge resources, particularly those pertaining to
vernacular language resources.

Overseas, the Department shall establish Sentro Rizal as Philippine cultural
centers in key places for benefit of the global diaspora of Philippine citizens the
global community of Filipino migrant or descendants thereof, and all who are
interested in Philippine culture. The Department for this purpose shall coordinate
with the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Commission on Filipinos Overseas, and
other concerned agencies.

Such Sentro Rizal as may be established overseas shall have a dedicated
budget and staff under the Department and be considered as overseas office thereof,
shall function as repositories of Philippine cultural resources, shall carry out active
programs and projects to engage their respective constituencies, and shall offer
courses in the national language and any other Filipino languages as may


appropriate.

The operations of the Sentro Rizal network of the Department, both
domestically and overseas, shall be considered as one its permanent flagship
programs, and shall therefore be specifically provided for in the General
Appropriations Act for every fiscal year.

Article XII, including Sections 42 to 47, of Republic Act No. 10066 is hereby
repealed.

SECTION 24. Overseas Offices. - The Department shall establish overseas
whenever necessary to:

a. Implement plans, programs and projects of the Department relative to
communities of Philippine citizen abroad;

b. Promote Filipino culture to the international community;

c. Coordinate with international organization as well as with the overseas
offices of other departments, offices and agencies of the Philippine
government; and

d. Perform such other functions as may be provided by law.

SECTION 25. Structure and Staffing Pattern. The laws and rules on
government reorganization as provided for in Republic Act No. 6656, otherwise
known as the Reorganization Law, shall govern the reorganization process of the
Department arid, where appropriate, its attached agencies.

SECTION 26. Structure and Staffing Pattern. - Subject to the approval of
the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the Department and, where
appropriate, its attached agencies, shall determine its organizational structure and
create new divisions or units as it may deem necessary and shall appoint officers and
employees of the Department and its attached agencies in accordance with the Civil
Service Law, rules, and regulations.

SECTION 27. Transition Period. - The transfer of functions, assets, funds,
equipment, properties, transactions, and personnel of affected agencies, and the
formulation of the internal organic structure, staffing pattern, operating system, and
revised budget of the Department, shall be completed within six (6) months from the


effectivity of this Act, during which time, the existing personnel shall continue to
assume their posts in holdover capacities until new appointments are issued:
Provided, that after the abolition of the agency, as specified in Section 17(a) of this
Act, the Department, in coordination with the DBM, shall determine and create new
positions, the funding requirement of which shall not exceed the equivalent cost of
positions abolished.

SECTION 28. Separation from Service. - Employees separated from the
service as a result of this reorganization shall, within ninety (90) days therefrom,
receive the separation and retirement benefits to which they may be entitled under
Executive Order No. 366. Provided, that such separation pay and retirement benefits
shall have priority of payment out of the savings of the department or agency.

SECTION 29. Post Office Building and Liwasang Bonifacio. - The Post
Office Building, currently the property of the Philippine Postal Corporation
(PhilPost), and the area known as Liwasang Bonifacio (formerly Plaza Lawton), both
in the City of Manila, are hereby appropriated for the exclusive use and central office
premises of the Department of Culture and its attached agencies.

SECTION 30. Other Properties. - Real and movable properties owned by
those agencies abolished or absorbed into the Department under this Act, namely the
National Commission for Culture and the Arts Building and the Metropolitan
Theatre, shall be transferred to the Department.

SECTION 31. Appropriations. - The amount needed for the initial
implementation of this Act shall be taken from the current fiscal year's appropriation
for the NCCA through the Office of the President, and other appropriations available
for the purpose. Thereafter, the amount needed for the operation and maintenance of
the Department proper shall be included in the General Appropriations Act, provided
that for the next fiscal year, the amount shall be no less than Two Billion Pesos
(Php2,000,000,000.00).

SECTION 32. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The Office of the
President, in consultation with other government agencies mentioned in this Act,
shall promulgate its implementing rules and regulations within ninety (90) days after
the effectivity of this Act.

SECTION 33. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive orders, rules
and regulations and other issuances or parts thereof that are inconsistent with this
Act are hereby repealed in full force and effect.


SECTION 34. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act shall be
declared unconstitutional or invalid, the other provisions not otherwise affected shall
remain in full force and effect.

SECTION 35. Effectivity Clause. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15)
days from publication in at least two (2) papers of general circulation.

Approved,