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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. _________ 
Introduced by Honorable Richard I. Gomez, DPA 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
Recently, the restored versions of the Filipino film classics Maynila sa mga Kuko ng 
Liwanag (Lino Brocka) and Genghis Khan (Manuel Conde) have been in the news. It is a known 
fact, however, that many other Filipino films in the past have not been so fortunate, and some may 
have been irreversibly lost. It has been estimated that thousands of films have suffered this fate 
due to lack of systematic identification, preservation and restoration efforts. What is curious 
though is that time and again a copy of a film deemed lost accidentally turns up at the United States 
Library of Congress or elsewhere. This bill therefore is premised on that hope or chance, no matter 
how slim and diminishing, that some copies of “lost” Filipino classics may still be traced, acquired 
and preserved for the benefit of our present and future generations.          
Under our present laws, film archiving is mentioned in Section 3 of Republic Act No. 9167, 
the law which created the Film Development Council of the Philippines. Under the said provision, 
one of the powers and functions of the Council is “to ensure the establishment of a film archive in 
order to conserve and protect film negatives and/or prints as part of the nation’s historical, cultural, 
and artistic heritage.” Other than this passing mention, however, of a film archive not much has 
been done along the line of protecting and conserving our film reservoir, understandably due to 
the usual problems of funding constraints and lack of technical expertise and storage infrastructural 
facilities.  
The 1987 Philippine Constitution (Article XIV), however, mandates that insofar as our arts 
and cultural heritage is concerned     
“The State shall 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 and intellectual expression.” (Sec. 14) 
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3:36 pm
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“Arts and letters shall enjoy the patronage of the State. The State shall 
conserve, promote, and popularize the nation’s historical and cultural heritage and 
resources, as well as artistic creations.” (Sec. 15) 
“All the country’s artistic and historic wealth constitutes the cultural 
treasure of the nation and shall be under the protection of the State which may 
regulate its disposition.” (Sec. 16)  
This bill gives life, infuses meaning, and fleshes-out the intent of the foregoing 
constitutional provisions with the end in view of promoting our cinematographic arts and building 
and conserving our Filipino film heritage. Indeed, the film industry is much more than a 
commercial enterprise designed for public entertainment. Cinematic films mirror the human and 
social conditions, dramatizes the people’s struggles towards total liberation and enhances our 
understanding and appreciation of our social values and national identity. 
Based on the foregoing premises, the early approval of this bill is earnestly requested. 
RICHARD I. GOMEZ, DPA 


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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City, Metro Manila 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. _________ 
Introduced by Honorable Richard I. Gomez, DPA 
AN ACT 
CREATING THE NATIONAL FILM ARCHIVE TO BE MANAGED BY THE FILM 
DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
SECTION 1.  There is hereby created a National Film Archive of the Philippines to be 
managed 
and 
maintained 
by 
the 
Film 
Development 
Council. 
SEC. 2. The National Film Archive of the Philippines shall have the following powers and 
functions: 
1. Plan, formulate and implement an archival administration program for the efficient
recovery, restoration, conservation, preservation, maintenance, utilization and disposal of 
cinematographic films including the adoption of security measures and film protection program; 
2. Review and approve films nominated for inclusion in the National Film Archive;
3. Conduct archival researches using materials here and abroad, including background
studies about films considered for inclusion in the National Film Archive; 
4. Acquire through transfer, donation, purchase or any other means film prints and digital
masters of films which have enduring archival value; 
5. Ensure the preservation and conservation of existing and future film archival resources
of the government; 
6. Reproduce and authenticate copies of cinematic films, subject to copyright laws;
7. Facilitate the acquisition of a permanent and suitable building for the National Film
Archives to house the country’s film archival holdings; 
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8. Promote appreciation of and build cultural values from the cinematic films in the 
National Film Archive; 
 
9. Provide for access to the Film Archive for scholarly and research process, subject to 
reasonable guidelines; 
 
10. Make Filipino films readily available for educational, historical, and cultural purposes 
to all segments of Philippine society, as well as the international community; 
 
11. Give technical assistance to all government offices, instrumentalities, and agencies, 
national or local, in the planning, implementation and evaluation of their film archives 
administration program; and 
12. Conduct training programs on film archives management, including the establishment 
of an archival system for both public and private sectors. 
 
SEC. 3. The National Film Archive of the Philippines shall be headed by an executive 
director with a rank equivalent to a bureau director and who shall be assisted by two deputy 
executive 
directors. 
 
The President of the Philippines shall appoint the executive director and the two deputy 
executive directors of the Film Archive from a list of nominees submitted by the Film 
Development Council: Provided, That said officials to be appointed to the Film Archive shall be 
knowledgeable of the artistic, historical, cultural and/or technical aspects of film-evaluation, 
restoration and/or archiving along world-class standards.   
 
The executive director and the deputy executive directors shall serve for a term of two (2) 
years and shall be eligible for reappointment for a second term: Provided, That no director shall 
serve for more than two (2) consecutive terms: Provided further, if any director fails to complete 
a term, the person appointed to fill the vacancy shall serve only for the unexpired portion of the 
term of the director whom he/she succeeds, unless re-appointed: Provided finally, That such 
service of the unexpired portion shall not counted as a term. 
 
The National Film Archives shall establish its own staffing pattern, and salary and 
compensation scheme, within six months from the effectivity of this Act, subject to the rules and 
regulations of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Civil Service 
Commission 
(CSC).  
 
SEC 4-a. Philippine National Archive Building. The National Film Archive of the 
Philippines shall be tasked to design, construct and manage the Philippine National Archive 
Building, which shall be the physical repository of archived films. Said facility shall be an edifice 
that is capable of providing archival conditions, such as, temperature, humidity, lighting, 
protection from weather and disasters, and other requirements.  


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SEC 4-b. Location of Philippine National Archive Building. Since the heaviest cost in 
maintaining the archival edifice would be electric power supply, this Act mandates that the 
Philippine National Archive Building be located in Ormoc City, due to its proximity to low-cost, 
carbon-negative and renewable power in the form of geothermal energy. Furthermore, this Act 
mandates the Energy Development Corporation to supply power to the Philippine National 
Archive 
Building 
at 
the 
lowest 
cost.  
 
SEC. 5. Film companies or individual producers are hereby required to submit, at 
reasonable cost, a copy of their film to the National Film Archive within three (3) months from its 
official release.   
 
SEC. 6. The Film Development Council shall, in consultation with the National Historical 
Institute, National Commission for Culture and the Arts, and the National Archives of the 
Philippines, issue the necessary rules and regulations to implement the provisions hereof. 
 
SEC. 7. The amount necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act shall be included in 
the General Appropriations Act of the year following its enactment into law and thereafter.  
 
SEC. 8.  All acts, decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations and other issuances or 
parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, modified or amended. 
 
SEC. 9. If for any reason, any portion or provision of this Act be declared unconstitutional, 
other parts or provisions hereof which are not affected thereby shall continue to be in full force 
and 
effect. 
 
SEC. 10. This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication either in the 
Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation. 
 
 
Approved,