Ze? RE SE

i VS uN

S

Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

2 DATE: AUG @ 5
\, TIME scape

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

House eit No. 7295

Introduced by HON. JOY MYRA S. TAMBUNTING

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The culture and the arts are not just mere forms of expression and entertainment, more
importantly, they are essential tools for nation building. Arts and Culture is integral to a nation’s
struggle for national identity as it has the ability to evoke dialogue, induce reflection and charter
new relationships and ideas—all of which are essential to a healthy society. This is exemplified
through works of renowned Filipino artists during the Spanish and American Colonial Period,
which have helped shape a sense of national identity among Filipinos.

It is the policy of the State under Section 17, Article II of the Constitution to give priority to arts
and culture so as to “foster patriotism nationalism, accelerate social progress, and promote total
human liberation and development.” However, with the transfer of the administration of cultural
agencies to the National Commission on Culture Arts from the then Department of Education,
Culture and Sports, effective promotion of the culture and arts took the sidelines due to the
limited powers and resources of the NCCA and attached agencies.

In this end, this proposed measure seeks to reorganize the National Commission on Culture and
Arts into and independent Department of Culture or Kagawaran ng Kultura which shall be the
primary policy-formulating, planning, coordinating, implementing, and administrative entity of the
executive branch of the National Government that will develop, manage and implement the
pertinent provisions of the Constitution regarding culture and arts. With more powers and better
resources, the creation of the Department of Culture would be better equipped for the enormous
task of preservation of the Filipino heritage and the promotion and advancement of cultural
education among Filipinos.

On behalf of the people of Parafiaque City’s Second District, and for the common good of the
Filipino people, the approval of the said measure is earnestly sought.
1 il

YRA S. TAMBUNTIN(
2d District, Parafiaque City

“RECEIVED

fs)
a
&

i


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City

EIGHTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 7295

Introduced by HON. JOY MYRA S. TAMBUNTING

AN ACT

ESTABLISHING THE DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE, APPROPRIATING FUNDS

THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

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

ARTICLE I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Section 1. Short Title. — This Act shall be known as the "Department of Culture Act."

Sec. 2. Declaration of Policy. — It is hereby declared the policy of the State:

a) To recognize that culture is a unifying, humanizing and modernizing agent/instrument of

b)

)

°

dd

©

any society, and the patrimony and right of every citizen of the Philippines;
To recognize the vital role of culture in nation-building;

To incorporate considerations of culture in the formulation of appropriate and significant
political and economic policy that will better serve Filipinos and ensure that all Filipinos
enjoy full cultural rights, take full advantage of a dynamic cultural experience, and be
inspired, sustained by, draw from, contribute to and celebrate the country's culture;

To create a national body which will develop, manage and be responsible for the
implementation of policy, legislation and strategic direction for the protection, regulation,
preservation, development, management, dissemination and promotion of the country's
culture, relative to the immense national resources, patrimony and wealth engendered
and amassed through countless generations and centuries of distinctive Filipino ways of
life and experiences in specific natural and social environments that this represents, and
to facilitate the convergence of various agencies with cultural mandates and rationalize
their organizations and functions;

To foster, strengthen, and accelerate the convergence of various cultural offices agencies,
and rationalize their organizations and functions;

To recognize that cultural education is the right of every citizen and herefore ensure that
cultural literacy is inculcated in the development and education of all Filipinos;


) To promote the national language of the country while enhancing the linguistic diversity
of the Philippines; and,

h) To secure and improve the welfare of Filipino artists and cultural workers. The Department
shall continually review the state and needs of culture and arts in the context of the
country's developmental goals.

Sec. 3, Definition of Terms. — For purposes of this Act, the following terms shall be defined as
follow:

a) Art shall refer to the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination;
b) Conservation shall refer to all proc ss 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;

Cultural agencies shall refer to any of the following national government agencies with
their specific areas of responsibility: National Museum of the Philippines (cultural
property), the National Library of the Philippines (books), National Historical Commission
of the Philippines (Philippine history), the National Archives of the Philippines (documents)
the Cultural Center of the Philippines (culture and arts) and Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino
(language);

Cultural Education shall refer to the teaching and learning of cultural concepts and
Processes;

Cultural Heritage shall refer to the totality of cultural property preserved and developed
through time and passed on to posterity;

f) Cultural Property shall refer to all products of human creativity by which people and nation
reveal their identity, including architecture and sites or human activity [churches, mosques
and other places of religious worship, schools] and natural history specimens and sites,
whether public or privately owned, movable or immovable, and tangible or intangible;
Culture shall refer to the broad spectrum of people's beliefs, practices, customs and
traditions, material culture, arts, and other forms of actual and symbolic expressions and
representations which are handed down from one generation to the next in the process
of interaction;

h) History shall refer to a written record of past events relating to Philippine history;

i) 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 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, ICCs/IPs 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; and

Intangible Cultural Heritage shall refer to practices, representations, expressions,
knowledge, skills, as well as instrument, objects and artifacts associated therewith, that

5

d

)

g



communities, groups and individual recognize as part of their cultural heritage, such as:
(1) oral traditions, usages, customs, languages and other expressions; (2) performing
arts; (3) social practices, religious rites, rituals, culinary traditions, and festive events; (4)
knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe, worship and (5) traditional
craftsmanship.

ARTICLE IT
THE DEPARTMENT OF CULTURE

Sec. 4, Creation of the Department of Culture. ~ There is hereby created the Department
of Culture (Kagawaran ng Kultura), 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 as well as the aforementioned policy of the State.

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.

Sec. 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 the 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. 1616, or "Creation of the Intramuros

Administration;" 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 and 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

functions promulgated through executive issuances that pertain to the agencies of the

National Government covered under this Act, which are all hereby transferred in toto to

the Department from the said agencies;

Be responsible for disaster risk reduction and management relative to culture and cultural

property, both through its own programs and projects as well as through the National

Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and Regional Disaster Risk Reduction

0)


d

e)

9.

h)

i)

kK

and Management Councils, on which it shall have full membership, representation and
participation;

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 National Cultural Property, 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 Important Cultural Property and
Heritage House;

Administer the qualification and selection, with appropriate published guidelines pertaining
thereto, of the Award for National Living Treasures (Gawad ng Manilikha ng Bayan), which
is hereby renamed as the Order of National Living Treasures (Orden ng mga Pambansang
Manilikha ng Bayan), and the Order of National Artists (Orden ng mga Pambansang
Alagad ng Sining), and recommend those nominees to either Order who have been
qualified and selected to 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 undergraduate and
graduate degrees;

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

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 consolidated into a single National
Endowment Fund for Culture and Arts (NEFCA) 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.

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

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


Sec. 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, and at least three (3) Undersecretaries, together with the
personnel in their immediate offices.

Sec. 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 have 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.

Sec. 8. Powers and Functions of the Secretary. — The Secretary shall have the following
powers and 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 he effective, efficient and economical operation of the

Department, in accordance with the programs of government;

Promulgate rules and regulations necessary to carry out department mandates, objectives,

policies, functions, plans, programs and projects;

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 penalties for their violation, except when expressly
authorized by law;

Rationalize delivery systems necessary for the effective attainment of the objectives of

the Department, in accordance with the programs of Government;

f) 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;

Sit on 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 (NGOs) and people's organizations (POs)

‘on Department policies and initiatives;

j) 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;

1) Prepare and submit to the President through the Department of Budget and Management
an estimate of the necessary expenditures of the department during the next fiscal year,
on the basis of the reports and estimates submitted by bureaus and officers under the
Department;

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

0

d

)

g

hy

=


n) Performs such other functions as may be provided by law or assigned by the President of
the Republic of the Philippines,

Sec. 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. In general, the undersecretaries shall:

a) Advise and assist the Secretary in the formulation and implementation of department
objectives and policies;

b) Oversee all the operational activities of the bureau or units for which he shall be

responsible as assigned by the Secretary;

Coordinate the programs and projects of the same and be responsible for its economical,

efficient and effective administration;

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

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

©)

dq

Sec. 10. Qualifications. — No person shall be appointed Secretary or Undersecretary of the
Department unless he or she is a natural-born citizen and resident of the Philippines, of good
moral character, and of proven integrity, and with at least five (5) years of competence/ expertise/
experience as either a :
1. manager, advocate, scholar or practitioner in fields of endeavor related to Philippine arts
and culture;
2. manager, advocate, scholar or practitioner in fields of endeavor related to the mandate
and functions of the Department; or
3. a National Artist.

ARTICLE IIT
THE DEPARTMENT SERVICES

Sec. 11. Department Services. - The Department of Culture shall have services which 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 Initiatives 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.

ARTICLE IV
THE BUREAUS

Sec. 12. The Bureaus of the Department. — The Department shall exercise supervision and
control over the following four (6) Bureaus which are created under it:


a) Bureau of Cultural Communities and Traditional Arts Development — 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' institutes for living traditions, encourage the
continued practice and development of traditional arts and crafts, document the
Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices (IKSP), and cause the recognition of
outstanding traditional artists.

b) Bureau of Cultural Properties Protection and Regulation — 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.

©) Bureau of Cultural Properties Preservation — shall formulate and implement plans,
programs, and activities. for the preservation of tangible and intangible cultural heritage,
provide architectural, engineering, scientific and conservation laboratory services, provide
support to monuments and sites, museums and galleries and libraries and archives all
over the country and establish a National Institute of Heritage Conservation.

d) Bureau of Artistic Resources — shall ensure the continuing and balance 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 — 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
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 — shall formulate plans and programs to ignite
the innovative and entrepreneurial mindset of Filipino artists and establish industries in
the various genre of arts, performing arts, cinema, books and publications, creative
designs, culinary and lifestyle and architecture and allied arts, and others.

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 upon the recommendation of the Secretary.

Sec. 13. Powers and Duties of 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. Shall appoint personne! to all positions in his bureau or office, in accordance with 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.


ARTICLE V
THE REGIONAL AND FIELD OFFICES

Sec. 14. Regional Offices of 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. ach regional office shall be headed by a Regional Director,
who may be assisted by one (1) Assistant Regional Director. The Regional Director and Assistant
Regional Director shall be appointed by the President 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 the 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 cultural 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 effective service to the people in the area;

©) Undertake research and gather data on local culture and arts trends and other relevant
cultural and artistic information;

d) Cause to establish and oversee the regional and local culture and arts councils (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 recommendations 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.

Sec. 15. 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.

ARTICLE VI
THE ATTACHED AGENCIES, INSTITUTES, ADVISORY COUNCIL, OVERSEAS OFFICES

Sec. 16. 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:

1. 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 (IA)

. National Parks Development Committee (NPDC)

. Nayong Pilipino Foundation (NPF)

10. Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP)

11. National Book Development Board (NBDB)

12. Design Center of the Philippines

LPENauawn

c) The 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.

Sec. 17. 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

b)

eC

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 and intergenerational transmission of intangible cultural heritage, particularly
that which pertains to indigenous cultural communities;

The National Institute of Cultural Heritage Preservation, and through it, a network of
individual Escuela Talyer (Workshop Schools) 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

The National Institute of Culture and Arts Management, and through it, a network 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 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 he 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 undergraduate and graduate
degrees.

Sec, 18, 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. The
President of the Philippines shall be the Honorary Patron of the National Academy of Culture 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.

Sec, 19. Culture 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.

Sec. 20. 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 representatives
of other LGUs, and GOCCs may be appointed to these working groups.

Sec. 21, Rizal Centers, - The Department shall, through a dedicated organizational unit to be
established for the purpose, establish and manage Rizal Centers or Sentro Rizal, including those
created under R.A. No. 10066 or the "National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009." The primary
Purpose of the Rizal Centers shall be the promotion of, and the facilitation of access by the
constituency of each center to, Philippine 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 centers 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 continue to establish Sentro Rizal as Philippine cultural centers in
key places for the benefit of the global diaspora of Philippine citizens, the global community of
Filipino migrants 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.

Sentro Rizal established overseas shall have a dedicated budget and staff under the Department
and be considered as overseas offices 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 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.

Sec. 22. Overseas Offices. - The Department shall establish overseas offices, preferably to be
located in a present Philippine embassy or consulate, whenever necessary to:


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

b) Promote Filipino culture to the international community;

©) Coordinate with international organizations 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.

ARTICLE VII
REORGANIZATION

Sec. 23. Reorganization. ~ 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 and, where appropriate, its attached agencies.

Sec. 24, 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.

Sec. 25. 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 alter 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.

Sec. 26. 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.

ARTICLE VIII
PROPERTIES OF THE DEPARTMENT

Sec. 27. 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.

Sec. 28. 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.


ARTICLE IX
APPROPRIATIONS AND FINAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 29. Appropriations. - The amount needed for the initial implementation of this Act shall
be taken from the current fiscal year's appropriation for the NCA 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 (Php 2,000,000,000.00).

Sec. 30. 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 alter the effectivity of this Act.

Sec. 31. Separability Clause. — If any portion or provision of this Act is subsequently declared
invalid or unconstitutional, other provisions hereof which are not affected thereby shall remain in
full force and effect.

Sec. 32. Repealing Clause. — All other laws, acts, presidential decrees, executive orders,
presidential proclamations, issuances, rules and regulations, or parts thereof which are contrary
to or inconsistent with any of the provisions of this Act are h r by repealed, amended, or modified
accordingly.

Sec. 33. Effectivity. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the
Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation.

Approved,