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Republic ofthe Philippines
House of Representatives © oareO3 JUL 2017
Quezon City ( Tig:
SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL NO. 5924

INTRODUCED BY CONGRESSMAN ALFRED VARGAS
EXPLANATORY NOTE

The 1987 Philippine Constitution recognizes the roles that arts, culture,
and traditions play in developing a world class nation. Article XIV provides:

Section 14. 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.

Section 17. The State shall recognize, respect, and protect the
rights of indigenous cultural communities to preserve and develop
their cultures, traditions, and institutions. It shall consider the rights
in the formulation of national plans and policies.

Despite all of these, Filipino artists struggle with the financial limitations
of their career. For one, artists are not entitled to the standardized benefits as
those enjoyed by regular workers: they are yet to be provided with medical,
disability, retirement, death insurance, and housing benefits,

This bill seeks to uplift the morale of Filipino artists, including those who
are members of the indigenous cultural communities, so they can continue to
contribute to the artistic and cultural development of the country. Under this
proposal, our artists shall be provided with health and hospitalization benefits to
ease the plight of artists who have been stricken with illnesses. They will also be
provided with housing benefits, free legal aid, and options for alternative
careers.

In view of the foregoing, the passage of this bill is earnestly sought.

VAR\


Republic of the Philippines
House of Representatives
Quezon City

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
Second Regular Session

HOUSE BILL non924

INTRODUCED BY CONGRESSMAN ALFRED VARGAS

AN ACT
PROVIDING FOR PROTECTION OF ARTISTS’ WELFARE

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

ARTICLE I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

SECTION 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the “Artists Welfare
Protection and Information Act.”

SEC. 2. Declaration of Policy.~ The State shall protect and promote the
rights of an artist to be considered as a person actually engaged in cultural work
and to benefit from all legal, social and economic advantages pertaining to the
status of workers. Pursuant to this, the state shall:

a) Improve the social security, labor, medical, and legal conditions of the
artist, whether employed, self-employed or working freelance, taking
into account their contributions to cultural, social and economic
development, through a system of accreditation.

A)

Help create and sustain a culture encouraging freedom of artistic
expression and communication, and to facilitate the release of
necessary resources in developing the artists’ creative talents.

©) Recognize artists as professionals, granting them the corresponding
rights and privileges, to enable them to collectively defend their
common interests;

d) Protect the artists’ sensibilities and material rights over their works or
performances, or any other use made of them to confirm their artistic

dignity and integrity.


e) Provide second/alternative career opportunities to artists who wish to
retire from their respective art.

f) Develop means of providing welfare and legal information to artists.

The State is submitting this legislation in honor of the countless
recognitions and achievements of the Filipino Artists.

SEC. 3. Coverage. This Act applies to all accredited artists, as defined
herein, employed and working within the country, and those outside of the
country who are covered by recruitment programs/contracts and placement
offices /agencies.

‘SEC. 4. Definition of Terms. -

a) Accreditation -shall mean the assessment, of an artist or
guild based on the Accreditation Requirements as provided
herein, for purposes of availing the provisions and benefits
provided in this Act.

b) Accredited Artist- refers to an artist who is a Filipino, at
least eighteen (18) years of age, and in compliance with the
requirements for Accreditation provided in Section 7, or
those members of existing arts guilds duly registered and
accredited as provided for by law.

Q

Artist - It is taken to mean any person who creates or gives
creative expression to, or recreates works of art, who
considers his artistic creation to be an essential part of his
life, who contributes in this way to the development of art
and culture and who is or asks to be recognized as an artist,
whether or not he is bound by any relations of employment
or association. This includes Indigenous Artists and Cultural
Performers.

d) Collecting Agent/Foreign Collecting Agent - It shall refer
to any person, natural or juridical, domestic or foreign
including for purposes of foreign work, manning, placement
and recruitment agencies, who hire and use the services of an
artist. The collecting agent shall be responsible for the
remittance of contribution of the artist to the Social Security
‘System (SSS)/Government Service Insurance System (GSIS),
Home Development Mutual Fund(Pag-ibig) and Philippine
Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth). The contribution
shall be automatically deducted from the compensation paid
to the artist.

e) Cultural Performer - refers to an artist who practice
culturally-accepted art forms in their communities, such as


composo, zarzuela, and other forms of art not defined herein.
It may also refer to an artist who, although not a member of
any Indigenous Cultural Community/Indigenous Peoples
(ICC/IP) group, has been consented by the latter to use IP
clothing and related paraphernalia, artifacts, other cultural
symbols and expressions, in accordance with the community
standards and attributed meanings.

f) Indigenous Peoples Artists - refers to artists who are
members of Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous
Peoples groups who themselves are certified by their
respective community as bearers of oral traditions,
literature, designs, visual, performing arts and other cultural
expressions.

g) Second/Alternative Career ~ is any career, as enumerated
under Sec, 16 of this Act, which an artist may engage into
after leaving their main career due to age, incapacity and
other reasons, or any career which an artist may engage into
while still active in their major area of specialization due to
the latter's seasonal or contractual nature.

h) Welfare Protection- shall refer to the government's duty of
providing rights and privileges to duly accredited artists, and
ensuring the protection of their works and talents to
maintain a minimum standard of well-being, specifically
providing $SS/GSIS, Pag-ibig and PhilHealth, among other

nefits.

i) Welfare Information - shall refer to the government's duty
to provide knowledge awareness and understanding to duly
accredited artists in terms of legal, medical, proprietary,
educational, and second careers/alternative careers, among
others.

ARTICLE Il
RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES

SEC. 5, Benefits. - An accredited artist shall have the rights and privileges
to be provided with PhilHealth, SSS/GSIS, Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-
IBIG), and shall be entitled to all other benefits as provided by the pertinent
provisions of law.

‘SEC. 6. Artist Education and Information - An accredited artist shall
have the rights and privileges of free legal aid and information, medical
assistance, hospitalization, and options for Second/Alternative Careers.

SEC. 7. Accreditation Requirements - A guideline shall be issued for the
purpose of defining an Accredited Artist. The National Commission on Culture
and the Arts (NCCA) must issue the guidelines in consultation with the relevant


organizations engaged in Literary Arts, Dance, Music, Theater, Film, Architecture,
Visual and Design Arts, Arts Management and Production Design, and all other
equivalent art forms/disciplines. The presumption shall always be resolved in
favor of accreditation.

SEC. 8. Application/Approval Procedure -Artists shall submit the
necessary documents to support their application for Accreditation to the Local
Arts Council, or to the Provincial, City, or Municipal Tourism Office or to the duly
recognized Arts Guild in which they are members who shall determine the
compliance requirements and shall issue a certificate of accreditation based on
the accepted /recognized aesthetic sensibility of its artistic community; Provided,
that the Tourism Office state herein may require written recommendation from
recognized artist in the Local Government Unit prior to approval of accreditation.

Provided further, for Indigenous Artists, requirements shall be submitted
to and approved by the National Commission for Indigenous Peoples in their
Province. The NNCA, through the Artist’s Welfare Office as stated in Article V
herein, may provide additional procedures/requirements that shall encourage
meaningful accreditation of artists and ensure the aesthetic quality and creativity
of the various art forms.

ARTICLE II
SSS/GSIS, PHILHEALTH, AND PAG-IBIG-FUND COVERAGE

SEC. 9. Accredited Artists shall be covered by the Social Security
System; Other Benefits. - An Accredited Artist shall be covered by the Social
Security System (SSS), the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth),
and the Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-Ibig, and shall be entitled to all
the benefits including but not limited to insurance, funeral, burial and financial
assistance and scholarships to children, in accordance with the pertinent
provisions provided by law. Payment of premiums or contributions shall be
shouldered by the employer/principal who shall act as the collecting agent for
the artist.

SEC. 10. Payment of Premiums/Contributions - The payment by the
collecting agent, for and in behalf of the accredited artist, shall be based on an
annual amount to be determined by the respective agencies stated herein.

SEC. 11. Multiple Payments/Contributions - In case of multiple
payments/contributions exceeding the annual contribution as stated herein, the
excess shall be carried over to the succeeding year.

SEC. 12, Deficiency of Premium/Contribution Payments - In case of
deficiency of payment, the accredited artist shall pay the deficiency/differences
as stated in the category/schedule of payments, to be provided by the SSS/GSIS,
PhilHealth, Pag-Ibig, as the case may be. Artists who do not have collecting
agents, as provided under Art I Sec. 4(d), shall comply with the provisions of
voluntary contribution.


SEC. 13. Category/Schedule of Payment - The SSS/GSIS, PhilHiealth, Pag-
Ibig, and other agencies that shall benefit the artist, shall create a
category/schedule of payment for accredited artists in compliance with existing
laws.

SEC. 14, Artists Village - In coordination with the National Commission
on Culture and the Arts, PAG-IBIG and other relevant government offices, a
housing community to be known as the Artists Village shall be established.
Suitable idle land shall be identified for the purpose. The Artists Village shall be
provided to the accredited artists. Existing housing programs for the sectors shall
be strengthened, improved and developed using available funds.

ARTICLE IV
INFORMATION ASSISTANCE - COVERAGE AND PROCEDURE

SEC. 15. Legal Information/Assistance - The accredited artist shall be
provided with free legal information through the National Committee on Legal
Ald (NCLA) of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) for the registration and
protection of their intellectual property rights over their literary, artistic works,
performances and other works as defined under RA 8293 or the Intellectual
Property Code of the Philippines, and other pertinent laws. Accredited Artists as
defined by this Act shall be provided with free legal services in criminal, civil,
labor, administrative and other quasi-judicial cases by the Public Attorney's
Office (PAO) pursuant to the provisions of RA 9406.

SEC. 16. Medical and Dental Assistance - The accredited artist shall be
provided with free medical and dental assistance through the Philippine Medical
Association (PMA), Philippine Hospital Association (PHA), and the Philippine
Dental Association. An accredited artist, as defined by this act, shall be provided
with free medical and dental services in all government hospitals, aside from the
benefits that an accredited artist may avail through the PhilHealth.

SEC. 17. Second/Alternative Careers - An accredited artist shall be
provided with Second/Alternative Careers as enumerated, but not limited to the
following:

(a) Mentor to tutorial or remedial art classes integrated with the DepEd
and CHED curricula.

(b) Trainee in skills implementation program and ladderized education, as
provided by TESDA, in coordination with the NCCA, through the
latter's commission-based, community-based or enterprise-based
programs, whichever is applicable.

(c) The TESDA, in coordination with the POEA, shall devise systems which
will pave the way for the accredited artists to obtain job opportunities
from foreign countries.


(d) The POEA and the DFA, in coordination with the NCCA, shall establish
mechanisms to ensure the welfare and employment, social security
and health benefits or accredited artists working in foreign countries.

SEC. 18, Arts Awareness in the Elementary and High School Curricula.
Arts Appreciation and Awareness and Cultural Understanding shall be part of the
curricula in the elementary, high school and K-12 Program. The accredited artists
available in a community shall be seconded and shall assist teachers in the school
in the art classes and culture subjects.

ARTICLE V
MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

SEC. 19. The Role of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts
(NCCA) ~The NCCA, as the policy making agency for the Artists Welfare Act, shall
create an Artist's Welfare Office which shall serve as the oversight body in
compliance with the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 20. Dispute Resolution - In cases of disputes arising from the
certification/accreditation or disqualification of artists, the NCCA through the
Artist's Welfare Office, shall resolve such dispute.

SEC. 21. Payment of Taxes - The Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) shall
provide assistance to artists covered by this Act in their regulation and payment
of taxes. The BIR shall also ensure that artists will be given authority to print
official receipts pursuant to BIR rules and regulations,

SEC. 22. Continuing Studies on Special Privileges for Artists - The
NCCA in coordination with other government offices, arts sector and academic
institutions is mandated to conduct studies and researches on the feasibility of
granting discount privileges to artists in particular those who are earning below
the minimum wage law or those artists whose employment opportunities are
intermittent.

SEC. 23. Separability Clause. - If any provision or part of this Act is
declared invalid or unconstitutional, the remaining parts or provisions not
affected shall remain in full force and effect.

SEC. 24. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive orders,
issuances, rules and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions
of this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 25. Effectivity Clause. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days
after tis complete publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two (2) national
newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,