Ten senators are pushing for a bill that will create and allocate funds for a ‘Department of Culture’ to promote and develop the country’s cultural traditions.
Senate Bill 1582 or the proposed “Department of Culture Act” aims to reorganize the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) into an independent Department of Culture.
The bill is primarily sponsored and authored by Senator Francis Escudero, chair of the Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture.
“The passage of this bill will further nurture and preserve our Filipino heritage by enhancing the agency’s mandate and giving it more authority in implementing the programs that will promote the importance of the Philippine arts and culture,” Escudero said in a press release.
The bill is also authored by other senators including Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and Senators Loren Legarda, Nancy Binay, Bam Aquino IV, JV Ejercito, Joel Villanueva, Sherwin Gatchalian, Risa Hontiveros, and Sonny Angara.
Escudero said the proposed department 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.”
Under the bill, 12 agencies will be attached to the Department of Culture, namely: the Cultural Center of the Philippines, National Museum of the Philippines, National Historical Commission of the Philippines, National Library of the Philippines, National Archives of the Philippines, Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino, Intramuros Administration, National Parks Development Committee, Nayong Filipino Foundation, Film Development Council of the Philippines, National Book Development Board and Design Center of the Philippines.
Escudero added that should the bill become a law, the initial funding for the Department of Culture will come from the current fiscal year’s appropriation for the NCCA through the Office of the President.
